'It's too overdone, redo it': 20+ strange requests servers received from entitled customers

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 10, 2025 4:00 PM EST

Plenty of folks have to interact with outrageous strangers through their jobs, but no one has it quite like those working in the service industry. It's why they deserve more than the 20% tip lots of entitled customers love to complain about having to pay. 

Sure, anyone in a customer-facing role can relate to the trials and tribulations of our servers and bartenders, but not everyone has to wait on these customers for an extended period of time. People working in call centers certainly have to deal with some despicable behavior, but at the very least, the interaction is brief and relatively disconnected. On the other hand, our servers have had to endure awkward exchanges with disgruntled customers during the drink order portion of the evening, only to have to return ten minutes later for the food order. 

Our hats go off to these brave souls, who shared the strangest requests they ever received from entitled and sometimes outright bizarre customers.

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  • 01
    > Burge + easy 4rits Avo Sal 13 roc Me
    via Jesse McCall
  • 02
    Xiegfried16. When I was cooking in the military, someone requested. a BLT sandwich but with no Bacon or Tomato. He wasnt kidding, he just wanted bread and lettuce.
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • One has to have a pretty strangely wired brain to think that a “BLT without the bacon and the tomato” is the best way to order bread and lettuce!

  • 03
    Cheezburger Image 10452428800
    via Jimi Filipovski
  • 04
    janeusmaximus Flava Flav came in to the restaurant I worked at. It was a fancy seafood place. He ordered just a plate of cucumbers for himself, everyone else at his table ordered normal things. I'm
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 05
    guessing he maybe doesn't like seafood? Hilarious. Yes, he wore a giant clock chain and he let the staff take pics with him as he said "Flava Flav!" Really nice guy.
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • Not sure anyone could have predicted Flava Flav to be a cucumber guy!

  • 06
    [deleted] A middle aged lady insisted she didn't like soda water or sparkling water so instead asked for a white wine spritzer without the white wine... there are two ingredients to a white wine spritzer. White wine and soda water.
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • Some patrons just like to say fancy words like “spritzer” even if deep down, they do know the spritzer part is just club soda.

  • 07
    mrfancypantsssss. A tablecloth! A gentleman himself at a booth and asked for a tablecloth so he could walk out with it wrapped around him, I still serve him to this day and that was around 15yrs ago,
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 08
    no shame. Back he comes once a week. We never asked about getting the tablecloth back...
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • Here's to anyone who has had an accident in a public place. No one enjoys asking for help in those situations. It's hard out here for the gastro-intestinally challenged.

  • 09
    shadowgnome396. Once a very thin, middle aged woman came in. She couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds soaking wet. She asked what our biggest steak was. I told her
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 10
    it was the 24 oz. ribeye. She said, "okay I'll have that." Our steaks came with two sides, so I asked which ones she'd like. She said "I don't want sides." I told her they were included in the price, and she still refused them.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 11
    I bring out her steak and she begins eating. She's about a third of the way through when I ask, "How is everything?" She says, "Great. Bring me another
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 12
    "Great. Bring me another steak." I say "Is there anything wrong with that one?" She says, "No, it's great. I want a second one."
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 13
    I go back to the chef and tell him, and he couldn't believe it. But we served her another steak. She ate all 48 oz. of steak and left me a $40 tip.
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • This lady is the stuff of legends! I don't make up the facts, I just relay them!

  • 14
    [deleted] We had a woman send a grilled chicken salad back because it was cold. So we cooked some new chicken and made sure to send it back while still warm. She sent it back again. The entire salad wasn't hot enough for her.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 15
    We microwaved her salad. She ate it. I don't know man. EDIT: this was my top rated comment on this account.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 16
    Divan Only Coca-Cola
    via Hien Nguyen

  • To anyone out there questioning what it tastes like to microwave a salad, don't try it at home, folks!

  • 17
    Saltyseabanshee . This man told me he couldn't have anything that has been "ground up" at some point. So like, can't use anything with flour in it. Not because the gluten, but because it was made small at one point. My man, that is not a thing.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 18
    He was staying at the resort. the restaurant I worked at was in, so I had the privilege of attending to him several times over the week.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 19
    He was Insufferably smug and condescending, several times saying ""this isn't' what I ordered"" even though his order had been read back to him and confirmed. How many times
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 20
    can you order in a restaurant and get something you don't think you ordered, before you start to ask if maybe it's you?
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • You know what they say, folks. If everyone in the room is crazy, you're probably the one who is insane, and this dude is no exception to that philosophy.

  • 21
    The most ridiculous was that he ordered a hamburger, wanted it cooked rare. So the chef cooked him his burger and when I brought it out to him he said ""it's too overdone, redo it"". so I told
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 22
    the chef and he made a more rare burger, Curtis sent that one back too. Now the chef is ped so he made a patty of raw hamburger and waves a torch over it so it's barely brown and ice cold in the middle.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 23
    FL loved it. said it was the best burger he ever had. Still complained about how long it took to get his meal
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 24
    I still remember the chef saying ""If that's what he wanted, he should have ordered a tartare aller- retour, is it too much to ask that people learn the name of the weird thing they like to eat?" (I have to look up that name every time I tell this story)
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 25
    jreed356 Honestly, I'd say the weirdest thing was that while I was a server at a restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian, a guest asked me to book a shark adventure tour. It had nothing to do
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 26
    with my job or even the hotel. Those tours were entirely separate businesses. I took his black card, went to guest services, picked up a pamphlet, and booked the tour. He tipped me $250 dollars. Totally worth it!
    via Repulsive_Compote955

  • At least this one had a wholesome outcome! No one likes to be asked to do something outside of their primary job description. If you want extra help, you have to be willing to pay extra like this guy!

  • 27
    Sub_pup I had this couple come in with their own tea set. The man asked me if had a few minutes to "learn a few things"? They were the second table sat so I humored him. He showed
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 28
    me a very specific way of steeping and pouring the tea over a sugar cube and had me try it a couple times with water. The whole thing was sort of neat. He then asked if I would mind serving them their tea this very particular way. They were super kind,
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 29
    even tough the man had sort of an intense vibe to him. I filled the pot with hot water carried it out like he showed me and poured their cups of tea exactly how he showed me. He seemed extra pleased but never said a word or even looked at me.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 30
    It was no problem and I felt super fancy doing it. I did refill their tea one time while they were there, and he also asked that I keep his wife's water glass full at all times. I
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 31
    knew it was going to be a good table when the first time I came by and refilled. her water glass and inquired if they needed any more tea, the man handed me $20 and sort of dismissed me. He did it twice more that afternoon.
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 32
    At the end they paid with no tip (I thought) but $60 and a cool lesson was enough for me. My manager found me about an hour later and handed me and envelope and said they told him they only will come in when I am
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 33
    working from now on. The envelope had $100, business card, and hand written thank you note. Apparently they had put this request up for many fine dining places and I was the only to get it right and do it "graciously". It was very odd, because after the first
    via Repulsive_Compote955
  • 34
    lesson they treated me as if I was almost invisible, backed up by the fact they didn't tip me in person. On every return trip it was the same. If you didn't know the deal they would seem like cold a h les, but they tipped really well and I treated them like VIPs everytime.
    via Repulsive_Compote955

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