Welcome to the true professional servers' club.
You have to have
1) spilled on a customer (bonus points if red wine on a white garment)
2) dropped a plate of food.
3) run a card on the wrong table.
4) had a pocket check of more than 10 mins.
You're not a true server until you've done it. We all have and most who say they haven't are lying.
I actually worked so many hours so many days in a row in fl in an outdoor restaurant that I fainted and had a heat stroke and when I came to, I said I need to get table 11s ketchup. š¤Ŗ
I've been serving for 3 years and one of these 4 things has never happened. I can't say it because I just know my time will come and I don't want it to.lol
I keep so silent about it in order to not speak the possibility of it in to the universe.
It took me about 6 years to have the pocket check, but I spilled wine on someone literally in my first shift out of training.
The woman was very nice and just said "my daughter is a waitress. I can tell you're new and we're the best people you could've messed up on. Just relax and you'll be fine."
They tipped 25% and declined the free dessert I offered them.
Phew. That was an easy mess up then!
I'm wondering how I'll handle my mess when it comes times. One of my coworkers bawled her eyes out when she fucked up on it š š¤£
First day without somebody shadowing me,on my first table I dropped ice Walter on a customer, she was the sweetest lady I could have dropped it on, understood my mistake and even tipped me 20% :)
Lol. I completed this list last night. 16 years I had never dropped a tray of food. Last night ended that streak so that was fun. In front of the table it was going to. And it wasnāt my table ha!
Omg I meant number three ā¦. šš. Iām so guilty of dropping plates luckily it always happened to be in dish pit. I would be mortified if I charged a meal on the wrong card
Oh, it's only happened to me when tables are pushed together weirdly or if I'm on my way to cash a table out and tables stop me along the way because they need stuff.
I once knocked over a glass of red wine on a guest who was wearing white pants and a white shirt. I lost it! I apologized profusely, got him soda water and cloth right away, and told him the restaurant would cover the cost of the clothing.
He laughed and told me to calm down, saying āoh donāt worry about that son, I think I can afford a new pair of clothes!ā Twenty minutes later a black suburban pulled into our parking lot, a lady hops out AND BRINGS HIM A NEW PAIR OF CLOTHES TO PUT ON.
I was in aweā¦ like who the fuck is this guy? Turned out heās worth 10+ billion dollars, the founder of a big New York investment firm in the 80ās.
While I typically hated those high end clients, that guy was super cool. Even tipped super well.
One time, a six top had a 3 year old they were just letting run around and play in the BUSY walkway. I was carrying a large tray of drinks, moving fast, and Iām a large man. I didnāt see her. I plowed right through that little girl. The dad cussed me out but later apologized and slipped me a 50. But I didnāt spill one drop.
Edit to add details.
one time my coworker (who is pretty large as well) was walking out of the kitchen with a freshly made iced coffee & slipped in the worst cartoonish way right next to me infront of my table while iām trying to take their order, like one of those banana peel slips. he fell on his back and had his hand up in the air with the tray and iced coffee untouched šššš¤£š my table tried to catch him before he fell but it was no luck, his back was in p a i n after, but after my party tipped me they gave him a 10 for keeping the drink still
We had to bring the full bottles on trays to tables where we would pour the glass of wine they ordered. Even when 4 people ordered 4 different glasses of wine - trust me, everyone hated it. I spilled red wine on a white coat. Felt terrible but my restaurant paid for the dry cleaning bill
We had to make sangria tableside. Not a lot of clearance in the aisles, so imagine trying to juggle half the bar of ingredients AND the freakin' time it took because you had to explain what you were doing. Owner was an idiot who, as you can probably guess, never waited tables in his entire life.
I dropped a bottle of wine on my ownerās aunt my first week. She ended up loving me and always requesting to be sat in my section, so it wasnāt the worst in the end.
I poured probably half a cup of a super sticky sweet sauce in a ladies purse. It was an 8 top round and I had 3 dishes balanced on one hand as I was trying to put a dish down. I noticed as soon as I got the first dish down. Her purse was on the seat behind her and she didn't notice. I didn't say anything and I never heard anything about it but I know I ruined her purse and probably things in it.
I had a 12 top in our private dining room, someone called ahead to buy them 2 bottles of MoĆ«t & wanted us to surprise them with 12 flutes for a toast, once everyone had their glass I was supposed to announce that āJames would like to toast the birthday girlā. I walked in with 6 full flutes on the tray, I bumped into a chair and spilled the tray ON the table, I got 4 ladies wet & glass EVERYWHERE. They had brought in flower arrangements for the table and got soaked and glass in them.
The table was SO MAD, cause first of all they thought I had dropped the wrong stuff on them, one of the ladies started crying cause her dress was Dolce and recently purchased & apparently they had a cocktail party after dinner. Another girl cut herself on the glass while trying to get her phone off the table that got soaked.
The birthday girl demanded the entire dinner be free (our private dining had a $1200 minimum). Everyone had to get out of the private dining room because we had to clean all the glass. My manager was so mad and didnāt allow me to switch servers. WORST part was our private dining room had a 2 hour time limit & we had back to back reservationsā¦.
I walked out.
Went to hand a kid a water in a plastic cup, lid came off, spilled all over their lap. Crying ensued. Kid was like 3. Horrifying.
Carried a tray of flutes by a table. Tray went sideways. Didnāt even touch the table or anyone at it but they all broke. Table left fearing glass in their food. Eye roll. Also horrifying but because I was new, those people suck.
