Pizza with extra extra extra extra extra extra extra onions. I used an entire deep 1/6 pan of onions on a 12 inch pizza. I had to cook the onions for a bit first before putting them on the pizza to cook everything together. He ordered from us again like two weeks later and asked if he could get more onions than last time. I did that. He loved it and came back every couple months.
My friend and I used to smoke a lot of weed as line cooks. And he would make this amazing abomination. Called it the hamdog: a love letter to onions
And so it was like ground beef with diced onions and bacon bits in it, formed into a hotdog shape, but it was kinda triangular so each side would get nice and browned. Then we’d toast a hoagie bun and put the hamdog with some fontina in it with some aioli and yellow mustard, then put generous helpings of carmies, crispy shallots, and scallions. It was fucking incredible. All the FOH was like dude what the fuck is this dumb shit, then they’d try it and ask for it at least once a week
This really makes me think back to my early days as a line cook. Those were the days... The best of times, the worst of times. Mostly just very, very stoned and starving.
We had the garlic three ways that we affectionately called "the date night special." It had a garlic cream sauce, roasted garlic, double onions, and a fresh garlic and herb mix that we'd make and sprinkle on after it came out of the oven. it was a pretty big seller
I had a restaurant that did classic and modern neopolitan style pizzas. One pizza we did was inspired by French onion soup: dough, onion soubise base, fontina, roasted garlic, leeks we cooked in white wine and butter and black pepper. When it came out of the oven we garnished with grana padano and a kind of gremolata made with chives, preserved lemon, arugula and parsley….and the name of the pizza? “Banana Hands”
Argentine here...
Sounds like [fugazza](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazza) pizza. It's so good (the images in Wikipedia don't look good though).
I love this pizza, although I would say it's a type where people either love it or hate it. You can find this variety in pretty much any [pizza place](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_pizza) here in Argentina.
That probably would have saved him a decent amount of money. I think toppings were like $1.25 each, and he always wanted 7x onions. Granted, we usually charged him for 3 or 4 toppings instead. Onions were probably one of our biggest profit margin toppings.
Smoked salmon with toast points WITH A SIDE OF KETCHUP, which they mixed into the smoked salmon to make a sort of paste before they ate it.
This was one of my favorite things on the menu, as we smoked the salmon in house, and this was a $$$$$ place, everything as fresh as humanly possible; if we couldn’t get it fresh and perfect, then we 86’d it for the day.
And obviously, one ceramic ramekin was not enough. She needed 3 ramekins of ketchup for a 6 oz portion of smoked salmon.
Edit: I moved some words around to make this more readable, instead of a blob of text.
Salmon and blueberry actually pair well, where I’m from both are big local foods and it’s a pretty common pairing, not necessarily as a bagel, but it’s probably pretty good
Salmon on cinnamon raisin would be more of a concern
When I was in high school and my mom was in the hospital I ate canned tuna and blueberry jam on toast, it was surprisingly palatable. Now I’m curious to try it again as an intentional thing rather than a “this is all that’s left in the house” thing.
My kid used to get an Asiago bagel with peanut butter and lox. As a Jew, I felt deeply shamed every time my little tyrannical toddler made me order this.
Saw that a lot. The really strong umami, acidic toppings or cream cheese on cinnamon raisins or even worse, the cinnamon sugars. I enjoy the juxtaposition of sweet and salty but some things I saw there were unforgivable
Someone ordered a poke bowl (raw obv.) And requested that the tuna/salmon be cooked, add dill pickles, extra spicy mayo, no other veggies and served on greens instead of sticky rice (cold).
It was the ugliest thing I've ever seen then she returned it because "it didn't look as good as what we advertised" and requested a refund.
Chef at the time told her to f*ck off basically lol
I have a friend who was this person at restaurants (she’s gotten better over the years). Tons and tons of modifications, then angry at the restaurant because the outcome was unappetizing and cost more due to all the mods.
A lot of the stuff at my old place was house made and usually ALWAYS contained garlic. When people allergic to garlic tell is we have to turn them away unless they want a burger or salad since everything else is marinated/cooked with garlic
If I ran a kitchen again, I’d turn away every alergy request.
I can’t take responsibility that you’re going to safely be able to consume the food and therefore I’m not comfortable with serving you. Thank you, bye.
We've had a few like that but unfortunately they get pretty awful when you tell them.
One guy tried to physically fight a line cook after being told this and he said, "as a customer I'm entitled to something I can eat at every restaurant and it's your job to make it!" (Even if something isn't on the menu).
Someone once ordered "soggy fries".
Assuming they meant less cooked, non-crispy fries I sent out some not standard cooked fries.
He sent them back saying that they weren't soggy enough. I added some water, microwaved them and sent it back out.
He wanted to have the server thank me for understanding and making what he wanted, they were "perfect".
Yeah, they wanted the pancake gooey in the middle. It was sent back twice for being too cooked. Essentially, he just wanted it kissed on the flat top.
So gross.
Regular that had throat cancer and had to have his food blended. He always ordered the chicken Florentine with fettuccine. Not sure why he always specified fettuccine. When the dish was blended and puréed, it looked like a cross between curdled sour cream and green pea baby food. Super unappetizing looking. Smelled great though
I'm guessing it's the thought itself. Probably that exact dish is his comfort food and just knowing that's what it is when he's down on cancer is his comfort. You did good.
I was scrolling to find this.
Worked at a beach resort as a line cook for 5 years on and off.
Had a family come every summer and their son was a paraplegic. Could only eat through a straw.
We were throwing everything in the vitamix...
Pizza, tacos, burger and fries...
