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We Want Plates is a community of both regular people and dedicated foodies who are joining their forces to make restaurants serve food on actual plates, not on bits of wood and roof tiles. To do so, they are shaming all the ridiculous food presentations they are receiving online, and their crusade has made them quite famous.
Founded in 2015 by Ross McGinnes, We Want Plates already has 157K followers on Twitter, 100K on Facebook, and 30K on Instagram. However, the biggest unit of their army is located on Reddit — over 650K troops. I think it's safe to say that the growth of the project is a pretty good indication that restaurants should think twice before serving cured meat on a bone or pouring a cocktail into a baby bottle. At least I hope so.
More info: wewantplates.com | Facebook | Instagram |Twitter | Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Welcome To Hell
Titas Burinskas 5 years ago
The last photo of the guy looking at the server, like, "are you seriously doing this?" made me lose it.
One of the moderators of the We Want Plates subreddit, Merari01, said that even though the food itself is the cornerstone of dining, its presentation is important too. "A wonderful meal is enhanced by a superb presentation. But an overly excessive display can detract from the meal," the moderator told Bored Panda.
"For me, the line [between creative and absurd] presentation is crossed when the creativity hinders the enjoyment of the food. Food that cannot be eaten without messing up the table, because the sauce gets everywhere since there's no plate but a piece of slate used. Food that cannot be eaten without carefully dismantling it from the display on which it is mounted and pinned. Our current top post is a good example. You'll have to dismantle the display and then there isn't much room on the board for cutting the meat."
RELATED:
#2
Edible Plates Only
Truth Monster 4 years ago
This one I kinda like. If they are using a recyclable paper to help keep it hygienic underneath I wholeheartedly approve.
In an earlier Bored Panda interview, McGinnes noted that some restaurants put food on strange things, because they want to try to stand out from the crowd. "My local pub used to do a great Sunday roast: twelve quid, piled high, tasted great and yes, it came on a plate. One weekend they added a quirky offering to the menu: little sandwiches, pies, dainty cakes, and mini milkshakes served on a miniature picnic bench. The benches, painted bright pink and yellow, sat on top of tables seating actual grown adults. And what was the first thing these infantilized diners did? It wasn't try the food — it was whip out their phones and take a picture."
#3
This Restaurant Is Rated 4.7/5 Stars
Over the following months the picnic benches became increasingly popular, coinciding with the specials board becoming progressively smaller, before it eventually disappeared altogether. "I sat there one Sunday, watching bench after garish bench emerge from the kitchen like a technicolor carnival of idiocy, before my usual roast arrived. The meat was cold and the potatoes were burnt. It was once their main Sunday trade, but the traditional roast had died an unpalatable death. But that’s OK because they were doing a roaring trade with the benches, right? Sure, until the pub down the road started doing them too. Then the one around the corner. Before you know it, everyone’s doing the same ‘quirky’ thing, except it’s not ‘quirky’ any more because you can’t move for mini picnic benches and now all their roast dinners are rubbish to boot."
Yes, serving bread chips on a comb might get your restaurant tagged in a photo on social media, but customers will probably also caption it "NOPE" and won't come back to your place ever again.
When you're done enjoying this post, check out the equally hilarious posts we did on We Want Plates here and here.
#4
Eggcelent Fried Bitterballen
#5
Chickenfingered
#7
Little Bite Size Appetizer Served On A Box Of Uncooked Potatoes
#8
Cursed Cocktail
#9
Deconstructed Hand S'more?
#10
A Friend Of Mine Showed Me This Photo Today, Served In A Restaurant In Las Vegas
Andrew Gibb 4 years ago
you could order two of these and not have to go shoe shopping afterwards
#11
This Was A Tiramisù, The Top Layer Was Crushed Oreos. Delicious, But How Did They Come Up With This?
#12
We’re Just Eating This Cake With Our Faces
#13
Yes That Is A Bagel Filled With Cheese Mounted Like A Deer Over A Bowel Of Tomato Soup
#14
Old School Friend Just Posted This Abomination
#15
I'm Glad To See They Be Serving Ramen The Traditional Way
#16
Does This Count?
