Restaurant Workers Tell Us Their Most Outrageous Customer Complaints

There’s no denying it: working in a restaurant is difficult. You truly want to provide an incredible experience for the customer (after all, they’re always right), but every once in a while, you’ll come across a guest who makes you question your faith in the food industry, customer service, and humanity itself. 

Did you know that ice floats? Or that pizza has cheese on it? We’d hope the answer to both questions is an astounding “yes,” but it turns out that this isn’t always the case. Restaurant workers took time out of their shifts to share the most outrageous customer complaints they’ve ever heard.

They’ll definitely have all your sympathy after reading these dumb complaints. Sometimes people just can’t be reasoned with.

It Was Just 10 Cents

A man once filed a complaint against me because after pulling out every coin in his wallet, he was still 10 cents short of his total. I personally spotted him the change to be nice, and the next day he came in to tell my manager about how I had “embarrassed” him and “held up the line.”

The one thing I’ll never understand is that if he was so embarrassed, why didn’t he pull out that dollar bill he had in his wallet? Reddit user: noneOclock

I Donut Get It

One of the weirdest complaints that I’ve heard was that the exact calorie count wasn’t posted so she could keep track in her food journal. Lady, this is a donut shop. That was followed by another lady complaining that we didn’t have a bin for recycling. Our city didn’t do recycling, unfortunately, so it wasn’t our fault.

Then she proceeded to buy another bottle of water after throwing her empty one in the garbage. Reddit user: servant0fthorns

 You Get What You Pay For

Some people truly believe they deserve the best in life, or in this case, the best burger, and that’s great. But you also need to be realistic, buddy. He wanted a burger cooked to medium doneness. Are you kidding me? It’s a fast food place, not a 5 star restaurant.

I mean, the best we could do is try, but seriously; our patties aren’t even thick enough for that to be realistic. Reddit user: redditor_inbound

McConfused

I was getting breakfast at McDonald’s one morning, and a woman came in with her two sons who were probably around 15 or so. One orders a sausage McMuffin, and the other orders a regular one. Each kid got the other’s order. Mom went over and complained that their order was wrong.

I stood there, hungover, and I was still smarter than three people combined. Just switch them! Reddit user: NewMachinist22

 What Are Fractions?

Guy ordered a ‘half pepperoni and green peppers, half sausage and pepperoni’ pizza along with a bunch of other stuff. Our computer system automatically simplified it so when I read it back, I said, “pepperoni pizza with half green peppers and half sausage.” He stopped me, objecting, “I wanted pepperoni on both halves, not the whole thing.”

I kind of chuckled, waiting for him to catch his mistake, but he was totally serious. I just said, “Sorry about that, I’ll correct it” and moved on. Reddit user: Jephta

 Put a Fork in It

The other day a customer, at Subway ordered a double meat double cheese everything on it sandwich and then complained to me that he couldn’t eat it without a fork and knife. When I offered him cutlery, he refused but continued to return to me to groan about his experience.

It sounded like that one child who is never happy with the toys he got for the holidays. Except, you know, this guy is an adult and it’s a sandwich. Reddit user: secaedelcielo

 Don’t Mess With My Meat

Customer ordered her brisket ‘extra lean.’ She brought it back and said it was dry and flavorless. We trimmed off every bit of fat (all the bark and flavor are on the edges). We explained that that is exactly what she ordered, and she flipped out and swore she’d never set foot back into our place.

Should have told the woman that it was her personality that was “dry and flavorless.” Burn! Reddit user: [redacted]

Mean on Caffeine

Worked at a coffee stand and once had a customer complain that I had put chocolate in her mocha. Followed that up with a lecture on why good service is important to make sure customers like her come back. She hovered and talked at me as I helped others, even after I provided the corrected chocolate-free mocha (also known as a latte).

Also once had a girl try to order a short 12oz soy breve…where “short” means 8oz and breves are made with straight half & half. She was dead serious; I think she was just trying to use too many fancy coffee terms. Reddit user: [redacted]

Why Is My Coleslaw Cold? 

I worked at Arthur Treachers in a mall food court as a fry cook. A lady came in and ordered the tuna salad sandwich and a side of coleslaw. I watched her sit down at a table, take a bite, and then come back to the counter. That’s when it began. “My sandwich is cold and my coleslaw is cold! I just ordered it, why is it cold?”

We tried to explain to her that both of those items are supposed to be cold. She tells the cashier that she usually gets them to go and when she gets back to work they have always been warm. Reddit user: GRZMNKY

Raging Blizzard

I had a woman peel out of the drive through, drive the wrong way in traffic, power slide into the parking lot, rip the door open, and smash a blizzard (DQ) all over the wall behind me while using the most imaginative language I’ve ever heard. Because I gave her a medium blizzard instead of a small.

Guess it didn’t occur to her that she could just throw the rest away. Or you know, share. Reddit user: [redacted]

I Have a Sticker

Used to work at McDonald’s. A guy pulls up and parks in the handicapped spot. Normally we don’t care, but we were super swamped, and an older lady complained that she had to walk far to the door. The manager asks me to go tell the man to please move his car.

I walk out to the older very overweight man and ask him if he had a handicap sticker and if not to please move his car. He slams open his glove compartment and yanks out a sticker and waves it right in my face. I say, “Ok thanks, sir” and walk back inside.

The man then comes inside completely angry, yelling at me and my manager that I was ‘very rude’ and that ‘if I park in the handicap spot then I have a sticker and I don’t have to show it’ and insists that I be fired. My manager tells the man, “Sorry sir, he will be severely punished, I promise.”

The man walks out, slamming the door on his way out. Before I can say a word, my manager looks at me and says, “What a jerk. I’m sorry I asked you to do that.” I say it’s cool and we all move on. Reddit user: HranHunts

Butter Me Up

Worked at a movie theater. Some lady asked for extra extra extra butter on her popcorn. It was gross, she wanted so much that I could feel it weighing the bag down. She came out after the movie and complained because the butter had gone through the bottom of the bag and onto her pants.

She complained that she wanted us to pay for her $150 pants because you can’t get that kind of butter out of clothes. I couldn’t believe it. But that wasn’t even the worst part. My manager ended up giving this woman $150. Reddit user: [redacted]

Quickie Sandwich

Fun fact: the workers at Subway are called “sandwich artists,” so it’s safe to say they care about their work. Still, it’s not called “slow food,” lady. At Subway, a customer complained because we made her sandwich too fast. At a fast food restaurant. I swear you just can’t win with these people.

Maybe she was lonely and wanted extra time to hang out while we made her sandwich. Maybe she was just insane. Who knows. Reddit user: [redacted]

Food Is Art

Is it false advertising or are people just really stupid? The world may never know. The guy wanted his sandwich to look exactly like the ones in the pictures. I made several sandwiches, and none of them were perfect. All of these were thrown away. I eventually made one that was good enough.  

It’s honestly not super uncommon for people to be upset that their food doesn’t look like the picture. The difference? Those people are 99% of the time drunk and just have the munchies. Reddit user: [redacted]

I Want My Linguini

There are a lot of different types of pasta; how about trying them all instead of being difficult? That would be too easy, I guess. We didn’t have linguini, so I suggested fettuccini instead. She asked if we could just cut the fettuccine noodles in half. Um..no. No we can’t.

Take 3 guesses about which restaurant this encounter took place at. Chances are it rhymes with “Molive Schmarden.”Reddit user: [redacted]

Bugging Out

Not fast food, but a bulk food store. An older lady once complained that the oats she had just bought had bugs in them; upon closer inspection, the bugs were the tiny shadows cast into the empty space between oat flakes. She simply would not believe me.

I guess, in her defense, would you really take a chance at eating bug-infested oats? Gross. Reddit user: advertentlyvertical

Trolling Customer

I have this one idiot that comes in once in a while and likes to mock and belittle me when I talk to him. “Alright, so just to be sure, you ordered ______?” He scoffs. “Duh, what else could I have ordered?” So I ask, “Do you want sauce with that?” Scoffs again. “Of course man. You dumb or something?”

“Do you need extra napkins?” Again, “What am I going to use that extra stuff for? To wipe my butt?” Just let me do my job! Reddit user: IntenseWhale

Coffee Complainer

And the award for the rudest person in Canada ever goes to…this lady. She said the coffee from Tim Hortons was too hot, then complained that the cups weren’t full enough, so we filled them fuller, then they spilled and she complained. She complained enough times that she got banned from the store.

That awkward moment when you start complaining about everything to get free coffee and end up just getting banned from the store instead. Reddit user: ott3ers

More Breadsticks, More Problems

Worked at an Olive Garden in not the best neighborhood many years ago. It was a common issue that people didn’t believe they had to buy something to get salad and breadsticks. Five people would come in, only three would order, and then the other two expected free salad and breadsticks.

They’d ask for four refills on salad and then be mad when the bill came and there was an extra charge on their bill for them having salad! So frustrating working there, especially with their “here’s a gift card cause you’re mad” attitudes. Reddit user: semadema

Mother Clucker

I was working at Chick-fil-A a few years back, and we had this guy come in and order about 15 meals for his business meeting. We get him sorted, loaded up, and off he sets. Some while later, dudicus maximus comes back in and just LAYS into us about how we screwed up and gave him all the wrong drinks.

Won’t shut up and just gets super indignant whenever we try to apologize or talk. About half an hour later, he’s still just rage red, and our franchise owner comes into the store to talk to him and get him to calm down. Basically the dude didn’t pay attention to what we told him.

We told him what each drink was and labeled them too. He started drinking his Coke only to discover it was sweet tea because he grabbed the wrong drink. But that was our fault? Reddit user: bladebaka

I Need a Discount

One time, a woman and her son came into my store and placed an order like normal, but after telling them the amount for their food, the mom asked me why I did not acknowledge the fact that her son had a speaking disorder and discount the food because of that.

I was just like…we only have military and senior citizen discounts. She was appalled by this and demanded a manager. And then she got her food for free and I got scolded for doing my job. Reddit user: thewizard1000

Didn’t Measure Up

One woman screamed for ice cream, and not in a good way, I promise. This lady came in with a ruler and measured her ice cream cone and came back up to the counter and said that her ice cream cone wasn’t exactly two inches high. I laughed so hard.

It’s not like we had a promotion promising that the ice cream would be that big. I don’t know what she was on about. Reddit user: snacksmcgee07

Let’s Make Money Off People

We delivered the food too fast. One customer asked for a square cut, then called to complain that the pieces were square. It took a few minutes for them to realize that ‘square’ and ‘triangle’ aren’t the same thing. Didn’t even apologize. They were probably embarrassed. Someone complained that we no longer had eggs in our salad. We’ve never had eggs in our salad.

A guy flipped out on me and said that all we were trying to do is make money off of people. He wasn’t wrong, but I am pretty sure that’s what businesses do. Reddit user: ResurrectedWolf

Canadian Pizza, Now!

Guy came into the Little Caesar’s where I worked and said, with complete conviction I might add, “I’d like a Canadian pizza please!” So I sold him one and he left…then came back five minutes later, freaking out because “This isn’t a Canadian! It has mushrooms on it!” A Canadian pizza has pepperoni, bacon, and mushrooms. 