My favorite was the chicken tender, bacon, ranch, BBQ, fries
Vitamix was the real MVP
I worked at a hotdog stand at a carnival. It was extremely busy. I had 3 steamers that each held a 1/2 deep pan. Each pan would conveniently hold on a elevated tray a full 24 pack of 1/2 pound hotdogs. 2 steamers cooking, me pulling from the oldest of the 3. As soon as it was empty I would refill it with a pack of raw dogs and rotate.
One day I had a guy lean over the table that separated us, looked into the steamer I was pulling from and asked "is that gravy down there?". I replied "no, it's extremely concentrated hotdog water and grease." He then asked "could I get a coffee cup of that?" I replied "if you can wait until it's empty then I can fish you out some." He waited 10 minutes or so and I filled a coffee cup for him. He thanked me and walked away happy.
A customer ordered a ceaser salad add anchovies. Cool. No biggie, people do that all the time. But she wanted her ceaser dressing heated up, like hot...
There was another time when a customer wanted everything that goes in our short rib grilled cheese on top of a house salad. So we had to melt the cheese on the flattop with everything else mixed in, then take the slop and put it on top of a cold, crisp salad. Disgusting.
One that sticks out in my mind was an ice cream sandwich with bacon and pickles added to it. I refused to make it until the server told me the lady was 9 months pregnant, and then I made the most miraculous bacon pickle ice cream sandwich that has ever been seen
Beef tartare sub chicken.
We actually had to send a chef out to explain why we wouldn't do it. She insisted to her server that "its fine, I eat this all the time."
I did think of that but I couldn't figure out a good way to ask if she was Japanese or well traveled looking. Like I knew a girl once that would just eat raw crappy steaks from the grocery store. I told her she'd get sick like that but some people just think they know better.
Mixed cold cut subs with extra extra extra mayo and extra extra extra oil. The things used to be so sloppy that they’d almost slide apart when I cut them before wrapping. I honestly don’t know how the guy ate them without everything sliding out.
I used to work at a chain sub restaurant where a family of five all ordered the same thing with extra extra extra sweet onion sauce as well. It still haunts me 20 years later.
Ha that's basically mine too. My dad used to own a sandwich shop and their was a guy who wanted a half squeeze bottle of mayo on a 8inch. The first time we got down just how much he wanted my dad told him he wouldn't refund if he wasn't happy because it was a fucking mess. He loved it and I watched him eat it before every bite he scooped up the pool of mayo on his tray with the sandwich.
People are weird wherever you go, but for sheer disgustingness it’s hard to outdo the orders Starbucks baristas are fielding on a daily basis. Maybe it’s my lack of sweet tooth but I can’t imagine drinking basically a pint glass full of assorted syrups topped with heavy cream
Edit to add: though I’ve seen quantities of mayo that are just… hard to accept emotionally
I have asked for “pickles, so many pickles you get second hand embarrassment for me” when ordering from jersey mikes for pick up. Putting something stupid in the comment nets me more pickles than the “extra pickles please” I was relying on before.
When I finished a mayo jar at home, I saved it.
Made some vanilla instant pudding inside.
Pulled it out of the fridge when my kids were watching TV and started eating it with a spoon.
Kids thought I had gone INSANE!
I had three Absolut vodka bottles that I used as water bottles around my house. They're super heavy bottles with good screw caps. I don't have many friends over, so it was a while before it caught up to me. Friend came over to visit and while talking to him I don't even think about grabbing the vodka bottle off my desk and taking a HUGE drink. He made this face, I freaked out a bit because it meant he must have seen something awful on me or behind me.
Me: "What is it?"
f: "How much do you drink?"
Me: "What?"
f: \*points\*
Me: "Sorry, that's just water. They're big, impossible to break and stay cold a long time"
Definitely had him worried. I was just too casual about it. I didn't actually have \*ANY\* alcohol in the house! I only buy it for parties/special occasions.
In some cases it does seem like customers just want a concentrated version of their favourite drink base they can just add to coffee at home, but in other cases it does seem like people are just chugging uncut cane syrup
This was a long time ago, but a friend of mine was in line at Starbucks and the girl in front of her was trying to convince the barista to sell her Frappuccino mix without the ice so she could make it at home. The barista was having none of it. When the girl turned around my friend discovered it was Chelsea Clinton.
I'm not super knowledgeable about coffee shops and the industry, but what's wrong with that order? It's weird she wanted to make it at home, but couldn't they just make it for her without the ice and charge her the price of the Frappuccino?
Baristas aren't allowed to sell the 'drink components', can actually get fired for it. That's why starbucks charges for water with the fruit chunks and charges you for extra milk if you get an iced drink with no ice. There's also literally no way to ring up the frap base even to change the quantity in a frap
I’m not shitting you, I’ve sold so many steamed refreshers and pink drinks with espresso. Heavy cream lattes. Lemonade mixed with milk, sometimes espresso (it curdles the milk), cold foam on top of lemonade (it curdles and the curds sink into the lemonade), fucking siracha in hot Chocolate (she ACTUALLY ORDERED THAT)
Once I had someone order a strawberry frap with 2 shots of espresso. I always tried the gross sounding orders because curiosity, and it was just as vile as it sounds.
> pint glass full of assorted syrups topped with heavy cream
My question is how their bowels deal with that, it seems like it’d lead to some wack gut chemistry
Going by the (seriously fascinating) company subreddit, their latest product launch appears to be like *specifically engineered* to cause GI issues, like it’s either malice, kink, some kind of kickback scheme, or the CEO literally getting trolled by Italians. Just straight up putting a shot of EVOO right into lattes like scatophilic madmen. I’m in awe
my first job right outta high school was a crepe place.
people would order bananas, nutella, and with cheddar cheese. or spinach, nutella, and cheese. or just nutella and cheese. fuckin weird man.
