Does anyone have any good waiting tables stories?

Question

I waited tables for about four years and I saw everything - from crazy customers to insane happenings in the kitchen.

Once a table of girls got mad at another table and one of the girls ended up throwing a ketchup bottle at another girl's head and knocking her out. I was actually pretty close so I'm glad I didn't get hit! Another time I watched a server chase his customers down when they left the restaurant all the way onto the street because the customers didn't leave a tip. Blows were thrown, police came and the waiter was, of course, fired. Another time I remember a customer getting angry about the wait and grabbing the speaker from the hostess at the front and announcing over the intercom throughout the entire restaurant that the whole establishment sucked.It was actually pretty funny.

Anyone have a good restaurant story they would like to share?

Answer 1

heres one a guy steals the knife and fork from the table gets up to leve the owner walks up and says loudly sir u forgot the spoon that goes with that

Answer 2

It was about 5 am and I was standing at the register doing my close-outs. This clean-cut, nicely dressed guy came in and in an elloquent manner said, "I have no money, I am hungry, please feed me." I rolled my eyes and said, "I'll personally buy you two pancakes."

He looked at me and said, "I'm not hungry. Thank you. Have a good morning," and left.

I turned to Michelle and told her what happened, we decided the guy was a fruit and life went on.

He came back five minutes later and in a cookie monster tone of voice said, "I WANT PANCAKES!"

I ordered him some pancakes and thought I'd give them to him "to-go," and he'd be gone. No luck, he wanted to eat them in the restaurant.

He sat at the counter and I gave him the pancakes thinking he'd eat and go away. I started finishing up my stuff and customers came up to pay. He turned around and again in a Cookie Monster tone exclaimed, "I WANT PANCAKES!"

So I told him to remain calm and I will have more pancakes for him. At this point I realized he must have wandered away from some where and is off his meds. I gave him the pancakes and went outside to contact the police to do a welfare check.

A regular customer came outside and thought I was calling the police because the guy had no money, he didn't believe I was calling because I thought he was a nutter. He gave me $20.00 and told me to buy the guy's pancakes with it.

I was in h**l - I thought I'd never get rid of the guy.

So I came in and he wanted more pancakes, so we made him more pancakes, then the police officer talked to him and he morning girl, Carmen came in and she was walking to the service aisle with her purse and he stiops her and once again declares in a cookie monster tone, "I WANT PANCAKES!"

She stops and says in her thick Hispanic accent, "Okay, i telling dah cook and he well making the pancake for you and we will bringing you the pancake, okay?" and just wanders off.

Then Luis, the cook comes out and sits at the counter and the guy asks him who he is and why he is here, so he explains he is the cook and that he made the pancakes, but the guy kept questioning him, so Luis just wandered off.

Then Helen, who works at the hotel next door came in and sat next to him. He turned to her and said, "I WANT PANCAKES!" in his cookie monster tone and she turned to him said, "So do I, you need to stop talking to me," picked up her stuff and moved to the opposite side of the counter.

Then customers came in and he turned around and belted out, "I WANT PANCAKES!" At this point, we are all trying to ignore him. He comes up to the register looks at me and says, "I WANT PANCAKES!" I looked at him and said, "Oh hey, yeah, about that, I was told that you are the designated driver and too many peoples' lives are counting on you and I'm going to have to cut you off, no more pancakes."

I was waiting for him to spazz on me and he elloquently replied, "You know, you're right, I have had enough pancakes. Thank you. Have a good morning," and he wandered off.

He didn't wander far.

Michelle was outside waiting for me and smoking a cigarette and he went over to her and using the cookie monster voice says, "I WANT PANCAKES!" She said, "Uhm, I'm not at work anymore, you're going to have to go inside and talk to my manager." He then said, in the cookie monster voice, "muh tummay hurts." She replied, "Yeah, you had too many pancakes!" Then using a normal tone he said, "You're right I had too many pancakes." and he wandered off, only to join her at the bus stop. She figured I was going to stay at work and figured she'd catch the bus. So he went over there and was telling her that he "stays around here."

I went outside and didn't see her and was going to just go home and she was at the bus stop jumping up and down waving at me. I pulled up and he got up with her and he said, "My ride is here!," and she told him, "uh no, this is MY ride."

So I told her we should clear out my back seat and pick him up. She asked me why, I told her I would take him to another Denny's and tell him they have pancakes for him. She laughed and said that's mean, I told her that wouldn't be mean, the mean part would occur when I called that Denny's in an hour and said, "I WANT PANCAKES! (in a cookie monster tone). :)

Answer 3

My first serving job was at a Cracker Barrell when I was really young.  Well it was my second or third day and I had a nice family of four sitting in my section with a toddler about a year old in a high chair.  I was delivering the drinks to the table when a 32 oz. full bottle of Stewart's root beer slid off the tray I was holding "BONK" right on the babies head.  I have never heard such a blood-curdling scream in my entire life.  Then the mug slid off and hit her.  Everyone, and I mean everyone in the restaurant came over to see what all the fuss was about.  Needless to say I was the brightest shade of red imaginable.  Luckily the baby was okay and I didn't get fired.  The babies mother however requested a new server.

Answer 4

I served at a restaurant that was within an hours drive to an Indian Reservation.  I had this elderly Navajo couple come in one night.  The man proceeded to tell me that because my ancestors may have lived in Kansas at one time, that I had blood on my hands (no joke) and that blood would never come off.  He too had blood on his hands because he served in the Korean war (his story, not mine).  And the reason why Kansas had so many tornadoes was because the Native American's put a curse on the state because of the atrocities that occured there.  He then asked me what I was studying in school, and when I told him I was going to school to become a teacher, he encouraged me to get a job teaching on the reservation.  His wife continuously rolled her eyes at him throughout the entire dinner.