Working in the restaurant industry can be both a amazing experience, and also make you hate evert single person that walks through those front doors. It all depends on the shift, who you're working with, and most importantly, the guests that you end up being sat with, there are many types of people that you'll end up meeting, an these are just a few of them that stick out the most.
1. The Substituter.
Everyone is guilty of this one at one point or another, where you substitute your fries for a salad, or do the additional up-charge on your side. These aren't the ones I'm talking about, this individual will take a menu item, and ask to substitute it with a completely different item, for example, "can I get the House Sampler, but instead of the nachos, can I substitute those for wings?" "Well, no, that appetizer is made so you have a taste of our fan-favorite items, so I unfortunately can't do that for you." "Okay, well, I don't want that then."
2. The Tip Minimizer.
The guest that will take everything into account on what you're doing, including how much "tax" is on the food, and will tip you based on that, even if you have excellent service and nothing was done wrong.
3. The "Vegan".
This one is becoming a bit extreme, now I'm not going to judge your eating habits or anything like that, but if you go out to eat, especially to where I work, "Buffalo Wild Wings" and ask what we have that's vegan, I'm going to be nice, and tell you our salads, or any of our black bean burgers, but in my mind, I'll be thinking you're seriously coming to a wing place and asking if we do anything vegan.
4. The Food-Waster.
Working at a wing place I see this the most, walking up to a table to clean it, and you see all the half-eaten chicken wings, and even some that are completely untouched. It's not my money, so it just gets tossed into a trashed, and I move on with my night.
5. Gigantic Groups.
This isn't horrible if the group shows up all at once, but if you're the type of people who say, "we're going to have a party of ten, and then twenty more people trickle in..."
6. The Fake-Birthday Table.
When ten different tables have "birthdays" in a row, we know you're lying, but since it's our job, we have to do it, so enjoy your free scoop of ice cream.
7. The Dying-Of-Thirst Individual.
This is one of the most annoying things that a server has to deal with, the person who sucks down an entire drink as soon as it hits the table, and keeps doing that each time you bring them a refill.
8. The "Regis Philbin".
The person who thinks your a contestant on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", and asks you 500 questions.
9. The Verbal Tip.
This one is almost as bad as The Tip Minimizer, this is the table that tells you you gave the best service, and they are definitely coming back and asking for you every time, but as they leave, you look on the table and see a big $0.00 written on a $100.00 tab. So thank you to that table, your kind words will help me pay my bills.
10. The Families.
Families are great don't get me wrong, but one thing that does get on a lot of servers nerves are the ones that let their kids reel havoc, and leave their food all scattered all over the table, and floor.
11. The Regular.
These are our favorites, they come in, sit in our section every time, and their order never changes. They make our days better, and are always up for us to sit down with them and have a nice conversation.