Restaurant Workers Are Sharing The Strangest Food Orders They've Ever Taken, And I Think I've Officially Lost Faith In All Of Humanity
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8 min read
We all know people can be, well... strange, but no one knows this better than restaurant workers. So Redditor u/Graceful_Swan_Ronson asked, "Waiters/Waitresses of Reddit, what's the most ridiculous request you've gotten from a customer at your restaurant?
Here are some of the responses that have me laughing, cringing, and saying "omg ew" all at the same time.
1."A mom and her eight-year-old son came into the restaurant I waited tables at for lunch. The mom asked her son what he wanted to eat, and he replied 'ranch.' I politely asked if he meant a salad with ranch? Or French fries with a side of ranch? The woman looked at me and clarified he wanted a soup bowl full of ranch dressing."
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"I walked into the kitchen and discussed with my manager because I had no idea how to charge them for a bowl of ranch dressing. We came to the conclusion that we should charge them for an entire bottle of ranch, so she paid $10.99 for a soup bowl full of ranch dressing. Yuck."
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2."I once waited on a customer who had a kid who could only eat puréed food. She asked us to purée a burger and fries and serve it to the kid in a glass."
3."I'll never forget the guy who asked for his steak 'dry.' He explained that he wanted 'no juice' to come out when he was eating it. I told him it would take about 30 minutes to cook his steak so it's that well done, and he said OK. Our steaks were pretty miserable portions in the first place, he ordered the smallest cut on the menu. I finally returned with his little 6 oz flat iron that was absolutely desiccated on the grill, and he looked disappointed. He took a few bites of it and proclaimed that 'it wasn't very good.'"
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4."I work at a Mexican restaurant and the other day I got a delivery order for a chicken burrito... but with no chicken. We have a vegetarian burrito on the menu with the exact same fillings except, you know, no meat."
5."I waited on a pregnant woman once who wanted her nachos burnt. I kept taking them back because they weren't burnt enough for her liking until they were completely black and she was satisfied."
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6."I worked at an Italian restaurant in college, and every Friday night the same family would come to eat. Each family member would order a bowl of spaghetti and a side salad with ranch. They would each then proceed to mix the spaghetti and salad together in a single bowl and douse it all in ranch dressing."
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7."I'm a chef and I once got an order for spaghetti with butter off the kid's menu, but to be made with a side of powdered sugar."
8."I was at the Cheesecake Factory with a friend who ordered a 'coffee with Bailey's in it' for dessert. It took ages, but eventually the server comes back with a cup of coffee containing two bay leaves. I can only imagine how confused they were putting that one together."
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9."I'll never forget the customer who sent back her beef ravioli after eating the entire dish... because she was a vegetarian."
10."Years ago I worked at a restaurant and one night we had a Cobb salad on special. A customer ordered the salad, but he wanted it without any of the usual toppings (tomato, bacon, egg, etc...) and he wanted to add a cup of Mayo on the side instead of the normal dressing. This guy paid $9 for iceberg lettuce and a side of mayonnaise. Every time I checked on the table, he told me how great his meal was."
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11."I worked at a Tex-Mex place and once I waited on a girl who wanted nachos without the tortilla chips. Our nachos were simply made of chips and cheese with no other toppings. She got a plate of melted cheese for dinner, and she was so happy about it."
12."Not exactly a waiter, but I'm a bartender and I had a guy sit at the bar and ask me to shake his martini exactly 64 times. I laughed, but he counted every single shake."
13."I waited on a woman who ordered the portobello mushroom sandwich but without any mushroom. She just wanted the other toppings on a bun. The kitchen made it, but she didn't tip."
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14."I had a customer return a salad because it contained tomatoes and she claimed she was deathly allergic to tomatoes. The menu clearly stated that the salad had tomatoes in it. I took back the salad of course, but then I realized she was simultaneously inhaling chips and salsa."
15."I had a customer who ordered French onion soup...and then asked if the kitchen could strain the onions out of her bowl."
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16."I'll always remember the customer who ordered an eggless omelette. I told her she could just get sautéed vegetables for a third of the cost, but no, she wanted an eggless omelet."
17."I'm a bartender and my weirdest experience was the woman who would come into the bar on her lunch break and drink a lemon drop martini before heading back to work. It was a $12 drink, and she'd give me an extra $5 to swirl my finger around in the cocktail before she drank it."
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18."I had a customer ask where the lobster was from that we used in our lobster bisque. According to him, he was allergic to shellfish...but only shellfish that comes from a certain ocean."
19."The order that stands out in my memory was the time one lady wanted her salad microwaved so the cheese would melt. I confirmed the order a few times and yes, she wanted the entire salad (dressing, veggies, and all) microwaved. It was a disgusting droopy mess, but she happily ate it."
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20."I worked at a pizzeria and I dealt with one woman who was very particular about her pizza. She always wanted a lot of toppings and was very specific about how they were prepared: green peppers finely chopped, just a little bit of mushrooms, extra cheese but not too cheesy. She wanted the crust to be just golden brown and crispy but not too crispy. If you're going to be that picky about your order, make your own pizza at home."
21."A dude ordered the quarter pound burger with just ketchup, mustard and pickles. Once he received his order he came back and said he literally just wanted a bun with ketchup, mustard and pickles...without the burger. The psycho ordered bread with condiments and paid $10."
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22."I had a customer send back his well done prime rib three times because it wasn't well done enough for his liking. The cook was so annoyed, he dropped it into the deep fryer for five minutes. At this point, the customer was satisfied and asked for a side of ketchup."
23."When I worked for Starbucks a lady came to the drive thru window and ordered an iced venti vanilla latte with 22 Sweet n Lows. When she got her coffee she was pissed. Turned out she wanted us to hand her 22 packets of sweetener so that she could take them home."
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24."I worked at Dairy Queen and a pregnant woman wanted a peanut butter and pickle blizzard. She even brought her own pickles. It's against policy to use any ingredients that aren't from DQ, but customers are welcome to stir in their own ingredients. However, it's my personal policy to not argue with pregnant women. She got her peanut butter and pickle blizzard."
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25."I used to bartend, and I once had a customer order a mojito. She took one sip and sent it back because there was mint in the drink and she couldn't stand the taste of mint. Girl ,do you know what a mojito is?"
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26."I once had a customer order poutine with no cheese and no gravy. When I brought them their French fries they said 'we are paying for poutine not fries.'
27."I once had a customer who complained that their steak tartare was undercooked and he wanted it medium rare."
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