Whenever we go out to eat, be it at a fine dining establishment or a quick service window, some of us tend to wonder what the journey was for the food that we are looking at on our plates or in our take-out bags.
Many have similar thoughts when buying frozen or pre-packaged dinners at supermarkets.
The answers aren't always readily available, often because the food service industry will go to great lengths to keep them under lock and key. Well aware, most of the time, that current or former employees will spill the beans at one point or another.
Redditor Lilyxrx was curious to hear some of the most well guarded secrets of the food industry, leading them to ask:
"What’s a secret the food industry don’t want you to know?"
Next Time Your Craving Bananas Foster...
"The 'natural flavors' are just big jugs of glycerin with hyper concentrated flavoring in it."
"Banana flavoring is fairly flammable."
"Source: Worked in food manufacturing."- irony_in_the_UK·
Cholesterol Be Darned!
"Chef here."
"It’s salt and fat."
"If you have a question about anything it’s salt and fat."- LongRest
For Efficiency's Sake...
"Olive Garden makes all their necessary pastas for the whole day from 8-10am every morning."
"Partially cooked."
"So when an order comes through, they grab a serving of the needed pasta style and flash cook them in hot water."
"Also, it’s just the brand, Barilla."- Deerhunter86
Justin Bieber Food GIFGiphyBefore You Pay The Extra Money...
"Beekeeper checking in."
"There is no such thing as organic honey."
"I do not treat my bees with chemicals, but I have no idea where they get their nectar."
"A bee can fly up to three miles from a hive to get nectar."
"It is virtually impossible to guarantee they have not gotten nectar from a chemically treated source."- toad__warrior·
If You Ever Wonder What Makes It Taste So Good...
"Unless it’s a health conscious food joint you’re eating at, the food we serve is designed for maximum taste."
"It’s either dense with fat and sugar, or fat and salt "
"E.G. Those mashed potatoes you like?"
"Made with cream, butter, and salt."
"The quiche?"
"Made on cream, not milk."
"Etc, etc."- petuniasweetpea
Before You Start Bragging...
"Dragon fruit isn’t an exotic Asian fruit."
"It’s a cactus fruit, and as such are native to the Americas and can even be grown in the US."- ferretmonkey
dragon fruit GIF by Feliks Tomasz KonczakowskiGiphyIn Case You're Wondering why That Taste Is So Familiar...
"A lot of the processed cheese and cream cheese is all the same recipe we just switch the labels and packaging for the different brands we run."
"Source: I work in a cheese factory in a company that services 75% of America's domestic market."- anon5678903276
Another Reason To Have No Guilt Over Take Out...
"Well."
"I work at Dominos, and we are kept afloat by the people who don't coupon and pay full menu price."
"You people are the unsung heroes of labor."- LoweeLL
Unlike Any Chocolate...
"When I worked at a mass production bakery the chocolate for the chocolate covered doughnuts came in giant frozen blocks of 4x4 pieces and contained no actual chocolate what so over."
"When unfrozen it was like some sort of nasty smelling paraffin wax that I would break up with a hammer and place into a melter that would then pour over the doughnuts."- gil_beard
Chocolate Dessert GIF by HuffPostGiphyWhat Do Orange Juice And Whiskey Have In Common?
"The reason orange juice tastes consistently the same year round, even though it's a crop harvested once a year, is because citrus oils and citrus flavor are added back to different batches and blended all together."
"Similar to how whiskey is blended from multiple barrels to make it consistent."
"The difference is that even though extra stuff is added back into the OJ, it doesn't need to be labeled because the flavors contain all ingredients from oranges (FTNF-from the named fruit) so the FDA doesn't mandate labeling additional ingredients."- PensiveDoughnut
Does That Explain Their Shape?
"Pringles (and baked Lays/similar) are made of rehydrated and compressed rejected/excess parts of potatoes that go into regular chips."
"I learned that from my dietician at work and thought that was odd."
"I still like them over regular chips."- bluesasaurusrex
A Secret Better Not Known...
"The 11 herbs and spices secret recipe."- NemoTheOneTrueGod
Food Pouring GIF by Great Big StoryGiphyJust Pop It In The Fryer...
"I was a young lad working at Church's Fried Chicken during the summer, many years ago."
"The owner refused to throw out chicken that had already gone bad; to the point where you'd gag if you smell them."
