Restaurant Employees - do places really screw with your food if you’re rude?

[Anonymous]

Any good stories to share?

[Anonymous]

I worked in a restaurant one summer and I never saw anyone spit in food or any other gross thing but I did see the manager mix red and white wine to get rose. Also, frequently saw regular coffee poured in caffeine free coffee pots (orange handle). If bread was dropped on floor it was just picked up and put in bread baskets.

[Anonymous]

When I worked at a coffee shop people would give rude customers decaf drinks instead of regular.

[Anonymous]

Lemme just say that if you don't tip appropriately don't ever go back to that restaurant because they will definitely remember you and you just can't be sure what they'll do to your food.

[Anonymous]

Thought there would be comments about Chinese restaurants. (I won't share what I know.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I worked at a coffee shop people would give rude customers decaf drinks instead of regular.

This is very common. A non-monetary version of the A-Hole Tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought there would be comments about Chinese restaurants. (I won't share what I know.)

Read about the rat in the soup

[Anonymous]

High end places with tight ship kitchens run by culinary school trained head chefs? Unlikely.

Other restaurants? Anyone who says “this doesn’t happen” has never worked in one. Kitchens are always understaffed, usually lack supervision, will hire any warm body, including felons, heavy drug users, etc.

Karen at your own risk.

[Anonymous]

Never at the restaurant I worked at for years (and that also goes for the unsanitary stuff the Pp mentioned like serving bread that had been dropped on the floor - WTF? That place sounds horrible. And giving caffeinated coffee to someone who requested decaf is also unacceptable).

[Anonymous]

No, not at all. I just suck it up and let them do their thing. If they do come back, I send another server. They are happy to get an extra table and I'm happy not to have to go to that table.
Cameras are everywhere - we don't mess with the food. The chef, cooks and owner would be very pissed and I haven't worked with an idiot yet who would dare to do that.
No, we don't used bread that has fell on the floor. Just a few pointers though, don't keep asking for bread if I tell you we have non. If we are super busy and I didn't bring you a coffee spoon, don't keep asking for it. Use something else to stir it.
If you keep asking for crap we don't have temporarily because we are too busy, you will get crap. Shortly, I would have to go to kitchen, take a dirty spoon, handwash it for you and bring it back. There's a reason in a busy restaurant I didn't bring it in first place. Say, 'bring it when it's available again'.
Bread? I would have to look for leftovers or most likely ask for different bread from the kitchen. They are busy, I cannot bother them with bread and I'm not allowed in the kitchen to mess with the food.
All this only happens when we are super busy. Others are better at saying that we are out of something. I wish I was.

[Anonymous]

Oh, we give decafe if we are out of regular for a moment and/or it's fresher. Almost never the other way around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, not at all. I just suck it up and let them do their thing. If they do come back, I send another server. They are happy to get an extra table and I'm happy not to have to go to that table.
Cameras are everywhere - we don't mess with the food. The chef, cooks and owner would be very pissed and I haven't worked with an idiot yet who would dare to do that.
No, we don't used bread that has fell on the floor. Just a few pointers though, don't keep asking for bread if I tell you we have non. If we are super busy and I didn't bring you a coffee spoon, don't keep asking for it. Use something else to stir it.
If you keep asking for crap we don't have temporarily because we are too busy, you will get crap. Shortly, I would have to go to kitchen, take a dirty spoon, handwash it for you and bring it back. There's a reason in a busy restaurant I didn't bring it in first place. Say, 'bring it when it's available again'.
Bread? I would have to look for leftovers or most likely ask for different bread from the kitchen. They are busy, I cannot bother them with bread and I'm not allowed in the kitchen to mess with the food.
All this only happens when we are super busy. Others are better at saying that we are out of something. I wish I was.

It would better if you just say, “ I’m sorry we’re out of bread or there aren’t anymore coffee spoons available right now, if there’s more I’ll bring it.”

Why would you not expect the customer to ask again if you just seem to act like you forgot? If it’s busy, I would assume you forgot. I would want a reminder when I forget something.

[Anonymous]

Worked in restaurants most summers in high school and college, and I never saw anyone mess with food as vengeance for rudeness. I did see people take shortcuts due to laziness, like the dropped bread or handwashed spoon.

[Anonymous]

Relative cooked in mid-range restaurants in a vacation area. He was really strict about food safety and has refused to serve food he believed wasn't properly handled.

However, he absolutely hated when people ordered beef well done. He felt is was a waste of good food. So if you ordered a well-done steak or burger, he made sure there were no juices in the meat. Charred to exquisite dryness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Relative cooked in mid-range restaurants in a vacation area. He was really strict about food safety and has refused to serve food he believed wasn't properly handled.

However, he absolutely hated when people ordered beef well done. He felt is was a waste of good food. So if you ordered a well-done steak or burger, he made sure there were no juices in the meat. Charred to exquisite dryness.

I agree with him and laughed at this.