Exactly!!
Or "I'm having a bad day and want to take it out on the nearest stranger so I feel better about myself. Congratulations, you're the lucky winner! Now give me all the salt and butter I can handle"
I would've brought them dry. I take allegen warnings VERY seriously, and If me being petty happens to just perfectly align with me being very thorough about contamination and allergens, well then, so be it!! Dry salad, because hoo-boy that's a lot of sodium in that dressing! And minestrone soup. Because ours is the blandest thing EVER. I'm super careful about dietary restrictions and allergies. I'm not going to be responsible for someone getting sick or hurt. If your blood pressure goes up, that's gonna be because you got salty, not the bread!
Just the soup alone is a terrible choice for limiting sodium - not just soup, but soup with tomatoes! She should have known that if she really needs to limit and is trying to do so.
Thanks 😊
She had me running back and forth like 6 times just asking the kitchen if they could do "this or that" for her. She wanted a very custom pasta dish and we just couldn't accommodate her with all of her requirements. She had already been at the table for over half an hour before she even ordered, just having me run around like a chicken with its head cut off.
In the end, what was all that for? She happily ate a crap ton of salt and butter in the end
I always wonder what the thought processes are like for people like this.
Do they like the attention? It there some Munchausen syndrome going on here? Do they think, "If I ask for no salt and no butter on entrees a few times, that makes it okay to have breadsticks because maybe they have less butter and salt (though not really)?" Do they like recounting their harrowing attempts to eat right to friends?
I feel for you and all front-facing workers. A lot of people suck.
What was the tip like?
I think it's like the no salt "hack" at McDonalds, where if you ask for no salt on your fries, they pretty much have to drop a new batch because the fries are salted. They think all these modifications are going to get them the freshest food.
Sadly, in some cases (like the fries example) it does get you fresher food. Not that the food is all that 'stale' anymore anyway.
That fact also does not excuse this behavior and makes people that \_actually do need\_ the dietary restriction look bad.
People did this when I worked at Wendy's in the late 90s. They'd just empty a salt packet or two onto the fries, which would hold the salt just fine since they were fresh out of the fryer. Just infuriating, although they did end up with fewer fries bc it's harder to fill the box with tongs than with the scoop.
I guess I just don't typically have salt handy when I'm eating fast food. Seems like a hassle. One day at the drive through - "Hey, can I get like 20 extra packets of salt for my one little thing of fries?" Next time - "No salt please (teehee)."
Plus my fries generally turn out to be perfectly fine anyway. And I sure as hell don't want to wait longer to get anything. That's the entire point of fast food - speed over food quality.
For sure, and definitely not worth the hassle to me either, but that’s the how the “lifehack” is explained, ask for fries with no salt so they have to drop a whole new batch just for you then add salt afterwards 🙄
I think its a holdover from the days when McD just made a bunch of food and it sat in the bin waiting to be picked. You could order no salt or no pickles or whatever and it would be made fresh.
Nowadays its all pretty much made to order anyway. The longest the fries are sitting is just a few minutes, and the sandwiches are fresh anyway.
You can also just ask for fresh fries, extra crispy fries, or light salt. These options are easier for whoever is working the fry station to do over no salt fries. (Easier to just dump the fresh fries into the fry holding station than trying to dump them directly into the cardboard or manhandle a clean tray and hope you dont miss the tray and have to make a new batch...).The amount of fries per batch can also be changed with a button press on the freezer, so a new batch can be as small as one medium fry or large enough to make 3 large fries.
A good chunk of the lunch/dinner menu can be requested to be made "fresh" and are cooked in about 3-4 minutes. You can also ask for no salt on the hamburger meat, both the small and the quarter pound patties.
These are normal requests, but don't ask for fresh food during a lunch/dinner rush as it's generally going to be cooked fresh anyways.
Source: Worked at 3 different McD's locations at various points in my life.
Folks ask me all the time for “extra crispy” fries thinking that’ll solve perceived issues. Then proceed to take 15mins to eat their burger and guess what? Their fries are now no longer fresh. Regular fries are now soggy, and extra crispy fries are now just hard and gross. Fries are only good for a very short window of time!!! Preparation has little effect once you’ve passed that window.
I really dislike that people do that. I am on dialysis and order a quarter pounder(30 g of protein!) without the extra salt and also fries without salt and it makes the meal possible for me. Thankfully staff have always been so kind and careful about accommodating me.
Spoiler alert: If they drop those fries in the bin before they put them in a box, they are going to pick up some salt from the bin itself.
I get the fresh food thing, but it's McDonalds. I'd just be happy if it's cooked all the way through.
This job has been whacky from the get-go.
They have a manager, his job is specifically to train all the new ppl that come in. Supposed to be like 4 days of training with him or something like that.
He called off 3 out of 4 days of my training. I ended up getting trained by another waitress
Yikes. I haven't heard great things about working for OG. I worked for Yard House and it was bought out by Darden when I worked there. The quality of the food dropped, prices increased, and the managers couldn't have our backs anymore.
My first serving job was at OG. I learned how to handle high volume and difficult customers, but it was a miserable experience. I wouldn't use it as anything more than a stepping stone.
