21 Things People Do At Restaurants That Really Annoy Servers

I couldn't agree more, Hans. My kids were always great in restaurants. But I had twins, and the upside is twins (at least mine) learn patience and that they aren't the center of the universe. I always got compliments about how well behaved they were. I didn't have to do much, just stop the behavior when it did go sideways. What amazes me is that these parents lives would be so much easier if their kids didn't get out of hand.

True. That's why this post is directed at the parents/adults to take the child out and calm them

I'm sorry, but i have three younger siblings and know how that works sort of. That IS a spoiled brat.

Precisely. My thoughts usually only go as far as "please stop I'm tired"

Hold up. The parent should definitely calm the crying child or cut the meal short and leave. BUT the rest of us shouldn't believe the crying is from a spoiled brat. It's Not only selfish kids who make a scene. Autistic and special needs kids may exhibit undesirable behavior. The numbers of kids with special needs has seriously grown over the years. And there may be other understandable reasons for the melt down. Strangers don't know anything about a child's situation.

Exactly! Kids don't cry for no reason.

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Fûck them all equally though, in practice. I don’t give a shît why it happened, it’s annoying no matter why.

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This is so very true. The child is probably crying because they want their parents' attention.

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If the child is crying, the parents are probably abusive.

You can't "teach" a small kid to behave like that... it just doesn't work, they are not mentally capable of even comprehending "behaving". If you are talking about a 7 year old, then sure, you can teach them... but a 2 or 3 year old? If the kid behaves, it is luck not teaching. -- The adult is the one that has to know how to behave. 1st - make sure the kid has had a nap before you go to the restaurant. 2nd - make sure they had a snack. The #1 reason a kid is out of control is if they are hungry or tired. 3rd, if the kid throws a fit anyway, take them out to the car right away, and calm them down. -- With my 2 kids, I rarely had a problem in public, because I altered my schedule to meet the kids sleep/eat schedule. I only had one problem at a restaurant, and I took the kid out immediately. I couldn't calm them down, so I called my wife on her cell and said, "finish your meal and take mine to go, I'll wait in the car".

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SBW71 How do you know "that kid" doesn't have a disability?

Mewton’s Third Paw, I asked the question in response to the same repeated statements, and look I will say it again here but to you again, what should we do? lock all children with a disability away?

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How do you know that they don't have a disability?

That was well-deserved.

Hahaha

OMG This is fantastic!! I don't even care if it isn't true <3

That’s beautiful

If only that were always the case - there have been many times when I've tried to get the attention of the server and either he/she was nowhere to be found, or ignored eye contact. Not sure what I'm supposed to do in that case if I'm not supposed to do anything overt to get their attention, sometimes I've flagged down another server or busboy to say I'm ready for the check (or would like another bottle of wine, whatever), but that's not always an option.

Don't assume that because any woman makes eye contact with you it means she is madly in love.

amen

Exactly. The only situation I find it appropriate to touch them is when a work accident is imminent and you're there to catch their fall, help them stand up and such. But these things mostly don't happen, and even then, once they're fine, your "touching" is over.

Exactly. Just be nice!

I was pretty blunt on this. Usually I just looked at them very seriously and ask if they wanted to keep that hand. Then walk away.

As a former waitress/ bartender my rule for any guy with any girl was to always greet her first and NEVER joke with the guy she was with . Even if the guy is willing to disrespect the gal he's with, doesn't mean I was.

I PROMISE its nothing she hasn't dealt with, appreciated the apology and she moved on immediately. Unfortunately its part of the gig, sometimes it crosses the line, but if someone says they're sorry usually thats better than any tip and more appreciated.

I was in a Chinese restaurant as the client of an agency taking us out for business. The waiter kept teasing one of the account managers about his big ears and then even started flicking them. So weird.

waitress's dont touch your customers

bit jumpy, your lower arm, or what?

I was raised in a time when people were a lot more "touchy feely" than they are these days, so it doesn't really bother me. When I was a kid, little old ladies would grab you by the wrist and wouldn't let go until they were done talking to you. ;-)

It's more common at places like Hooters, Twin Peaks ...etc. these are restaurants where women barley have any clothes on. I get that flirting a little with the male customers may get you a bigger tip; but everytime they do that, it gives those gross guys justification for squeezing your butt. Neither action is right, so don't do either.

And again, why not ask politely? I have on dozen occasions in a bar at a later time asked if the kitchen was still open, sometimes 30 minutes before closing time, sometimes at, and sometimes an hour after closing time. If asked politely, a polite "sorry, only drinks" is the worst that can happen. More likely, you will hear something like "we cannot do any warm dishes but if a sandwhich is ok, I will be right back" and the kitchen probably needs to throw away less stuff.

Usually we Dutchies close the kitchen at 9 if the restaurant closes at 11 to avoid this sort of situation. I think it's a great system.

@WilvanderHeijden: I of course do not do that if the place as a whole closes, but, as you say, the kitchen closes. In a typical bar that serves food it would mean that part of the kitchen staff changes to bar work anyway, it just is not sustainable to the place to keep the kitchen "hot" when people not normally order more food but are just after the booze. ;)

I had a family of about 12 or so people come in once. Ranging from a couple babies, to kids, to adults, to grandparents. All of them fresh from the farm. It was 15 minutes til close. And we told them that, when they asked. They still took a full 10 minutes to decide what they wanted. Now it's 5 minutes til close. They ordered FOR HERE (at that job we had to allow it)! Stayed almost an hour past close. Moved a bunch of tables around, but of course didn't move them back when they were done. Left trash and food everywhere. Tracked mud from their boots all over my previously clean lobby. Assholes. People like that don't care about anyone but themselves.