That is literally the definition of a Canadian pizza. I explained this to him, and he asked how much it would cost to swap the pizza for a Meat Lovers. “$9.60,” I said (the full price of a Meat Lovers, since we can’t take a pizza back once it’s left the store).

He got very angry, said something like, “Well fine, I guess I’ll just EAT IT THEN,” and stormed out. Reddit user: orange-toque-girl

Just Keep Smiling

Once, someone raised their voice at me for having the nerve to smile while we were out of cheeseburgers. The reason was because we had no hot food at all because our grill hadn’t been cleared for the day by the fire marshal, which I had already politely explained to him.

The best part about working in food service? Being yelled at and blamed by customers for things you have no control over. Reddit user: ConnoisseurOfDanger

Say Cheese 

I was working at a pizza joint, and this lady orders a pizza. We bring it out and hear her say, “Oh.” Cashier asks what’s wrong, and the lady says, “I didn’t know you’d put cheese on it.” All of us stop what we’re doing and exchanges glances. Really, lady? But the customer is always right. 

We made her a new pizza and sent her on her way. She never came back to our establishment, though. Reddit user: Knightbear001

Don’t Fry About It

I was working at Five Guys. We had switched suppliers and were behind on some shipments. Thanks to this, we had run out of fry sauce for the dispensers. All in all, not a big deal, we can make it in the back. This guy comes in and orders a burger and fries.

He points out we’re out of fry sauce as we’re working on his order. I explain to him that we don’t have any, but we can make some. Nope, that’s not good enough. Dude gets visibly upset and demands a refund. Reddit user: [redacted]

Is Potato a Carb?

I’ll never forget this one particular woman who came in. Was she actually Regina George when she went on an “all carb” diet in Mean Girls? I mean sure, carb preferences and intolerances are real, but I had a customer that “didn’t want carbs, as she’s allergic.” She ended up ordering mashed potatoes.

I know this sounds fake, but I swear it happened. I promise! How do you not know potatoes basically are carbs? Reddit user: ssuperhanzz

FOAM-o

Not fast food, corporate coffee. Woman wanted the largest cup we had with 2 shots of espresso and the other 19 ounces nothing but foam (no liquid…just foam). After we made it, she would randomly just hand it right back to us and say “no,” expecting us to just make another one.

Her drink took 5x longer than everyone else’s. And I swear it had more to do with her mood than the drink. Oh, and she would barely break away from her phone for this. Reddit user: NocheGato

Give Me Another Milkshake

“The customer is always right.” This saying is the bane of any restaurant worker’s existence, and it also instills a major sense of entitlement in customers. Like the ones that do things like this. “I didn’t like this milkshake that I finished. Give me a new one for free.” This happens often. 

The worst part of all this is that they usually get more free food, just for making our lives miserable. Reddit user: [redacted]

Don’t Give Her a Knife

I saw a woman flip out at BK because she wanted a knife with her burger…so they gave her a plastic knife (also known as the only knife fast food places have). She wanted a real metal steak knife or something and lost it. Threw her food and drink at the employees behind the counter.

Was screaming, pushed her way through people to leave the building…got in her car, tried to peel out, lost control, and smashed into a cop car that was pulling into the drive-through. Karma. Reddit user: SlothofDoom

Well Orange You an Idiot

I served Chinese food at a grocery store and had a customer complain about the orange chicken because it wasn’t orange on the inside. Let’s be real. If the chicken was orange on the inside, the customer would probably still complain. 10 bucks says she was just trying to get a refund or free food.

Slightly concerned about the orange chicken this person has had in the past if they think that the inside is supposed to match the outside. Reddit user: [redacted]

I Can’t Eat That

Hashtag when you try to live your best life but an intolerance gets in the way: a guy came into Dairy Queen, ordered a cheeseburger and an ice cream, and sat down. When the server brought him his order, he started yelling and berating them, saying that he couldn’t eat it because he was lactose intolerant.

Did he expect all our servers to read his mind and be all like “Oh no, sir, be careful of your health!” Reddit user: BouchTikiTiki

Avoca-don’t

“YOU SMASHED MY AVOCADO CLOSING MY SANDWICH! I DON’T WANT IT MUSHY, I WANT A NEW ONE WITHOUT AVOCADO.” That guy was memorable. Another time, I made 5 sandwiches, and then the guy didn’t wanna pay for them anymore because the tax was like 1.19 and he said he shouldn’t be charged tax. “Why isn’t everything 5 dollars?”

One time, a lady came in and said, “My bread was hard when I tried eating it this morning!” Okay, so I look at the receipt. She bought this sandwich three days prior. Subway customers are so entitled. Reddit user: [redacted]

How Dare You Save Me Money

Had a woman come in and order a burger, fries, and Coke. Back in my day, if you rung those up separately, it’d come out a bit more than if you just rung in the combo meal. So being the friendly guy I am, I put in an order for a combo meal. She argued with me that she didn’t want a combo meal, she didn’t order a combo meal, and she wasn’t going to accept a combo meal.

It didn’t matter that I was saving her money. I canceled out the order, put it in the way she wanted, and told her the new total. She then complained about how much it was costing her. Reddit user: [redacted]

It’s Not Black and White

A customer complained that her meal was burnt and said that she was a regular here. She wasn’t and told us to clean the grill since it “shouldn’t be black and be white instead.” This was at Hawaiian BBQ, and the cook was laughing and told me that she was crazy after she left.

“Excuse me lady, what exactly made you a grill expert? Stop grilling us about our grill.” Way to go, boss. Reddit user: lazyfoo3

Grease Trap

Pizza delivery driver here. One of our customers complained because she ordered a large Meat Lovers pizza with double the amount of meat, added two servings of black olives, extra pepperoni (again), with bacon cheese stuffed crust. She called a few minutes after picking it up and said it was too greasy.

Ah, I see you were expecting our “light as air and has no calories but weighs thirty pounds” version. Reddit user: [redacted]

I’m a Millionaire, Man

Used to work at a Chinese takeaway opposite a quiet small town train station. We would often get drunks stopping by before heading home. We had two drunk young lads come in one evening wanting food to be ready before their next train came (last one that night) in 15 minutes or so.

I explicitly explained that we couldn’t guarantee it would be done in time, but they decided to risk it and wanted to order a banquet! Their receipt was for £15/20 or so. They missed their train and then tried to get the owner to front the money to pay for a taxi.

They said we “messed up their train home.” Boss told them politely that wouldn’t happen, and one of the lads put a chair through a double glazed window. Reddit user: [redacted]

Cheeseburger, No Cheese

Many years ago, I had a customer at Wendy’s order a “double with cheese, hold the cheese.” So I said a double burger then. He gets agitated and says, “No! I want a double CHEESEBURGER, just don’t put any cheese on it!” Again, young naive me tries to save the dude some money, but he gets irate and demands a manager. 

The conversation repeats. That was the day I learned you can’t fix stupid. I just went with it. Reddit user: somewhereinks

Winging It

A lady ordered five chicken wings, came back to the counter after eating three saying she didn’t like the flavor, so we made her another five wings with a different flavor. Five minutes later, she came back to the counter and said she didn’t like the new flavor after eating another three.

The GM is so scared of customer complaints to corporate that he gave her another five wings for free with another flavor sauce. This woman did stuff like this all the time. Reddit user: lenamariee

While these stories of restaurant workers probably made you laugh, just wait until you hear what kinds of requests hotel workers have heard while on the clock. From arranging a football pitch to requesting life-size cutouts of Disney princesses, these hotel workers share the craziest requests they’ve ever received…

When staying at a hotel, it’s totally reasonable to ask for things like towels, pillows, or soap- most hotels will give you these items at no additional cost. But there are some requests that are a little…”out there.” Have you ever been asked to find a camera-ready monkey, or a life-sized Disney princess cutout? What about a pair of camels, or ways to travel with a tiger?

Hotel guests have come up with some truly strange requests, and hotel workers around the country have decided to open up and share some of the nuttiest things they’ve ever been asked for. Keep reading to find out more about some of these strange, interesting, and downright crazy requests. You’ll be glad you’re not the one figuring out what to do with these wacky guests…

I May Need to Google That

The wackiest guest request I ever received came by email from a travel agent in Tasmania. She wanted to book a week’s stay for her client, an Anglican bishop, in the state of Tasmania with his wife. She asked if I knew of a place where his wife could ride a ‘hinny’ (which is like a donkey/horse hybrid). After emailing back and forth and doing some research, I was prepared to meet this couple.

We arranged for this couple to meet some of our Amish neighbors. The wife got to visit with their mules, as it was the closest we could come to a hinny. It was a wonderful visit for everyone after figuring out what they were looking for. They seemed to be happy with the mules, so everything worked out. I hope they enjoyed their visit. Reddit User: [redacted]

He Wanted the Best

The professional staff at St. Ermin’s Hotel in London, England isn’t shocked by interesting requests. They get a lot of requests for food, but never any as strange as this one. One guest wanted a daily serving of Kobe beef for a dog. Remember, Kobe beef is the super fancy kind that can go for hundreds of dollars. They catered to the dog by having a nearby restaurant prepare his food fresh each day….

It’s somewhat normal to spoil your pets. They’re members of the family as well. What isn’t normal is feeding your dog some of the most expensive beef on the market. It makes you wonder why someone would spend so much money on pet food. The dog would probably be happy with any type of fresh beef, instead of Kobe beef. Reddit User: [redacted]

I Need These, Please!

A man by the name of Sean Fitzsimons was a businessman based in Denver, Colorado. He traveled to Salt Lake City twice a month and decided to make his trips more interesting. “I got bored doing the routine checking in and checking out, so I thought, why not try to ask for a random request?” he told ABC News. Sean now comes up with interesting requests for hotel employees…

His most interesting requests to date are three pictures of Donald Trump looking confused, a photo of Grandma Winslow from Family Matters, and a pillow fort. He’s also asked hotel staff to draw pictures of him. This request got awkward, and he decided to stop asking that question when checking in to hotels. He thought he made the concierge uncomfortable with that one. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Strange Purchase

A guest visiting the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona needed help with some camels. The staff was asked where to find two to purchase. Concierge Victoria Cote did some research and actually located a place where the guest could purchase these camels. It was around a half-hour from the resort. Unfortunately, the transaction never happened, but it wasn’t for lack of trying on the concierge’s part….

What an interesting request. Who knew you could purchase camels in the United States? It does make you wonder what these guests were planning to do with the camels, though. It’s possible they just wanted some exotic pets, but we’ll never know. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Milk Bath

Some requests come at a pretty steep cost to the customer. This one definitely takes the cake. A guest once asked Sean Davoren, head butler at The Savoy, London, for a bathtub full of wild goat’s milk to bathe in. The milk itself only cost around $75, but it had to be sourced from Wales. The milk then had to be transported by taxi. The whole process of getting the milk cost around $800….