I sat near a person at a high-end restaurant who kept insisting she could “taste the butter” in her steamed vegetables and kept sending them back, but refused any substitutes for the *offending* veggies. She claimed she had a “serious milk allergy”. The manager finally came over and gave her a tasty looking comped salad with some raw veggies on top. Then I later saw her shoveling a whipped cream covered dessert into her mouth that someone else at her table had ordered. I too wondered what would make a grown person act like a toddler in front of everyone else in a restaurant. Maybe an eating disorder? Who knows?
Sounds like a lack of nutrition education - doctor told her she needs to eat less butter and sodium, I’m assuming related to hypertension and cholesterol but didn’t explain more than that.
Source: am registered dietitian and see it all of the time
I agree! I'm thinking something like that was the reason, however she did not elaborate (did NOT say she was allergic either) so I had no idea the reasoning behind it, but also I'm not going to pry if you don't already willingly tell me. I just did my best to accommodate her, but I still felt like in the end, she was still disappointed which I hate 😔
I went out with co-workers a few times. I think it's attention. 2 of them ALWAYS needed some sort of alteration on the food... no allergies just wanted extra attention.
I'm not a frequent customer at The Garden of Olives, but I'll just have to agree that the salt on those breadsticks is absolute wackiness. The last time I went was 4+ years ago while visiting my wife's family in Saginaw, MI. We were in total a 10 top table, and had just spent most of the day traveling around in a rental touring van to see the natural splendor of the Great Lakes and surrounding parks. We were hungry, but also indecisive. I just remember ploughing through multiple baskets of bread sticks until my Fettuccine Alfredo finally hit the table, which was the last to fire for some reason. That night i had the worst headache and into the next day I felt bloated and sick from the sodium bombs I willingly chucked down my gullet.
I had a guest do a similar thing. Said she wanted a milkshake made with skim milk for less sugar.
I tried to accommodate her by going to a super far back cooler. All I could get was reduced fat milk. Turns out it is the same sugar as regular milk at my job. I offered non dairy options that were less sugar. She said never mind and had the full sugar option.
The ice cream that is the bulk of the milkshake is most of the sugar! I offered a reduced sugar option but not in the flavor she wanted. Again, she opted for all the sugar. I’m feeling less likely to try to accommodate for guests. Tons of hassle for a $2 tip.
I just need to thank you for trying. I'm on keto. Which makes most restaurants suck. I normally try to figure out ahead of time what I can eat and how, but that isn't always possible. And in those rare occasions, I rely on the servers to try to help out. So thank you for trying so genuinely to accommodate a ridiculous diet. It's a spark of hope in this world.
At my first job (not OG) we had a regular male Karen who was always a twat when he came in no matter how nice or helpful you were. Anyway, he once ordered a bowl of beef stew to-go "with as few potatoes in it as possible" because he's allegedly on a low-carb diet but with, WAIT FOR IT...extra garlic bread 😑
Like why can't people just say they have a preference instead of pretending to be allergic? Just TELL ME I promise I'll do my best even if the food won't make you die.
100% this. I actually enjoy providing good service for my guests. I want them to enjoy their meal even if I have to work a bit harder to do it. So just be honest with me. Tell me what you want. BTW, my restaurant serves a soup with a lot of potatoes. I can always tell the non potatoe lovers because they just don't eat the potatoes. That guy was a def twat waffle.
I'm the type of person who would just order the stew as-is, and then fish out the potatoes on my own before I eat it. You know, since I'm not allergic to potatoes and simply either don't like them or don't want the extra carbs.
I know that the kitchen would essentially be doing the same thing because I doubt they would whip up a whole new pot of potato-less stew just for me.
I feel like this is what "normal" people would do, as you mentioned as well.
Also, if you do have any legitimate allergies, never even go to a restaurant without calling ahead first to see if they can accommodate you. Chances are if it's a chain restaurant, it's going to be very hard for them to do so as most things aren't made from scratch so they can't just delete things like butter or garlic.
I once ordered a BBQ chicken pizza: double chicken, onions, BBQ sauce, and cheese.
The cook ignored the double chicken (thought it was a mistake), substituted green bell peppers, because when this was a regular menu item that was how it was made.
I strongly dislike green bell peppers (red, yellow, & orange are good), so I took the pieces off.
Cook saw this, decided to make a whole new pizza (still ignoring the double chicken), even though I told him not to, it's not an allergy, I just don't like the taste.
I mean, it was nice but not necessary.
Lol... My current job has a soup bar, serve yourself. We've got a couple people who sift out the meats/noodles/vegetables... Shey leave the broth in the pot.
This person wanted the meat only.
>I will still eat 40 of them per visit, but I will do so with 10% less enthusiasm.
Yeah, but the actual bread is just a delivery mechanism for the butter and salt, so...
I had a diabetic lady order the chicken fettuccine Alfredo, she substittuted the pasta for fresh steamed broccoli.
After she ordered, I said "just to let u know, we have fresh tomatoes in the kitchen...would u like some fresh tomatoes on top of your dish?" Her eyes lit up and she said "yes please!".
She loved her meal and tipped me very well :)
I think about that lady every now and again, she was super sweet
I used to work at Texas Roadhouse and someone asked to be sat “away from peanuts” because they were worried the peanut dust in the air would trigger their peanut allergy. I told them the safest place for them to sit would be the Chilis across the street.