"Apparently if you batter them bad boys up and deep fry them, the rancid smell goes away."
"His customers never knew they were eating spoiled chicken."- Dirt_E_Harry·
Sweet... But Safe!
"The amount of sugar that goes into Costco bakery products is absurd, especially the apple pie."
"That being said; Costco does not f*ck around when it comes to food safety."
"Every area that is responsible for producing food is most likely cleaner than a white room for producing computer parts."
"There are virtually zero roaches, we found one in the bakery once and shut it down until the exterminator did his thing that very night."
"Someone returned a package of dinner rolls because their child had bit into one and a sharp piece of metal was in it, within less than 2 minutes every manager in the building was doing an investigation that led all the way up to the regional manager and his boss for several hours and determined that it had come off of a piece of machinery before it reached our location."
"We throw away rotisserie chickens if they have left (even for a few minutes) the shelf and someone tries to put it back."- Deathnachos
Costco GIF by hero0fwarGiphyWe'd like to think that everyone who works in the food industry shares the same high standards.
But, as in any industry, there are those out there who will cut corners for speedier results.
On the bright side, it does save you the trouble when deciding what cream cheese to buy...
"What’s an industry secret in the field you work in?"
Literal Money Grabbing Machines
"I design slot machines for casinos."
"Don’t play slots."- psychfan5
Speak When Spoken To!
"I'm an attorney."
"The secret is shut the f*ck up."- --IIII--------IIII--
They Are In Good Hands
"Managed boarding and grooming kennels for 8 years."
"The secret is that the employees actually do love your pets too."
"Even the difficult ones, most of us realize they just miss their people."
"The number of times I’ve weeped when a pet died, or spent way too many hours comforting a dog with separation anxiety, or spent hours off the clock with a boarder who needed to be rushed to a vet office, wouldn’t trade it for the world."
"Some pets just suck though, not gonna lie."- breadandbirds
Dogs Stripping GIF by Artero Professional LineGiphyThey Just Want To Go Home!
"I'm a server."
"No matter how much we insist it's 'okay' that you are keeping the entire restaurant open after we've closed, please know we are 100% lying."
"We will get fired if we deviate from anything other than pure delight that you are keeping us from going home."
"We dread it."
"Please don't believe us."- MorddSith187
Don't Be Fooled By The Price
"I used to work in jewelry."
"Most of the prettiest gemstones are also very affordable."
"Tanzanite is a beautiful purple and looks nicer than amethyst."
"Topaz comes in lots of colors, including a pretty blue color which can be as nice as aquamarine."
"Opals aren't as brightly rainbow hued as they look in pictures."- rubicks56
What Are You Looking At?!?!
"Almost every hairstylist gets the heebie jeebies when we shampoo your hair and you just stare up at us."
"CLOSE. YOUR. DAMN. EYES at the shampoo bowl!"- picklemetimberzz
Hair Wash GIF by ALLBLK (formerly known as UMC)GiphyYou're More Qualified Than You Think!
"Used to screen resumes for small companies."
"Job 'requirements' are more of a wish-list situation."
"Never let some unchecked boxes deter you from applying, you have no idea what the applicant pool is like."
"The biggest boon, especially at small companies, is someone who legitimately cares."- TwoPesetas
If You Wonder What Makes It So Delicious...
"There is way more butter than you think in almost every dish you eat at fancy restaurants, and that is usually the reason you won't see the amount of calories in each dish."
"5 years as a chef in Italian cuisine head chef, 8 years in an Italian kitchen."
" f I could recomend one guide book for you all to have in your kitchen it would be Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat."
"Yes there are a plethora of others but this one is my personal favorite."- BackslashR
That's Why It Smells So Familiar!
"Former bath and body works associate here."
"The scents they 'discontinue' will come back with a different name and new marketing."
"They’re just recycling the scents."- xyenz08
Bath And Body Works Perfume GIF by Bath & Body Works Asia AustraliaGiphyNothing Wrong With A Second Opinion
"Some therapists/counselors are on the wrong side of the couch, so to speak."
"If you feel your mental health provider is unhinged, they may very well be."- FriktionalTales
Hygiene Issues...
"I'm a forklift driver at a plastics manufacturing facility."
"We melt down various types of plastic into sheets, then a different department molds them into whatever the customer asks for."
"We're a food supply company, so that means everything has to be spotless, right?"