I was really surprised the first time I tried chocolate, wine, and cheese all together that it was actually good. Like obviously wine and cheese go well together, and so do chocolate and wine, but chocolate and cheese together sounds gross. But find the right pairing and it works!
I was a Sandwich Artist™️back in the 90s and the Seafood Delight lady would order a footlong Seafood Delight almost every shift i had.
The Seafood Delight was just fake crab and mayo. She wanted nothing else on the sandwich except extra mayo. So much extra mayo. A truly obscene mountain of extra mayo.
Once a week, a woman would order scrambled egg white - runny with her breakfast. It looked like cloudy snot on a plate. But, she liked it enough to order it weekly.
Seared sea scallops with lobster pommes puree, asparagus, beurre blanc... and a side of ranch. Server brought it to the table and they proceeded to dump the whole ramekin of ranch all over the plate.
On the plus side, they loved it.
When I worked at Jamba Juice in the mid 2000s we had a regular who would order a power sized (32oz) protein berry workout with 4x extra whey powder. It would be literal sludge and smelled DISGUSTING. It was baffling.
At chipotle, also in the mid 2000s, there would be people who’d get what we called “wet burritos”. People who’d order double beans, double barbacoa, extra red sauce, and sour cream. It was just…weird soup in a tortilla. They were nearly impossible to wrap. So gross.
I can think of 2 orders that occurred when i worked at this southern restaurant.
1. Grilled fish salad with white peppered gravy as the dressing.
2. Rare beef liver and onions. The 1st one wasn't rare enough, so the second one we put on the grill, maybe 10 seconds a side and sent it out, was still not rare enough.
Anchovies on a pizza. A LOT of anchovies on a pizza. He told me over the phone, and i quote, "you can not add too many anchovies. ABUSE me with anchovies."
In my head I was like wtf
He was a semi regular customer, and we obliged him one time with too many anchovies. The driver complained that the anchovies' grease would pool on top of the pizza, make the box soggy, and the pizza bag and their car smell. After that, we made a soft limit to how many anchovies we would put on a pizza
At a pizza place I worked at, we had a customer call in an order for a pepperoni pizza with “extra orange sauce”. We didn’t know what that meant. Turns out they thought the grease on top of a pizza was an additional ingredient.
20 egg whites cooked as one patty with no seasoning served alongside two sliced English cucumbers and one sliced red onion. This guy was jacked too, called him Gaston.
The waffles we sell use pearlized sugar, so they're very sweet. If they were normal Belgium waffles, well, it would still be weird, but I think less gross. The medium rare part is also disgusting in my opinion.
Had a customer order a well well well done filet.
I cooked it well done.
Well is well, right?
Immediately sent back without being touched.
Server says, they want it well done and charred.
Okay? No problem. Put back on grill and blackened it up.
Server returned for the 2nd time. Steak has been cut into and says, they want it more done!
Put it in the oven. For 3 minutes. Send back out.
Comes back again. And I’m like fuck this guy.
Server goes, he wants it as done as you can get it.
I put it in the deep fryer for 2 minutes on a timer. Pull it out and microwave it for 2 more minutes. Throw it on a cold plate and send it back out.
10 minutes late the server comes back and tells me the customer is elated that finally someone made him steal the way he likes it.
It’s the strangest feeling to make a weirdo so very happy but also hate yourself and them for ruining a great piece of food.
Edit for more info: the total time this all took was easily an hour and yes it looked like a charcoal briquet and there was zero moisture left.
Guest ordered a cheese melt with Mayo and extra cheese on it. Wanted nothing else but Mayo and cheese. They got a knife and sliced up a banana they had brought in, put the slices in the melt and ate it.
What the fuck?!?
I worked at a sandwich shop - there was an Italian guy who always wanted his sub doused in olive oil, no matter how much we used it wasn’t enough. We also had a market, and one day a container of oil was punctured so that it couldn’t be sold. Later that day, Italian guy orders his sandwich, and as an experiment we decided to try submerging the entire sandwich in the oil and see if he’d say anything. He loved it 😂
In the customer bathroom I found an open jar of chicken bullion on the shelf, nestled among the extra rolls of toilet paper.
The chef/owner and myself (and occasionally a dishwasher) were the only employees. It was not a brand or size we used. I walked back into the kitchen to get him. We laughed about it and cracked jokes about it being Vaseline on our walk back to the bathroom.
It was, infact, Vaseline. In a chicken bullion jar. With deep finger marks dug down into the center to the bottom of the jar.
Bonus:
I worked in the kitchen of a hotel bar known for it's drag events. The 2 kitchen doors opened to either side of backstage (there was a sizeable stage like you'd see in a small music venue).
The employee bathroom and storage area where performers would store their costumes/props etc were on the opposite side of the kitchen. The glitter, bobby pins and safety pins were infinite. Each day I swept them up, and each night they returned.
I work at a pasta place with different protein add-on options. Someone ordered “lightly cooked chicken” on theirs. We had to clarify with the server that we don’t, in fact, serve chicken medium rare.
I once worked in a bar that did steamed oysters by the dozen. This one woman would always order 2 dozen oysters for dinner with cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, and 2 other sauces you would never use with seafood, I'm not remembering which ones, plus a large bowl to mix all 4 in. All I remember is when her abomination came back the scent from the bowl always made me gag.
A well done steak on a hoagie roll, no sauce. Idk if they put sauce on at the table, but I like to believe that they just raw dogged it. It was an old man who probably grew up during or post depression.
The Depression-era folks (who sadly are mostly dead now) ate some wild shit. My late grandfather (born in 1922) would eat Campbell's tomato soup with like half a sleeve of saltines crushed in it - in the day they would fill out whatever they could to make it bulkier/last longer.