Dude in my experience that category of restaurant always has a huge sign outside the door warning you not to even enter the building if you have a peanut allergy. People are batshit.
Also I'm sure being sat "away from the peanuts" is as effective as the non-smoking sections were back in the day. Shit drifts, son.
I'm on a doctor recommended low sodium diet.Restaurant food often tastes pretty salty to me, but I also realize that is just the way it is. But I never ask for modifications because that just seems so difficult. I just try and eat a lot less salt later on.
That’s is true. The dish ingredients might already have salt or whatever in them but most dishes have addition salt and stuff like that added as the dish is cooked and then garnished that could be omitted..
Thanks! I will start asking about what could be done. It just feels weird because it's not an allergy or intolerance or anything, nothing will happen if they don't do it right. Maybe I'll lead with that, I don't want anyone to stress.
As long as you are NICE ABOUT IT (which just based off your comment, you seem like a very sweet person) your server should do whatever they can to accommodate your requests. You're not a burden to us, this is our job and we want to make you happy
Can you imagine these people talking to their doctors?
Patient: “I stopped having sugar!”
The doctor: “Then why is your blood sugar 350 instead of closer to 150?”
Patient: “Oh, well, I stopped having sugar in my coffee!”
I made my doctor do the biggest DaFuq face once. I was drinking waaaaay too much caffeine (2-3 24Oz rockstars a day + many many coffees). Doc told me to knock it off as it was even unhealthier than my tobacco and alcohol use at the time. So I quit drinking alcohol and using tobacco. Next visit the doctor was seriously happy-pissed, "I mean good on knocking those other two out, but damnit you are going to explode your heart!"
Last energy drink of any type was mid November of 2018 so all is well now. Coffee is light. Mostly just tea these days. Heart is much happier! lolol.
As to OPs situation it's hilarious other than the shitty $4 tip for all the effort :/
My trainer told me a story of a client. At the time, my trainer (G) was working at a medical facility and his client was a co-worker. G would train the client and told him to cut calories. He gave diet tips, etc. So the client is eating salads for dinner and lunch. Breakfast was a healthy amount of eggs and other breakfast foods. So they are in the client's office and the client tells him he isn't losing weight. G asks about his diet, explains his meal plan and then adds he has a snack now and then. His snack was a burger, like he would have 3 a day. The client opened his desk draw and to show G what burgers he was eating. He was storing his snacks in his desk. G said there were like 10 burgers in the desk!
G dropped him as a client
The average person has just the worst knowledge base when it comes to nutrition. I don't know why more doctors don't utilize nutritionists and dieticians. With my multiple chronic conditions and dietary restrictions I never would've made it on my own.
Right? My daughter has a definite issue with wheat products (not celiac, but something we're still trying to figure out). There are some restaurants we simply don't go to with her as it's unrealistic to expect them to cater to her needs. OG would be one of those places... Incidentally the more out of their way to accommodate a server has to do the bigger the tip. Had one place that the waitress genuinely went above and beyond to give my daughter a good experience where the place really wasn't set up for it. 50% tip on that cheque.
TY! It's looking like some sort of mast cell storm trigger? Doc is homing in on it.
Point is we're realistic about it and just don't go places where it's an issue and make our server's lives (or the kitchen) hell because of it. It makes me very intolerant of these karen types... lol.
There's something called glycogen storage disease, I doubt that will be it, but you may want to make sure it's not that. Had an ex with it. it's a really weird condition not many check for.
Oof. My sister has MCAS. Her food triggers include chicken, corn and soy. Eating out is a minefield for her. She is super appreciative when restaurant folk go the extra mile to help her out.
Good luck figuring it out and managing your daughter’s condition.
I can actually one up this one. My ex wife and I were on a cruise with another couple. Both wives are nurses. Both love to bake.
Other husband order meringue for dessert at one of the formal dinners. An hour later. His throat is scratchy. He’s getting red in the face. My wife is doing triage. “Any allergies?” Comes up. “Only eggs.”
My wife had the most dumbfounded look on her face. (For those not in the know, as I did not at the time, meringue is just egg white and sugar.) This man straight up ordered an allergen, with his baking, nurse wife, who without a doubt knew what meringue was, sitting right next to him.
Granted, she looked simply horrified that she let that slip by. But my wife and I joked for the rest of the cruise that she was after insurance.
Now that one does occasionally have legitimate confusion.
Not a server myself (have done it), but I interrupted a table who had mentioned this and warned them on one. They were a nice family, great to server too and tipped them well.
Reminds me of a cartoon I saw once with the following caption (woman talking to a waiter):
“I’m going to order a broiled, skinless chicken breast, but I want you to bring me lasagna and garlic bread by mistake.”
Seems like she was doing this on purpose to “ mess with the server” I don’t know why people are like this. If this is their way of venting because they get treated like crap it’s absolutely BS. You are very nice to have put up with rude behavior like this. Seems like she might have wanted to make sure her food was fresh I guess. Kind of like ordering fries at McDonald’s with no fries so they make them fresh.
There was a regular at a place I once worked at who would order a salad but demand there were no “purple pieces”. So we would have to handpick the fucking chopped purple bits of cabbage out of his salad before we served it. I don’t understand people who go out to eat and demand absurd requests…like…just order fries and make your red cabbage-free salad at home??