"When I worked in the molding department, the machines had toothed chains to hold the plastic in place while it was being molded."
"Those chains were constantly over greased, and the plastic would rub up against various sections, so at the end of every shift, no matter what machine I was on, I had to clean up big puddles of plastic powder/grease slime not only from the floor, but from key sections of the machine itself."
"Plastics manufacturing companies are constantly at war with each other to produce the least amount of scrap."
"In my region, we're #1 for least scrap produced."
"On paper, anyway."
"In reality, we throw away about 30-40 lbs of plastic every day."
"This is because the plastic we throw away is not able to be recycled."
"About 60% of the material is like this."
"Or because it would cost too much to grind up, the remaining 40%."
"Not only that, but you know how I said the place has to be spotless?"
"Well one of the supervisors on the other shifts chews AND SPITS into a trash can on the production floor!"
"Needless to say, I and my supervisor are trying to get him out of there, not just because of that, he's also the laziest man you've ever seen."
"Sits in the break room the whole shift then complains that his job is so boring."
"Remember these things next time you eat a prepackaged meal."- forklift_in_disguise
Animation Burn GIFGiphyDon't Give In To Pressure!
"Mental Health Care /Healthcare worker."
"When hired, the company that you work for will try to dissuade you from forming a union."
"This is not only illegal, it would probably prevent at least half of the problems between the staff and the administration."-jironspoon
As NOT Seen On TV...
"Law enforcement, specifically policing, is not very interesting the majority of the time and certainly not like what documentaries, films and TV make it out to be."
"I'll give you some examples to compare of some of the biggest misconceptions/tropes out there perpetuated by the media coverage of criminal justice/law enforcement."
"MISSING PEOPLE CASES."
"The majority of the time, especially these types of investigations, are nowhere near as eventful as they are thought to be."
"In fact, typically all missing persons are located within 24-48 hours after being reported as such."
"Usually, this is because someone in the family or friend group of the missing person knows where the subject is but for whatever reason, a lack of communication or miscommunication has occurred."
"It is much less common for the subject of the case to have been a victim of foul play, but the media obviously cover the cases where a homicide or something else suspicious has occurred."
"MURDERS/HOMICIDES."
"These are often sensationalized, unfortunately, when covered by the media."
"Especially when there is a suggestion that the victim may have been victim to a serial killer or other dangerous unknown persons."
"In reality, most of the cases of this will have been the result of ongoing domestic violence, drug deals gone wrong etc., rather than being committed by a complete random and/or a serial killer."
"In short, it is far more common for someone to be murdered by a person they know and trust than someone they don't."
"TYPES OF CRIMES THAT ARE DEALT WITH."
"At least in the UK, where I live, from what I have heard is that many more of the calls received by police are more likely to be things like Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs), arson/house fires, robberies and misdemeanor offenses than they are to be much more serious offenses such as murder etc."
"However, obviously it seems that the media do not cover this kind of stuff since it doesn't have the same shock factor as homicides, but it is another way in which false expectations of the job of a police officer is perpetuated."
"Bottom line is that I just get frustrated with the fact that so many people seem to underestimate and under appreciate the hard work that comes with being in the forces, but also how the job is usually far more mundane than it is made out to be."
"Especially when that is the main reason people are attracted to the job."- PM_ME_SHIT_IDK
Season 19 Nbc GIF by SVUGiphyExactly How "Doers Get More Done"...
"You can return dead plants to Home Depot."
"The handwritten markdowns on sales tags on merchandise that you see on the sales floor, if it’s in the middle of the month, you can ask for a bigger discount and will likely get it."
"Never ask at the end of the month, because all the markdown allowances are usually eaten up and you will likely not get the discount."
"There are cameras everywhere."
"Except the bathroom."
"You will get caught shoplifting by a loss prevention person, if they are at the store that day you are there."
"Otherwise, you can walk out with a lawnmower, and tell the cashier you paid at the other register on the other side of the store, wave an old Home Depot receipt at her and tell her to have a great day- and keep pushing the lawnmower to your car and drive off."
"If you return a faucet, every part better be in the box, otherwise, they will give you hard time-not! "
"Hell, you can return half cans of spray paint!"
"Also, if a sales associate is rude to you, don’t be afraid to call a manager on them while you're in the store."
"Those people are paid to be there to help you, especially in these departments:appliances, flooring, windows and doors, flooring, and kitchen/plumbing."