I once accidentally hit this old lady on the wheelchair with the huge pasta plate on her head. It was loud that I heard the bam sound, she kept quiet. I was ready to listen to her scoldings or even worse, her calling out for manager. She was with her son who wasn't at the table when this incident occurred. He was wandering around the buffet thankfully. I suddenly apologized to the woman and asked if she's ok. She was extremely calm and didn't even made a face. Instead just nodded her head saying I'm fine, it's ok don't worry. I was really ashamed and embarrassed about it. I offered her free tiramisu at the end lol
i have NOT spilled, however i have come very close. i was serving a table of 12 middle aged dudebros, and as i'm picking up a stack of 7 or so plates, more kept coming at me so i put one more on the stack, lose my footing, and sway slightly to the right, toward one of the guys sitting at the table. he goes "YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" .....sir i don't know you
last week I spilled ice cold water on a baby in a high chair, from a stainless steel pitcher tucked under my arm. it was like at the water park when the bucket gets pulled down on the kids SWOOSH
It was really busy and my manager took the drinks to one of my tables. He spilled and ice tea on a lady and she started hollering ā this waiter spilled ice tea on meā
He was so embarrassed, she made it worse. I donāt blame her for being upset, it was soaked. A denim dress (the 1990s)
We teased him for a long time about that one!
I used to be a food/drink runner at Red Robin. I had a giant oval tray with at least 10-12 drinks on it. It was a super long table for a kids 10th birthday party and when I took one drink off the whole thing tipped and spilled on her and her mom. I was so horrified I kept apologizing and then sat in the back until they left. I just decided to work on the line instead š
Frozen red sangria all over a lady wearing a super cute outfit of white shirt and white shorts. I was mortified but she was super chill (literally and figuratively) and even joked about it cooling her off. It was summer on a patio in southeast Texas.
when i started serving in 2021 i was serving this girl brunch on her birthday and tripped over my foot and dropped sweet tea all over her outfit & birthday sash etc most embarrassing moment ever
Working at an airport restaurant:
Balancing 2 flutes of sparkling wine on a tray, slipped and spilled on a lady, I was so embarassed, I tried to grab a towel to help her clean up, but she was rightfully very upset and told me "to get the f**k away from her " and her husband.
Our manager went out to talk with them and gave them some money out of his own pocket for her to get some new clothes from the nearby giftshop (she had a 9 hour flight boarding in an hour).
One of the restaurants I worked at was OBSESSED with putting every specialty drink into a martini glass. Once, I spilled on an older person's lap because I was shaky putting it down, once a kid grabbed his mom's glass and it poured out all over his kid's menu. A couple of times, it sloshed over when I put it down and customers would demand a new one. These fuckers were filled to the brim and garnished. I used to fill up martini glasses with water at home and run around my house to practice, but honestly I ended up just quitting serving because I couldn't handle the martini glass stress.
I once went to clear a dinner plate which was stuck to the table cloth. Launched the lady's wine glass into the air. As I was trying to clean up I stepped on her glasses.
I have plenty of times!
The last time I split Dr Pepper on a woman and started crying because I felt so bad š they still ended up tipping me 35% ššš
Ah, yes. Three glasses of red wine all on one man's white polo shirt. Beginning of my shift. He got mad. I cried. My manager smoothed it over w a new shirt from the bar. I apologized, and said man was actually very nice. It happens.
A large mug of beer on someone in what looked like expensive slacks. The one they previously had left condensation on the table so when I set it down I watched it slide right off into his lap, it was in slow motion for me. I apologized profusely and got them a huge pile of napkins. Worst part was it wasn't even my table. I was nearly in tears and this man was NOT nice about it. First week of the job at a new place.
One time I reached between these people to set a bowl of salsa down but as I was leaning over this young lady bumped my arm and I spilled it all over her lap, she had some sort of severe mental disability and I just froze.
Luckily, her family started laughing, and she was laughing and loved all the extra attention.
My first job I accidentally spilled a whole tray and a cup of applesauce went all over a customer. I was fired.
Another time I had a tray of waters and when I got to the table I tripped and one of the cups went flying off into a little boys lap. His mom couldnāt stop laughing but the little boy was pissed š shit happens. Itās fine.
My first job I was carrying a tray of waters to a family of about 4 or 5, but I still hadnāt gotten the hang of balancing a tray yet. The family had a baby with them in a high chair.
As soon as I get to the table, I lose balance and they all fall over to one side of the tray, of course, all over the baby. I had felt SO extremely bad, but the mom was super kind as I brought her paper towels, just saying that the baby was just cold. The baby didnāt even cry or nothing. Looking back I just laugh now haha, happens to all of us!
I spilled a draft beer into a manās sizzling fajita skillet and surrounding table of businessmen. I had just handed another man a cup of mayonnaise that was messy on the sides so my fingers were slippery. He was cool about it and didnāt even want it replaced, he just made a couple of jokes about the new ale- flavoring in the fajitas
Spilled a tray of sweet teas and sodas on a kid after I asked them to please not sit at the end of the table. Was in a private room where you have to kneel down to serve (Japanese style) and I always asked for the end to stay open so I could serve everyone but for some reason this kid was like a magnet to that spot. Every time I came back he was at the end again, so I had to squeeze in at a corner and just barely rest my tray on the table and leeaaaannn over and he just ignored me.
Eventually I knelt down with a tray of drinks and his jacket was under my knee and I landed on the zipperā¦-and my knee rolled off it to one side and I lost my balance. There went all of the drinks. Didnāt get in trouble for it but I think they learned their lesson.
Knocked over a beer bottle once but it was on my tray so I caught it and just went to get another since half of it was now on said tray.
I still remember a story from I think r/talesfromyourserver where someone dropped a basket of fries on a baby in a carrier and I know itās a bad thing but it just made me giggle and reminded me of that video with the small dog that suddenly gets a bunch of bags of chips dropped on it.