Luisa Vasconcelos 4 years ago
A bit twisted, a bit sick, a bit lack of sleep, a bit of "who aprove this idea" and a lot of What da f... uck.
#17
It Finally Happened To Me Last Night
#18
They Call This Everything But The Kitchen Sink
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
It would have looked SO yummy without the sink. But now I'm thinking of dirty dishwashing water.
#19
Browsing Through My Old Photos And Found This... Chips In A Pine Cone!
#20
I Guess There Is Technically A Plate... But Common
#22
Big Dawg Breakfast Served In An Actual Dog Dish
#23
Thanks For The Plate But Am I Supposed To Lick The Glass Clean?
#24
Tiramisu Served In A Coffee Maker
Degucat 4 years ago
Except you can't really deep clean those pots, you should just wipe after brewing, they're supposed to be coated in coffee oils and if you scrub it'll rust
Load More Replies...
lakitha tolbert 4 years ago
Does anyone else think the owners just ran across what they thought were interesting props, and decided to slap some food in or on it, regardless of whether or not its related to any theme?
Momma Panda 4 years ago
This is only made for you to think tiramisu goes to the bottom. Spoiler alert: it's only half the size you think
#25
Cured Meat Served On A Bone
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
In my opinion this isn't even bad compared to most of the others. It functions well as a plate and looks exceptionally clean.
#26
Fries In A Maison Jar... Why
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
Not the worst of the bunch... but the last fries are going to be squished and hard to reach. Also, I am now craving saucy fries.
#27
[i Ate] Pizza In A Jar
![[i Ate] Pizza In A Jar](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/5fc8e12b9e8ab_3mhkrtfaeaq51__700.jpg?utm_campaign=rebelboost_true "[i Ate] Pizza In A Jar")
#28
Some Goober Filled My Drink Full Of Rocks. Does This Count?
#29
Excuse Me?
#30
Really Hoping That Isnt Lead Paint
#32
A Shovel Is Not A Plate
Erin Kavik 4 years ago
If they needed to use a plate to place this dinged up shovel containing food, why not skip the middle man and put the food on the plate?
#33
I'm In A Fancy Italian Restaurant And They Just Served Me This
#34
Wings From A Tonka Truck
Young Minami Kotaro 4 years ago (edited)
Can we take the toy truck home? my son will love it...
#35
At Least It Has Straws!
Hugh Cookson 4 years ago
One thing I was taught as a young Chef apprentice was this; ' when you are making a dish there 3 things to consider when presenting it - too little, just enough and too much' .This monstrosity falls firmly into the latter category !!
#36
What's The Best Way To Tackle This Meal? Seafood Special Served In A Vintage Tackle Box
rabbitsrabbit 4 years ago
its cute + practical to put the ice, display the goods and easy to grab - its a win
#37
Tfw You Misread The Menu And Thought You Were Ordering A Cheesecake And You Get This Monstrosity
#38
This Is Just A Creative Way To Give Us Less Shrimp
#39
Put The Ramen In A Bowl Ffs! (Found This On Instagram, Served In A Bar, Hope It Belongs Here)
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 4 years ago
Imagine tryjng to take a swig of drink but distracted by conversing you swig your....top ramen? $8.99 for this glass of goodness.
#40
Hand Tuna
#41
My Son's Grilled Cheese Came In A Doggy Bowl
#42
We Wanted Plates But An Exception Was Made
#43
Don't Tell Me What But Atleast Tell Me Why? From A Cafe In Mumbai, India
Young Minami Kotaro 4 years ago
Actually it's cool concept for me... coz they put the food in proper way
#44
Finally Caught One In The Wild! (Pun-Intended)
#45
Clearly Designed To Make You Feel Like An Animal Eating Twigs Off The Forest Floor
Vikram Bedi 4 years ago
Looks like leftover veggies from a weekend market , scattered on the road.