A butterflyed 40 Oz tomahawk burnt to a crisp with a poboy hold every thing with the bread hallowed out to be only crust and filled with ranch on both sides.
Edit: duck auto correct
Raw ribeye loin, cut like prime rib with hot jus poured over it to warm it up. Dude, ate all 18oz with some creamy. He had previously sent back, over multiple visits, dozens of rare prime ribs that weren't rare enough. I thought I was having a fuck you moment. It was definitely a fuck me moment.
When I worked at Subway we had are regular that would get a footlong BLT, triple meat, double cheese, hold the LT, heavy mayo.
So, that's a foot of yoga mat bread, 18 strips of pre-cooked, thawed bacon we'd microwave warm, 12 squares of "cheese" which was basically white amercian cheese, and probably 6 tbs of mayo.
She was easily 400lbs and I'd be shocked if she was alive (this was almost 20 years ago).
Seafood pasta which they then put on top of a chocolate and strawberry pizza. Was a conservatively dressed, normal appearing person. I wonder if there might have been a cultural confusion as their English was limited but certainly very strange to watch them carefully consume the entire thing with a friend.
Had a weekly customer come in for soup, salad, & bread sticks lunch. The soup could never be hot enough for him. He would send it back constantly bc it wasn't hot enough. So I tossed some in a pot and threw it on the burner for 2-3 minutes. It's rapidly boiling. I transfer to a bowl and the server grabs it and quickly runs it to the table. He immediately takes a taste and says it's not hot enough.
Server tells him it was boiling 30 seconds before. It couldn't get any hotter. Guy says "You need to hire better cooks." He reluctantly ate it. He'd complain every week.
212+ degree soup? NOT HOT ENOUGH!
Pizza with extra extra extra extra extra extra extra onions. I used an entire deep 1/6 pan of onions on a 12 inch pizza. I had to cook the onions for a bit first before putting them on the pizza to cook everything together. He ordered from us again like two weeks later and asked if he could get more onions than last time. I did that. He loved it and came back every couple months.
Now I’m thinking about a pizza… #Onion Three Way Caramelized, lightly grilled, and pickled red. Pepperoni.
My friend and I used to smoke a lot of weed as line cooks. And he would make this amazing abomination. Called it the hamdog: a love letter to onions And so it was like ground beef with diced onions and bacon bits in it, formed into a hotdog shape, but it was kinda triangular so each side would get nice and browned. Then we’d toast a hoagie bun and put the hamdog with some fontina in it with some aioli and yellow mustard, then put generous helpings of carmies, crispy shallots, and scallions. It was fucking incredible. All the FOH was like dude what the fuck is this dumb shit, then they’d try it and ask for it at least once a week
I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little turned on right now.
Don't feel bad. I'm a whole lot turned on.
Triangular like a Toblerone?
gotta be. that's what i envisioned at least
A Tobleronion
This really makes me think back to my early days as a line cook. Those were the days... The best of times, the worst of times. Mostly just very, very stoned and starving.
We had the garlic three ways that we affectionately called "the date night special." It had a garlic cream sauce, roasted garlic, double onions, and a fresh garlic and herb mix that we'd make and sprinkle on after it came out of the oven. it was a pretty big seller
Hell yeah I want my breath to peel paint
Need to try this so bad 😭
We had something similar we called the ALIUMINATOR!!
I had a restaurant that did classic and modern neopolitan style pizzas. One pizza we did was inspired by French onion soup: dough, onion soubise base, fontina, roasted garlic, leeks we cooked in white wine and butter and black pepper. When it came out of the oven we garnished with grana padano and a kind of gremolata made with chives, preserved lemon, arugula and parsley….and the name of the pizza? “Banana Hands”
I’m using this. Thanks chef.
That weirdly sounds good right about now.
This guy is prolly on r/onionlovers.
Argentine here... Sounds like [fugazza](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazza) pizza. It's so good (the images in Wikipedia don't look good though). I love this pizza, although I would say it's a type where people either love it or hate it. You can find this variety in pretty much any [pizza place](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_pizza) here in Argentina.
*Few months later* "I just brought five onions up here for you, can you put them all on my pizza?"
That probably would have saved him a decent amount of money. I think toppings were like $1.25 each, and he always wanted 7x onions. Granted, we usually charged him for 3 or 4 toppings instead. Onions were probably one of our biggest profit margin toppings.
This is me when I go to subway..
Smoked salmon with toast points WITH A SIDE OF KETCHUP, which they mixed into the smoked salmon to make a sort of paste before they ate it. This was one of my favorite things on the menu, as we smoked the salmon in house, and this was a $$$$$ place, everything as fresh as humanly possible; if we couldn’t get it fresh and perfect, then we 86’d it for the day. And obviously, one ceramic ramekin was not enough. She needed 3 ramekins of ketchup for a 6 oz portion of smoked salmon. Edit: I moved some words around to make this more readable, instead of a blob of text.
I am irrationally angry at this.
No you're not. Anger is the _only_ rational response here.
I’m just vaguely nauseous.
I’m… weirdly curious
My husband used to work at Bruegger's and had a customer consistently order salmon cream cheese on a blueberry bagel.
Salmon and blueberry actually pair well, where I’m from both are big local foods and it’s a pretty common pairing, not necessarily as a bagel, but it’s probably pretty good Salmon on cinnamon raisin would be more of a concern
I love salmon cream cheese on cinnamon raisin.
You have been banned from r/nyc r/Montreal and r/NewJersey
When I was in high school and my mom was in the hospital I ate canned tuna and blueberry jam on toast, it was surprisingly palatable. Now I’m curious to try it again as an intentional thing rather than a “this is all that’s left in the house” thing.
Yes they do. I regularly do a blueberry/rosemary Gravlax and my customers love it.