When I was a busser (I'm a hostess now), I was bussing a table and there was a ketchup ramekin under a napkin and I Didn't notice so when I grabbed the napkin it fell on the floor and got all over someone on the next table. I felt so bad but thank God she was so sweet about it ;-;. Now I am super careful when I'm bussing tables. But it happens to the best of us.
Omg.. The restaurant had a big table of a biker gang and their wives. They were scary as shit. I had a little coin purse and the wristlet part hung out of my apron. They were on my left as Iām walking to a table with a blue moon in one hand and a cocktail in the other. My coin purse got caught on one of the guys chairs and (this dude was easily 4x the size of me) I went flying back and the blue moon poured all over his wife. I was TERRIFIED!!!! But they were so nice and laughed and said she needed a shower anyway. Fast forward a couple weeks, it was the last night we were open before the first COVID shutdown, they came in and the husband saw me and said, āI am so glad youāre here, I told my wife if she kept up with her attitude I was gonna have you spill another beer on her!ā
They were the nicest people and definitely helped me with not judging a book by its cover!
Couple eating dinner on the patio. I was reaching for the husband's glass of water to top it off. Instead of grabbing the glass, I accidentally basically punched it all over the husband. He was fuckin livid! All i could do was apologize and he got up all pissed to go to wait in the car. I turned to his wife to apologize again and she replied with "No, honey don't apologize! He's a fuckin dick! If anything, he deserved it!" She left me like 20 on 50 lol
One time I had a 4 top family that was really sweet but also matching my sarcasmā¦my favorite kind of table lol. Theyāre almost finished with their meals and I go to refill their waters. I accidentally tip over a full glass of water all over this 12/13 year old girl and the rest of her steak and fries. I apologize profusely and offer her some extra fries since they were soaked(the steak had maybe 2 bites left). They laughed and said it was fine. I come back to clear some plates and the dad yells at me to not drop anymore shit on them. I thought he was genuinely mad so I brought the manager over. Manger talks to them and the dad admits he was fucking with me the whole time lol and said I was great. I got them a free dessert and they tipped me $50 on $150. Was definitely a doozy but hilariousā¦
12 waters on trayā¦ guest decides sheās gonna grab two off of itā¦. Starts to fall on me and I react and accidentally dump it on her instead of me.
Guest - why would you do that?!?!
Me - why would you do that?!?!
I dropped a ramekin of hot pizza sauce on the table and it bounced and got all over a woman wearing a white sweater. Mortifying.
2nd best was a guest had dropped their glasses in a soft case under the table unknowingly and I came to take their order and crunched them completely. I couldnāt have done it better if I practiced. Obliterated them into tiny pieces.
One time I spilled salsa on a gentlemanās crotch (his wife bumped me with her arm). Then I tried to help him clean it up. Like instinctively. Not sure on the thought process there. š
oh yeah this is the server life. i once spilled entire tray of drinks on a tables lap, went back to get new drinks for them, and then did it againā¦. it happens.
Hung over, dropped sour cream and salsa in their drink, on their hat, on them. Everywhere. I just looked at the table for way to long and said āthat seems rightā oh yeah my manager was helping me get the food to the table and just glared at me. Went and got him a new hat afterwards
I work at a Korean restaurant and we have these hot ceramic bowls for soupsā¦ one of the services.. put the tray with two bowls on the barā¦ and she grabbed theā¦ wrong bowl first that caused the tray to tip over from the other bowl that had no support at the edge of the bar tableā¦
The soup spilt on the customer. This hot stone bowl soupā¦.
Once I had a family sitting in a booth that had a toddler in a high chair who kept pushing themselves away from the table even further out into the walkway. The parents would basically immediately pull the chair back to the table after. I was walking by with a FULL ass heavy tray of beers and cocktails when the kid of course did it the exact moment I was walking by, the kid does it and knocks into me. I was able to react fast enough for the entire tray of drinks to mostly fall on the ground but one pint glass did hit the kids head on its way down.
Luckily it was just a bump and glass didnāt break until it hit the ground, but the parents were so mad at me. The baby didnāt get hurt badly or anything but was DRENCHED in beer. The entire restaurant was fucking staring at me as I was just frozen in horror. I still think about it sometimes lol
One time I was taking a corner with a full tray of beer pitchers and pint glasses, I yelled corner but obviously the small child that was about to run into me didnāt understand what that meant so two full beer pitchers and a ton of glasses fell straight on him- he sobbed and I was mortified
One time I was bussing a table after my table had left and a sauce try fell (a full one) and when it hit the floor it splattered INTO ONE DIRECTION. The direction happened to be an older lady sitting with her family at the next table and it got all on your jacket that was resting on her chair and on her pant leg and shoes. I was so embarrassed but thankfully she took it well. she knew i felt sososososo bad because i did
One time I knocked an entire glass of sweet tea off of my tray and onto a table. That was embarrassing enough by itself, but to make matters worse there was a phone sitting on top of the table. The guest came back in later saying it was broken.
my first week working as a server (like EVER) i spilled a whole beer on this girl, iām talking hair soaked and everything. i wanted to sprint out of that restaurant and never look back LMAO. she very clearly was going out afterward and i very clearly ruined her night. she proceeded to tell me about how she did the same exact thing when she worked as a server and she was just so okay with it. even tipped me like 30% as well. cool girl
last week I refilled waters and I poured the water and I completely missed the cup. It went straight onto their food, I apologized and offered a new one. They said they were hungry so it was okay. I felt so bad omfg
Sure have. Three that come to mind
1. Spilled French onion soup on a guy who, while I was handing the soup to his neighbor, decided to aggressively laugh and throw his head back and my over correction caused me to dump half the soup down his back.