"All those sales associates are paid well."
"If you are lucky to have a Home Depot with a Kitchen design department in it, just fyi, those sales associates are the top paid people in the store."
"Why?"
"They know everything about most departments."
"Their hourly can top out at $42 an hour in some cases."
"The lowest hourly is $13-14, benefits are great."
"Very rarely does Home Depot hire management from the outside."
"They always promote from within the ranks."
"Every day is different."
"One day you might have two customers who are brothers in the paint department who start fighting and progress to throwing at each other five gallon buckets of oil-based primer on one another who end up being arrested, covered head to toe in white paint and the cops trying to figure out how to get them in the police car with all that paint all over them."
"OR You are taking customers to the vault in the back because a tornado is about to hit the store."
"So, most people who work there do not find it boring."- Southern_9098
Dragging Home Depot GIF by Megan BatoonGiphyHearing secrets about certain industries divulged can be a blessing and a curse.
No one would complain about not wasting their money away on slot machines.
Though, health conscious people might not want to know what really goes into their food when they go out to eat...
Reddit user ilostmygender_ asked:
"What’s the most ridiculous complaint you’ve ever heard in the service industry?"
Because if there is anything that will ensure we have fewer entitled people being ridiculous, it's making sure everyone gets to deal with those types of people face-to-face.
Check out the ridiculousness Reddit has had to put up with.
Deserve To Party
"Every year, couple of weeks before Christmas, my restaurant closes a couple of hours early (7 instead of 10, and it's usually on a Wednesday, so it's not nearly as busy) so all the employees can get together and have a small holiday party."
"We had a sign up on our door two weeks before the party, letting everyone know we were closing early. As this was the year after covid, and we didn't get to have a party the previous year, we were really excited and ready for it."
"At about 8'oclock, a woman comes to the door, sees it's locked, and goes ballistic. She man-handles the door and starts slamming her fist against it. She ignored all my co-workers who were shaking their heads."
"Finally I go over and unlock the door to talk to her. She just starts screaming about how we're not supposed to be closed, etc, etc and I'm just shaking my head pointing at the sign."
"She finishes with 'you people don't even deserve to have a party'. And with that I just smiled and said 'well now we're definitely not helping you, goodnight.' And closed the door."
"2 days later I get a call from the owner of the restaurant, saying she actually filed a real complaint about it. We had a great laugh"
- Hellvillain
Resturant Manager Or Traffic Officer
"I worked with a manager at a fast food place that got a complaint filed against him with corporate. Lady said she was second in line in the drive thru, the car in front of her gets their food, and goes to drive away, but accidentally put his car in reverse. He stops quickly, goes into the correct gear and leaves."
"Lady comes up and complains that the other customer ALMOST hit her car. Then she later complains that the manager was 'very unhelpful.' Still have no idea what either she or corporate expected him to do."
"Then, we had a customer drive his car up over a curb onto the grass, drive for another 6-8 feet, and hit a large rock in the grass, breaking his radiator."
"Dude wasnt under the influence, absolutely no clue how he didnt see a 3 foot tall rock in front of him, or why he was suddenly compelled to do some offroading in a Lincoln Towncar."
"He immediately comes in and starts yelling about how he's gonna sue the company for damages to his car. Despite the fact that he drove straight into it, over a curb, in broad daylight."
"Like, his car went to that rock like a soldier returning from war runs to the arms of his lover. Without missing a beat, my shift lead tells him that corporate will have much better lawyers than he does, and they'll 'counter sue you for damages to our rock'."
- DisabledBiscuit
"damages to our rock lol"
- rdummy_soup
"Your manager should have offered to ALMOST give her some money to compensate for him ALMOST hitting her car."
- magpac
traffic GIFGiphyDidn't Ask The Exact Question
"I was serving a couple their meal. I had stopped by after their first few bites and asked them how they were doing. They said great and I moved on to the next table. At the end of the meal, they asked for the manager and complained about my service, that I didn’t check in. When I told my manager that I had checked in on them, she said they said 'Well, they came and asked how WE were doing, but not how the food was. WE were doing fine, but we didn’t like the food…'."
- Matchmaker4180
"Seems a little petty. To be honest, I've only had waiters ask me some variant of "so how are you enjoying your food? Good?" And then I tell them it's good and they move on to the next table."