One it arrived and the customer bathed, the butler was asked to get 30 bottles of heated Evian water to clean the milk off the customer. I guess it’s possible that the goat’s milk can help your skin, but why would you want to bathe in it? It seems silly to waste goat’s milk and Evian water. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Celebrity Request

Seth Freedland and his girlfriend, Amy Marsh, are residents of Portland, Oregon and once spent a few days at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, California for a wedding. Seth decided to have some fun when booking their hotel room and added some odd requests to the form. He asked the hotel staff to fill his room with photographs of Jeff Goldblum….

When Seth and Amy arrived at the hotel, they realized the staff had fulfilled his request. There were photographs of Jeff Goldblum in the bathroom, on the desk, and stacked on the bedside table. Amy had a crush on Jeff Goldblum, especially his role in Independence Day; he never expected the Huntley Hotel to fulfill his request, and it made for a memorable hotel stay. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Specific Type

The strangest thing about a hotel guest requesting a dinosaur isn’t the request itself. It’s actually how often something like this is requested. Guests at the Novotel Wolverhampton made it simple for the staff when they asked for a T-Rex picture. The staff happily got them what they asked for. Something happened in 2011 at another hotel, however, that upped the ante on these types of requests….

A guest of the Monte Carlo Inn in Ontario asked specifically for a baby stegosaurus. He wanted a real one. The best the staff could do was a miniature plastic version. They left a note apologizing to the guest with the tiny stegosaurus. I’m not sure how the guest thought it was possible to get an actual dinosaur in today’s world. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Fort With an Added Request

The W Hotel in Seattle, Washington had an interesting request from a guest in 2013. They often get requests for extra pillows so children can build a pillow fort in their hotel rooms. This request was a little different, however. The guest wanted the staff to build the pillow fort and also wanted a towel folded into the shape of an elephant and a picture of ‘sexy fruit’ to be placed on the nightstand….

The pillow fort could be a childhood dream, but the added request of a sexy fruit picture is a little strange. I guess everyone has their own fetishes, but this one’s interesting. The request for a folded towel is even fairly normal, as some hotels already do this. It makes you wonder what they wanted with this strange request. Reddit User: [redacted]

Feeling Ill from a Certain Color

I had a lady come to stay that was allergic to the color purple. Yes, she was actually allergic to color. She emailed me before she arrived and asked that any purple room amenities, furniture, or fixtures in her room and around the hotel were removed so she wouldn’t get sick. This was a problem for our hotel for more than one reason….

All of our shampoos and lotions were lavender scented. We had purple-colored books in our library, purple on wine bottle labels, purple paintings in our art gallery, and purple flowers throughout the hotel. We were able to remove everything before she arrived. She didn’t have any problems during her stay. I’m glad the staff was able to help keep her comfortable. Reddit User: [redacted]

What About Breakfast at Tiffany’s

The staff at our hotel once had an interesting request from an elderly gentleman. The concierge, Todd Hunt, shared his experience with a sweet couple. This couple was in their early 70s and got married at the Crosby Hotel. It was their first marriage. The groom proposed at Tiffany’s and wanted to have breakfast at Tiffany’s with his beloved wife….

It’s rare to get these kinds of requests and also extremely rare for Tiffany’s to allow such a thing. The concierge at the Crosby Hotel was able to quickly arrange for an actual breakfast on the fifth floor of Tiffany’s 5th Avenue. This gentleman was absolutely delighted to have his plan carried out, and his bride was in tears due to his thoughtfulness. Reddit User: [redacted]

Strange Requests for the Kiddos

The hotel I work at once had parents demand some unusual things for their toddlers. They wanted us to fill a bathtub every morning, and then gently add the kids’ pet fish. They also asked the staff to hand-wash and air-dry the toddlers’ clothing daily. It was certainly one of the strangest requests I’ve ever heard. I never found out what the deal was with the fish….

This was definitely a strange request. I wonder if the parents do this at home. I’m curious as to why the fish was on vacation with them in the first place. There has to be a logical explanation. Hand-washing the clothing could be due to allergies or something along those lines, but putting the fish in the bathtub is strange. Reddit User: [redacted]

An Exotic Pet

The Setai Hotel in Miami Beach once had a guest with an interesting request. A man was getting ready to move to London and asked his girlfriend to move with him. There was a problem, however, as she had a pet tiger. She decided she would only agree to the move if the tiger could come too. The man needed a quick solution to the problem at hand and could only think of one solution….

The man thought his best bet would be to ask the hotel concierge, Maite Foriasky, for help. Ms. Foriasky did what she could to help him. She found out that the Orlando International Airport is the only one in Florida that could handle a tiger in the cargo compartment. The man was able to get his girlfriend to move with him, and it’s reported they are now living happily ever after in their new home in London. Reddit User: [redacted]

Slithering Creatures

The Four Seasons Tented Camp in Thailand once had an interesting request according to Travel and Leisure Magazine. They had a guest who wanted a photograph of his children with a snake. The guest thought it would be an excellent reminder of their vacation. The hotel staff got to work to find what they were looking for and didn’t want to disappoint the guests….

The staff was able to find a 12-foot python from a nearby village. This snake was so large that the children were able to lie down on it. The guests were thrilled and got some pretty amazing photographs. I’m surprised the children were comfortable enough to lie down with a snake that large. Most children wouldn’t want to be near something that intimidating. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Dance Party

The director of guest relations at New York’s Pierre Hotel had an interesting request come up while working one day. She had a VIP family who wanted to book the Tata Presidential Suite for a birthday party. This wasn’t just any normal birthday party, however. The guest wanted the suite to be transformed into a ’70s-themed disco for their son’s 18th birthday….

The director had to think quickly and was able to get the engineering team together to make the party happen. They brought on a dance floor, disco balls, and lots of silver foil to transform the room. The team removed all of the furniture in the suite to make room for everything. The VIPS were so happy with the results that they asked everyone to stay and dance. Reddit User: [redacted]

Does He Need Bananas, Too?

I’m the concierge at a luxury hotel in Miami’s South Beach. Our hotel is one of the best in the area, and we try to give our guests anything they need to make their stay as comfortable as possible. One of the strangest requests I’ve ever received was for a professionally trained, camera-ready monkey. The guest was absolutely serious and needed the monkey immediately….

He needed the monkey to film a commercial. The previous monkey left the production and left a huge role to be filled. I made dozens of calls for the hotel guest and ultimately found what he was looking for. Do you realize how difficult it is to find a trained, camera-ready monkey? That was one of the most stressful days I’ve ever had as a concierge. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Sweet Surprise

Maurice Dancer, the chief concierge of the Pierre Hotel, once had an interesting request from a guest. A man was taking his wife on a romantic getaway and wanted surprises arranged for her along the way. The surprise started with two dozen white roses. One dozen was in the limousine that picked them up from the airport, and the other was waiting in their hotel room….

The guests were treated to a silver tray filled with chocolate-covered strawberries, sliced fruit, and lychee martinis upon arrival to the hotel. The man’s last request was for a singer and dancers to greet them in their room while singing and dancing to “I Need to Know” by Marc Anthony. This was certainly one of the most romantic gestures the staff had ever seen. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Special Reunion

One of the most common requests for Hilton concierges is to find long-lost relatives for guests. The concierge at the Waldorf Hilton in London, England was once asked to help a guest find one. The guest was looking for a friend of her grandmother’s who was from the United States. The guest didn’t have much information, which made the search difficult….

The only helpful information was about the woman’s line of work. She was the landlady of a pub in Northern England during one of the World Wars. The guest wasn’t sure which one. It took quite a bit of searching through phone calls and internet inquiries, but the concierge was able to locate the woman in question. The staff spoke with the woman and arranged a surprise for the hotel guest. Reddit User: [redacted]

No Flight Zone

I’m the concierge at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa in San Diego, California. Our hotel is one of the most popular in the area. We get requests on a daily basis, and this one was the most dangerous out of all of them. I had a guest check in during the afternoon one day. He took his bags to his room, and I saw him leave the hotel 20 minutes later….

I received a phone call from him a few hours later, and he requested to have his helicopter land on the property. We don’t have a landing pad, so I had to reach out to the authorities to get permission. They gave the thumbs up, but he was lucky. The zoning and aviation laws are difficult to navigate, and they could have easily said no. Reddit User: [redacted]

An Interesting Wedding

I’m the concierge of The Beverly Hills Hotel and see plenty of guests come through our doors on a daily basis. The strangest request I’ve ever received came from our long-time hotel manager. She asked me to arrange a $15,000 wedding for her two dogs. She wanted us to find an ordained minister and someone to cater the event…

There was also another guest who asked the entire staff to address him in dog language. He expected us to bark at him. I’m not sure what his expectations were, but he wholeheartedly believed he could understand what dogs were saying when they barked. It was difficult to accommodate his request. This happened two years ago, and I’ll never forget it. Reddit User: [redacted]

Dangerous Sunlight

I’m the sales manager at The Eliot Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The hotel is in a popular area, and we get a lot of guests every day. I’ve had some interesting requests over the years, but this one is the strangest. I’ve never heard of this kind of issue. The guest was serious about her stay and had an interesting request….

The guest in question asked to see all of our empty rooms. This is a strange request in itself, but it gets more interesting. This guest was concerned about the effect the sun would have on their aura. He wanted a room with a specific amount of sunlight at certain times of the day to ensure he didn’t change his positive aura into something negative. Reddit User: [redacted]

Fake Body Hair

The hotel where I work is located near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball is extremely popular in the area. New baseball players are inducted into the Hall of Fame every year. These inductees often stay at the hotel. When Bruce Sutter was inducted, his friends decided to play a prank on him and asked for help from the hotel….

Bruce had a grey beard, and on the day of his induction, 12 Hall of Famers decided to ask the concierge to buy each of them a grey beard. The concierge had to travel to Albany to find them. When Bruce was inducted, he was surprised to see those 12 greybeards in the audience, cheering him on. He thought it was hilarious. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Unique Use for Ice

The most memorable request for us is the guest who asked for 20 pounds of ice for his penguins. The penguins visited a year or two ago as part of one of the exhibits at the Boston Globe Travel Show. They stayed in the bathtub in the guest’s suite when they were on display at the show, which was held at the Seaport World Trade Center….

Twenty pounds of ice actually isn’t too much. We have multiple ice machines at our hotel. We were able to fill four bags for them, and it was the perfect amount. I hope the ice helped to keep them comfortable. It’s not often we get to see penguins, especially in the hotel. It must be interesting to have penguins as pets. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Bride’s Adventure

I’m the concierge for Hotel Vintage Park in Seattle, Washington and had an interesting encounter with a bride before her wedding. She realized that she got her dress dirty four hours before her wedding after wearing it during her bachelorette party the night before. She had a drunken night with her friends and didn’t realize what she did until it was almost too late….

She begged me to help her fix it, so I called around and found a local dry cleaner that was open. I took her dress to be cleaned and had to help the dry cleaner with the dress to get it cleaned quickly. I was able to make it back to the hotel an hour before the bride walked down the aisle. She was so thankful for my help after making a huge mistake. Reddit User: [redacted]

Celebrity Sightings

I’m a media representative for a hotel frequented by celebrities. I once saw 222 pieces of luggage arrive with the Rolling Stones. They stayed with us for only two days in 2003. It makes you wonder what required that much luggage. They were fairly quiet and didn’t cause any problems during their stay. It was amazing to see these rock legends where I work….