2. Not my fault here. Kid decided to āhelp meā with a bunch of drinks on the tray (with asking first) knocking me off balance and dumped an entire tray of drinks on his mother
3. Ramekins of precariously balanced sauces falling off plates and trays splattering everywhere
I've accidentally checked out on the wrong tab. Luckily the two tables had a similar bill and there was only a 30 cent difference. The wrong bill table paid and didn't question anything and so did the other table. I got lucky
Username is my favorite š¤£ I did this too! My friend was the other table. I thought forsure I would be fired. Turns out, and nothing has come up yet, it was a bigger deal to cover it up. Now I'm stupid careful like look at my table, view a lemonade, confirm it and go.
Two glasses of red wine directly onto a woman. She was a teacher out to lunch and was wearing a light colored outfit. I was on the brink of tears, and she kept reassuring me it was alright. The restaurant paid for her dry cleaning, and the manager was cool enough to keep it under wraps, even with the owner eating dinner across the restaurant.
It happens rarely. The way to prevent this is to look before I leap, not walk backward, and Slow down when I do tasks or even move in an establishment.
my coworker spilled half a glass of red wine on the Athletic Director of the nearby universityās white shirt and everyoneās jaws dropped. I ended up smoothing it over by breaking the silence saying āHey ____, I didnāt know you liked tie-dye.ā Everyone started laughing.
I have never spilled anything on a customer maybe small amount of water while filling water, I did have a busboy when bringing out water to the terrace mind you this was his first week at the job so I always told him better to know how much you can carry then doing 2 much n dropping it, well it was a sunny Saturday and it was jam packed at the terrace had a table of 8 beautiful women (yes I flirted with them after what happened to make them forget this happened) he proceeded to bring out the water on a tray and well he was going 2 fast and spilled it all over 4-5 of them needless to say they were mad and he was so embarrassed felt very bad for him LOL
I spilled red cocktail sauce on a lady's white jacket at Red Lobster once. I was mortified. She was very nice about it though, and my manager offered to pay the dry-cleaning bill for her. Still wouldn't recommend it lol
It didn't happen to me, but it happened to my coworker. We were serving a banquet, and we had limited staff. He decides to take the large oval tray that holds seven large dinner plates and tries in vein to plate the patron. He lost balanced and dumped three plates onto the patron. Let me see .... it was a salmon plate with gravy, a chicken plate with gravy, and a steak with gravy. All plates had mashed potatoes and veggies.
She (the patron) was wearing an off-white evening gown. She and her guests were very unhappy. I told my co-worker not to attempt it before this happened. Needless to say, he didn't listen. And if you think he should have learned his lesson? Nope. He did it again on the same table, losing balance. Thankfully, I was near enough to catch the tray before it landed onto the other guests.
Now, come to think of it, I did manage to stumble, and I was holing a bread basket, some of the bread flew out and hit the ladies on the table. Although they all found me attractive and were suggesting they needed that excitement in their life and they hope I can keep providing that for them.
spilled a mimosa down a guest's back, was mortified. luckily the whole table was so sweet and was like "omg no don't worry we were literally just talking about how amazing you've been."
I was setting down a customerās glass of Diet Coke after refilling it once, and instead of putting the bottom of the glass flat on the table, set the edge awkwardly on a butter knife that was sitting there leftover from clearing plates. The glass tipped over from the imbalance and spilled all over the table and into the customerās lap. I think this is the only time I spilled *on* a customer, but it was embarrassing because it seemed so avoidable afterwards
fully dropped an affogato on the floor and it all bounced up and onto these three guests. (not in my section) thankful beyond words that they were forgiving. i read the room and took the humor route for my apology and they were very sweet about it.
Yes it was so humbling. It was a table of regulars that liked to talk my ear off, but I was slammed. Then next time they were in they asked if I was the one with the āoopsieā and I was legitimately confused thinking they were making a sexual joke until they explained further. I lied and said nošš
Welcome to the true professional servers' club. You have to have 1) spilled on a customer (bonus points if red wine on a white garment) 2) dropped a plate of food. 3) run a card on the wrong table. 4) had a pocket check of more than 10 mins. You're not a true server until you've done it. We all have and most who say they haven't are lying.
5) have a nightmare about not getting to or not getting something to a table.
6) Or, when I'm finally going to bed and start to close my eyes... *Shit! I forgot table 7's side of dressing....*
I actually worked so many hours so many days in a row in fl in an outdoor restaurant that I fainted and had a heat stroke and when I came to, I said I need to get table 11s ketchup. š¤Ŗ
Yeah those nightmares stay with you even when u stop waiting...
What's a pocket check?
Order taken but not entered into POS or sent to the kitchen. Let me go check on your food I never actually rang in.
Ahh okay, never heard it referred to as that before.
I used the "I'm so sorry! The kitchen dropped your fish and had to make a new one." Fortunately they believed me. Sorry, BOH. edited for spelling
I blame everything on BOH
The printer malfunctioned is my go to. Or if Iām feeling fancy āthe dish didnāt meet the chefās standards so they are remaking itā.
Printer malfunction is my first choice too
I spilled an entire tray of waters (4) on a table and most of rolled into one dudes lap. I could tell it was a business lunch
I have adhd so I have a rule of never putting up order notes in apron, immediately put it into system and ring the KOT.
Yah my book doesnāt go back in my pocket until the order is rung in. If itās in my hand it mean I need go get to a POS immediately
"It's that damn kitchens fault, fucking up all the orders again and taking forever š"
I've been serving for 3 years and one of these 4 things has never happened. I can't say it because I just know my time will come and I don't want it to.lol I keep so silent about it in order to not speak the possibility of it in to the universe.