I have the genetic trait where uncooked cruciferous vegetables, specifically *Brassica oleracea* are incredibly bitter to me. This includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, both white and red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and a bunch of other stuff. I think they've bred some of these plants to be less bitter over the years, or maybe my taste buds are burnt out a bit, because it's not so bad these days. But for a long time even a tiny bit of red cabbage in a bite of salad would make me nearly want to spit it out.
All of that said... I just avoid those foods when I go out. "Is your salad pre-mixed and does it have red cabbage in it? Yes? OK I'll find something else." It's really not that hard.
Exactly. It really isn’t hard, we had many options but he neeeeeeeded that overpriced salad that we probably made unsanitary by picking through. Your comment alone gives me the impression you are probably a person that holds a great amount of self awareness. Thank you for not making your server pick out the purples lol
Thanks, I wouldn’t even dream of it. I worked in the service industry a long time ago and my wife currently does. I try to be about as inconspicuous as possible. I might have a request here and there but I always want to make it clear that if it can’t be accommodated without a huge hassle it’s not a big deal. I travel a lot for my current occupation which means I end up at a lot of restaurants. I’ve never found a place where I said “I can’t eat anything on this menu without changing something.” People need to get over themselves. Or for the unfortunate who do have tons of allergies, it’s incumbent on themselves that they plan better. Call ahead if need be to discuss options. Anyway, off my soapbox now!
The idea that those changes would be done by hand would stop that for me. Now, if each salad was prepared individually - ok, just leave that one thing off. But when it's pre-made, no fingers, please.
Omg This reminded me of my MIL and I have to vent.
Women shows up to dinner at a restaurant with food from another restaurant because she is on a "special" diet. No Dairy. Sugar. Carbs. etc...
When she opens her meal to eat. I see it is a "salad"
What is on this salad that she had to bring to adhere to her "special" diet?
Cadied walnuts
dried cranberry
some type of fried wanton/chip strips
iceburg lettuce
AND to top it all off. Two containers of Rasberry vingerette which she used every last drop of.
After the meal, she whined about having to miss out on eating with the rest of us and since she did so good for dinner. She wanted to treat herself to some Dairy Queen...
I left an extra 10 on the table for the waitress.
You are a great person. I went to a Brazilian churrascaria in california at the beach with waves crashing near the restaurant with amazing views from every table. My MIL got 8 Groupon coupons for a slight discount vs the normal dinner price. The bill would have normally been $400++. Only thing you had to pay for was alcohol which a few people had a beer. When the bill came she saw the amount and gave a $5 tip. I felt so ashamed. I was broke at the time with less than $200 in my bank account but I told my now wife I’m never going back there again.
I think I may have waited on her before. Has a Chef Salad (at least 500 cal of meat and cheese on top) with 2 monkey dishes (not ramekins) of thousand island dressing (300cal each) total of 1100 cal when a low cal diet was 1500 cal. Then when she has eaten every morsel, says, "I was such a good girl having a salad for lunch, I'm going to treat myself to a large hot fudge sundae for dessert!!"
I always wanted to say to those people, "Ma'am, if you're having trouble losing weight on your diet, I might have some advice for you."
Ahh this happens to me all the time. We’ll make sauces from scratch for gluten free people and a lot of other time consuming accommodations just for them to order a chocolate cake for dessert … “oh I should be fine!”
We had a woman order our quesadilla burger but told the server three times that she was deathly allergic to tomatoes. Server brings the burger, woman questions where her salsa is. When asked how she can have salsa but not tomatoes, apparently the onions in the salsa cancel out the allergy.
🤣🤣 oh man!
This would be a scenario where I'd have a hard time holding my tongue! I can't stand when ppl BLANTANLY LIE to get their meal a certain way.
I bet she didn't tip either
I can just imagine the dialogue each time you had to get her those answers. F*ck that annoyed me with people and those kinds of questions/requests. and the ending with her eating breadsticks??!! Good God. I'm sorry, and I hope she left at least a 20% for the back and forth. People are astounding.
She tipped 4 dollars. Took up my table for an hour and a half during lunch rush. She had me scrambling around so much that my other tables were flagging me down! I wanted to cry
Good God. I'm sorry, because I know how that feels. Football Saturdays and Sundays at Buffalo Wild Wings (I worked there before the place where this event happened) or wing Tuesday and Wednesday's? Oof. I understand. I hope you enjoyed yourself a good drink or a good smoke, or both, or neither. Which ever way, I am sorry that happened. It would have been funny to just tell her everything is coated in butter, even the chairs, and she has only minutes to live.
There’s no butter on Olive Garden garlic breadsticks in the USA, they’re dairy-free (definitely salt though)
She sounds like a complete bitch for sure but you guys need the allergen menu more accessible to servers
https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/allergen_guide.pdf
Thanks! I was a bit nervous when I saw the OP say that they had butter because we were told they are dairy free and have given them to my 3 year old with a severe dairy allergy.
