'Beef tartare, sub chicken': Food service workers reveal the most unsettling orders they had to make for customers

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Oct 23, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Working in a restaurant can be a humbling experience in more ways than one. It doesn't matter if it is a fancy establishment or the trashiest fast food; things are going to happen in that job that will have those working there questioning their sanity for choosing to be in food service. The heat of the kitchen is stressful enough, but the hangry and entitled customers just take things to another level.

It is common knowledge that the average American is not afraid to customize their order, and up to a point, most restaurants are willing to accommodate that. However, there are certain diners who will push it to its limits so that their peculiar tastes are catered for. It is one thing to be a picky eater, but some people seem to be on another level when it comes to their favorite foods. Their food preferences can be quite the eye-opener.

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    Dézo
    via Jonathan Borba

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Most of those who have worked in food service have come across orders that are gross, absurd, or just plain worrying at times. While they may be opposed to cooking or serving it, more often than not, they have no choice. When somebody asked those who worked in the industry about the most unsettling orders that they had ever taken from a customer, they varied from unappetizing to kind of scary. At least they make for an interesting story. 

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    I want to hear the strangest order you've ever had to fulfill. High end, mom & pop, fastfood... I don't care. I want to hear strange things that make me question reality. For me, it was something pretty simple but I'm fairly certain that person is a serial killer. I was working at this mom & pop restaurant and the waitress prints off this ticket that I understand but doesn't make sense. You know what I'm talking about. Like, do they really want that or is this a fucked up typo?
    via Smurf-Happens
  • 03
    So I yell at the young lady to come explain this BS. She walks back with a bottle of ketchup and lemons in hand. She tells me, "yeah, they really want that. These are to go with it too I guess." They ordered a spaghetti and meatballs, light marinara sub green beans for noodles. They also asked for "extra green bean juice."
    via Smurf-Happens
  • 04
    Later the waitress came back and told me she watched them add the ketchup and lemon with a shit load of salt and pepper. Then they ate it like some fucked up meatball soup concoction. That order lives rent free in my head. Seriously, it's been like four years now.
    via Smurf-Happens
  • 05
    Eilwyn-San For me, I'm a Barman. Not food but an order non the less, and like you this one lives rent free in my head. Limoncello Sour, a fairly normal cocktail we were used to, but I was not ready for the addition of double cream to an egg and citrus cocktail. When I say it instantly curdled into thick chunks I mean immediate and chunks the size of cheese curds. They drank it all and ordered another straight after.
    via Eilwyn-San
  • 06
    Bakerwineshop Had a regular, liked his bacon wildly undercooked: Slap it on the flat top 20 seconds, flip, 10 more seconds, serve. I don't even remember how he took his eggs, I was so traumatized by the bacon
    via Bakerwineshop
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    SmartestLemming Tri tip steak extra well done "and can you hurry it up, I've got a meeting I need to go to in 20 minutes." We laughed and said ok, we'll try. A minute or two later a woman came up and said "don't worry about rushing the steak, its for my Dad, and he's got dementia, there's no meeting and we'll be happy whenever it comes out."
    via SmartestLemming
  • 08
    OneBlueEyeGuy I had a friend of mine Sharonda that just liked the weird parts of food. I separated some egg yolks from the white and just rolled the yolks around a warm pan til they were like over easy and then cut the fat off some steak trimmings. That was it. Steak and eggs, minus the whites and the steak itself. She was thrilled.
    via OneBlueEyeGuy
  • 09
    PzykoHobo Didn't make it, but beef tartare, sub chicken. After several attempts to get the server to say, "No, we will not do that," Chef had to go out personally and explain that we wouldn't do it and why we wouldn't. Said the guest was a middle aged woman who read that beef is too fatty and so just wanted leaner chicken, didnt care that it was raw.
    via PzykoHobo
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    Apprehensive_Putz Once had a guy come to the steakhouse, said "I want a raw 12oz filet mignon, cut into 2 steaks, placed in the freezer for 15 minutes then brought to the table" Sat there and ate the whole thing, freak ass
    via Apprehensive_Putz
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    Huggable_Hork-Bajir TM Miracle Whip pizza. A cheese pizza with "chunky vegetable ragu instead of your normal pizza sauce, and Kraft™ American cheese slices instead of mozzarella cheese. And huge blobs of Miracle WhipTM (a quart jar at least!) and whole raw pearl onions on top as garnish after it's done cooking. But not the cocktail kind! Regular pearl onions only! And don't cook the Miracle Whip™ and onions! Cut it into 24 slices."
    via Huggable_Hork-Bajir
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    PULLS
    via JonathanBorba

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Cheezburger Image 10567132928
    via Edward Howell

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 14
    not_just_an_Al arbys 10 classic roast beefs, 50 cheese cups. 1 person, she ate it in the lobby, she had no cheese left over.
    via not_just_an_AI
  • 15
    canolicat Malibu on the rocks with extra olives. He plunked the olives in, gave it a stir, sucked it back, and ordered a prompt second. Edit: if it makes anyone feel better, he was pushing 90?
    via canolicat
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    BBallsagna Had a guy once order a blue rare piece of swordfish, like just mark it on the grill and plate. I marked it on the grill and hit it with a little steam, to keep the char kind of minimum and at least bring it up to mid-mid well, but the guy sent it back. I had the manager tell them swordfish carry worms, but he didn't care. Owner said fuck it cook it how he wants
    via BBallsagna
  • 17
    smoopinmoopin At a sandwich shop we had a customer order extra extra extra mayonnaise. The sandwich ended up being more mayo than anything else, including the bread. I think it was a turkey and American or something bland. No toppings. There were a lot of weird combos in my time there, but I'll always remember that amount of mayo.
    via smoopinmoopin
  • 18
    GrandOpening Egg white scramble. Over easy. Warmed snot on a plate.
    via GrandOpening
  • 19
    Longlivecraig We serve a frozen lemonade product in the warm months. Goes great with blended in fruit. Not so much with mint syrup and chocolate chunks, but man that lady came in every single week for it.
    via Longlivecraig
  • 20
    Sea-Shopping-5878 Caesar salad, no croutons, no bacon, no egg, no parmesan, no anchovies, sub dressing for berry vinaigrette. We did not have berry vinaigrette on the menu but I made one using ice-cream topping. They happily paid $30 for a bowl of cos covered in berry vinaigrette.
    via Sea-Shopping-5878
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    PonchoCavatelli Hibachi chicken, rare. "But they did it for me last time" Bless your heart, no they didnt. Do make a favor... go home and try it yourself. Please report back in a week. On the bar side, I had a regular who would drink merlot mixed with diet coke. I gave it a try, definitely do NOT recommend.
    via PonchoCavatelli
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    EntertainerOk9179 My very first non dishwashing job was to put together trays of ... This stuff for the buffet. Canned pear and peach halves. Glob of mayo in the fruits pit Sprinkle shredded cheddar on top. I made like 10 trays and they sold out.
    via EntertainerOk9179

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server customers server life chef food service chefs gross food food order reddit thread Reddit fast food
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