"If you don't like the food...you can just tell the waiter. You don't need a prompt."
- geico_fire
Hand-ing Some Drinks
"I was using my hands to hand people their drinks"
"I quit that same day"
- goldenbrushes
"Your bad man. You’re supposed to use your feet like that alien pod racer guy in Star Wars the phantom menace"
- nhbd
"Not even using your mind powers, how lazy smh"
- Yab0iFiddlesticks
"I would get mittens, spill half of every drink, charge full price and then tell any angry manager...I just fulfill customers' wishes...."
"Some people should get LITERALY what they wanted....after a short time, they would be cured of their entitlement...."
- applesandoranges990
Changed The Building Layout
"A woman swore up and down that we had an upstairs (we didn't) and then, after twenty minutes of searching, accused us of hiding it from her."
"A whole second story."
- PickanickBasket
"We actually had a similar moment!"
"Customer paid for their washing machine in the till, and was told to go around the corner (of the wall, still in the same building, pointed with the whole hand) to pickup the machine."
"Customer came back 10 minutes later fuming that they couldn't find the second floor to pick up said washing machine."
"Entire building is on ground level. Opening from the tills to the room where they were supposed to pick up the product is as big as the broadside of an elephant. But it's our fault and we scammed him off his money because we didn't want to give him that washing machine."
- Brevlada-00
Severely Allergic
"Someone came back with a breakfast sandwich I made for them saying they wanted to get whoever made it fired because it has bacon instead of sausage."
"They said they're severely allergic to bacon and would end up in the hospital and that the person who made it (me) shouldn't work here if they can't read screens (for what the order says). A trainee was on speaker and punched in a BELT (which is made with bacon) instead of the sausage version which admittedly isn't an easy thing to punch in for a new person on our POS system. So I read the screen correctly."
"HOW can someone be severely allergic to bacon and not sausage which is the same animal and everything ?!? We also use the same tongs for bacon and sausage too, there is definitely tons of cross contamination between them anyways"
"My manager spoke to me privately about it and I said I was prepared for her to fake fire me to humor him lol"
- koopkop
"Reminds me when I worked in a Chinese place and people would be deathly allergic to MSG. When I explained it came in the fried rice we'd make in advance they'd reply 'oh a little won't hurt'."
- Matookie
Season 8 Nbc GIF by The OfficeGiphyThe People Want Adult Films
"I worked at Blockbuster and some guy got angry at me because we 'no longer' carried adult films. I explained that we had never carried porn but he said 'You have Red Shoes Diaries!' - which isn't porn."
"Then he threw the Rugrats movie on the counter and opened his wallet to get his membership card. After he paid, he shook the Rugrats movie at me and said 'People want PORN! Goddamn you.'"
- BarracudaImpossible4
"I worked at a Blockbuster and we had an older guy throw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him in the 'backroom' to look at the 'adult films' which we 100% didn't have. The manager ended up finding out he was confusing us with Family Video."
- Albino_Wendigo
Stephen Colbert Blockbuster GIF by The Late Show With Stephen ColbertGiphyCold Cuts Too Cold
"I worked at Arbys as a teen. At the time we had a new angus cold cut sandwich. This woman came in and ordered it. It was like a $12 meal."
"Gave her her drink cup, a min later she comes back and throws the cup at me because we didnt have any drinks she liked. We had like 10 different sodas, coffee, iced tea, lemonade, water, fruit punch, etc. Not sure what exactly she wanted."
"Anyways, I give her her sandwich and fries, she takes them to the table, takes one bite, comes back and slams the tray on the counter complaining that the sandwich was cold. I informed her that its supposed to be made that way. "Where? Where does it say that its a cold sandwich?" I pointed to the menu and said "in the name. COLD CUT sandwich""
"I ask her if she wants me to heat up her sandwich for her. No she doesnt. Does she want me to make her another one that is hot? No. Does she want something else to eat? Nope. Does she wanted a refund then? No! She just walks out! She spent $12 to take 1 bite of a sandwich and didnt even take the refund."
- stitchmidda2
"Sounds like she got buyer’s remorse and expressed it in the most childish way possible. Many such cases"
- akaTim
No Plastic, No Logic
"I worked at a Target at a town in CA that independently enacted a plastic bag ban a year or so before it was a statewide thing, so I got the joy of explaining that new rule to everyone. No plastic bags, paper bags are 10 cents, you can bring your own reusables or buy them for a buck."