#46
Pumpkin Ice Cream In A Pumpkin
Estella Shang 4 years ago
I had coconut ice cream in a mini coconut. Very intense coconut flavor.
#47
You’re Joking
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
I have no idea how you're supposed to eat that but it's making my sweet tooth water 🤤
#48
Is A Whole Plate Too Much To Ask For?
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
They're worried if you have a whole plate you'll realise buite very little food that is.
#49
I Simply Do Not Understand
Candace Fitzpatrick 4 years ago
This is pretty common where I live, a beer and a Caesar ordered together. Lots of restaurants and bars want to make their Caesars better than the others and garnish it with crazy stuff. I garnish mine with one skewer of olives, mini gherkin, spicy green bean and pepperoni stick. A bar I like in Toronto puts a slice of pizza on top, as well as other stuff. Google the Landing Cure if you want to see what one looks like.
#50
Our Ice Cream Was Served In A Sink
#51
My Cheese Cake
#52
At Least It Tasted Good
#53
Marshmallow On A Paver
#54
Why?
Young Minami Kotaro 4 years ago
Why? from u.. Why? from me.. & a lot of Why? from other confused pandas
#55
An Upside-Down Beverage, You're Supposed To Drink With A Straw From The Saucer
#56
Everyday We Stray Further From God
#57
The Inhumanity
#58
Grilled Cheese On A Skewer. Looks Delicious But What’s Up With The Presentation?
#59
The Waiter Had The Audacity To Joke It Was Loaded
#60
Samosas On A Bike
#61
This Drink Was Called The Almost Famous. The Coffee Butters Tasted Like Ash Tray. When He Put The Ash Tray To His Mouth The Drink Leaked From The Holes Meant To Hold Cigarettes
#62
2x4 Really??
#63
Nothing Says Delicious Dessert Like Eating A Pile Of Sprinkles Off Of A Cutting Board
#64
Hummus In A Rolling Pin
#65
Kobe Beef Bun A Piece Of Structural Steel (Sushi Samba, Covent Garden UK)
#66
How About A Refreshing Pint Of French Fries?
#67
Why Doesn't The Butter Deserve A Bowl Like The Tapenade?
#68
A Friend Of Mine Sent Me A Pic Of His Chili Soup
Vikram Bedi 4 years ago
It looks like a flower pot... but hot drinks are served in earthen utensils called “kulhad” mainly tea or kahwa...
#69
How About A Table For The Table?
#70
The Pan Was Still Scalding Hot
#71
They Gave Us A Hand
#72
Finally Found One In My Hometown
#73
It’s Called Carry Out But This Is Taking The Piss
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
If you get to keep that super cute little suitcase, I think it's worth it.
#74
“Can I Get Two Drinks And 2 Tacos With Salsa On Only One Part Of The Taco” ... But This Place Did Have Plates For Most Things And It Looks Pretty Good
#75
The Typical Lunch On A Slate With The Added Addition Of Ghost Cutlery
#76
I Mean It Was One Of The Juiciest Steaks...but Why On A Flat Cutting Board
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
TBF, it is a cutting board and you are going to be using a steak knife. However, the board will be reused and therefore hygiene could be an issue if it's not cleaned properly.
#77
My Friend’s Side Of Sausage At Brunch Looked Like They Had To Go Into The Forest To Forage For It And Then Ran Out Of Regular Plates
#78
Noodles On Sticks
#79
It Even Has Miniature Clothespins
#82
Fried Shrimp Served On A Wooden Lightning Bolt With An Attached Goku Figurine
Young Minami Kotaro 4 years ago
It's kid's meal, it's toys included, it's cool.. nothing wrong here
#83
Steak Tatar Served With A Beef Fat And Butter Candle That You Have To Wait To Melt Before You Can Properly Mix In And Eat With
HappyPig1723 4 years ago
Judging by how this restaurant's serving is, I wouldn't want to wait ANOTHER 20 min.