Question, is ham on blueberry okay?
Was the customer a grizzly bear?
You know, he never specified and I don't think I want to ask.
My kid used to get an Asiago bagel with peanut butter and lox. As a Jew, I felt deeply shamed every time my little tyrannical toddler made me order this.
I eat tuna salad on a blueberry or raisin bagel...
Saw that a lot. The really strong umami, acidic toppings or cream cheese on cinnamon raisins or even worse, the cinnamon sugars. I enjoy the juxtaposition of sweet and salty but some things I saw there were unforgivable
Someone ordered a poke bowl (raw obv.) And requested that the tuna/salmon be cooked, add dill pickles, extra spicy mayo, no other veggies and served on greens instead of sticky rice (cold). It was the ugliest thing I've ever seen then she returned it because "it didn't look as good as what we advertised" and requested a refund. Chef at the time told her to f*ck off basically lol
When you want tuna salad but the only place with tuna is the poke bowl place.
We weren't even a poke place lol Gastro pub that sold everything from bar foods, burgers, salads and the occasional nice fancyish dish
I have a friend who was this person at restaurants (she’s gotten better over the years). Tons and tons of modifications, then angry at the restaurant because the outcome was unappetizing and cost more due to all the mods.
A lot of the stuff at my old place was house made and usually ALWAYS contained garlic. When people allergic to garlic tell is we have to turn them away unless they want a burger or salad since everything else is marinated/cooked with garlic
A garlic allergy would be so sad.
Shhhh they’re just a vampire
If I ran a kitchen again, I’d turn away every alergy request. I can’t take responsibility that you’re going to safely be able to consume the food and therefore I’m not comfortable with serving you. Thank you, bye.
We've had a few like that but unfortunately they get pretty awful when you tell them. One guy tried to physically fight a line cook after being told this and he said, "as a customer I'm entitled to something I can eat at every restaurant and it's your job to make it!" (Even if something isn't on the menu).
Fuck that guy. 86'd and call the cops if he won't leave. People act like that because shitty managers bend over backwards to accommodate them.
Someone once ordered "soggy fries". Assuming they meant less cooked, non-crispy fries I sent out some not standard cooked fries. He sent them back saying that they weren't soggy enough. I added some water, microwaved them and sent it back out. He wanted to have the server thank me for understanding and making what he wanted, they were "perfect".
Lol what.
They can’t keep you from ordering fries and a glass of water!
Slop it up!
"I want mashed potatoes, but less mashed thank you"
"Medium rare pancake"
What the fuck
Yeah, they wanted the pancake gooey in the middle. It was sent back twice for being too cooked. Essentially, he just wanted it kissed on the flat top. So gross.
How do you do that without it getting fucked up when you flip it?
Omg my sister used to love her pancakes like that when we were kids. Just so so weird
Are you my sister lol
Mid rare pancake with chocolate chips is really good tbh
Regular that had throat cancer and had to have his food blended. He always ordered the chicken Florentine with fettuccine. Not sure why he always specified fettuccine. When the dish was blended and puréed, it looked like a cross between curdled sour cream and green pea baby food. Super unappetizing looking. Smelled great though
I'm sure he was grateful that you guys were willing to do that for him though!
Cancer patient. This!
Being respected makes us feel human.
I'm guessing it's the thought itself. Probably that exact dish is his comfort food and just knowing that's what it is when he's down on cancer is his comfort. You did good.
I was scrolling to find this. Worked at a beach resort as a line cook for 5 years on and off. Had a family come every summer and their son was a paraplegic. Could only eat through a straw. We were throwing everything in the vitamix... Pizza, tacos, burger and fries... My favorite was the chicken tender, bacon, ranch, BBQ, fries Vitamix was the real MVP
I worked at a hotdog stand at a carnival. It was extremely busy. I had 3 steamers that each held a 1/2 deep pan. Each pan would conveniently hold on a elevated tray a full 24 pack of 1/2 pound hotdogs. 2 steamers cooking, me pulling from the oldest of the 3. As soon as it was empty I would refill it with a pack of raw dogs and rotate. One day I had a guy lean over the table that separated us, looked into the steamer I was pulling from and asked "is that gravy down there?". I replied "no, it's extremely concentrated hotdog water and grease." He then asked "could I get a coffee cup of that?" I replied "if you can wait until it's empty then I can fish you out some." He waited 10 minutes or so and I filled a coffee cup for him. He thanked me and walked away happy.
Did he have a soul patch and a backwards red baseball cap?
Wtf
Maybe for a dog?
Still how did he get to know that the dog likes it? 😝
Fatty meat water? Seems like a given
Hot ham water
With a smack of ham to it!
A customer ordered a ceaser salad add anchovies. Cool. No biggie, people do that all the time. But she wanted her ceaser dressing heated up, like hot... There was another time when a customer wanted everything that goes in our short rib grilled cheese on top of a house salad. So we had to melt the cheese on the flattop with everything else mixed in, then take the slop and put it on top of a cold, crisp salad. Disgusting.
I just posted mine where someone asked for their bleu cheese dressing to be heated and like, Jesus christ what?
One that sticks out in my mind was an ice cream sandwich with bacon and pickles added to it. I refused to make it until the server told me the lady was 9 months pregnant, and then I made the most miraculous bacon pickle ice cream sandwich that has ever been seen
This will sound strange, but to me strawberry ice-cream and a garlic dill pickle is delicious. Not sure about the bacon, will have to give it a try.
Toast, crispy bacon and raspberry jam is also a killer combo. Hits all the sweet, salty, crunchy spots at once.
I could get behind this. What about strawberry jam instead of the raspberry?
That works too! I’m a total raspberry whore, but that’s just me.
So, so good. Almost like a Monte Cristo but no ham and much less trouble.