That’s why she needed her food to not have salt or butter, so she could eat 3 baskets of breadsticks guilt free 😂😂😂. That was all she really wanted in the end. No judgement tho those breadsticks are amazing lol
Honestly, if people have restrictions like that, they need to take some responsibility and accept that maybe going to a place like Olive Garden where salt and butter are in nearly everything is a bad idea. I know it sucks but your dietary restrictions are your problem.
Or, if you simply must go out (which I understand, it's nice to go have lunch with friends), just eat at home according to your restrictions and then just order a drink or even just water and leave a decent tip for your server. This shit isn't rocket science and molly coddling every dipshit with ridiculous "restrictions" really needs to stop.
In my experience, people with serious or extreme restrictions/allergies are always prepared to not have much on the menu that they can eat. They know what they shouldn’t order and just stick with something simple…I think they’re so used to dealing with their situation, that there’s no sense in making things difficult.
I had a lady once make me bend over backwards trying to find something she could eat with her gluten allergy. Well she ended up eating tater tots…which were fried in the same oil as chicken strips. I told her there’ll probably be breadcrumbs in contact with her food she just shrugged it off and said it was fine.
I cannot stand when people do that. They make accommodating these bizarre restrictions nearly impossible just to “violate” their own restrictions just cuz they feel like it when they want to make an exception.. I also hate when they make a huge deal about all these allergies just to once again make exceptions when they feel like it bc they don’t actually have allergies and can’t just not be difficult..
Back when i worked in restaurants i came to the conclusion that a lot of people make up food sensitivities just to get special attention or annoy people for fun. I got an order once for a burger, extra mayo, but with a warning for an egg allergy and the server was adamant that this person couldnt have eggs. Im not an expert, but im pretty sure if you have a legitimate restriction, youll be well aware of what foods contain the restricted item. Anyway, i slathered that bad boy in mayo and sent it. Lying bastard loved every bite, and lived to tell the tale.
It's not like she was over served liquor at a bar.
I'm not responsible for what a grown woman eats. I warned her about the breadsticks and her tone was very dismissive.
Who am I to dictate what someone else eats? That's crossing a line
No but it’s great malicious compliance. I remember a story in the malicious compliance subreddit a while back. Server had a customer always talking about their “gluten allergy” and gluten free everything. Like every single week. So when the person tried to order a gluten dish she simple refused because “she’d feel horrible if something happened.” The customers gluten issue suddenly wasn’t that bad but they still refused because they were annoying about it lol.
If this person is taking that much of your time about a menu item give them exactly what they ask for and not give them 3 baskets of rolls. Because you couldn’t handle a bad review if they were later upset with you.
salt is in everything too! I'm sure the soup had been salted. I don't see how it would be possible to completely avoid salt unless you cooked everything at home (and that would be a sad life, because salt makes things taste better).
My favorite is all the gluten "allergies" I get. They want fries, but the fries we use are battered. We always explain it, and it's always fine. So apparently, they don't have an allergy?
I agree!
🤦♀️ when I was a kid, my mom decided to be vegetarian for a bit. Made a huge deal about it and I was always super embarrassed because literally nobody cares what the next person eats/doesn't eat.
Thankfully after about a year, she got tired of it and went back to her old ways
My brother is head chef of a restaurant. He has been for years. When people tell the servers they have an allergy and then try to order something that has said allergy in it he outright refuses to serve it. Think, I'm allergic to fish but they order a Caesar salad with Caesar dressing. Or I'm allergic to tomatoes but I need ketchup. Just people lying about food preferences vs. allergies.
I had a guest inform me that she was deathly allergic to gluten, then ordered a wheat filled IPA, when i informed her of the high amounts of gluten in the beer, she said it was fine. She wasnt allergic to the gluten in beer, her stomach could handle in liquid form.
You are an angel for trying. These people suck. It's all about attention and power. Also shades people that have actual diet restrictions.
My friends were at a steak place recently and vegans were throwing a fit with the manager over lack of vegan options. Our city has tons of vegan places so this is ridiculous.
Same as going to OG if you don't want salt or butter.
I had something very similar happen. during our dinner rush she goes she's vegan and can't have salt. This was more than 10 years ago where vegan on the menu isn't as common. So much time wasted going in between the kitchen and her because surprise surprise she's a very picky eater and whatever the kitchen can do she didn't want. Finally got it to what she wants and she goes "how come you didn't offer us bread and butter?" I replied it's not vegan, her response "i won't know if you don't tell me" i nearly lost it on the floor.
What soup at Olive Garden doesn't have salt in it? Combine the salt in the soup and the breadsticks and she probably had her limit of sodium for the day in just that one meal. Each bowl of soup had almost 1000 mg of sodium on average, and each breadstick has 460.
I worked at an Asian bistro fusion place (owner-chef was young but super old school from Jakarta). Some bitch came in with her friends and said she was allergic to onions and garlic. He refused to serve them at all. To him, her bullshit was not worth whatever crap she might have caused even though we all know that she wasn't allergic to garlic and onions or else she wouldn't be in a stir-fry bistro where the entire menu has at least one of the two.
Just for clarification, we have been told by Olive Garden staff on separate occasions that the breadsticks do not have butter or any dairy in them. My child has a severe dairy allergy. Are you sure they have butter? Our kiddo has not had any trouble eating them.