#84
We Want Plates - And A Table And Chairs Would Be Nice As Well Come To Think About It
ADHORTATOR 4 years ago
Where is the problem here? You can sit, you have a table and the food is on a plate made of slate.... everything fine
#85
The Back Of My Own Hand Has To Be The Worst Food Holder!
#86
From The Ig Of A Bar Near Me. There’s Nothing I Love More Than Taking A Nice Refreshing Sip Out Of A Bong, Or A Lightbulb
#87
My Dad’s Veal Parm... He Wasn’t Complaining Though
#88
So, Heard Everyone Slurps Their Noodles.... And Called Chef's Special At That
Vikram Bedi 4 years ago
Looks like vermicelli ... used to make sweet dish with milk and dry fruits...
#89
Is This A Joke
Truth Monster 4 years ago
Oh I know this restaurant, I think. It's called Lambert's. They throw rolls at you. the paper towels are for the okra and some other fried stuffs they come around with. It's a very popular destination. Food's pretty good, but the portions are massive. And they offer refills on some foods if you can eat it.
#90
The Rocks Are Probably Heated
#91
What An Absolute Abomination...
#93
What Do We Want!?! Not That!
#94
Interesting Way To Eat Bread In Andalucía, Spain
HappyPig1723 4 years ago
The egg carton thing is kinda-good, and I've had bread on a napkin before, so while it isn't my ideal dining situation, it's actually fine.
#96
Cheese Sticks With Salad Underneath, In A Margarita Glass, In A Dry State
#98
Lamb Chops On A Washing Line
#99
Wheelbarrow Food Challenge
#100
Food On A Rock On A Board
#101
$30 For 3 Scallops, Hash, And A Rock
#103
Pasta, On A Cutting Board, To Share
#105
Sandwich And Fries In A Crate. Excuse Me?
Candace Fitzpatrick 4 years ago
Secure the beer in the corner and I wouldn’t mind this if I were attending a hockey game.
#106
Cheesecake Served On A Slate
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Kate J 4 years ago
What is with the ridiculous trend of skewering food on top of drinks? It looks kinda neat, but must be a pain in the ass to eat.
Cassie 4 years ago
A lot of those odd serving objects aren't going to go through the commercial sanitizing dishwasher, either.
Load More Replies...
kate h 4 years ago
I'm pretty certain these cReAtIvE ideas came from some douche marketing people from corporate sitting around in a conference room who don't know how restaurants (or food safety) work. Chefs and servers are embarrassed and each "presentation" adds wasted prep time. Then there's the poor minimum wage dishwasher who has to attempt to clean all this crap. And when this stupid trend dies, more trash in the environment.
Helen Haley 4 years ago
I'm all for creativity, but this wreaks of trying too hard and douchebaggery.
Freya the Wanderer 4 years ago
There is a point where creativity degenerates into sheer insanity.
Load More Replies...
Raine Soo 4 years ago
The level of pretension on some of these presentations is astounding. Good food is good food. I don't need all the bells and whistles, and clothes pins, shovels, tackle boxes, flower pots, sinks, toys, and old shoes. Have I left anything out?
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Made a couple of comments on particular posts, but most of these aren't that bad. However, as per my comments, hygiene and possible contamination does concern me.
K-Dawn Bennett 2 years ago
All of these are disgusting, unappetizing and just plain stupid. I would never eat at these places. I've seen the cake on a glass on one of those cooking channels. It was disgusting on tv, too.
Javiera Gotelli 4 years ago
Some of the comments make me wonder if people in the U.S eat anything that doesn't come in a cardboard plate from a mall food court. Such uneducated people!! Some of the photos are ridiculous/gross, but there are quite a few that are actually pretty standard serving style at any +2* restaurants, even in sh*thole countries like the one I was unfortunately born in.
Monica Pryts 4 years ago
We're uneducated because we want real plates when we eat out?
Load More Replies...
Варела Несабака 4 years ago
cake "mom's favorite flower"
(COCOCO Group restaurants in Saint-Petersburg) 494f1444df...ab9201.jpg 
Tammy Ralph 4 years ago
These are beyond a joke, with most of them I would have told the restaurant to keep it.