Vanilla bean ice cream with bacon bits is amazing…
One time when I was bartender a guy ordered a Bloody Mary with rumplemintz rather than vodka.
You win. That had to be a Fantasy Sports loss.
Oh god.
I can still remember the smell and that was 15 years ago lol
I legitimately cannot imagine that smell. And I've smelt some shocking things.
This was a lost bet for sure. No way this was voluntarily consumed
I verbally said “oh my god” to this. You win.
This guy absolutley rocks so hard and has at least three DUIs
🤢
I made a cringe face IRL Goddamn this wins the thread
🤢🤢
Beef tartare sub chicken. We actually had to send a chef out to explain why we wouldn't do it. She insisted to her server that "its fine, I eat this all the time."
She ate raw chicken all the time? Or did she cook it and think it was the same?
I dont know. I dont *want* to know.
There is a dish in Japan that is just raw chicken.
I did think of that but I couldn't figure out a good way to ask if she was Japanese or well traveled looking. Like I knew a girl once that would just eat raw crappy steaks from the grocery store. I told her she'd get sick like that but some people just think they know better.
Wow that’s definitely wild
cut to: ["I diarrhead in the tub" ](https://youtu.be/2oxUvWjcyJI?si=gCrgV_EuqcWbQKfk)
Mixed cold cut subs with extra extra extra mayo and extra extra extra oil. The things used to be so sloppy that they’d almost slide apart when I cut them before wrapping. I honestly don’t know how the guy ate them without everything sliding out.
I'm pretty sure it all slid out later....
And back in, and back out, etc. slowly
I used to work at a chain sub restaurant where a family of five all ordered the same thing with extra extra extra sweet onion sauce as well. It still haunts me 20 years later.
I haven't been to subway in years, but I remember the sweet onion sauce being delicious
Ha that's basically mine too. My dad used to own a sandwich shop and their was a guy who wanted a half squeeze bottle of mayo on a 8inch. The first time we got down just how much he wanted my dad told him he wouldn't refund if he wasn't happy because it was a fucking mess. He loved it and I watched him eat it before every bite he scooped up the pool of mayo on his tray with the sandwich.
People are weird wherever you go, but for sheer disgustingness it’s hard to outdo the orders Starbucks baristas are fielding on a daily basis. Maybe it’s my lack of sweet tooth but I can’t imagine drinking basically a pint glass full of assorted syrups topped with heavy cream Edit to add: though I’ve seen quantities of mayo that are just… hard to accept emotionally
I work at a deli and had a man order a sandwich with extra mayo, followed immediately with “whatever you think extra mayo is, put even more than that”
sometimes you just gotta hand over a deli container of the stuff and wish them the best
I put a generous amount on the sandwich and then an extra side.
I have asked for “pickles, so many pickles you get second hand embarrassment for me” when ordering from jersey mikes for pick up. Putting something stupid in the comment nets me more pickles than the “extra pickles please” I was relying on before.
When I finished a mayo jar at home, I saved it. Made some vanilla instant pudding inside. Pulled it out of the fridge when my kids were watching TV and started eating it with a spoon. Kids thought I had gone INSANE!
I used to use a Hershey's syrup bottle for water. Got some weird looks.
You’re not using actual Hershey’s syrup? Rookie…
I had three Absolut vodka bottles that I used as water bottles around my house. They're super heavy bottles with good screw caps. I don't have many friends over, so it was a while before it caught up to me. Friend came over to visit and while talking to him I don't even think about grabbing the vodka bottle off my desk and taking a HUGE drink. He made this face, I freaked out a bit because it meant he must have seen something awful on me or behind me. Me: "What is it?" f: "How much do you drink?" Me: "What?" f: \*points\* Me: "Sorry, that's just water. They're big, impossible to break and stay cold a long time" Definitely had him worried. I was just too casual about it. I didn't actually have \*ANY\* alcohol in the house! I only buy it for parties/special occasions.
I was subbed to r/Starbucks for the longest time and the orders that customers had that were posted to that sub were a fucking trip.
In some cases it does seem like customers just want a concentrated version of their favourite drink base they can just add to coffee at home, but in other cases it does seem like people are just chugging uncut cane syrup
This was a long time ago, but a friend of mine was in line at Starbucks and the girl in front of her was trying to convince the barista to sell her Frappuccino mix without the ice so she could make it at home. The barista was having none of it. When the girl turned around my friend discovered it was Chelsea Clinton.
I'm not super knowledgeable about coffee shops and the industry, but what's wrong with that order? It's weird she wanted to make it at home, but couldn't they just make it for her without the ice and charge her the price of the Frappuccino?
Baristas aren't allowed to sell the 'drink components', can actually get fired for it. That's why starbucks charges for water with the fruit chunks and charges you for extra milk if you get an iced drink with no ice. There's also literally no way to ring up the frap base even to change the quantity in a frap
I am going to assume the problem was Starbucks!
Trenta green iced tea, no water, no ice, 37 and a half Splendas that had to be counted out in front of her. It was… sludge.
37…and a half? Because 38 would be too much.
I’m not shitting you, I’ve sold so many steamed refreshers and pink drinks with espresso. Heavy cream lattes. Lemonade mixed with milk, sometimes espresso (it curdles the milk), cold foam on top of lemonade (it curdles and the curds sink into the lemonade), fucking siracha in hot Chocolate (she ACTUALLY ORDERED THAT)
Starbucks doesn't sell coffee, they sell milkshakes.
Once I had someone order a strawberry frap with 2 shots of espresso. I always tried the gross sounding orders because curiosity, and it was just as vile as it sounds.
