My pet peeve is when the server drops off the food and says will there be anything else. Then they disappear for the entire time. The problem is that I have now taken a bite of the food and find I'm missing or need some extra sauce on the side or just need an extra something or other and they are nowhere to be found. They should serve the food, ask if there is anything else, but then come back to check on you to ask if everything is to your liking or such.

I also hate when they topup the wine glass every two seconds. It is much preferred that they wait until the glass is almost empty before adding to it.

As for water, we just automatically say "Tap is fine, thank you". We don't even entertain the water choices.

My pet peeve is mainly a cultural one. As an European I have always hard time to accept that seconds after I'm done with my meal in an US restaurant I get the cheque even without asking for it. I know why this happens. Restaurant stafft relies on tips and so they have to get as many people as possible.

I don't care for when you go and sit down and seconds after receiving the menu they ask if you're ready to order It's one thing if I go to the place many times and know what I want, but when I don't even know what's on the menu, how do I even know what I want to order?

I will have to agree with that one. When my lady friend and I got out, especially a nice night out, we like to get a drinks, talk and maybe have a small appetizer before we actually order our meals. When we do go for a nice meal out we like to enjoy the meal, not scarf it down and run. May as well go to Mcdonalds for that. It also seems to bother the wait staff that for us, drinks are usually iced tea and Dr Pepper, we are constantly having their bar drink menu thrown in our face.

Minor irritant is when I look at the menu and listed are "soup of the day" or "ask your server about today's specials" and the waitstaff has to trudge back to the kitchen to find out what they are. Invariably today's special is either too fu-fu, something identical to something else on the menu, or sounds like it should be on the Maricopa County prison menu.

I was wondering how many posts it would take for someone to bring it up-nice to know it's not just me!

AND, they manage the find the smallest table stuck in the strangest place to stick the single female diner, too-drives me up the wall.

Are we an embarassment to them or something?? I've never been able to figure out why the hostility-I don't eat w/my fingers (unless it's finger food & even then it would be doubtful), I use my knife & fork as intended, don't use my shirtsleeve for a napkin, don't slurp, don't throw food, pay my bill & even tip, so what's the problem???

Sheesh!

I recently ate dinner at a restaurant where we were seated close enough to the server station that we could hear their conversation loud and clear. Granted, this wasn't fine dining, but hearing talk about the guy's latest sexual conquest isn't exactly something that customers should be hearing, I think.

I have no problem with folks refilling my water, but dont' spill it on me as you do so!

Letting me sit for 10 minutes without even acknowledging my presence, or letting me know who is my waiter is unacceptable - and frequently happens when I dine alone.


Having been a waitress in the past, I can understand both sides of a lot of these. At my training, we were required to acknowledge the guests within 2 minutes, check back 5 minutes after their food was served, etc. We were also required to attempt to upsell, and got cash prizes for the most 'add-ons' we sold (drinks, appetizers, desserts).

Several others have touched on this, but I won't hesitate to send a beverage back if I see that the server's fingers have been "inside the cylinder". Sometimes this happens when he/she is trying to carry too many drinks by hand.

My second is the server who comes by and asks "are we ready?", but if told "no", disappears for 30 minutes, as if you only get one shot at ordering your meal or you have to go to the end of the rotation of his/her tables.

I agree that the, "how is everything tasting?" comments bug me. The worst part of this is when they ask you before you've even taken a bite/taste/sip of anything.

This is one of, if not my single biggest pet peeve. Happens to me often.

I have never had this happen before but my wife was very annoyed when the server delivered our meal while chewing. After he place our plates before us he wiped his mouth. GROSS

I will never eat there again.

Well at least your check doesn't come WITH your food....I was at South Korea for a month and even at nice expensive restaurants the check comes WITH THE FOOD. That just screams "hurry up, eat, and get the .... out." and is highly offensive to someone paying $30+ per entree.

I hate it when the entree comes out only a couple minutes after the appetizer. Or worse, at the same time.

One of my biggest pet peeves is fellow diners who freak out on the waitstaff. There is a way to politely, yet firmly, address problems with your meal or service. Being abusive or argumentative, however, is a sure way to get a big 'ol loogie swished into your clam chowder before it's brought out. I'm not kidding.

By the way, the "ignore the solo diner" phenomenon is not female-specific. It's happened to me a bunch of times.

+1 though I usually don't care.

This thread does make me realize how tough being a waiter/waitress must be.

This is a fun thread for me to read having been a server for the last six odd years. I'm pretty sure that I don't do too many of the things listed so far. One poster mentioned that they dislike it when the server clears their plate while others are eating, I personally don't like to sit with a dirty plate in front of me. I guess that's just a matter of taste. I've worked at restaurants where they told us to wait until all were finished, while my current location says, "If they're not using it, it doesn't need to be there", so I personally subscribe to that theory.

On that note, I'll list my pet peeves, which I would wager are far more nit-picky than most of you. I've gotten to the point where I don't like to go out to eat anymore, just because I know I'll get pretty apathetic service. But, here goes.