There was also another time where Don Henley requested a special bed for his room. He had a special bed stored in a truck that followed him wherever he went. He wanted his own bed brought into the room. It was an interesting request. He eventually decided to have his bed removed after discovering how comfortable the hotel beds are. Reddit User: [redacted]

Tiny Dogs and a Proposal

I work at a popular hotel chain in Florida. We get some interesting requests on a daily basis, but these are the most memorable. There was one occasion where I was asked to accommodate a guest’s six chihuahuas. We were able to help, as our hotel has kennels in the underground car park. The guest didn’t want to leave the dogs home….

Another request came when a gentleman wanted to propose to his girlfriend. He asked me to keep the jacuzzi closed to the general public so he could propose in private. This request wasn’t strange at all, but it was the first time I’ve ever been asked to help someone propose. She ended up saying yes, so I guess his plan worked. Reddit User: [redacted]

Bright Colors

I work for the Home Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a concierge. We’re one of the most popular hotels in the area and often get some interesting requests. The most memorable request was from a guest who only wanted to stay with us if we had a room that was completely yellow. He wanted yellow towels, blankets, and furniture….

It turns out that we do have rooms with unique color palettes such as blue, green, and yellow. We were able to get him to book one of our yellow rooms, and he seemed to be very happy with the design when he checked in. That was the first time I’ve ever had that kind of request in the ten years I’ve been with this hotel. Reddit User: [redacted]

Nibbling Fish 

I work as a concierge for a small hotel chain in Arizona. We get a lot of guests coming through on a daily basis but have only had a few strange requests. I was once asked to arrange a pedicure for a woman who regularly had them at home. There was a catch, however. She wanted a specialty pedicure with fish that nibble on skin….

It took a while to find a salon in the area that did these kinds of pedicures. I found one that was 20 miles away, and she was thrilled to continue her weekly pedicures. That was the first time I’ve ever heard of that kind of pedicure. I can’t understand how a fish nibbling on your feet would be enjoyable. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Pink Request

I’m the director of communications for the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We get a lot of requests every day, but this is one I will never forget. We had a guest who wanted to play a practical joke on a friend who was staying in the adjacent room. He wanted us to put 100 pink plastic flamingos in his friend’s room….

I never really asked why he chose pink flamingos, but it was fun to scatter them all over the room. I put them in the tub, on the bed, and even on the desk. I’m upset I never got the chance to see the look on this guy’s face when he checked in and found all of those flamingos in his room. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Special Wedding Request

My name is Kristie Poehler, and I’m the regional director of sales and marketing for the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts. We get some interesting requests, but this one really takes the cake. We had guests book a hotel room for a doggie wedding. They wanted our best suite for Cricket (the bride) and Black Magic (the groom)….

The guests ordered a limousine for the ceremony and asked us to create a pet menu with a wedding cake for the pups. Cricket didn’t want to share the cake with Black Magic, but everything worked out in the end. The dogs also enjoyed their Hawthorne Hotel squeaky toys that the staff had made for them. This is by far the most interesting request I’ve ever heard. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Funny Guest Request

I’m not a hotel employee, but I always try to make funny requests when booking a room at a new hotel. I get strange looks most of the time when I make these requests, but there was one time where I got what I asked for. I feel like hotel employees could use a good laugh. I once requested a picture of a horse saying, “Hello!”

I do things like this every time my girlfriend and I go on vacation. This time was different, though. I wasn’t expecting to actually find the picture when arriving in our room, but it was sitting right on the nightstand. It was so funny to find that picture! It makes me wonder what the staff thought of my request. I never got the chance to ask. Reddit User: [redacted]

Requests in Jerusalem

I’m an executive assistant at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel. I had a wealthy guest check in to celebrate his son’s Bar Mitzvah in the hotel. The guest asked the concierge to arrange a football pitch. He wanted the Israeli soccer team to come to play a game with his son and his friends. It was difficult to help him….

The concierge was able to help him get in touch with one of the largest Jerusalem soccer teams. He was very happy with our help. His son had a wonderful Bar Mitzvah and was able to play soccer with a popular Jerusalem soccer team. I’m glad we were able to help them make the Bar Mitzvah memorable for this young man.  Reddit User: [redacted]

A Special Holiday

I’m the public relations and marketing manager of the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Our hotel welcomed guests for an early Christmas party one year when one of them had to ship out for military service overseas before Christmas Day. The concierge bought a Christmas tree from a local greenhouse to place in their celebration space. It was a kind gesture to help this family celebrate….

The man’s wife shipped all of their holiday ornaments, stockings, and gifts to the hotel in advance. The concierge decorated the entire room for our guests, right down to wrapping the gifts and hanging the stockings. Our staff wanted this group to have a spectacular celebration to make up for the man missing Christmas day. The staff did everything they could to ensure everyone had a fantastic time. Reddit User: [redacted]

Questions in Wyoming

We get a lot of interesting requests and questions here at the Snake River Lodge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. One of the most interesting and strange questions I’ve been asked is, “What time of the year do the elk turn into moose?” It took everything I had not to laugh at the guest who asked me this question. They seemed to be very serious….

I guess these guests didn’t know that elk and moose are two different animals. Moose are much bigger than elk, with large, thick antlers. These guys are the largest of the deer types. An elk is smaller with large, pointy antlers. They also don’t have a bulbous nose like a moose. Reddit User: [redacted]

How’s That Possible?

I’m the innkeeper of Scarborough Fair Bed and Breakfast in Baltimore, Maryland. I once had a guest who was vegan. She waited until breakfast to tell us she was allergic to tofu. This can be dangerous, and it’s important to know these things when preparing special food for guests. When she arrived at the bed and breakfast, she told me not to worry about her food….

She was thoroughly convinced she could eventually survive only on air. She thought the air would be sufficient in nourishing her body. I was so confused and concerned about her overall health after hearing such a strange statement. You definitely need food to survive. I hope she decided against trying such a strange idea. She ended up eating a lot of fresh fruit for the duration of her stay. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Request for a Princess

I’m a concierge at a popular hotel chain and once had an interesting request. A woman called to book a room for her family and requested life-size cutouts of popular Disney princesses like Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. She requested that Sleeping Beauty was placed in the bed, under the covers, and the other princesses were placed by the window….

I found everything she asked for after a difficult search and made the preparations. It turns out that this family absolutely loved Disney, and the woman wanted to surprise her daughter with the cutouts. It turned out perfectly, and her daughter was delighted. I was confused until I saw how happy the little girl was leaving with her cutouts. I was happy to help that family. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Steamy Thief

I work at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, California and recently had an A-list celebrity request a room. She worked on a top-rated television series and asked us to provide a personal clothing steamer for her room. We always try to ensure our guests are completely comfortable with their stay, so we made sure to have it ready for her….

It was waiting in her room and ready to use. We asked her to leave the steamer in her room when she checked out. That’s not what happened, however. When we went to put it back into storage, we weren’t able to find it. That’s right; she ended up taking it with her. I hope it was just a case of being in a hurry when she left. Reddit User: [redacted]

Gorgeous Skies

I’m the owner of Alton Albany Farm Bed and Breakfast in Barr, Scotland. Southeast Scotland is gorgeous, and our bed and breakfast is situated next to Galloway Forest. This forest is a “dark sky” area and is one of five in the world. There’s no light pollution, and on clear nights, you can see the Milky Way, stars, planets, comets, meteors, nebulae, and satellites from the house….

Our guests have had a variety of requests, but the most interesting ones were warm hats, hot chocolate, and stargazing guides. We even offer the services of a trained astronomer to help our guests locate constellations. Our requests don’t get too crazy, as people are always more interested in seeing the stars than coming up with strange requests. We’re blessed with excellent guests. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Bride’s Butterflies

I work at the Crescent Hotel and Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. There have been several occasions where I’ve had brides ask us to store their butterflies in our walk-in coolers for several days before their wedding ceremony in our garden, where the butterflies are released. Unfortunately for our food and beverage department and our sales staff, it’s not quite as easy as all that….

The shipping crates for these butterflies list specific thawing instructions so the butterflies can be active when they’re released. If they’re left in the cooler for too long, they become lethargic. If they aren’t in the cooler long enough, they become active too soon before they’re released and get hurt. I don’t mind helping these brides, but it’s difficult to control how long the butterflies are in the cooler. Reddit User: [redacted]

I’ll Take One Too!

We once had a guest that was in town for a massage therapy seminar and asked if he could give some of our associates massages so that he could practice. That was one request we had no problem granting! This story comes from Kelli Crean, e-commerce manager at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. 

It seems like this hotel gets all kinds of seminars happening within its walls. New York is a popular travel destination for all kinds of reasons, whether it’s for sightseeing, conventions, or seminars. The hotels in the area naturally get all kinds of interesting requests. Most people certainly wouldn’t turn down a free massage.  Reddit User: [redacted]

A Cute Piggy

The general manager of a Days Inn in Chicago, Illinois received an odd request while working one day. A woman sent a letter talking about the pet pig that she cherished. She couldn’t go anywhere without him and wanted to know if she could get a room with double beds that was near an exit so she could take him out to play with his soccer ball….

You see, the pig would oink all night if he didn’t have an hour-long playtime. The second bed would be for Billy, the pig, as he sleeps in his own bed with fluffy pillows. This woman also informed the hotel that Billy was accident-free since his run-in with Mexican food two years prior. Billy sure seems to be one spoiled pig. Reddit User: [redacted]

While these guests’ requests probably left you in awe, you’ll never believe what kinds of requests service workers hear while on the job. From ordering just a container of shredded cheese to a sub stuffed only with olives, these service workers share the craziest orders they’ve ever received…

Many people’s guilty pleasure in this world is fast food and eating out. They know the McDonald’s menu like the back of their hand. Maybe they always feel a little guilty if they ask for extra barbecue sauce because they’re afraid that the fast food workers are going to be upset.

Thankfully, after reading this list, you’ll realize that fast food workers hear and see much worse than “can I get a couple extra barbecues with that?” And that’s not even considering other service jobs that don’t have to do with food! If you work in service, you’ve probably had to put up with a lot of nonsense.  Compared to what some of these fast food and service industry workers have had to deal with, don’t feel too bad about asking for extra dip next time.

McLovin’ It

I worked at a McDonald’s many years ago. The woman said she wanted three bags of uncooked chicken nuggets. I started to tell her no, but my manager took over on the drive-thru microphone and told her we could do that and told her to pull up to the window.

I chatted with her and my manager about it. Apparently, she had an extremely picky son, and McDonald’s chicken nuggets were basically the only thing he’d willingly eat. I’m still surprised we did that, with all the potential liability. Reddit User: Klogwich

Beef Smoothie?

I worked at Taco Bell for 4 years. Once I turned 18, I had the privilege of being scheduled for closing shifts. One night after the bars closed, a group came through the drive-thru drunk as heck. They ordered a bunch of $1 burritos and 3 Strawberry Frutista Freezes.