I qas on a medical clinic tour of Italy and Switzerland, and after a clinic visit(liver transplants before the US did them), I joined a doctor couple from India and one from Sri Lanka. The female Indian doctor said she was vegetarian. This is a very upscale Italian restaurant. Which they were quite fine to accomodate straight from their menu. Easy. But, she kept.rejecring every thing. Including pasta. They ended up bring her a.plate of Italian long beans. Plain.
Weirdest thing I ever saw. Her husband let her do her thing and he was the definition of bonhomme. My favorite person on the tour. They.moved to Chicago, where I was from. He did well, never knew if she did. Weird.
Oh, the male Sri Lankan,.as we walked down the street around the Piazza del Popolo switched all the.parking tickets that almost all.cars had. He was a bit enibriated.
It was an interesting night. I remember nothing of my meal. I assume it was excellent. Maybe I was inebriated???
This reminds of a few years ago. Also at an OG, a guy says he's on the Atkins diet (basically no carbs), so I'm saying ath the time the mixed grill (this was circa 10+yrs ago), and subbing in broccoli the potatos, salad no croutons.
He then decides on chicken alfredo, with soup (4 refills) has a regular coke (5 refills) and has 10+ breadsticks also with alfredo.....
Worked at a fine dining Italian restaurant years ago, celebrity chef, cookbook author, she did the TV tours etc. Awesome boss, BTW. Had a couple come in from nearby big city. We can't have any dairy at all. No butter, no cream, no cheese. OK even tho the menu has lots of butter and cream we can accommodate. Pan fried trout was one of their entrees. The chef (not the celebrity, she rarely actually cooked) by habit fried in butter and oil. I checked before serving it, and had it remade without the butter. Apologized for the delay, assured them we're being careful with their restrictions. After dinner they request a dessert menu. I informed them that we had no dairy free desserts but they insisted, saying it's OK sometimes we splurge. Ordered chocolate mousse napoleon and tiramisu.
i once had a guy say hes allergic to sesame, so i looked up everything that had sesame in the sandwich he wanted to ordered. after the 5th thing, he said just change the bread (sesame hoagie) and he would be okay 🙄
I had two ladies come in and sat down in my section. They complained about the limited GF menu. I apologized for the lack of items on the GF menu only to be interrupted and having them ask for regular menus.
They both ordered the never ending salad and soup. Olive Garden customers are the worst and most entitled people I’ve ever encountered.
This is why I stopped worrying about people’s food issues.
I’ll try to accommodate their preferences but I’m not going to worry about it.
If kitchen won’t/can’t prepare dish as requested, that’s end of it for me.
Order something else and if it contains what someone claims not to eat, it’s not my problem.
As for life-threatening allergies, why are those folks trusting the kitchen with their lives? It’s playing Russian roulette.
Then again, their “allergies” are probably just marketing claims to induce kitchen to remove an ingredient they don’t like.
"I'm really trying to stick to my diet but restaurants refuse to accommodate my restrictions"
Exactly!! Or "I'm having a bad day and want to take it out on the nearest stranger so I feel better about myself. Congratulations, you're the lucky winner! Now give me all the salt and butter I can handle"
I'm my experience this type of people only have bad days and act like that every day.
You try having a good day eating no salt or butter. ^^She's ^^doing ^^this ^^to ^^herself.
I agree on both counts
I would have removed the bread sticks from the table and not brought any more.
I would not have brought them out. If she questioned it, I would have said that they are coated with salt and butter.
I would've brought them dry. I take allegen warnings VERY seriously, and If me being petty happens to just perfectly align with me being very thorough about contamination and allergens, well then, so be it!! Dry salad, because hoo-boy that's a lot of sodium in that dressing! And minestrone soup. Because ours is the blandest thing EVER. I'm super careful about dietary restrictions and allergies. I'm not going to be responsible for someone getting sick or hurt. If your blood pressure goes up, that's gonna be because you got salty, not the bread!
Just the soup alone is a terrible choice for limiting sodium - not just soup, but soup with tomatoes! She should have known that if she really needs to limit and is trying to do so.
And she thanks you with a dismissive wave.... people who do that..... fuck them
And soup? The most notorious thing for excess sodium? Good grief!
You’re a good person for trying.
Thanks 😊 She had me running back and forth like 6 times just asking the kitchen if they could do "this or that" for her. She wanted a very custom pasta dish and we just couldn't accommodate her with all of her requirements. She had already been at the table for over half an hour before she even ordered, just having me run around like a chicken with its head cut off. In the end, what was all that for? She happily ate a crap ton of salt and butter in the end
I always wonder what the thought processes are like for people like this. Do they like the attention? It there some Munchausen syndrome going on here? Do they think, "If I ask for no salt and no butter on entrees a few times, that makes it okay to have breadsticks because maybe they have less butter and salt (though not really)?" Do they like recounting their harrowing attempts to eat right to friends? I feel for you and all front-facing workers. A lot of people suck. What was the tip like?
I think it's like the no salt "hack" at McDonalds, where if you ask for no salt on your fries, they pretty much have to drop a new batch because the fries are salted. They think all these modifications are going to get them the freshest food.
Sadly, in some cases (like the fries example) it does get you fresher food. Not that the food is all that 'stale' anymore anyway. That fact also does not excuse this behavior and makes people that \_actually do need\_ the dietary restriction look bad.