"I could sometimes turn the mood by suggesting that they save the dime and carry out their stuff in whatever laundry hamper/bucket/storage tub they also happened to be buying."
"So a lady comes through and buys a cat litter box and a bunch of grocery items, gets in a snit about the bag thing, and when I point to the litter box (basically just a plastic bin) and say she can just take her stuff out in that, she gives me the most DISGUSTED look and declares 'I will NOT put my FOOD in a LITTERBOX'."
"Then she stomped off carrying a wobbly loose pile of groceries in one arm and the box that has never yet seen a cat dangling in her other hand. Good luck in life, girl"
- WankSpanksoff
"Oh god I worked at Macy's in Seattle for two holidays in a row, and Seattle had the plastic bag ban before the rest of the state, so I completely understand what you went through with people just being b**ch about the bag tax. Ours was 5 cents, though. And it has already been a thing for a while before my first season working there, and obviously by the second season working there... I excused the few customers who weren't from the state - in a few cases, they weren't even from the country - from being stupid, but SHEESH."
"Also to be honest when it got busy I'd just give people bags for free. Not worth explaining the whole thing and people going "Well that's OUTRAGEOUS" to me like I have any control over bag-related mandates."
"It was especially stupid when people would be OUTRAGED over the bag thing when they had already come from another store in the mall. Like, okay, even if they didn't charge you for the bag THERE the fact is that you have a bag with you right now from that store that you can just put your purchase in."
- OneGoodRib
Should Smile more
"I was a server at a local Italian/pizza place. I was a waitress and this was a busy Saturday. One table (that seemingly had no issues) asked to talk to my manager. I ask if anything was wrong, they say no, they just want to talk to him. After they leave, i ask what was going on with them. He said they complained that I wasnt friendly enough/smiled enough."
"He asked if the service was poor. No, they said I was very attentive and always had full drinks and everything they needed."
"Was their order messed up? Nope. Food was amazing!"
"What was wrong? She didnt seem happy/friendly/didnt smile"
"Manager tells them that my dad had just died a week ago. Guests suggest that maybe I should take time off of work if I cant smile for customers."
"What. The. F*ck!? Cause like, server dont get paid time off, i HAD to work or I would have lost my apartment etc"
- yosarianmarx
Sarcastic Yeah Right GIF by BounceGiphyWe're betting pretty much every one of those people is, at the very least, a polite dining guest and solid tipper when they're at restaurants, not going to tell people they don't deserve celebrations, and doesn't tell servers they shouldn't be allowed to work if they can't smile and be chipper right after their dad died.
The up side to that, though, is that if you're a people-watcher then this is more like the Superbowl.
Reddit user kingandy2007 asked:
Food industry staff of reddit. What are some horrors you saw yesterday on Valentines Day?
So... we need to amend our previous simile. This isn't like the Superbowl. You know how when people watch the Superbowl in every paper towel commercial they're all sitting on the edges of their seats? Then someone cheers and somehow manages to flip a tray of guacamole, chili and fruit punch onto a blindingly white carpet? (Like any rational human being would have a Superbowl party on white carpet.) And the fruit punch always spills in slow-mo and the juice just sort of flails about dramatically in the air before splatting onto the floor in a disastrous puddle?
This is that fruit punch.
That Escalated Quickly
GiphyOne of our favorite regular customers brought in her boyfriend for the first time and in her excitement she bumped into a table and knocked someone's cup off, which isn't bad but in her haste to pick up the cup she hit her head on the corner of the metal table and cut her forehead open. Blood everywhere. It looked like a mini crime scene.
She was totally fine! Just embarrassed. We cleaned her up and gave them a stack of free food cards because she's awesome and we love her.
Food Court
Food court at the mall, just a lot of dudes standing or sitting at a table for hours with flowers, gifts, etc. Some of their dates showed up, some left alone.
A Loan?
Last year I worked at a high-end sweets shop. Everything is top-notch as advertised, it was what people were willing to DO for it that scared me.
Chocolate covered strawberries? $50 per box of 4. We couldn't keep them in stock, and more than a few sweaty husbands begged us to make more and throw them in any container we had. One guy walking in on Valentine's morning offered to pay us double, even without the fancy romantic packaging (we didn't take it).