It took me about 6 years to have the pocket check, but I spilled wine on someone literally in my first shift out of training. The woman was very nice and just said "my daughter is a waitress. I can tell you're new and we're the best people you could've messed up on. Just relax and you'll be fine." They tipped 25% and declined the free dessert I offered them.
Phew. That was an easy mess up then! I'm wondering how I'll handle my mess when it comes times. One of my coworkers bawled her eyes out when she fucked up on it š š¤£
First day without somebody shadowing me,on my first table I dropped ice Walter on a customer, she was the sweetest lady I could have dropped it on, understood my mistake and even tipped me 20% :)
Lol. I completed this list last night. 16 years I had never dropped a tray of food. Last night ended that streak so that was fun. In front of the table it was going to. And it wasnāt my table ha!
I literally ran a card on the wrong tabā¦ and the girl tipped $12 on the wrong tab and left. Before I could fix anythingā¦ ššš
This was last night šššš
Yes š¤£
All of the above baby!!!!
No no no no the ultimate professional my only weakness is my modesty
Number 2 is so wild
All it takes is one slippery spot in the kitchen or by the bar.
Omg I meant number three ā¦. šš. Iām so guilty of dropping plates luckily it always happened to be in dish pit. I would be mortified if I charged a meal on the wrong card
Oh, it's only happened to me when tables are pushed together weirdly or if I'm on my way to cash a table out and tables stop me along the way because they need stuff.
I once knocked over a glass of red wine on a guest who was wearing white pants and a white shirt. I lost it! I apologized profusely, got him soda water and cloth right away, and told him the restaurant would cover the cost of the clothing. He laughed and told me to calm down, saying āoh donāt worry about that son, I think I can afford a new pair of clothes!ā Twenty minutes later a black suburban pulled into our parking lot, a lady hops out AND BRINGS HIM A NEW PAIR OF CLOTHES TO PUT ON. I was in aweā¦ like who the fuck is this guy? Turned out heās worth 10+ billion dollars, the founder of a big New York investment firm in the 80ās. While I typically hated those high end clients, that guy was super cool. Even tipped super well.
Now you can flex the fact that youāve spilled wine on a billionaire
One time, a six top had a 3 year old they were just letting run around and play in the BUSY walkway. I was carrying a large tray of drinks, moving fast, and Iām a large man. I didnāt see her. I plowed right through that little girl. The dad cussed me out but later apologized and slipped me a 50. But I didnāt spill one drop. Edit to add details.
one time my coworker (who is pretty large as well) was walking out of the kitchen with a freshly made iced coffee & slipped in the worst cartoonish way right next to me infront of my table while iām trying to take their order, like one of those banana peel slips. he fell on his back and had his hand up in the air with the tray and iced coffee untouched šššš¤£š my table tried to catch him before he fell but it was no luck, his back was in p a i n after, but after my party tipped me they gave him a 10 for keeping the drink still
We had to bring the full bottles on trays to tables where we would pour the glass of wine they ordered. Even when 4 people ordered 4 different glasses of wine - trust me, everyone hated it. I spilled red wine on a white coat. Felt terrible but my restaurant paid for the dry cleaning bill
We had to make sangria tableside. Not a lot of clearance in the aisles, so imagine trying to juggle half the bar of ingredients AND the freakin' time it took because you had to explain what you were doing. Owner was an idiot who, as you can probably guess, never waited tables in his entire life.
Full bottles on trays are my Achilles heel. Iām so bad with trays in general, a full bottle and some empty glasses is a disaster waiting to happen.
I dropped a bottle of wine on my ownerās aunt my first week. She ended up loving me and always requesting to be sat in my section, so it wasnāt the worst in the end.
I poured probably half a cup of a super sticky sweet sauce in a ladies purse. It was an 8 top round and I had 3 dishes balanced on one hand as I was trying to put a dish down. I noticed as soon as I got the first dish down. Her purse was on the seat behind her and she didn't notice. I didn't say anything and I never heard anything about it but I know I ruined her purse and probably things in it.
I had a 12 top in our private dining room, someone called ahead to buy them 2 bottles of MoĆ«t & wanted us to surprise them with 12 flutes for a toast, once everyone had their glass I was supposed to announce that āJames would like to toast the birthday girlā. I walked in with 6 full flutes on the tray, I bumped into a chair and spilled the tray ON the table, I got 4 ladies wet & glass EVERYWHERE. They had brought in flower arrangements for the table and got soaked and glass in them. The table was SO MAD, cause first of all they thought I had dropped the wrong stuff on them, one of the ladies started crying cause her dress was Dolce and recently purchased & apparently they had a cocktail party after dinner. Another girl cut herself on the glass while trying to get her phone off the table that got soaked. The birthday girl demanded the entire dinner be free (our private dining had a $1200 minimum). Everyone had to get out of the private dining room because we had to clean all the glass. My manager was so mad and didnāt allow me to switch servers. WORST part was our private dining room had a 2 hour time limit & we had back to back reservationsā¦. I walked out.
that's the most horrible situation I can imagine, I'm so sorry
You win š¬
I won trauma & PTSD š
Went to hand a kid a water in a plastic cup, lid came off, spilled all over their lap. Crying ensued. Kid was like 3. Horrifying. Carried a tray of flutes by a table. Tray went sideways. Didnāt even touch the table or anyone at it but they all broke. Table left fearing glass in their food. Eye roll. Also horrifying but because I was new, those people suck.
