'I forgot I’m not eating dairy': 20+ Food service workers share the strangest things diners have ever said to them

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 29, 2023 5:00 PM EDT

Some diners have absolutely no idea what they want, and they've decided it's their waiters' job to figure it out for them. 

On the r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit, u/honestlywhytho wrote a story titled, "Do people even listen to what comes out of their mouths?" They then proceeded to tell the story of a diner who was pretty confused about the way that dairy products works. And judging by the sympathetic comments that rolled in, people apparently have this issue all the time, putting their servers in the awkward position of having to tell the diner they're incorrect. 

One person wrote that they overheard a shopper in a store asking for free-range vegetable broth. I'm happy to say that all vegetables are free range, technically. Another person wondered if eggs are vegan… deviled eggs or regular, still not vegan. 

Up next, this Twitter user asked people for their most harmless discourse ideas, and people had some amazing ideas.

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  • 01
    Font - Do people even listen to what comes out of their mouths? Short A guest walks into brunch and orders our smoked salmon plate. The only dairy in this particular dish is a ramekin of cream cheese that is served on the side. A couple minutes later I'm in the kitchen getting coffee for another table. I turn around and smoked salmon lady has followed me to the kitchen.
    via u/honestlywhytho
  • 02
    Font - When I turn around and see her, I ask "Is there something you need?" She says, "I forgot I'm not eating dairy, so can I change my order to the buttermilk pancakes?"
    via u/honestlywhytho
  • 03
    Font - Confused at what I just heard, I ask "The buttermilk pancakes? There is dairy in the pancakes..." "Well as long as it's not a lot it's ok."
    via u/honestlywhytho
  • 04
    Font - Lady..... it's like the main ingredient. It's in the name. BUTTERMILK pancakes. Do people really listen to the stupidity that comes out of their face holes??? I can't.
    via u/honestlywhytho
  • 05
    Font - MrZev i was serving a catered event a long time ago and was asked if the deviled eggs on my serving tray were vegan.
    via u/MrZev
  • 06
    Font - Once I had to pull my phone out to prove to a customer that asparagus were indeed a vegetable, not an animal, and therefore vegetarian.
    via r/TalesFromYourServer
  • 07
    Font - I once overheard a woman in Whole Foods ask a worker if they had any free-range vegetable broth. She said it twice.
    via r/TalesFromYourServer
  • 08
    Font - Nottta We were serving a large party of 20+ about 5 years ago. One of the girls orders the rabbit. Lo and behold her plate comes out and she sends it back because she didn't realize it wasn't vegetarian.
    via u/Nottta
  • 09
    Font - ickystickystigma Work at a fast food place. Chicken sandwiches and fish are breaded. "Can you make sure my breaded fish sandwich doesn't touch any gluten?" All the da time.
    via u/ickystickystigma
  • 10
    Font - blaza192 When I worked at Disney, as soon as you say you are allergic to something, you call someone to help - Chef, lead, manager etc. Once they say they are allergic to something. You can't have it. No take backs! Miss that.
    via u/blaza192
  • 11
    Font - Getkrumped Once I worked at super sty Mexican restaurant and this chick asked me to change her burrito because it has a dairy based product over the top, said she was lactose intolerant, asked that I change the sauce to queso. I asked".... you want queso on your burrito" they said yeah and i got it for them. some people just want to have an excuse to change their orders without owning up.
    via u/Getkrumped
  • 12
    Font - She ayyyhannalmao Fellow Mexican restaurant worker. Once had a lady ask for the flour tortilla because she was allergic to gluten. "I absolutely cannot have the corn. It has to be flour" I said "how about we just do no tortilla?" She said okay. I was nervous for her
    via u/ayyyhannalmao
  • 13
    Font - A hotcheetoz32. I worked at a Mexican for 6 years. Our quesadillas came with meat, cheese, bell pepper, onion and tomatoes, so I would always ask if they wanted all the veggies inside or just meat and cheese. This one lady made a huge point that she wanted only meat and cheese because she's SOO0000 allergic to tomatoes. She then ate like 3 full bowls of salsa......???????
    via u/hotcheetoz32
  • 14
    Font - backpackofcats. Had a lady make me go through the entire menu on which items contained soy because she was highly allergic. She then orders a salad with extra miso dressing because she "just loves it so much." After informing her that miso is fermented soy, she was shocked but said, "Oh, that's ok."
    via u/backpackofcats
  • 15
    Font - 8REW On a few occasions I've asked for a gluten free bun and the server will tell me that the sweet potato fries also have gluten in so I can't have them. When I say "Oh that's fine I can have them" what I actually mean is "if I have a regular bun I'll get the s in the morning but the small amount of gluten in the fries will just make me a little groggy and they're worth feeling iffy for."
    via u/8REW
  • 16
    Font - Woflecopter One time I had a lady order a salmon and send it back as undercooked because "it was still pink"
    via u/Woflecopter
  • 17
    Font - themomrollcall Customer: excuse me. There are too many potatoes in this soup. Me: your potato soup... Has too many potatoes. I took it back, drained it and sent it out. She she then gripes because it's just broth and no "soup"... Sometimes you just can't win!
    via u/themomrollcall
  • 18
    Font - bossgyal I used to work at McDonald's. A customer came in asking for a Big Mac meal, and RUDELY stated that she cannot have onions in her Big Mac since she's "allergic". So I'm taking her order and asked her if she wanted a different type of sauce, since the secret sauce on the Mac contains onions. "No, Big Mac sauce is okay." Okay... so you're NOT allergic.
    via u/bossgyal
  • 19
    Font - Satailleure Had to explain to someone why their streak tartare wasn't cooked once.
    via u/Satailleure
  • 20
    Mammal - innocuousplague I had to quit working in restaurants. I felt my IQ drop almost everytime I took someones order.
    via u/innocuousplague
  • 21
    Font - Shoulderpadz When I used to work at Arby's, I was asked if the chicken bacon swiss had bacon on it.
    via u/Shoulderpadz

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waiter restaurant dining meals server vegan vegetarian tales from your server
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