'They complained about everything': Party of 13 Karens makes a scene at bottomless brunch

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 19, 2023 2:00 PM EDT

Serving one Karen at a restaurant is difficult enough. Imagine having to serve 13 of them! This thread was posted to Reddit's r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit by u/MoonbounceGuy, a floor manager at a brunch spot who learned the hard way that you cannot please difficult customers like these ones. Not only did this group show up two hours late demanding for the table they had reserved, but they also show up with five more people than expected. Starting on that note alone is enough to make any person in the service industry cringe.

 

Unfortunately, it only gets worse. These Karens must have known how ridiculous they were being. They ate 90% of their plates yet still sent their entrees back to the kitchen. They complained about the service. They complained about auto-gratuity. The list goes on and on. If people like this are not humbled even a little, they are just going to go onto the next establishment and pull the same shenanigans. That's where the manager is slightly at fault here.

 

Hopefully, this post sheds light on the madness that is working a brunch shift. Sure, bottomless mimosas may seem fun from the customer's perspective, but from the point of view of anyone working at the restaurant, there is nothing about brunch that is fun. 

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and the entire list of all the crazy demands this table of Karens made. For more stories like this, here's one about a wedding planner and her conflict with a Karen.

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  • 01
    Food - "We actually served the worst table in the history [of] brunch" FRATE TEL ROA
    via Davey Gravy
  • 02
    Font - Fun fact: We actually served the worst table in the history for brunch yesterday Medium Let me start of by saying: brunch!
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 03
    Font - Recently I accepted a role of an AGM/floor manager at my restaurant. We are fairly new and have been open for about 6 months now. My current role pretty much makes me everyone's server. I go around, check tables, talk to people, even run drinks and food and close checks when it gets busy. The place is not very big, but we do get pretty busy, especially for brunch, and especially because we started doing bottomless brunch recently. From a financial standpoint - this was a great move. Our b
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 04
    Font - When I accepted a manager role - we were just about to start bottomless brunch. Before that, my favorite thing about this place was the clientele. We have good product (we are a wine bar with a great cocktail menu and very solid food). People generally leave happy, tip average is awesome and the place is just a breeze to work.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 05
    Font - But, since we started doing bottomless brunch, all the Karens and all the rest of the scum started coming in. People started complaining about everything. Everyone is a food blogger or an influencer when in reality they're all just a bunch of nobodys looking to satisfy their gluttonous got to the point where this It Saturday, we had a group that:
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 06
    Font - • showed up 2 hours late for their reservation • got mad that we gave their table away • demanded a table, but not for 8 people they were supposed to have - they actually had 13 people (we don't even have tables that big!)
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 07
    Font - • we managed to sit them down which was a miracle to start with. • they complained about everything - from food to speed of service (literally they were mad at the server for taking too long to place a 20+ item order with every item having modifications) • returned a bunch of stuff back to the kitchen after eating 90% of it.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 08
    Font - • refused to pay a cake fee • complained about auto- gratuity • complained about paying sales tax (yes, that happened)
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 09
    Font - disrespected everyone from the host to the busboy including managers and servers • asked for extra tables when it ● was obvious that our tiny place is completely seated
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 10
    Font - We tried really hard to make them happy but the more time passed, the more we regretted that decision. brunch.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 11
    Font - Walway 15 hr. ago Why is it so ingrained in the restaurant industry to bend over backwards for complete ? If customers behaved this badly in almost any other establishment, they'd be kicked out. Just to be clear, this is nothing against the OP' There are so many posts in this thread about restaurant customers behaving like total and usually restaurant management decides to put up with it. 603 Reply Share
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 12
    Font - MoonbounceGuy OP. 15 hr. ago Thank Yelp and Google for that. used to be different before everyone got a platform to spin their stories and ruin other people's business. We had a very similar group a couple weeks ago. After comping a bunch of their they still left unhappy and left us multiple one star reviews.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 13
    Font - NoIntroduction4497. 13 hr. ago In my almost two decades of waiting tables I have only ever worked at one place that got it right, and here's what they did : 1. 15 min grace on late reservations- no exceptions (this counts if your party is less than 50% complete also) 2. Mandatory purchase of entree with bottomless drinks 3. Max 2 hour dining experience
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 14
    Font - 4. 18% grat included for parties of 6+ 5. Checks can only be divided equally with up to four different payments This was explained politely when they made the reservation ... It may seem excessive, but these rules were put in place because the business was not making money, and it was a massive - if there are no boundaries they will walk all over you. 117 show Reply Share
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 15
    Font - crazypurple621 - 12 hr. ago Honestly OP you are the manager. Dealing with these people and telling them no is in fact your job. KICK THEM OUT. 48 Reply Share
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 16
    Human body - Billyconnor79. 13 hr. ago Brunch: the St Patrick's Day of meals.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 17
    Font - snerdley1 7 hr. ago Why would you honor a reservation that showed up 2hrs late? If the establishment is as you say it is why didn't you cancel the reservation and put them on the ban list? This is what most upper end establishments would have done.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy
  • 18
    Font - theanamazonian - 14 hr. ago It's really not worth it to try and please tables like this when it's clear that nothing will please them.
    via u/MoonbounceGuy

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customer service karens manager server waiter customers brunch restaurant karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit tales from your server karen entitled people
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