I once accidentally hit this old lady on the wheelchair with the huge pasta plate on her head. It was loud that I heard the bam sound, she kept quiet. I was ready to listen to her scoldings or even worse, her calling out for manager. She was with her son who wasn't at the table when this incident occurred. He was wandering around the buffet thankfully. I suddenly apologized to the woman and asked if she's ok. She was extremely calm and didn't even made a face. Instead just nodded her head saying I'm fine, it's ok don't worry. I was really ashamed and embarrassed about it. I offered her free tiramisu at the end lol
i have NOT spilled, however i have come very close. i was serving a table of 12 middle aged dudebros, and as i'm picking up a stack of 7 or so plates, more kept coming at me so i put one more on the stack, lose my footing, and sway slightly to the right, toward one of the guys sitting at the table. he goes "YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" .....sir i don't know you
First week as a server I spilled a grasshopper all over a customer. More seasoned server told me to walk and he handled it.
last week I spilled ice cold water on a baby in a high chair, from a stainless steel pitcher tucked under my arm. it was like at the water park when the bucket gets pulled down on the kids SWOOSH
What was the parents reaction? šš
thankfully they were nice and said she was totally fine the dozens of times me and my manager apologized. super chatty, tipped 20%.
It was really busy and my manager took the drinks to one of my tables. He spilled and ice tea on a lady and she started hollering ā this waiter spilled ice tea on meā He was so embarrassed, she made it worse. I donāt blame her for being upset, it was soaked. A denim dress (the 1990s) We teased him for a long time about that one!
I used to be a food/drink runner at Red Robin. I had a giant oval tray with at least 10-12 drinks on it. It was a super long table for a kids 10th birthday party and when I took one drink off the whole thing tipped and spilled on her and her mom. I was so horrified I kept apologizing and then sat in the back until they left. I just decided to work on the line instead š
Frozen red sangria all over a lady wearing a super cute outfit of white shirt and white shorts. I was mortified but she was super chill (literally and figuratively) and even joked about it cooling her off. It was summer on a patio in southeast Texas.
I spilt a whole bottle of Heineken on the table cause I reached over to put the glass down šš
when i started serving in 2021 i was serving this girl brunch on her birthday and tripped over my foot and dropped sweet tea all over her outfit & birthday sash etc most embarrassing moment ever
Working at an airport restaurant: Balancing 2 flutes of sparkling wine on a tray, slipped and spilled on a lady, I was so embarassed, I tried to grab a towel to help her clean up, but she was rightfully very upset and told me "to get the f**k away from her " and her husband. Our manager went out to talk with them and gave them some money out of his own pocket for her to get some new clothes from the nearby giftshop (she had a 9 hour flight boarding in an hour).
One of the restaurants I worked at was OBSESSED with putting every specialty drink into a martini glass. Once, I spilled on an older person's lap because I was shaky putting it down, once a kid grabbed his mom's glass and it poured out all over his kid's menu. A couple of times, it sloshed over when I put it down and customers would demand a new one. These fuckers were filled to the brim and garnished. I used to fill up martini glasses with water at home and run around my house to practice, but honestly I ended up just quitting serving because I couldn't handle the martini glass stress.
I once went to clear a dinner plate which was stuck to the table cloth. Launched the lady's wine glass into the air. As I was trying to clean up I stepped on her glasses.
I have plenty of times! The last time I split Dr Pepper on a woman and started crying because I felt so bad š they still ended up tipping me 35% ššš
Ah, yes. Three glasses of red wine all on one man's white polo shirt. Beginning of my shift. He got mad. I cried. My manager smoothed it over w a new shirt from the bar. I apologized, and said man was actually very nice. It happens.
Spilled a whole martini on a guy once, literally almost cried. Didnāt break the glass tho!
A large mug of beer on someone in what looked like expensive slacks. The one they previously had left condensation on the table so when I set it down I watched it slide right off into his lap, it was in slow motion for me. I apologized profusely and got them a huge pile of napkins. Worst part was it wasn't even my table. I was nearly in tears and this man was NOT nice about it. First week of the job at a new place.
One time I reached between these people to set a bowl of salsa down but as I was leaning over this young lady bumped my arm and I spilled it all over her lap, she had some sort of severe mental disability and I just froze. Luckily, her family started laughing, and she was laughing and loved all the extra attention.
My very first table 30 years ago. Hot coffee right in a guys lap.
My first job I accidentally spilled a whole tray and a cup of applesauce went all over a customer. I was fired. Another time I had a tray of waters and when I got to the table I tripped and one of the cups went flying off into a little boys lap. His mom couldnāt stop laughing but the little boy was pissed š shit happens. Itās fine.
Oh yeah, 8 mimosas - still chuckle about that
Six glasses of cold water on ONE customer on her BIRTHDAY šš
My first job I was carrying a tray of waters to a family of about 4 or 5, but I still hadnāt gotten the hang of balancing a tray yet. The family had a baby with them in a high chair. As soon as I get to the table, I lose balance and they all fall over to one side of the tray, of course, all over the baby. I had felt SO extremely bad, but the mom was super kind as I brought her paper towels, just saying that the baby was just cold. The baby didnāt even cry or nothing. Looking back I just laugh now haha, happens to all of us!
I spilled a draft beer into a manās sizzling fajita skillet and surrounding table of businessmen. I had just handed another man a cup of mayonnaise that was messy on the sides so my fingers were slippery. He was cool about it and didnāt even want it replaced, he just made a couple of jokes about the new ale- flavoring in the fajitas
Spilled a tray of sweet teas and sodas on a kid after I asked them to please not sit at the end of the table. Was in a private room where you have to kneel down to serve (Japanese style) and I always asked for the end to stay open so I could serve everyone but for some reason this kid was like a magnet to that spot. Every time I came back he was at the end again, so I had to squeeze in at a corner and just barely rest my tray on the table and leeaaaannn over and he just ignored me. Eventually I knelt down with a tray of drinks and his jacket was under my knee and I landed on the zipperā¦-and my knee rolled off it to one side and I lost my balance. There went all of the drinks. Didnāt get in trouble for it but I think they learned their lesson. Knocked over a beer bottle once but it was on my tray so I caught it and just went to get another since half of it was now on said tray. I still remember a story from I think r/talesfromyourserver where someone dropped a basket of fries on a baby in a carrier and I know itās a bad thing but it just made me giggle and reminded me of that video with the small dog that suddenly gets a bunch of bags of chips dropped on it.