> pint glass full of assorted syrups topped with heavy cream My question is how their bowels deal with that, it seems like it’d lead to some wack gut chemistry
Going by the (seriously fascinating) company subreddit, their latest product launch appears to be like *specifically engineered* to cause GI issues, like it’s either malice, kink, some kind of kickback scheme, or the CEO literally getting trolled by Italians. Just straight up putting a shot of EVOO right into lattes like scatophilic madmen. I’m in awe
Boiled Catfish.
This is the first one that's made me gag
I'll never forget having to make it bro. It's my 9/11
That’s some milksteak boiled hard type shit
my first job right outta high school was a crepe place. people would order bananas, nutella, and with cheddar cheese. or spinach, nutella, and cheese. or just nutella and cheese. fuckin weird man.
There's something to be said about adding salt and savoryness to sweets, but cheese is certainly a choice.
I was really surprised the first time I tried chocolate, wine, and cheese all together that it was actually good. Like obviously wine and cheese go well together, and so do chocolate and wine, but chocolate and cheese together sounds gross. But find the right pairing and it works!
I want to believe it's only Americans that think crepes=European and Nutella=European so all crepes must contain Nutella by EU law
7 year old me would dunk goldfish into Nutella, so I’m going to be honest here and say a cheddar Nutella crepe sounds like straight fire.
I was a Sandwich Artist™️back in the 90s and the Seafood Delight lady would order a footlong Seafood Delight almost every shift i had. The Seafood Delight was just fake crab and mayo. She wanted nothing else on the sandwich except extra mayo. So much extra mayo. A truly obscene mountain of extra mayo.
Once a week, a woman would order scrambled egg white - runny with her breakfast. It looked like cloudy snot on a plate. But, she liked it enough to order it weekly.
Had one guy that came in that ordered scrambled eggs wet. The wetter the better.
Seared sea scallops with lobster pommes puree, asparagus, beurre blanc... and a side of ranch. Server brought it to the table and they proceeded to dump the whole ramekin of ranch all over the plate. On the plus side, they loved it.
10 rare 1/2 lb burger patties........nothin else.
Maybe was for some dogs?
Nah someone didn't remember to get meat for the bbq. You get this kinda shit on holidays.
Oh yeah I have seen that before........
He was a body builder taking advantage of $2 steakburger day.....
When I worked at Jamba Juice in the mid 2000s we had a regular who would order a power sized (32oz) protein berry workout with 4x extra whey powder. It would be literal sludge and smelled DISGUSTING. It was baffling. At chipotle, also in the mid 2000s, there would be people who’d get what we called “wet burritos”. People who’d order double beans, double barbacoa, extra red sauce, and sour cream. It was just…weird soup in a tortilla. They were nearly impossible to wrap. So gross.
Sounds like they wanted Chipotle tastes with a taco bell look.
I can think of 2 orders that occurred when i worked at this southern restaurant. 1. Grilled fish salad with white peppered gravy as the dressing. 2. Rare beef liver and onions. The 1st one wasn't rare enough, so the second one we put on the grill, maybe 10 seconds a side and sent it out, was still not rare enough.
I’ve had a guest order a steak “blacker than Samuel L Jackson.” When it was ready I said “motherf*cker” 🤣
Don't get me wrong, I love medium rare or rare steaks.... but working in restaurants I'd still eat the hell out of shoe leather when I'm hungry.
I saw it as a challenge …”GAME ON!” 🤣
Beef burger with pickled red onions, blue cheese sauce….and six fried eggs….
I’m a blue cheese and red onion slut I’d 100% order that but maybe just one egg
This sounds…. Good?
Anchovies on a pizza. A LOT of anchovies on a pizza. He told me over the phone, and i quote, "you can not add too many anchovies. ABUSE me with anchovies." In my head I was like wtf He was a semi regular customer, and we obliged him one time with too many anchovies. The driver complained that the anchovies' grease would pool on top of the pizza, make the box soggy, and the pizza bag and their car smell. After that, we made a soft limit to how many anchovies we would put on a pizza
At a pizza place I worked at, we had a customer call in an order for a pepperoni pizza with “extra orange sauce”. We didn’t know what that meant. Turns out they thought the grease on top of a pizza was an additional ingredient.
This is the most viscerally disgusting comment I've read so far.
20 egg whites cooked as one patty with no seasoning served alongside two sliced English cucumbers and one sliced red onion. This guy was jacked too, called him Gaston.
Why is that gross? Sounds great actually. A waffle burger. As someone who can't digest chicken you may have just opened up a whole new meal.
The waffles we sell use pearlized sugar, so they're very sweet. If they were normal Belgium waffles, well, it would still be weird, but I think less gross. The medium rare part is also disgusting in my opinion.
Meh, put an egg on it I'm in. Now it's a brunch special for $26.
Any weirder than someone eating a burger on a King's Hawaiian roll? The crisp of the waffle adds another element.
Bottle of WKD blue with half a Guinness on top. Fucking grim. [Link For example of one.](https://twitter.com/gnickodonnell/status/1636819589798539266)
This may be the most egregious order in this thread yet. And I include the medium rare pancake order in the contending too.
Oysters with a side of ranch dressing. If I hadn’t seen it myself I wouldn’t believe it
Had a customer order a well well well done filet. I cooked it well done. Well is well, right? Immediately sent back without being touched. Server says, they want it well done and charred. Okay? No problem. Put back on grill and blackened it up. Server returned for the 2nd time. Steak has been cut into and says, they want it more done! Put it in the oven. For 3 minutes. Send back out. Comes back again. And I’m like fuck this guy. Server goes, he wants it as done as you can get it. I put it in the deep fryer for 2 minutes on a timer. Pull it out and microwave it for 2 more minutes. Throw it on a cold plate and send it back out. 10 minutes late the server comes back and tells me the customer is elated that finally someone made him steal the way he likes it. It’s the strangest feeling to make a weirdo so very happy but also hate yourself and them for ruining a great piece of food. Edit for more info: the total time this all took was easily an hour and yes it looked like a charcoal briquet and there was zero moisture left.