We had also sold a big embroidered heart-shaped box for nearly $100. One guy asked us how much it cost, left, and came back later with his friend. He'd asked him for a loan. To buy V-Day chocolates.
Relationships are wild.
That Sudden Realization
Just a bystander here, but I walked into a grocery store yesterday evening, which was pretty packed with last minute frantic looking Valentine's Day shoppers. I walked in at the same time as another man with a confused look on his face and I hear him say out loud to himself "Man, the store is pretty packed for a Friday evening...".
Then, we both turn the corner and are met with all of the last minute flower arrangements and Valentine's cards lay out and I see the man completely freeze and again out loud, he says "oh.. no... no no no! Today is Valentine's Day?! I'm so f*cked!" as he quickly runs to the chocolate section, joining the rest of the panic stricken dudes with the same looks on their faces.
Hope those dudes are all still alive this morning.
Not A Steak Fan
Bartender here, Not my guest but a guest in the restaurant threw up on his steak not even a minute after it was placed in front of him. His date kept surprisingly calm for that scenario.
Still Crying
GiphyNot a staff, but a bystander. My wife and I went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch, in a bid to avoid the crowds. Next to us, a dude got down on one knee and proposed (yes, in a Cheesecake Factory). The waitress was filming it, people were watching, she saw the ring and started crying, he smiled, and all looked good...
... Except when my wife and I left 20 minutes later, she was still crying, covering her face, and he wasn't smiling anymore. I couldn't hear well enough to know what they were talking about, but they kept speaking in low voices. Didn't look good.
Verbal Abuse
I had a man verbally abusing his wife at my table, and I don't mean talking over her and being rude. I mean saying things like "what the fck do you think you're doing you f***ing b****" and "I'll give you $36,000 to get the f*** out of here right now you piece of s***"
I had 4 different tables complain about them and we eventually asked them to leave. I've never seen anything like it before. At one point the guy went to the restroom and I went up to the wife and asked if I could help in any way and if she was alright. She was very stoic during the entire thing and half the time wasn't even looking at him.
I was just shocked that they somehow managed to sit through an entire dinner (app, entree and dessert). I just can't even imagine being that miserable of a person that you can constantly berate someone not really fighting back and manage to sit through an entire meal with that person.
When we eventually asked him to leave he asked who complained. We obviously didn't give him specifics just said "a few different tables" his response to that was "well f*** them then."
I've never wanted to assault someone in my life more than that piece of s***.
- thejabel
Personal Horror
My own personal horror story:
GM at my restaurant told me I had quickly become his best server (Been here since December). Been raking it in (for this restaurant at least) and have regulars ask for me close to every shift. I was pumped for Valentine's.
But no, I fainted in the middle of dinner service and got sent home. So here I am today, feeling like s***, and with a fraction of what I planned to make, and ruined four tables' Valentine's dinners.
Sex Worker Shenanigans
When I was a server/bartender:
We had a frequent escort come to our restaurant. It was pretty obvious she was a escort as this restaurant was in a wealthy neighborhood and she would be with a different man every time. Once when I served her she said to me I'd make good money if I joined her company....
So on Valentine's Day, she came in... big, gold hoop earrings, boobs hanging out of a floral dress & fake designer bag... she sat down with an elderly man who I figured was married bc he was wearing a wedding band. Anyway, long story short she "helped" this guy off under the table. Manager kicked her out & she never came back.
- MPic99
Movie Style
I bartend. I'm assuming this couple was on a date. They just ordered their food. In less than 10 minutes of their date, I saw the girl take a drink (and I mean a full 20 ounce beer) and throw it on the guy. It hit the people behind him, the walls, and it soaked the floor too. She immediately walked out almost in tears. The guy's face as he just sat there soaked in beer was indescribable. It was the most movie like break up I've ever seen happen in real life.
Coronavirus
I bartend in the lobby of a fancy hotel in Wisconsin. A woman put a cigarette in her mouth and asked what I would do if she lit it. I told her security would probably escort her out. She then proceeded to try and light it, calling me names, while her friends forced the lighter away from her.
Also, a couple Japanese dudes from San Fransisco were at the bar and this racist dude at the end of the bar kept demanding that I "check them for coronavirus" and he wouldn't shut up about how scared he was that they were there. I ended up cutting him off, asking him to leave. So many trash people last night.