Katinka Min 4 years ago
Almost of all them make me shudder just for hygiene reasons. And I loathe wasting food - and there is a lot fo that going on, too. I have never ever seen anything like this in my country, probably for both those reasons.
Judy Dunlevy 4 years ago
I feel sorry for the servers as they struggle to balance these rocks and other insane items to the tables
Patrick O'Harris 4 years ago
People need to find a good balance between "looks neat" and "easy to eat" because many of those pics are a disaster or even worse, insults to whoever was hungry and stupid enough to eat there.
Patrick James 4 years ago
Most of these restaurants think they're being edgy and serving edible art, and they are just ridiculous
Abraxas 4 years ago
I'm startled, never seen such atrocities in Germany before. Where were these pics taken??
lorrie rothstein 4 years ago
I don’t understand why these people went into these restaurants and paid for this gross stuff. They didn’t see the menus? There must be pictures and reviews of these restaurants.
Kate J 4 years ago
What is with the ridiculous trend of skewering food on top of drinks? It looks kinda neat, but must be a pain in the ass to eat.
Cassie 4 years ago
A lot of those odd serving objects aren't going to go through the commercial sanitizing dishwasher, either.
Load More Replies... kate h 4 years ago
I'm pretty certain these cReAtIvE ideas came from some douche marketing people from corporate sitting around in a conference room who don't know how restaurants (or food safety) work. Chefs and servers are embarrassed and each "presentation" adds wasted prep time. Then there's the poor minimum wage dishwasher who has to attempt to clean all this crap. And when this stupid trend dies, more trash in the environment.
Helen Haley 4 years ago
I'm all for creativity, but this wreaks of trying too hard and douchebaggery.
Freya the Wanderer 4 years ago
There is a point where creativity degenerates into sheer insanity.
Load More Replies... Raine Soo 4 years ago
The level of pretension on some of these presentations is astounding. Good food is good food. I don't need all the bells and whistles, and clothes pins, shovels, tackle boxes, flower pots, sinks, toys, and old shoes. Have I left anything out?
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Made a couple of comments on particular posts, but most of these aren't that bad. However, as per my comments, hygiene and possible contamination does concern me.
K-Dawn Bennett 2 years ago
All of these are disgusting, unappetizing and just plain stupid. I would never eat at these places. I've seen the cake on a glass on one of those cooking channels. It was disgusting on tv, too.
Javiera Gotelli 4 years ago
Some of the comments make me wonder if people in the U.S eat anything that doesn't come in a cardboard plate from a mall food court. Such uneducated people!! Some of the photos are ridiculous/gross, but there are quite a few that are actually pretty standard serving style at any +2* restaurants, even in sh*thole countries like the one I was unfortunately born in.
Monica Pryts 4 years ago
We're uneducated because we want real plates when we eat out?
Load More Replies... Варела Несабака 4 years ago
cake "mom's favorite flower"
(COCOCO Group restaurants in Saint-Petersburg) 494f1444df...ab9201.jpg
Tammy Ralph 4 years ago
These are beyond a joke, with most of them I would have told the restaurant to keep it.
Katinka Min 4 years ago
Almost of all them make me shudder just for hygiene reasons. And I loathe wasting food - and there is a lot fo that going on, too. I have never ever seen anything like this in my country, probably for both those reasons.
Judy Dunlevy 4 years ago
I feel sorry for the servers as they struggle to balance these rocks and other insane items to the tables
Patrick O'Harris 4 years ago
People need to find a good balance between "looks neat" and "easy to eat" because many of those pics are a disaster or even worse, insults to whoever was hungry and stupid enough to eat there.
Patrick James 4 years ago
Most of these restaurants think they're being edgy and serving edible art, and they are just ridiculous
Abraxas 4 years ago
I'm startled, never seen such atrocities in Germany before. Where were these pics taken??
lorrie rothstein 4 years ago
I don’t understand why these people went into these restaurants and paid for this gross stuff. They didn’t see the menus? There must be pictures and reviews of these restaurants.
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