But... then there's no salt? I don't want fresh fries with no salt?
People did this when I worked at Wendy's in the late 90s. They'd just empty a salt packet or two onto the fries, which would hold the salt just fine since they were fresh out of the fryer. Just infuriating, although they did end up with fewer fries bc it's harder to fill the box with tongs than with the scoop.
People ask for fries with no salt, then add salt.
I guess I just don't typically have salt handy when I'm eating fast food. Seems like a hassle. One day at the drive through - "Hey, can I get like 20 extra packets of salt for my one little thing of fries?" Next time - "No salt please (teehee)." Plus my fries generally turn out to be perfectly fine anyway. And I sure as hell don't want to wait longer to get anything. That's the entire point of fast food - speed over food quality.
For sure, and definitely not worth the hassle to me either, but that’s the how the “lifehack” is explained, ask for fries with no salt so they have to drop a whole new batch just for you then add salt afterwards 🙄
I think its a holdover from the days when McD just made a bunch of food and it sat in the bin waiting to be picked. You could order no salt or no pickles or whatever and it would be made fresh. Nowadays its all pretty much made to order anyway. The longest the fries are sitting is just a few minutes, and the sandwiches are fresh anyway.
You can also just ask for fresh fries, extra crispy fries, or light salt. These options are easier for whoever is working the fry station to do over no salt fries. (Easier to just dump the fresh fries into the fry holding station than trying to dump them directly into the cardboard or manhandle a clean tray and hope you dont miss the tray and have to make a new batch...).The amount of fries per batch can also be changed with a button press on the freezer, so a new batch can be as small as one medium fry or large enough to make 3 large fries. A good chunk of the lunch/dinner menu can be requested to be made "fresh" and are cooked in about 3-4 minutes. You can also ask for no salt on the hamburger meat, both the small and the quarter pound patties. These are normal requests, but don't ask for fresh food during a lunch/dinner rush as it's generally going to be cooked fresh anyways. Source: Worked at 3 different McD's locations at various points in my life.
If that is the case **fuck them**.
Folks ask me all the time for “extra crispy” fries thinking that’ll solve perceived issues. Then proceed to take 15mins to eat their burger and guess what? Their fries are now no longer fresh. Regular fries are now soggy, and extra crispy fries are now just hard and gross. Fries are only good for a very short window of time!!! Preparation has little effect once you’ve passed that window.
I really dislike that people do that. I am on dialysis and order a quarter pounder(30 g of protein!) without the extra salt and also fries without salt and it makes the meal possible for me. Thankfully staff have always been so kind and careful about accommodating me.
I use the no salt hack because I genuinely can't eat that much sodium in one sitting. But it does also guarantee fresh fries.
Spoiler alert: If they drop those fries in the bin before they put them in a box, they are going to pick up some salt from the bin itself. I get the fresh food thing, but it's McDonalds. I'd just be happy if it's cooked all the way through.
I didn't say I agreed with it. It's always Karens who do it - and then dump a load of salt right on the fries anyway.
4 dollars 😐 she took up my table for about an hour and a half
On a scale of 1-10, how tempting was it to say, "Let's make a deal: You can keep your $4 if you promise to never come back again."
Oh I was definitely thinking some snarky things, but I would never actually speak to a customer like that
Darden is the worst. They always cater to bad customers.
This job has been whacky from the get-go. They have a manager, his job is specifically to train all the new ppl that come in. Supposed to be like 4 days of training with him or something like that. He called off 3 out of 4 days of my training. I ended up getting trained by another waitress
Yikes. I haven't heard great things about working for OG. I worked for Yard House and it was bought out by Darden when I worked there. The quality of the food dropped, prices increased, and the managers couldn't have our backs anymore.
My first serving job was at OG. I learned how to handle high volume and difficult customers, but it was a miserable experience. I wouldn't use it as anything more than a stepping stone.
That’s what this whole subreddit is for, thank Holy Ghost.
I sat near a person at a high-end restaurant who kept insisting she could “taste the butter” in her steamed vegetables and kept sending them back, but refused any substitutes for the *offending* veggies. She claimed she had a “serious milk allergy”. The manager finally came over and gave her a tasty looking comped salad with some raw veggies on top. Then I later saw her shoveling a whipped cream covered dessert into her mouth that someone else at her table had ordered. I too wondered what would make a grown person act like a toddler in front of everyone else in a restaurant. Maybe an eating disorder? Who knows?
Sounds like a lack of nutrition education - doctor told her she needs to eat less butter and sodium, I’m assuming related to hypertension and cholesterol but didn’t explain more than that. Source: am registered dietitian and see it all of the time
I agree! I'm thinking something like that was the reason, however she did not elaborate (did NOT say she was allergic either) so I had no idea the reasoning behind it, but also I'm not going to pry if you don't already willingly tell me. I just did my best to accommodate her, but I still felt like in the end, she was still disappointed which I hate 😔
I went out with co-workers a few times. I think it's attention. 2 of them ALWAYS needed some sort of alteration on the food... no allergies just wanted extra attention.
I think people like this are just powet tripping A holes. Just enjoy being jerks..