Fake Reservations
My father manages a restaurant and he had a little argument with an IT guy a few weeks prior. The dude made a fake website for the restaurant and accepted over 200 reservations which led to the restaurant be very packed, lots of angry people and a few shattered glasses lol
This Cruising Couple
GiphyWork on a cruise, so I had a dinner last night and a lunch and dinner today.
Last night, there was this 1 lady who was obviously upset with her SO. I'm a photographer so they stepped to take a photo and he didn't want to but she had already paid for it so they had to. She was annoyed with him but she put on a smile.
Then when I went to show her the photo, she was so done with everything. She never got up to dance or anything. I wonder if he did something wrong or if she was sick but she didn't look like she was having fun.
A Protest
One of my tables, which seemed like a really sweet group of friends, turned out to be part of a protest. In the middle of trying to talk to them, they started holding up signs and screaming, while dozens more entered the restaurant along with news cameras.
They were protesting a raise in their rent, the people who own their building own the restaurant I work in.
What was frustrating is that while I understand the importance of fighting for fair housing and whatnot, it seems a little counterintuitive. They were protesting that they couldn't afford housing while also blocking me and my co workers from making the money necessary to pay for ours.
We ended up comping so much for the other patrons too.
Snooping
GiphyGuy and girl come in. they order food, seems all good - then the girl leaves her phone and goes to the bathroom. The guy picks up her phone and starts snooping. The girl comes back and catches him and is understandably pissed. She asks for their food to go. The guy looked guilty and the girl looked like she wanted to leave asap.
When she got the food she sort of shoved him in the chest and left. He paid for everything and quietly left immediately after.
Delicious Desserts
Even though I had to work my ass out to make a bunch of cute stuff in the pastry of the hotel (mostly cause we were "clean" in the middle of the evening), I saw something...
It's not an horror, but it's sad.
When I went to the restaurant to ask the clients if they were enjoying the evening, I saw a boy, in his 20s, ALONE, eating a whole lot of desserts.
10 minutes later I went to him to ask if everything was fine. He just asked who made the deserts, right after I say it was me and my team. He said with a sad expression in his face that they were delicious.
I appreciated the comment, but I didn't know what to say anymore...
Has a Male pastry chef, I never seen a situation like that, and I can't even imagine what that guy felt.
Forced Out
A single man came to the bar in our busy restaurant. He just wanted to sit and have some drinks and eat. This middle aged couple came to the bar cause they didn't want to wait, but there was only one seat. She sat down and we didn't have more chairs so he stood; he stood over the single man, loudly complaining, until the poor guy felt bad and got his check and left.
Didn't even get a chance to eat. F*ck those people. All the other servers were giving them stink eye and slower service.
- echeverianne
Lesbian Standards
Girl showed up and waited for an hour before her date came in. Her date came in looked at her and said, "Sorry. I might be a lesbian but I still have standards"
The girl was honestly pretty so I don't know why she didn't meet her date's 'standards.'
Fire
GiphyThe Texas Roadhouse in my town caught on fire and everyone had to evacuate in like 10 degree weather soaking wet.
- jadienn
Drinks
One of the worst I've ever seen wasn't this year but a while back I'm in a big section of deuces (I guess we all are on VD) running my ass off non stop and I must have checked on this married couple ten times. They didn't order drinks or food yet and it's annoying because you sort of have a timeline for the flow of each table and they're just holding you up because you can't bring them what they need and then do other things for a while. You're kind of on edge until they're good if that makes sense to those who haven't waited tables.
Anyway, after about a half hour of this I walk slowly up to ask for the millionth time if I could help them pick out a glass of wine or cocktail or if they have any questions. They've been arguing the whole time but quietly so I don't think it's that serious. The second I pause to say my line she looks at him really calmly and just blurts out "I want a divorce."
He got really red and said "I need a f*cking drink". I didn't think he was serious but she let out a huge sigh and agreed and they literally ordered drinks and then proceeded to talk it out and drink together.
Honestly the whole night was better after she said it but still one of the most shocking things I've heard.
Instant Karma
Not staff, but as I was taking my wife into Texas Roadhouse, this redneck looking dude came busting out of the place screaming insults at his date who was not far behind him. As soon as he crossed the curb, without looking, he got hit by a car exiting the lot.
Paramedics splinted his arm and patched him up, and his date didn't wait for him.
- Hoesy