One of the guys yelled into the speaker that he wanted a scoop of beef in his Frutista Freeze. I was already over this shift and this job at that point, and I just said, “Whatever, sounds good, your total is $X, please pull ahead.” Reddit User: shadowswillscream

Only Taco Bell Cheese

We had a lady come through at Taco Bell once who wanted a cheesy fiesta potatoes container filled with shredded cheese because her son would ONLY eat cheese from Taco Bell. My manager walked me through pricing the transaction and then laughingly gave the woman some good advice.

He said that she should keep the container and just refill it with store brand cheese once it was empty. I think her kid just wanted Taco Bell or something like that? Anyway, he wouldn’t know the difference between store-bought cheese and the cheese we sold anyway. Reddit User: ladyrockess

The Munchies

I worked at Culver’s while I was an undergraduate student. This guy walked in while he was high. He said, “I want a triple with everything.” A single patty is three ounces of beef. “I want a piece of each kind of cheese between each patty.” We had American, Swiss, and cheddar.

“I want everything on it, but make sure you give me like this much mayo.” He held his fingers about half an inch apart. Then he ordered a large cheese curd – which alone is like 1,000 calories – and a drink. Good luck, my dude. Reddit User: [redacted]

Plain Big Mac

The weirdest order I get is a regular that orders a double Big Mac, plain, extra cheese. He’s paying $6.90 for a bun, two pieces of meat, and two pieces of cheese. I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but it does. You can order a McDouble at our location for 2 dollars, which has the same meat patties. 

There’s an easy solution here. Just buy two of them ($4.20 with tax), take the bottom bun off of one of them, and stick the one McDouble without the bottom bun on the other one. There’s a double Big Mac and you save some money. Reddit User: MissMay2002

Eight Cheeseburgers

When I worked at McDonald’s, this guy ordered eight cheeseburgers. I scoffed at him, claiming there’s no way he’d eat them all. He took his cheeseburgers, sat at a table where I could see him and stared at me nonstop as he ate every freaking cheeseburger.

There’s something unnerving about watching someone leer at you while they slowly eat. He brought the tray up to me when he was done, nothing but empty yellow wrappers on it. He placed it on the counter in front of me without saying a word and left. Reddit User: [redacted]

Bun-Dog 

I was the one to order, or more specifically my mom ordered for me. We used to go out as a family every Sunday night and get hot dogs. I was 7 and an extremely picky eater, and I made my mom order me a hot dog with everything, minus the actual hot dog.

So just bread, sauce, and chips. The fast-food worker had to ask my mom to repeat herself three different times because he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. I called it a bun-dog, and to this day, I still like them. Reddit User: _StereotypicalPK_

 The Olive Sandwich 

I used to work at Subway. Dude would come in and order an “olive sandwich.” Footlong on Italian Herbs and Cheese bread, provolone cheese, no meat, not toasted, lettuce and ungodly amounts of olives topped with ranch. We were only supposed to put 4 olives on each side (or something like that).

He ended up ordering so many olives that my manager would end up charging him an extra four bucks for it. Do you know how many olives that you have to order to do that? He ate the sandwich in the store and I gagged every time he did this. Reddit User: JessiTexas

Put Them All in Separate Bags 

I worked night shifts, and there was this strange guy. He was just looking not normal; you know what kind of person I mean. He came up to me and said, “Hey. I need 15 cheeseburgers and eight sweet and sour sauces.” As I was putting them into the bag, he had very specific instructions.

He said,”Put each cheeseburger into a single bag and do the same with the sauce.” I asked the manager if it was okay to do that. He told me to do it. Guy walked out with 23 McDonald’s bags. I’m still confused, because it’s not like he was drunk. Reddit User: LayingSnow

 Half-Cut Fries 

I work at McDonald’s, and I had a woman one time order a McChicken but with the bun and the chicken separate. She then ordered her fries…half-cut. As in, take a knife, cut them in half. My friend just went to cook up the order while I rang the lady up.

It was lucky for my friend that she only wanted a small fries but still. I actually did find her trying to cut the chicken in half with this plastic knife that she brought from home. She then went on it to go and eat it without the bun. Reddit User:[redacted]

Three-Piece Quarter Packs 

I once had a guy come in drunk to KFC with his dog, and I kind of  looked at him with this look of are you serious? He goes, “Oh, I should probably leave her outside?” He takes the dog out and starts yelling at some teenagers out there, then comes back in.

He then says to me, “I want two meals, one for me and one for the dog.” When I offered him a three-piece quarter pack for him and a snack box for the dog, he insisted on getting two three-piece quarter packs. Whatever man, it’s your choice. Reddit User: [redacted]

Dog Treats 

I worked at Chick-Fil-A in high school. One day, I was working in the drive-thru window when a guy came through with his dog. As I was handing him his order, he asked if he could get a dog treat for his dog (we kept a jar of dog treats by the window).

So we hand the guy one of the dog treats. He promptly goes and puts it in his mouth, bites it in half, gives half to the dog, and then starts chewing on the other half of it. He then drives away without saying another word to me. Reddit User: carpet54

 Burnt Stuff and Pickles 

I worked at a sub sandwich shop when I was in high school. There was a guy who would have you scrape the flat top grill off and put the burnt cheese and meat crust on his steak and cheese. Just the thought of the words “meat crust” still makes me cringe to this day.

That was a regular order. Then there was another regular who would get pastrami and cheese with the most pickles I’ve ever seen on one person’s meal. Literally about half to three-quarters of a jar you’d get in the supermarket. So. Many. Pickles. Reddit User: Peter_of_RS

 Do You Sell Pizza? 

Technically fast-casual, but I work at a burrito place and once had a guy straight up come up to me and ask if we sell pizza. “Like with pepperoni,” he clarified. This was in broad daylight, he was clearly not blind, and he didn’t appear to be drunk.

My only viable working theory was that he was trying to buy weed or something. Still, the pepperoni clarification makes that unlikely unless he was trying to save face after realizing I don’t deal. That said, a pizza burrito would be sick. Reddit User: SpoonResistance

 Onions 

I was working at Papa John’s as a driver, but I also took orders and made pizzas too. A guy calls asking what the maximum amount of onions I can put on a pizza is. He’s unsatisfied when I tell him that 3x is the max, then asks for a hookup and promises a big tip to the driver.

Since I’ll be making and delivering it, I promise I’ll “drown it with onions.” There were so many onions on that pizza it was honestly absurd and gross. Dude was ecstatic when he opened the box and ended up tipping me $15. Reddit User: RagingStallion

Charged for Cheese 

A guy called up and asked for a large cheese pizza on the triple cheese crust with extra cheese. Couldn’t give me a voucher code on the phone so I said bring it when you pick it up. He comes in without any voucher. He gets really upset that I won’t give him the discount.

I couldn’t do it myself since the computer needed the code. The pizza was $15. He goes to me, “You’re charging me 15 dollars for CHEESE?” Dude, I don’t set the prices. Also, I didn’t force him to buy that pizza. He just didn’t bring in a voucher. Reddit User: sophiespo

 Arby’s Sandwiches 

I work at an Arby’s, and the list of strange orders that I’ve received since working there is pretty endless. But here are a few that I remember offhand: pizza slider, which has pepperoni, salami, provolone, and marinara on it, but the lady decides to add mayo as well.

Another guest adds sauerkraut to whatever sandwich he orders (Gyro, Italian, beef ‘n cheddar, you name it). French dips with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and liquid cheese added on to what is already there.  Yeah, people’s appetites are gross. Some people just think they can put anything on bread and call it a sandwich. Reddit User: rclarice89

 Only Round Nuggets 

Former McDonald’s employee here. Some weird orders that stand out would be the customer who ONLY wanted round nuggets. I guess she had a bad experience with the other shaped nuggets? Another person became a regular everyday customer with their Big Mac and TARTAR SAUCE. It was always gross to make.  

Ah, and lastly, this lady who’d order a happy meal for her kid, but he was allergic to almost everything, so all he’d get was literally a hamburger patty and apple slices. I always felt sad putting together that “happy meal.” Reddit User: chrissolita

Mustard 

I worked at Burger King. And a guy once came through drive-thru and ordered a Whopper with extra mustard. A Whopper doesn’t usually come with mustard, so we just put a little on it. Then we heard him say that he actually wanted tons of mustard on top.

By the end, the sandwich was dropping mustard out of the sides and it was a total mess before we even wrapped it up. It was a disgustingly large amount of mustard to be honest. He came inside and ate it inside for everyone to watch. Reddit User: Fibrox

Made Mush 

This kid once came up and ordered two biscuits to go along with two teas. I proceeded to watch him break up the biscuits and then pour tea over them to making some sort of mushy-looking slop before dousing it in mayonnaise and ketchup and then eating all of it.

He had his father with him, and he just ate his normal food like nothing at all weird was happening. I turned and looked at my coworker with a “are you seeing this?” expression; she just muttered to me that she’d seen it all now. Reddit User: N64crusader4

No Cheese on the Quesadillas

No longer someone who works there, but in college, I was a grill chef at Chipotle. Standouts that I remember include four scoops of sour cream, or a “Chicken Vegetarian burrito.” It was definitely a funny way for someone to ask for fajitas on a chicken item.

But the best was a woman who came in and ordered three chicken quesadillas without the cheese. We wondered if maybe we misheard her. Nope. We put a scoop of chicken in a tortilla, put it under the warmer for a bit, and then wrapped it up. It was just a boring, albeit quite warm, chicken taco. Reddit User: SitDownRando

The Pou-Ring and Slop

Where I used to work, we had staff that liked to order poutine, but instead of fries, they would use onion rings. We dubbed it “The Pou-Ring.” There was also one woman who would come in and order a Mushroom Swiss Burger. They are normally pretty sloppy burgers, with swiss cheese, mushrooms, a garlic mushroom sauce, and mayo. 

This lady once made it a real pain in the rear though, because she wanted that burger to be cut into eight different slices. So it went out looking like eight small pieces of bread and beef swimming in a gooey, mushroom soupiness. Reddit User: MacBeef

Bacon Bits and Mustard

I worked at a pizza place many years ago, and these dudes came in one night and said that they wanted a pepperoni pizza with bacon bits. Not even real bacon, but actually that fake bright red textured soy bacon bits from the salad bar. And it was a lot of them.

I obliged, knowing they were just a group of happy stoners wanting a pepperoni and bacon bit pizza. We also had a lady that worked there, and she’d put yellow mustard on her crust instead of pizza sauce. Not terrible tasting actually, but definitely different. Reddit User: morphius501

The End

This group of kids comes into Arby’s, and the lady that’s running the show has had this one kid by the hand the whole time. She ends up getting distracted by one of the other kids and leaves him unattended in front of my register for just one moment.

He looks me in the eye and starts talking about space and time and how they correlate with one another. We’re talking some Stephen Hawking stuff, then he starts talking about “the end.” She sees him talking to me and grabs his hand, and he stops talking. She pays and tells me not to worry about what he said. I still worry about it. Reddit User: [redacted]

Frozen Meat

This one man comes into McDonald’s. I have been working there for around a year now, so I’ve heard some truly weird orders for sure, but this one I will definitely remember forever. He comes in and honestly looks completely normal. He ordered a Big Mac, but he wanted one of the patties frozen.