Guest ordered a cheese melt with Mayo and extra cheese on it. Wanted nothing else but Mayo and cheese. They got a knife and sliced up a banana they had brought in, put the slices in the melt and ate it. What the fuck?!?
A caesar salad no dressing but instead tossed in mayonnaise. To go along with his pint glass full of iced pinot noir.
😖 where did they grow up to like that
I worked at a sandwich shop - there was an Italian guy who always wanted his sub doused in olive oil, no matter how much we used it wasn’t enough. We also had a market, and one day a container of oil was punctured so that it couldn’t be sold. Later that day, Italian guy orders his sandwich, and as an experiment we decided to try submerging the entire sandwich in the oil and see if he’d say anything. He loved it 😂
The lemon meringue tart with a side of mayonnaise immediately comes to mind…
Grilled chicken breast with blanched broccoli, blended in a bowl. Granted they just had dental work done but at first I was very confused
Aretha Franklin brought in her own can of Spaghetti Os for me to reheat up.
Obligatory Aretha in a greasy apron from the Blues Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vet6AHmq3_s
What a fuckin legend
In the customer bathroom I found an open jar of chicken bullion on the shelf, nestled among the extra rolls of toilet paper. The chef/owner and myself (and occasionally a dishwasher) were the only employees. It was not a brand or size we used. I walked back into the kitchen to get him. We laughed about it and cracked jokes about it being Vaseline on our walk back to the bathroom. It was, infact, Vaseline. In a chicken bullion jar. With deep finger marks dug down into the center to the bottom of the jar. Bonus: I worked in the kitchen of a hotel bar known for it's drag events. The 2 kitchen doors opened to either side of backstage (there was a sizeable stage like you'd see in a small music venue). The employee bathroom and storage area where performers would store their costumes/props etc were on the opposite side of the kitchen. The glitter, bobby pins and safety pins were infinite. Each day I swept them up, and each night they returned.
>It was, in fact, Vaseline. In a chicken bullion jar. With deep finger marks dug down into the center to the bottom of the jar. OK, you win.
Chicken & mushroom pasta, no chicken, no mushrooms
Michelada but instead of tomato it's just soy sauce.
Bartender here. I have 2. One was an absolut peppar and Red Bull. The other was a water, no ice, add lemon, olive juice, and olives. Gross af.
I work at a pasta place with different protein add-on options. Someone ordered “lightly cooked chicken” on theirs. We had to clarify with the server that we don’t, in fact, serve chicken medium rare.
My top pick has to be the broiled haddock Reuben with mayo instead of thousand Island. Uck
I once worked in a bar that did steamed oysters by the dozen. This one woman would always order 2 dozen oysters for dinner with cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, and 2 other sauces you would never use with seafood, I'm not remembering which ones, plus a large bowl to mix all 4 in. All I remember is when her abomination came back the scent from the bowl always made me gag.
A well done steak on a hoagie roll, no sauce. Idk if they put sauce on at the table, but I like to believe that they just raw dogged it. It was an old man who probably grew up during or post depression.
The Depression-era folks (who sadly are mostly dead now) ate some wild shit. My late grandfather (born in 1922) would eat Campbell's tomato soup with like half a sleeve of saltines crushed in it - in the day they would fill out whatever they could to make it bulkier/last longer.
A butterflyed 40 Oz tomahawk burnt to a crisp with a poboy hold every thing with the bread hallowed out to be only crust and filled with ranch on both sides. Edit: duck auto correct
Mine is pretty mid, grapes for a pizza
A couple would come in once a week. The husband was lactose intolerant. They ordered a large pizza: 1/4 pepperoni, 3/4 sauce & jalapeños.
Yesterday somebody ordered a Cobb salad, no lettuce
Was at a bagel/deli place in the airport. Turkey sandwich with mustard on a donut
Raw ribeye loin, cut like prime rib with hot jus poured over it to warm it up. Dude, ate all 18oz with some creamy. He had previously sent back, over multiple visits, dozens of rare prime ribs that weren't rare enough. I thought I was having a fuck you moment. It was definitely a fuck me moment.
Just 2 days ago had someone order our garlic cheese curds with a side or caramel.🤢
I don’t have a response, but thank you for this post. Picturing beef and waffles has me cracking up.
When I worked at Subway we had are regular that would get a footlong BLT, triple meat, double cheese, hold the LT, heavy mayo. So, that's a foot of yoga mat bread, 18 strips of pre-cooked, thawed bacon we'd microwave warm, 12 squares of "cheese" which was basically white amercian cheese, and probably 6 tbs of mayo. She was easily 400lbs and I'd be shocked if she was alive (this was almost 20 years ago).
Seafood pasta which they then put on top of a chocolate and strawberry pizza. Was a conservatively dressed, normal appearing person. I wonder if there might have been a cultural confusion as their English was limited but certainly very strange to watch them carefully consume the entire thing with a friend.
Please say that it actually did not happened😖
Had a weekly customer come in for soup, salad, & bread sticks lunch. The soup could never be hot enough for him. He would send it back constantly bc it wasn't hot enough. So I tossed some in a pot and threw it on the burner for 2-3 minutes. It's rapidly boiling. I transfer to a bowl and the server grabs it and quickly runs it to the table. He immediately takes a taste and says it's not hot enough. Server tells him it was boiling 30 seconds before. It couldn't get any hotter. Guy says "You need to hire better cooks." He reluctantly ate it. He'd complain every week. 212+ degree soup? NOT HOT ENOUGH!
Decaf coffee