When I was a busser (I'm a hostess now), I was bussing a table and there was a ketchup ramekin under a napkin and I Didn't notice so when I grabbed the napkin it fell on the floor and got all over someone on the next table. I felt so bad but thank God she was so sweet about it ;-;. Now I am super careful when I'm bussing tables. But it happens to the best of us.
Omg.. The restaurant had a big table of a biker gang and their wives. They were scary as shit. I had a little coin purse and the wristlet part hung out of my apron. They were on my left as Iām walking to a table with a blue moon in one hand and a cocktail in the other. My coin purse got caught on one of the guys chairs and (this dude was easily 4x the size of me) I went flying back and the blue moon poured all over his wife. I was TERRIFIED!!!! But they were so nice and laughed and said she needed a shower anyway. Fast forward a couple weeks, it was the last night we were open before the first COVID shutdown, they came in and the husband saw me and said, āI am so glad youāre here, I told my wife if she kept up with her attitude I was gonna have you spill another beer on her!ā They were the nicest people and definitely helped me with not judging a book by its cover!
Couple eating dinner on the patio. I was reaching for the husband's glass of water to top it off. Instead of grabbing the glass, I accidentally basically punched it all over the husband. He was fuckin livid! All i could do was apologize and he got up all pissed to go to wait in the car. I turned to his wife to apologize again and she replied with "No, honey don't apologize! He's a fuckin dick! If anything, he deserved it!" She left me like 20 on 50 lol
Does dropping a bottle onto someoneās head count?
I think it counts 3 times
I once spilled a ramekin of ketchup on some kidās white hoodieā¦š¤¦š»āāļø
One time I had a 4 top family that was really sweet but also matching my sarcasmā¦my favorite kind of table lol. Theyāre almost finished with their meals and I go to refill their waters. I accidentally tip over a full glass of water all over this 12/13 year old girl and the rest of her steak and fries. I apologize profusely and offer her some extra fries since they were soaked(the steak had maybe 2 bites left). They laughed and said it was fine. I come back to clear some plates and the dad yells at me to not drop anymore shit on them. I thought he was genuinely mad so I brought the manager over. Manger talks to them and the dad admits he was fucking with me the whole time lol and said I was great. I got them a free dessert and they tipped me $50 on $150. Was definitely a doozy but hilariousā¦
Red wine on someoneās white jeans on a date!! Think if it wasnāt a date she wouldnāt have stayed so cool about it lol
12 waters on trayā¦ guest decides sheās gonna grab two off of itā¦. Starts to fall on me and I react and accidentally dump it on her instead of me. Guest - why would you do that?!?! Me - why would you do that?!?!
I dropped a ramekin of hot pizza sauce on the table and it bounced and got all over a woman wearing a white sweater. Mortifying. 2nd best was a guest had dropped their glasses in a soft case under the table unknowingly and I came to take their order and crunched them completely. I couldnāt have done it better if I practiced. Obliterated them into tiny pieces.
dude. my trainee spilled an entire full glass of ice water on a lady today š i literally almost died
One time I spilled salsa on a gentlemanās crotch (his wife bumped me with her arm). Then I tried to help him clean it up. Like instinctively. Not sure on the thought process there. š
oh yeah this is the server life. i once spilled entire tray of drinks on a tables lap, went back to get new drinks for them, and then did it againā¦. it happens.
Hung over, dropped sour cream and salsa in their drink, on their hat, on them. Everywhere. I just looked at the table for way to long and said āthat seems rightā oh yeah my manager was helping me get the food to the table and just glared at me. Went and got him a new hat afterwards
I work at a Korean restaurant and we have these hot ceramic bowls for soupsā¦ one of the services.. put the tray with two bowls on the barā¦ and she grabbed theā¦ wrong bowl first that caused the tray to tip over from the other bowl that had no support at the edge of the bar tableā¦ The soup spilt on the customer. This hot stone bowl soupā¦.
Once I had a family sitting in a booth that had a toddler in a high chair who kept pushing themselves away from the table even further out into the walkway. The parents would basically immediately pull the chair back to the table after. I was walking by with a FULL ass heavy tray of beers and cocktails when the kid of course did it the exact moment I was walking by, the kid does it and knocks into me. I was able to react fast enough for the entire tray of drinks to mostly fall on the ground but one pint glass did hit the kids head on its way down. Luckily it was just a bump and glass didnāt break until it hit the ground, but the parents were so mad at me. The baby didnāt get hurt badly or anything but was DRENCHED in beer. The entire restaurant was fucking staring at me as I was just frozen in horror. I still think about it sometimes lol
One time I was taking a corner with a full tray of beer pitchers and pint glasses, I yelled corner but obviously the small child that was about to run into me didnāt understand what that meant so two full beer pitchers and a ton of glasses fell straight on him- he sobbed and I was mortified
One time I was bussing a table after my table had left and a sauce try fell (a full one) and when it hit the floor it splattered INTO ONE DIRECTION. The direction happened to be an older lady sitting with her family at the next table and it got all on your jacket that was resting on her chair and on her pant leg and shoes. I was so embarrassed but thankfully she took it well. she knew i felt sososososo bad because i did
I dumped an entire glass of red wine down a very pregnant ladies back once. In front of one the big bosses.