He was curious about what the crunch would feel like and wanted the mix between juicy and crunch. I obviously had to tell him we couldn’t do that, and then he said that we could substitute the patty with frozen fries. We still said no. Reddit User: FredNumber11232

Special Birthday Request

I worked at a pizza place with a drive-thru. This one family came through to place an order to pick up later that evening for a birthday party. They wanted four large pizzas with extra cheese, raspberries, and whipped cream. By far the weirdest thing anyone has requested.

They said that the birthday girl wanted to combine her birthday dessert with dinner. Okay, but why would they agree? If you’re wondering, we just told them we didn’t have raspberries or whipped cream to put on top. They sighed and said they could just pick some up. Reddit User: lilianarosemonkeyhat

Love Birds Go for Lunch

This couple came into Subway; they both were completely in love. I mean, they just kept on baby-talking each other and it was, to say the least, a little bit unsettling. They stood in line and mushed over each other for about 5 minutes before ordering.

Once they did order, they wanted to get a footlong, but they wanted to have half for her and half for him. It wouldn’t normally be that weird, but just how lovey-dovey they were was weird to me. Their sandwich was relatively normal. Reddit User: yourinmyworld

Shamrock Shake Green

Around St. Patrick’s Day, McDonald’s gets the Shamrock Shake. If you haven’t seen it, they’re green. This guy came through the drive-thru one time, ordered a couple of happy meals, a couple of other things, and then ordered a twenty-piece chicken nugget.

Then comes the request. The guy asked if we could use the green dye we use for the Shamrock Shakes to make the nuggets green. I said no, and when he pulled up, I made small talk about how large his order was, and he got really offended because it was all for him. Reddit User: fernjius890

Nuggets Instead of Beef

At Wendy’s, I had someone come in and order a cheeseburger, but instead of beef, she wanted chicken nuggets on the buns instead. The only thing she had to do was order a four-piece chicken nugget and then replace the meat once she got her sandwich, but no, that wouldn’t do.

My manager actually okayed it. When I had to get my manager, she gave me some really nasty looks, and after my manager fixed it and I served the order to her, she just turns to me and says, “Thanks, next time you’ll know better.” Reddit User: [redacted]

McDonald’s Creamed Corn

I worked at McDonald’s as a summer job just before my first semester of college. I had to work on the 4th of July, and I was working the back cash register, so I took the orders in the drive-thru. It was so calm until after the town fireworks finished, then it got busy.

All of a sudden, everyone in my county wanted to come and get their McDonald’s fix for the evening. This one person came across the speaker and said, “Can I get pork chops and creamed corn?” I asked them to pull up. It ended up being my dad. Reddit User: BarnaClip

I Want One for Free

When you work in fast food and someone comes in and complains about the food, more often than not, you end up getting the customer a new thing and they exchange what they had for the new item. For example, you asked for no cheese, it has cheese, you get another burger instead, no cheese, and we take back the wrong one. 

Well, this woman came up, found a hair in her ice cream cone (pretty gross, I agree), and said, “I want to keep this one, but I want another one for free.” We did because we would throw the other one away anyway, but definitely gross. Reddit User: stoneglass432

Chicken Nuggets, No Meat

My friend works at McDonald’s and said that this one time, this dude wanted chicken nuggets but said that he didn’t want the chicken inside. He wanted them to actually scoop the chicken out of them and just give him the crunchy skin or whatever it’s called.

Her boss made her do it for all 20 nuggets.  I agree that the crunchy stuff on the outside is kind of the best part, but that is some next-level stuff. I can’t imagine having the confidence to ask for something so weird like that. Reddit User: Loves_Me_Tacos125

 

Everything Burnt Except the Patty

“Hi, let me get a Big Mac. I want you to burn the lettuce, burn the pickles, burn the tomatoes, heck, burn the soda. Burn everything except the patty; that needs to be frozen. I want the sauces to be splashed everywhere except inside the actual sandwich.”

“Melt the cheese to the bun in a manner that makes it so annoyingly difficult to push the misplaced patty back into the center. What? You’re saying that you can’t do this? Sure you can, this is exactly what you gave me last time!” Reddit User: fallenKING

100 Pizzas

When I once worked at a pizza place, one time someone called 5 minutes before we closed at one o’clock in the morning, asking if they could have 100 pizzas ready for 8 am the following morning. They were 25 sausage, 25 cheese, and 50 pepperoni pizzas.

Knowing this was a prank, my boss agreed, and the “customer” was going to pay in person. Then my boss jokingly told the owner about that, and then the owner made us stay until 5 am to make sure the order was ready just in case. No, they didn’t show up. Reddit User: binder673

A Chik-fil-A Hamburger

This one time, while I was working at Chik-fil-A, this guy ordered a hamburger. If you are from Mars, you may not know that Chik-fil-A only sells chicken. This guy argued with me over the intercom for a good solid five minutes because he didn’t believe that we only sold chicken.

His argument was that our mascot wouldn’t be a cow if that was really the case. He ended up driving off, but not before he said to us, “I want a hamburger happy meal” one last time. Fine, next time just go to McDonald’s, pal. Reddit User: livvylouwho

Only Soft Nuggets

There was this one lady named Phyllis, and she was a regular at my Chik-fil-A. She would come every single night. She would order a 4-count nugget for her dog. I never saw the dog. I worked there for 6 years, and she ran through 3 dogs but would fill them up with nuggets before they would pass. 

She always wanted the nuggets to be the “soft” nuggets and would check all the nuggets every time before she left. If there were one or two nuggets that had crispy parts, she would hand them back and ask for soft ones instead. Reddit User: livvylouwho

Everyone Loves the Skin

I worked at KFC for a few months as a teenager. Dude asked for the chicken and the skin to be separated and served separately. He ordered a family bucket for himself. Curiously, the staff watched as he sat down alone and began eating the skin by itself and then the chicken separately.

I mean, it’s common to eat the skin by itself; people love it, and it is pretty nice, but the manner in which this man ASKED for us to separate it for him and then the way in which he conducted himself as he ate just screamed: “I’m a weirdo.” Reddit User: That-nz-guy

Blend It Up 

Not exactly fast food, but I worked at Long John Silvers. I hated that job. I would come home smelling like fish every day. It was awful, but the things some people wanted were really gross. A woman came in with her husband fighting. Already a wonderful thing to witness, right?  

Well, what made it even better was that when she ordered, she decided to get baked cod and asked if it could be blended with ketchup and put in a to-go cup. She then went on to drink it and left, still fighting with her husband. Reddit User: kuitargioo

No Donuts 

Someone called in asking if we had donuts on our menu. I work at Burger King. No, we do not sell donuts. When I said this to the woman, she started screaming at me. She basically just kept saying that she was sure that she saw a commercial that said that Burger King was now selling donuts.  

She then later came into our restaurant and argued with my manager for a while over whether or not we actually sell donuts. You can argue all you want but it’s not going to suddenly make donuts appear at a hamburger restaurant. Reddit User: score-keeper-jfo 

Bring It to the Bathroom 

This wasn’t so much a strange food order that was the weird request, but what to do with the food that was odd. I took an order from this guy. He said that he wanted a cheeseburger and fries. Okay, so far pretty normal. He also asked for his cup so he could get some water.

He then came back up to the register about two minutes later (it was a really busy day). He then asked for us to take his food to him in the bathroom because he was going to pee himself if he didn’t go now. We didn’t do it. Reddit User: nlliaos1993

While some of these service workers’ requests probably left you gagging, just wait until you hear what kinds of things buffet workers have seen customers do. From a customer who continuously filled up their plate over five hours to one customer who only ate pickles and ranch dressing, these buffet workers share the craziest things they’ve seen on the job…

Buffets always seem like a great idea at the time- so much food for so little money. And then you eat way too much and wonder what you’re doing with your life. And if that weren’t enough, the way some people behave at a buffet may just make you reconsider coming back for that reason alone. The people who work at buffets certainly have their fair share of weird, wacky, and even charming stories about customers…

Imagine having to deal with people who take all the food from the buffet, make massive messes on the floor, and even do weird things like dunk their fingers in the soup. And those are just a few of the many issues that buffet workers have to deal with on the daily. These servers didn’t hesitate to dish on the craziest and most shocking things they’ve seen on the job…

It’s Not A Takeaway Buffet

I used to manage a KFC with a buffet. On Tuesdays, we had senior citizen discounts, so we would have livers and gizzards on the buffet. One day, we just couldn’t keep the gizzard pan full, which made no sense. There were only maybe six people in the dining room, so unless they were big-time gizzard eaters, one full pan should have lasted a while….

I had the buffet worker put a fresh pan out and then watched as a woman walked up and filled a plate with an overflowing pile of gizzards. As I kept watching, though, I saw her take the plate and dump all the gizzards in her purse. I went to her table to confront her and said that the all you can eat buffet does not allow for takeout. Reddit User: HotsauceMcGuyver

Karma At The Chinese Restaurant 

My biggest story was at an all you can eat Chinese place. A rather rotund customer arrived and wedged herself into a booth. She didn’t want to get up from the table, so she made the waiters bring her food. What ensued was utter karma for her being a rubbish person to the staff and acting like she owned the place.

When she was finished eating, she could not physically get up or get out of her booth due to her being so stuffed, large in general, and wedged in. I was told by her waiter that the look in her eyes when she had to ask for help deprecatingly was priceless. The manager eventually had to call the fire department to come to remove the table from the floor to get her out. Reddit User: [redacted]

It Really Was All You Can Eat

Years ago, I was working as a server and busser at an all you can eat seafood buffet. One night, a guy and his wife came in and stayed for over 5 hours. The husband ate so much that the kitchen couldn’t keep up. He was taking the entire warming trays from the buffet table to his table. A whole tray at a time of fried shrimp.

When closing time eventually came, the guy wouldn’t leave. He just kept eating more and more. Twice he actually grabbed some of the plastic lobsters we used to decorate the buffet and tried to eat them. A few other employees and I actually had to physically remove him from the restaurant at that point. The guy ended up suing the restaurant owner for false advertising. RedditUser: kind2311

Pickles And Ranch Please

There was this man who used to come into our restaurant who clearly wasn’t all there in the head. As the months progressed, he got way weirder. He started wearing women’s underwear over his clothes, even going so far as to stuff his bra. But the weirdest thing was his change in eating habits. He used to eat a variety of our soup/salad/baked potato options from our buffet.

But as his mental health deteriorated, so did his desire for variety. By the time his weirdness devolved to aggression and we had to refuse service to him, he was coming in for two things: pickles and ranch dressing. He’d pile as many pickle slices as he could onto his plate, then put so much ranch on them that the dressing and pickle juice would be running all over the tray. RedditUser: cawatxcamt

Samples For Your Dog

I used to work at Whole Foods, and a woman came in with her small dog and put it in the child part of her cart. She goes to the buffet section, and as she’s looking, she starts to take small bits with her hands and gives them to her dog to sample. She continues letting the dog lick her hand clean of various foods and puts her fingers back in to grab more from the open tray.

