Every so often, you come across a pub with a clever enough sign that, at the very least, makes you consider coming in for a drink. Honestly, the truth is most professional advertising these days does not come close to the wit of these managers, employees, bartenders, etc. who happened to just come up with something clever on the spot. Perhaps making these signs was a creative outlet during their shifts. Or perhaps these folks should be the future of modern advertising and nobody is giving them…

We've all been there—it's a big friend group dinner. It took weeks to plan and some of these friends you hardly ever see, so you really really want to go. But then the anxiety starts to set in when you start about how that splitting of the check is going to go down. Some friends are in the mindset of “just split everything down the middle!” Even though some people ordered $20 cocktails and prime rib and you just got water and a side salad. Others are all about separate checks, but who will be t…

It's not easy landing a job these days, the workforce is all kinds of crazy currently. So if and when you do manage to land a job, you should probably hold onto it the best you can, right? If it is a horrible work environment, the, by all means, quit. But if everything is going along just fine and you're getting paid and enjoy your coworkers, then why would you mess that up?

When you place an order for pick up—which means you are going to the store, they are handing you a bag of your food, and then you take it home yourself—are you leaving a tip? How much of a tip? Less than the usual 20% or none at all? What about when it's a delivery or sit-down meal? Do you take out of your tip when a sauce is forgotten or utensils missing?

Every server feels their stomach drop when they see a toddler seated in their section. Like any service industry member with PTSD, for a split second, they'll imagine the terrors of cleaning melted ice cream from the corners of the booth seats, Karenish mothers yelling at them for a side of ranch, and scrubbing the crayon scribbles off the tabletop...

Kids get a bad reputation in the service industry. However, anyone who has ever worked at a family restaurant know the truth—it's always the parents. Kids will be kids, we all know that, and it's up to the parents or guardians to teach their kids how to behave. So when an adult allows their tiny human to run around a restaurant like it's their personal playroom, of course everyone working there is going to be annoyed. Other than the fact that it's a real danger for your kid to be doing that whi…

These customers didn't let their poor social skills keep them from dining at restaurants . Instead, they showed up ready to eat food and interact with wait staff as minimally as possible. We all have days where we want to be left alone. Sometimes you just don't feel like interacting with people, and instead, you just want to curl up on your couch, order food delivery, and watch a movie. It's odd that apparently lots of people decide to go to restaurants when they're feeling antisocial. Why woul…

It is 2024, if you are an American and don't know how to properly tip, then shame on you. 20% is the minimum. Period. Nobody cares if you had to send your plate back multiple times, that service industry employee is working to pay their rent. The least you can do is give them $5. Like, stop being so entitled. This entitled customer got a beautiful act of petty revenge thrust upon him, and he probably never even realized it. You see, this guy was not only not going to tip, but he was also holdin…

Perhaps everyone should have made their resolutions this year to be kinder to their servers and bartenders. If you're not part of the problem but you are witnessing a Karen customer throwing a tantrum for no good reason, perhaps you should consider stepping in and defending the people who have been on their feet for multiple hours and are just trying to get you your food and drinks the way you ordered them. No one is trying to mess up, and so much of what goes on in a bar or restaurant is outsi…

Working in a kitchen is an eye-opening experience that will forever change how one eats at a restaurant. Not only does one gain further appreciation for what servers and restaurant workers have to put up with, but also one has a greater sense of the pandemonium that occurs behind the scenes. Yes, television shows like The Bear provide some insight into this visceral world, but hearing from actual restaurant workers directly is the best window into that experience. These restaurant secrets, whic…

What do you expect in terms of hospitality when you book an expensive 5-star hotel? You're usually paying upwards of $500 a night, so you would think they would provide the best of services. Especially if you get stuck in a bathroom! Things happen and precarious situations arise, we all know that's unavoidable in this place we call life. But it is how you handle these situations that gives you a top notch rating. When this woman got stuck in a 5-star hotel bathroom while vacationing with her bo…

Nepo-babies are the privileged kind of delusional, not the fun kind of delulu. Like, there's the employee that pushes the boundaries and might get you in trouble for doing something fun kind of delulu, and then there is the nepo-baby delusional co-worker who thinks he's entitled to everyone treating him like the boss even though he was given a bartending position because his mommy is the boss. See what I mean? The latter is, unfortunately, where our story begins . This hotel bartender was the k…

You know that stereotype of restaurant owners being grimy and shady? Well, unfortunately, it's not unwarranted. More often than not restaurant owners will toy with their employees' lives just to save face. That might mean getting fired for no just reason because someone left an entitled 1-star review. That is where this Reddit story goes. This server covered a shift for a coworker in mourning. When she got there, her section already had a belligerent guy who obviously had way too much to drink.…

Sometimes a beautiful thing can blossom out of something horrible. For example, a higher-paying job can blossom from how you handle a Karen tantrum. Which is exactly what happened to this Redditor . She was enjoying her lunch at a restaurant she did not work at. She had interviewed with them, but it was too soon to know anything about that. She had only an hour for lunch from her actual chef job at a completely different restaurant, so was trying to down her food as fast as possible. All of a s…

Before we wrap up the dysfunctional year that was 2023, let's do a recap of the most dysfunctional customers servers were forced to encounter on the job. Being a server requires a certain bandwidth to be able to withstand a lot of unfair treatment from managers, Karens, etc. That being said, every so often, that bandwidth is tested no matter how much experience one may have in this field. Sometimes, customers demand something so outrageous (like seriously, dude? you can't live without tartar sa…

Some people want to be food critics with their reviews, but this person took it further by writing a very long message directly to a restaurant. When I worked retail, I always found it so delightful when customers would vow to never return to our restaurant. It was often that they'd come in during a rush, and then were shocked, stunned, and horrified, that they'd have to wait a whole 15 minutes for their meal. Bigger problems are going on in the world. But not to these people. Sometimes they'd…