• Not getting greeted by anyone for 10 minutes. Come on, I've done the job. If you can't at least be in your section every couple minutes, you should send someone else out to check on your section.
• Ordering a coke and seeing it take 10 minutes to get to me. It takes approximately 20 seconds to walk to the drink station. It takes 3 seconds to put ice in a glass. It takes 10 seconds to fill it with Coke. That does not equal 10 minutes.
• Servers that say "guys".
• A server that says "That's new. I haven't tried it yet". That is just lazy on the part of the server. At least lie.
• A server with a wrinkled shirt. If they had a "real job" as us in the industry sometimes refer to it, they wouldn't show up with a wrinkled suit. Why do I have to see your lack of personal care at my table?
• Servers explaining obvious items. I once had a server say "The fish of the day is a cajun grilled salmon. That's a piece of salmon, grilled, topped with cajun seasoning." Amazing.
• Nickel and diming. I don't need to be asked at every turn if I want to add this or that. I ordered what I want. The exception to this is if the server thinks it improves the dish considerably and tells me so.
• Being at a restaurant and my server tells me they're a vegetarian, and thus they can't give me any recommendations. Again, lie.
• Stacking dirty plates within eyeshot of my table.
• Hearing the same thing verbatim at another table nearby that your server just said to you.
• If the server asks me if I need change. Just say you'll be right back and I promise I'll catch you if I don't need any. It's just a slightly less rude way to say "Is my tip in here?".
• Servers that don't know how to time things. If I just got my appetizer, I don't need my salad right away. If I just started my entree, I don't wanna think about dessert yet. If I'm in a rush, I'll let you know. (As a sidenote, my favorite thing that a table can say is "We're in a rush." Cool. So am I.)
• Seeing another server in the restaurant that is clearly not busy walk by my obviously empty glasses and/or plates. I know it's not your table bud, but I might be next time. Help a brotha out.

Now a quick list of things that my guests can do to annoy me: (This oughtta rile some of you up )

• Putting shrimp tails or the like on the table instead of your plate. Were you raised in a cave?
• Letting me know you need a refill of a very obviously bone dry drink. I see it, you'll get it. (Note: This does not apply at the Applebee's or Chili's of the world -- They actually don't know you need a refill. They're that bad).
• Trying to get my attention while I'm talking to another table. Wait your turn. I'd rather have you call me names than interrupt me at a table.
• Demanding to be seated as an incomplete party. My restaurant goes on a 30 minute wait at lunch. It really "grinds my gears" to have one person holding up a table that I could have sat with guests that would actually like to eat. If you wanna sit down so you can have something to drink, a host should be happy to get you something in the lobby.
• Guests who can't EVER sit at the table at which they're being seated. This is a little bit different beast when the restaurant is completely empty, but assuming there's some volume, the hosts are probably seating you there for a reason. (To comment on others that don't like to be sat near others when the restaurant is slow, I submit that a) it's far easier for a server to wait on tables near each other, and b) that way the server doesn't have to clean tables that have already been reset. I know that might not be a big deal to you, but when you have a 3 table section and you have to reset 12 tables, it's kind of annoying).
• Asking me what the fish special or vegetable of the day is after I've already told you. If you say you forgot, cool. If you weren't listening to me, your bad.
• At large tables, having a couple people start up a conversation in the middle of my "feature presentation". Come on. I'm speaking to the table and you're gonna start talking shop? Do you do this in your tele-conferences?
• Approaching the table to greet it and get drinks and have the table not even acknowledge my presence. I know your business is important, but I assume you did come to a restaurant so that you would get some service, say, maybe some food and drink. Help me do my job. I promise I'll be gone in a minute.
• People who order prime rib and then complain its too fatty. Or people who order an item without its accompanying sauces/condiments and then complain its bland. Well...eat it the way it's meant to be served and you might like it. Same goes for well done steaks. If I hear that one more well done steak is "too dry", I'm gonna stab myself in the eye with a steakknife.
• Asking me for something that you just asked someone else for, so I waste a trip, and we waste product.
• Ordering things not on the menu with the idea that they've always been there, then telling me I'm wrong. Case in point: My restaurant apparently served sweet potatoes about 8 years ago. It never fails that once a week, a person will come in and say "I'll have the sweet potato,", "I'm sorry sir, we don't serve sweet potatoes," "You did when I was in here last week," "No sir, I've worked here for over four years, and we haven't ever served sweet potatoes," "No, I definitely had sweet potatoes here last week." (Note me slitting my wrist with a steakknife).
• Campers. I'm all for enjoying your time at a restaurant, but if you took 40 minutes with your meal, and 2 hours after your meal, 1 hour of which the restaurant was on a wait, that's just a little tacky.
• When I say "I'll have another diet coke right out, anything else I can bring?" when I'm quality checking a table, and that person says "Well I'll take another diet coke!", you actually don't get one anymore. You cancelled mine out. (j/k, I actually bring one, grumbling all the way).

And lastly, a few things I think customers/guests THINK make servers mad, which really don't bother me at all:

• A complicated order. You like it how you like it. I'll get it right.
• Sending a steak or other item back because it's not prepared correctly. I want your food to come out right, if it didn't PLEASE let me know. Don't wait until the end and then say, "Yea, that wasn't very good" as I look at an empty plate.
• Just ordering water. I'd rather have you order water than a diet coke. Diet coke is drank more quickly than spring water in the Sahara. Water is much easier to refill, and I don't really care about the $2 in sales.

I just realized that no item I listed had anything to do with tips, which is a rarity for me in the DiningBuzz forum. Feel free to comment away for you offenders of my "What Not to Do" category.

Chris