Then she decides what she wants to eat and goes to get a box to fill it, but the dog starts whining because she stopped feeding it, so she picks it up and straight up puts it on the counter to eat out of the tray like a bowl. It happened relatively quickly, and no staff saw it, but a customer came upfront and told us a woman had a dog too close to the food. Reddit User: vadermonkey

Salad Engineering

I worked at Wendy’s when they had salad bars. You could get a single-serving bowl. They used to serve eat-in chili in Styrofoam bowls, and the large doubled as a chili bowl or all you can eat platters. On a slow afternoon, this guy came in and got a single serving bowl. After a few minutes, our manager motioned to the sandwich guy and me to discreetly take a look at the salad he was making.

The guy had filled the bowl with salad, and then made a ring of overlapping cucumber slices to extend the lip of the bowl upwards. He filled that with salad, and then added another ring. It took several minutes to build this thing. That salad was an engineering marvel. The manager handed him a ‘free item’ coupon and said, “That’s the most impressive salad I’ve ever seen. Your next one’s on me.” Reddit User: Jef_Wheaton

No Self-Control

We have this huge buffet with a separate dessert buffet that’s presented with fireworks and dry ice every weekend night. This one time, we had a hotel guest who kinda resembled Jabba the Hutt in size. She started with four eggs, munched down two plates of fries, ate three steaks, six pancakes, and downed seven Cokes with that.

She then proceeded to wait for the dessert to be set up. It usually starts at seven, and we use ‘do not cross’ tape as a fun prop for the kiddos. Once the fireworks and ice were removed, she went all in. This woman was taking full cakes to her table, dipping everything in our chocolate fountain, and literally pushing kids out of her way to get to some sweets first. Reddit User: fudgepunch

A Little Bit Obsessed With Pizza

At one point, I worked for a pizza place that used to have a day buffet I would make pizzas for. One time, two huge dudes came at the moment we open for the buffet. The manager on duty dropped the first two pizzas down on the buffet, turned to grab the next two, turned back, and both pizzas were gone.

A few minutes later, both dudes walk back up. Each one takes an entire pizza again and walks back to continue eating. They proceeded to do this over and over, grabbing an entire pizza each for themselves for the entire 3 hours we were offering the buffet. It was one heck of a day trying to keep up with their pizza eating. Reddit User: mysticbooka

Steer Clear Of The Chocolate Fountain 

I worked at a buffet for about four years. The buffet I worked at had a chocolate fountain, and half of my time on the clock was spent trying to keep customers from sticking their fingers and other non-food items into the fountain. I distinctly remember one woman with a cast on her arm who came up and started to dip some strawberries into the fountain.

Next thing I know, she manages to stick most of her cast under the fountain so that the thing is basically coated with chocolate. Instead of trying to alert a staff member so the fountain could be closed down, she proceeded to walk back to her table and eat her dessert casually. I can’t even keep track of the number of times we had to close down the chocolate fountain to replace the chocolate. Reddit User: Cursedknightartorias

Revenge Of The Unhappy Customer

I was a cook for a grocery co-op. We had a breakfast and lunch buffet every day. We had one regular who would come in, take a bowl, and put in his breakfast food of potatoes, eggs, and biscuits, then covered it with a thin layer of grits. After a few days of watching him do this, I confronted him at the register and told the cashier to weigh his cup and charge him for it.

He wasn’t very stoked, but he realized he had been found out. The very next morning, he came in and made a B-line for the coffee, and he grabbed a box. I thought I had struck a nerve with him and he learned a lesson. He dumped his whole cup of coffee in the fresh-off-the-grill pan of scrambled eggs. Somehow he convinced the store manager that it was just an accident. Reddit User: [redacted]

Working In The Mess Hall 

I worked at a Christian campground during the summers in my teen years in the mess halls. We would get different groups ranging from 10 to over 1,500 people in size. So naturally, we would prepare food in accordance with the size of the groups. I watched a 350-pound fellow bring a big 5-gallon bucket into the buffet line.

 I thought nothing of it until I watched him pour an entire tray of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, all of the gravy, and rolls into this thing. I was actually frozen in time watching this happen. He was the last one to go through the line. The best part is he just walked back to his room with his Jim Baker Bucket as if it were just a normal Sunday. Reddit User: Kingjoker776

All You Can Eat Pancakes

Every year right after Christmas, my work has all you can eat pancakes. Now normally people order it, get the first full stack, and barely take a bite out of the next round. But last year, I was working an overnight Saturday shift, and I had a group of 8 teenagers come in. They wanted to see how many they could eat. They made it to 100 pancakes.

One kid alone ate 23. They made me take a picture of them with all the plates stacked up. It became a local legend. Groups of teenagers kept coming in and trying to beat them. I think one group may have eaten 100 and a half. The cooks weren’t very happy about it, and I only made like $13 as my tip that night, but it was pretty fun to watch them scarf down the pancakes. RedditUser: SydtheKyd1016

The Buffets In South Carolina  

Years ago, I worked at an all you can eat country buffet in South Carolina. I was a busboy. One day, I went to a table. It was a mess, as per usual. It looked to be a large family/group of families of around 12 people or so. The thing that stuck in my memory is what happened whenever they had finished with what they were going to eat.

They would scrape their plates and use them again. But the thing was that they would scrape their plates onto the floor next to their chairs. So, next to each chair, there was a 6- to 18-inch pile of chicken bones, crab legs, mashed potatoes, remnants of baked potatoes, etc. It was disgusting and so unnecessary. Talk about having bad table manners. Reddit User: which_spartacus

Waiting For The Expensive Meat 

So, I worked at a Brazilian churrascaria, which is one of those places where you sit at a table and servers come by with various roasted meats on a stick and then carve off portions for you. The genius of the churrascaria is the massive salad bar that you get before the meat comes along, which fills you up, so you don’t eat too much expensive meat.

But we had this one family (mom, dad, six kids) that had figured out ‘the system’ and would just sit at their table waiting for the meat. Everyone hated them because they would always ask for more portions than you were supposed to give at a single time. They particularly targeted the more expensive cuts like picanha and tenderloin and avoided the less expensive stuff like chicken. The managers had an ongoing war with them. Reddit User: hairybrains

Violating The Sandwich Rules

Not technically a buffet, but I feel that he kind of violated the rules to make it a buffet. The local eccentric walked in. I can’t remember what sandwich he ordered, but the crucial part was that he wanted everything on it. Now maybe that’s not absurd, you think. Who doesn’t like a bevy of veggies on their sandwich for free, right?

Every cheese, all of 3 or 4 kinds of peppers, guac, salsa, and every single sauce: ranch, mayo, oil and vinegar, BBQ sauce; literally everything on display went into his sandwich. The guy proceeded to take it to his booth; he scooped out all the drippy innards in his hands and gobbled it all in his mouth. That was the worst thing I’d seen in the realm of an eatery. Reddit User: Artifex_Nox

Eating All The Cream Puffs

I noticed that the plump couple near us each obtained a heaping plate of cream puffs. I mean all of the puffs. Both 12″ plates neatly stacked as if to be served at an all you can eat buffet. Now, no normal person could eat all this, especially after an assumed three main courses, but these winners had a plan in mind.

They proceeded to suck the cream from each puff, discarding the carrier pastry on another plate, each crumpled and squeezed like old toothpaste. Of course, you would hide the evidence, right? Nope. Left their table looking like competitive eating took place. As an artful centerpiece, the once-neat stack was now a disgusting pile of cream-less puffs overflowing from a single plate. Reddit User: Onlypostwhenangry

An Interesting Choice Of Drink  

At a Chinese buffet a few months back, this big dude was at a booth with his mom. I look over and see him with his half-full glass of fountain pop, something orange, I think FANTA, and he proceeds to take the soy sauce bottle and start pouring it into the pop. And not just a drizzle, which would have been odd enough.

But he fills up the rest of that cup and stirs it up with his chopstick. What I thought may have just been a weird way to waste the restaurant’s resources before leaving turned out to be his next meal. He sat there and drank that whole thing. It was the weirdest thing I ever saw at a buffet in my life. Reddit User: SudoDarkKnight

Buffets In The ’90s

I worked at a Sunday buffet in high school in the late ’90s. It was $7 a person. We essentially charged customers, brought drinks, and then bussed the table. My favorite was the lady who would come in by herself, ask for four glasses of milk, and wave you down whenever she finished one for a refill. She would eat about five plates of our macaroni and cheese…. 

She would then go to the bathroom. After that, she’d come back and would sit and drink milk and eat macaroni for another hour or two, then leave a hand full of change for the tip. We all drew straws whenever she came in for who got to clean up the mess. From that point on, I would just drop a gallon of milk on her table every time she came in. Reddit User: PaperStreetSoap

No Excuses At The Carving Station 

I worked at an Old Country Buffet. They have a carving station, which I was never trained on. They threw me on a busy weekend night and just gave me a rough estimate of how thick the meat should be. They never gave me safety gloves to keep me from cutting myself. Just made me put on latex gloves and handed me these giant knives.

There’s a bunch of entitled old people waiting for their slices of meat, and I knick myself with one of the knives. I go to set the knives down to try and take care of the issue. I immediately start getting yelled at by the customers and my boss nearby for trying to leave the carving station. So I finish serving meat to these people with a bleeding finger. Reddit User: Toadstool_Daydreams

Cutting The Customers Off

My parents owned an all you can eat buffet, and I was there every day of my life from 4 to 14. My favorite horror story is when a couple came in. They loved the crab legs, and every time my mom put some out, they took them all. So they’re there for maybe two hours now. They’ve eaten through at least a week’s stock of crab legs, and my mom finally decides that’s enough.

She stops putting it out in the buffet and brings individual plates to the customers who want it but couldn’t get any. The couple is angry. I remember they literally flipped the chairs at their table, flipped their plates, bowls, cups, and completely trashed their area. Food was all over the floor, table, and chairs. Sticky soda was dripping into the carpet. They left in a hurry, but someone caught their license plate number. Reddit User: blooberries1

When You Can’t Move Your Wheelchair 

I worked at a casino buffet in the South. I worked at the steak station, so I served a lot of rare steaks. A giant woman in a wheelchair rolls up and picks her steak. I put it on the griddle for about 8 seconds on each side, and she asks for it on the plate. She goes to leave but has two plates on her lap and a plate in each hand…

So she couldn’t wheel herself back. She called for her mullet-sporting son to come wheel her back to the table. He was wearing a shirt with Dale Earnhardt’s number that said, “God needed a driver.” The south is something else. I’m so glad I no longer work there; working the buffet is one of the worst jobs you could ever have. Reddit User: [redacted] 

Finding The Pizza Hut Loophole 

I used to work at a Pizza Hut, which served buffet at lunch. We had a rule that employees could take from the buffet at the end of a shift. One time, we had a new guy join who my manager really disliked. The manager was notoriously horrible to everyone, and you could tell right away that she had it in for the new guy.