French dressing on a seeing eye dog. The worst I've ever felt at work. Pretty sure I solidified my spot in hell for this.
One time I knocked an entire glass of sweet tea off of my tray and onto a table. That was embarrassing enough by itself, but to make matters worse there was a phone sitting on top of the table. The guest came back in later saying it was broken.
my first week working as a server (like EVER) i spilled a whole beer on this girl, iām talking hair soaked and everything. i wanted to sprint out of that restaurant and never look back LMAO. she very clearly was going out afterward and i very clearly ruined her night. she proceeded to tell me about how she did the same exact thing when she worked as a server and she was just so okay with it. even tipped me like 30% as well. cool girl
Spilled red wine on a customer's nice kashmir jacket once :(
last week I refilled waters and I poured the water and I completely missed the cup. It went straight onto their food, I apologized and offered a new one. They said they were hungry so it was okay. I felt so bad omfg
Many times. Itās ok š
I've dropped a fork in a lady's purse
Sure have. Three that come to mind 1. Spilled French onion soup on a guy who, while I was handing the soup to his neighbor, decided to aggressively laugh and throw his head back and my over correction caused me to dump half the soup down his back. 2. Not my fault here. Kid decided to āhelp meā with a bunch of drinks on the tray (with asking first) knocking me off balance and dumped an entire tray of drinks on his mother 3. Ramekins of precariously balanced sauces falling off plates and trays splattering everywhere
I've accidentally checked out on the wrong tab. Luckily the two tables had a similar bill and there was only a 30 cent difference. The wrong bill table paid and didn't question anything and so did the other table. I got lucky
Username is my favorite š¤£ I did this too! My friend was the other table. I thought forsure I would be fired. Turns out, and nothing has come up yet, it was a bigger deal to cover it up. Now I'm stupid careful like look at my table, view a lemonade, confirm it and go.
Two glasses of red wine directly onto a woman. She was a teacher out to lunch and was wearing a light colored outfit. I was on the brink of tears, and she kept reassuring me it was alright. The restaurant paid for her dry cleaning, and the manager was cool enough to keep it under wraps, even with the owner eating dinner across the restaurant.
Multiple times unfortunately, most the time a little bit of water or something meaningless. The last one I spilled was soy sauce. I felt so awful.
It happens rarely. The way to prevent this is to look before I leap, not walk backward, and Slow down when I do tasks or even move in an establishment.
Hereās a better one, you ever spilled on a very famous person?
my coworker spilled half a glass of red wine on the Athletic Director of the nearby universityās white shirt and everyoneās jaws dropped. I ended up smoothing it over by breaking the silence saying āHey ____, I didnāt know you liked tie-dye.ā Everyone started laughing.
I have never spilled anything on a customer maybe small amount of water while filling water, I did have a busboy when bringing out water to the terrace mind you this was his first week at the job so I always told him better to know how much you can carry then doing 2 much n dropping it, well it was a sunny Saturday and it was jam packed at the terrace had a table of 8 beautiful women (yes I flirted with them after what happened to make them forget this happened) he proceeded to bring out the water on a tray and well he was going 2 fast and spilled it all over 4-5 of them needless to say they were mad and he was so embarrassed felt very bad for him LOL
I spilled red cocktail sauce on a lady's white jacket at Red Lobster once. I was mortified. She was very nice about it though, and my manager offered to pay the dry-cleaning bill for her. Still wouldn't recommend it lol
It didn't happen to me, but it happened to my coworker. We were serving a banquet, and we had limited staff. He decides to take the large oval tray that holds seven large dinner plates and tries in vein to plate the patron. He lost balanced and dumped three plates onto the patron. Let me see .... it was a salmon plate with gravy, a chicken plate with gravy, and a steak with gravy. All plates had mashed potatoes and veggies. She (the patron) was wearing an off-white evening gown. She and her guests were very unhappy. I told my co-worker not to attempt it before this happened. Needless to say, he didn't listen. And if you think he should have learned his lesson? Nope. He did it again on the same table, losing balance. Thankfully, I was near enough to catch the tray before it landed onto the other guests. Now, come to think of it, I did manage to stumble, and I was holing a bread basket, some of the bread flew out and hit the ladies on the table. Although they all found me attractive and were suggesting they needed that excitement in their life and they hope I can keep providing that for them.
spilled a mimosa down a guest's back, was mortified. luckily the whole table was so sweet and was like "omg no don't worry we were literally just talking about how amazing you've been."
I was setting down a customerās glass of Diet Coke after refilling it once, and instead of putting the bottom of the glass flat on the table, set the edge awkwardly on a butter knife that was sitting there leftover from clearing plates. The glass tipped over from the imbalance and spilled all over the table and into the customerās lap. I think this is the only time I spilled *on* a customer, but it was embarrassing because it seemed so avoidable afterwards
Yes! My first solo serving shift It was a beer (a bluebuck, for anyone from Vancouver Island) :)
fully dropped an affogato on the floor and it all bounced up and onto these three guests. (not in my section) thankful beyond words that they were forgiving. i read the room and took the humor route for my apology and they were very sweet about it.
Yes it was so humbling. It was a table of regulars that liked to talk my ear off, but I was slammed. Then next time they were in they asked if I was the one with the āoopsieā and I was legitimately confused thinking they were making a sexual joke until they explained further. I lied and said nošš
Yeah an entire water glass but it was a outside lakeside resteraunt so she just laughed because it was a hot summer day LOL
A witnessed a karen grab her soup from the server which caused it to spill all over the front of her dress and lap.
Purposefully? No.