Anyway, the end of his four-hour shift comes during peak lunch, when every new pizza that comes out is immediately picked apart by the customers. The manager hands him a box and says, “Help yourself to the buffet, my dear.” He strolls up not to the buffet, but to the cutting table and slides two whole fresh pizzas into his box, then waltzes out. He didn’t come back in. Reddit User: Tangocon

No Thanks For Saving A Life 

I was once the bartender at a hotel that had a ‘smorgasbord’ all you can eat buffet. A waitress ran into the bar and asked me to help her with a guest. When I ran into the dining room, an enormous lady was gasping and wheezing at her table for one. She must have been 300 pounds plus and was choking on some food.

I reached around from behind her, lifted her up, and performed a Heimlich maneuver on her. She heaved and spat out a huge chunk of half-chewed chicken right onto the carpet. She promptly sat down, took a few breaths, and went back to shoveling food into her mouth without so much as a “thank you.” I went back to the bar and watched her eat for another hour. She tipped the waitress a dollar. Reddit User: pizzaforce3

Dine And Dash 

A woman came in with two of her kids and had a pretty regular meal. You pay when you leave at our place, and she decided to sneak out with her younger daughter before paying, leaving her underage son alone at the table. We caught on pretty quickly and sent someone after her, who found her in her car in the parking garage.

She was waiting for her son to come as well. She refused to come back in and pay, so we had to keep her son ‘hostage’ until the police came to handle the situation. What some people will do to their kids, I swear. I forgot to mention we also found out from her son that she stole one of the managers’ keycards, and she would regularly come into the hotel. Reddit User: Valkrine10

Trying To Get Out Of Paying 

So I work in an ‘all you can eat’ using tablets. This is based on a Japanese kind of restaurant. We serve mostly Asian food, from Chinese to Japanese and even some Korean. The premise is that people order their food in rounds, and we then bring the food to their table when it’s ready. We always warn customers beforehand about if they leave food behind.

If they order too much, they’ll have to pay extra. We’ve seen people try the weirdest stuff when it comes to not paying extra; people dumping food in their handbags, people shoving it in their mouths then going to the toilet to flush it, putting hair on it and blaming us for it. And when we actually catch them doing it, they blame us for it and refuse to pay. Reddit User: DemocraticDoge

An Error In Translation

I was at a Chinese buffet with a hot pot option that you had to pay extra for. There was a separate section with the stuff for it that was raw. This guy loaded up his plate with all this raw stuff and was eating it, including dangerous raw stuff like shrimp. I think he may have been slightly intellectually disabled.

The Chinese staff had to come over and inform him that he was eating the wrong things and try to explain it to him. He got really embarrassed and said that he did not understand how it worked. Between the Chinese staff with their limited English and this poor guy who was not capable of really understanding what he had done wrong, it was a mess. Reddit User: imk

All The Chicken Nuggets Were Gone 

I was just a witness, but I saw how a woman came in with about five kids, and made them all sit at a table while she got food, even if they seemed old enough to get it themselves. She just grabbed two trays, placed three plates on both of them, and literally poured all the chicken nuggets on one plate, so it was a huge mountain.

She did the same to five other dishes and emptied five pans that were full or almost full before she came. Five must be her number. Needless to say, people were annoyed, especially when she did it multiple times again with other dishes and would often glare at people if she saw them taking food from dishes she probably wanted. Reddit User: roxan1930

You’re Not Welcome Here Anymore 

I was sitting in a small-town Chinese buffet. Three big dudes, not obese but farm-built big, come in. These guys proceed to just clean the house. They have plate after plate after plate. They weren’t wasteful; they ate everything they took. They were very polite to the staff and other customers. But I bet each man ate a dozen plates, each stacked high.

The cooks were working to keep up. My family and I found ourselves watching this marvelous feat of eating unfold in awe. When they approached the counter to pay (all this eating unfolded in only 45 minutes), the manager greeted them at the counter. In his broken English, he simply said, “You men. You no pay but you no come back.” Reddit User: chilibreez

The Soup Fiasco 

My wife and I went to a Sweet Tomatoes for a lunch date; unlimited salad and soup was always good. One time, I saw a man over by the soups take the serving ladle for one of the weekly specials and take a big slurp from it. Then apparently he didn’t like it and spat it back out into the ladle and put the ladle back in the soup.

I got up immediately and told the nearest staff what I’d seen, and they got right on getting that nearly full pot of soup out of there. I didn’t have any more soup that visit; the what-ifs were too strong, which is a shame, because I love their chunky chicken noodle. Please don’t do this if you don’t like the soup; think about the rest of us. Reddit User: Saberus_Terras

No Bacon At The Breakfast Buffet

I used to cook for a breakfast buffet. Most of the customers that we got at the restaurant in general would be old people, however a lot of the old people were very entitled and would come straight from church to the restaurant for their breakfast buffet. A guy was taking all of the bacon and putting it on his plate and then telling me to “look at that…”

I said, “Okay…looking? What am I looking for?” and he said, “Tell me what’s wrong with that!” and I said, “Um, I don’t know, is it not clean or something?” And he says, “There’s no bacon left! Aren’t you going to refill it!?” and I’m like, “Well that’s weird, it was just filled a couple minutes ago. Someone must have taken it all!” He couldn’t put two and two together. Reddit User: TrentonJ

Messing With The Ice Cream Machine 

I was just a witness. We were waiting in line for the soft serve machine at Golden Corral. The woman in front of us gets up to the machine and awkwardly jerks the handle around in an attempt to get at the sweet, sweet ice cream within. She’s pushing, pulling, twisting, doing literally everything but turning it to the right.

She’s really perplexed by this. So she takes the next logical step, of course, which is to wrap her lips around the spout, form a seal on it with her mouth, and start trying to suck it right out of the tap. One of the workers sees this and looks on in disgust before he unplugs the machine. On the way out, we see that he put an out of order sign on it. Reddit User: Leigh_Lemon

Endless Supply Of Buffalo Wings

I used to work at Buffalo Wild Wings, and they would do a Monday night special of endless wings and fries for $15. I once served a dude who came in by himself and ate 75 wings over the course of about an hour. It helped that he asked for no fries with the order, but still, 75 whole wings. I wasn’t sure whether I should be impressed or not.

Also, every week, without fail, I’d get at least one table who would try to “split” the all you can eat. Like just order one order and feed several people with it. That’s not how any of this works. You have to wonder about some people and their intelligence. Our signs clearly state the amount per person. Read it next time. Reddit User: ddeevv

Out Of House And Home 

A friend and I walked into a buffet that serves pizza, fried chicken, and other Southern staples. This one huge lady was sitting at one of those large round tables by herself. The table was covered in empty plates: at least 5 or 6. He and I finished eating and started walking past the lady, who was at the buffet again.

That’s when she yells across the room to the manager standing by the door, “Where’s the freaking chicken?” We’re all kind of in shock that she would say that with families around, but he yells back, “You ate it all!” People started to burst out laughing as we exited. She most likely had eaten them out of house and home that day. Reddit User: galacticfish

Cook Faster

While I was wasting years and thousands of dollars in an attempt to get a college education, I worked at a Chinese restaurant. The owners were awesome people and would feed us at the end of the shift. Anyway, they had a buffet on the weekends, and they had this one lady who had become one of their regulars there…. 

This lady could pack away the groceries. When she showed up, the Chinese servers would rush into the kitchen and yell, “She here! She here!” and the owners, who were also the cooks, would yell, “Oh no! Cook faster! Cook faster!” and then make a big show of cooking extra quickly. Then the entire restaurant staff would watch her eat with great amusement. Even by our American buffet standards, that lady could eat! Reddit User: [redacted]

The Use Of The Ziploc Bag 

My friend worked at one of those Mongolian BBQ places where you load up a bowl with various meat/veggies/sauces and they fry it up on a big flat griddle thing (this was while he was going to school). One of his coworkers spotted a little old lady who had taken a big gallon Ziploc bag and wrapped the edges over her purse top.

She had done this so she could fill up her bowl and simultaneously shovel a bunch of meat into her purse. Apparently, she’d come in and do this with some regularity, and none of the employees cared because they all hated their boss with a passion. I’ve got to admit that I admire the idea; it’s an easy way to get a few pounds of beef/pork/sausage/chicken for the cost of a lunch bowl. Reddit User: greenbuggy

Time For The Shrimp Bonanza 

I worked in a Red Lobster during the all you can eat shrimp bonanza. It was always horrible because the managers sucked and ensured each new dish would take 10-15 minutes to come out, so people “got tired and left,” keeping their food costs down. This meant you’d have tables there for 2+ hours that would tip you worse since they’re cheap and “things took too long…”

I had three very very large guys come in around 3 pm. Plate after plate of fried shrimp. It was insane. They gorged themselves on biscuits dipped in ranch or blue cheese as they waited for the shrimp. Around 7 pm, one got up to go to the bathroom. Around 7:20, the ambulance came, since he had a heart attack in the bathroom. Reddit User: PorkRollAndEggs

No More Gummy Bears For You 

At a Golden Corral once, there was this family sitting near us, and we were all sitting by the dessert bar. The kid was about 6 or 7 and wanted some gummy bears. So he went to the dessert bar, grabbed the serving spoon of gummy bears, and started eating off it like the bears were cereal, double-dipping several times.

The parents were laughing and told him to stop, so he spit a mouthful of gummy bears out on the spoon and put it back. The parents thought it was hilarious. I told a food attendant what happened so she could replace the gummy bears with fresh ones because the parents definitely weren’t going to. They got mad at me for “trying to get them kicked out.” Reddit User: Elephant_Kisses2

It Was Finger Licking Good 

I went to a somewhat nice buffet with my dad last year for my birthday. It was supposed to be better than regular places like Old Country Buffet, so I was pretty excited since I hadn’t been to a buffet since I was a kid. I start piling up my plate and head over to the wings. Some guy is standing there looking at them…

And then I see him run his finger across one of the wings, gathering up some of the sauce and licking his finger to taste it. He decided it wasn’t to his liking and moved on like it was normal to do that. I was so grossed out that I decided not to get anything from that area where they just have heated up food and instead went to get some steak off the grill directly from the cook. Reddit User: -eDgAR-

Please Call The Manager 

I’ve got two buffet stories. The first: a family of five comes in and buys one plate, and they all sit in the back room. We keep seeing the lady go back and forth, so we look on the video camera to see she’s serving everyone her food on napkins, and she was just the runner. They threatened to call the owner when we asked her to leave. The manager on duty said, “Please do…”

Next up, a family of four comes in, and the dad is so rotund that when he sits down, on two chairs with one butt cheek per chair, he pulls the table towards him, forcing the wife and kids to adjust to the now moved table. That man ended up eating so much he threw up in the bathroom later. Reddit User: [redacted]

The Two For One Disaster

I worked at a buffet in a casino years ago. The business wasn’t great, as the price for dinner was like $25 Mon-Thurs and $32 on weekends. Someone had the bright idea to put a two for one coupon in the local paper. We noticed a bit of a bump in business, but then one Friday, the whole city came in. These coupons had an expiration date.

And it turned out everyone decided to use it on the very last day of the promotion. Friday night was prime rib night. Any functional piece of equipment capable of heating food was cooking prime rib. Steamer, deep fryer, tilt skillet, wok, every pan, and every square inch of the grill, all covered with varying states of cooked/cooking prime rib/rib-eye steaks. Reddit User: godofgainz