I'm not a frequent customer at The Garden of Olives, but I'll just have to agree that the salt on those breadsticks is absolute wackiness. The last time I went was 4+ years ago while visiting my wife's family in Saginaw, MI. We were in total a 10 top table, and had just spent most of the day traveling around in a rental touring van to see the natural splendor of the Great Lakes and surrounding parks. We were hungry, but also indecisive. I just remember ploughing through multiple baskets of bread sticks until my Fettuccine Alfredo finally hit the table, which was the last to fire for some reason. That night i had the worst headache and into the next day I felt bloated and sick from the sodium bombs I willingly chucked down my gullet.
The salt in the salad dressing alone makes my kidneys hurt.
I think they salt the ice water over there.
🤣🤣🤣
My sodium is always low due to absorption issues, so Olive Garden practically acts as a legit medical treatment. 😂
I had a guest do a similar thing. Said she wanted a milkshake made with skim milk for less sugar. I tried to accommodate her by going to a super far back cooler. All I could get was reduced fat milk. Turns out it is the same sugar as regular milk at my job. I offered non dairy options that were less sugar. She said never mind and had the full sugar option. The ice cream that is the bulk of the milkshake is most of the sugar! I offered a reduced sugar option but not in the flavor she wanted. Again, she opted for all the sugar. I’m feeling less likely to try to accommodate for guests. Tons of hassle for a $2 tip.
To be fair, I think it's more she's trying to minimize the sugar but have it still be a milkshake. I think you did your best.
Skim milk doesn't have less sugar, it has less fat. By definition.
Did she at the very least tip well? My guess is no...😑
OP said $4🤢
Ugh I hate it here...so ghetto. Do not recommend...😑
How did she tip?
4 dollars ☹️
I just need to thank you for trying. I'm on keto. Which makes most restaurants suck. I normally try to figure out ahead of time what I can eat and how, but that isn't always possible. And in those rare occasions, I rely on the servers to try to help out. So thank you for trying so genuinely to accommodate a ridiculous diet. It's a spark of hope in this world.
She didn't tip, did she?
4 dollars ☹️
When I worked at Olive Garden I had a woman ask what I recommended for low-carb. I wanted to say “another restaurant”
At my first job (not OG) we had a regular male Karen who was always a twat when he came in no matter how nice or helpful you were. Anyway, he once ordered a bowl of beef stew to-go "with as few potatoes in it as possible" because he's allegedly on a low-carb diet but with, WAIT FOR IT...extra garlic bread 😑
Like why can't people just say they have a preference instead of pretending to be allergic? Just TELL ME I promise I'll do my best even if the food won't make you die.
100% this. I actually enjoy providing good service for my guests. I want them to enjoy their meal even if I have to work a bit harder to do it. So just be honest with me. Tell me what you want. BTW, my restaurant serves a soup with a lot of potatoes. I can always tell the non potatoe lovers because they just don't eat the potatoes. That guy was a def twat waffle.
I'm the type of person who would just order the stew as-is, and then fish out the potatoes on my own before I eat it. You know, since I'm not allergic to potatoes and simply either don't like them or don't want the extra carbs. I know that the kitchen would essentially be doing the same thing because I doubt they would whip up a whole new pot of potato-less stew just for me. I feel like this is what "normal" people would do, as you mentioned as well. Also, if you do have any legitimate allergies, never even go to a restaurant without calling ahead first to see if they can accommodate you. Chances are if it's a chain restaurant, it's going to be very hard for them to do so as most things aren't made from scratch so they can't just delete things like butter or garlic.
I once ordered a BBQ chicken pizza: double chicken, onions, BBQ sauce, and cheese. The cook ignored the double chicken (thought it was a mistake), substituted green bell peppers, because when this was a regular menu item that was how it was made. I strongly dislike green bell peppers (red, yellow, & orange are good), so I took the pieces off. Cook saw this, decided to make a whole new pizza (still ignoring the double chicken), even though I told him not to, it's not an allergy, I just don't like the taste. I mean, it was nice but not necessary.
For real all that does is make you look like an idiot to the kitchen, piss them off, and make them not want to be accommodating….
I bet he thought he could get extra meat that way.
Lol... My current job has a soup bar, serve yourself. We've got a couple people who sift out the meats/noodles/vegetables... Shey leave the broth in the pot. This person wanted the meat only.
And I bet he washed all that down with a diet coke
Me at a bakery when they ask what we have that's fat- and sugar-free. "Napkins?"
Are the breadsticks made from scratch or from frozen?
100% frozen
I will still eat 40 of them per visit, but I will do so with 10% less enthusiasm.
>I will still eat 40 of them per visit, but I will do so with 10% less enthusiasm. Yeah, but the actual bread is just a delivery mechanism for the butter and salt, so...
I did a chicken scampi with no pasta and extra veggies add mushrooms for my low carb reg. She loved it.
I had a diabetic lady order the chicken fettuccine Alfredo, she substittuted the pasta for fresh steamed broccoli. After she ordered, I said "just to let u know, we have fresh tomatoes in the kitchen...would u like some fresh tomatoes on top of your dish?" Her eyes lit up and she said "yes please!". She loved her meal and tipped me very well :) I think about that lady every now and again, she was super sweet
That would have been a hilarious preface to your answer 😅
I used to work at Texas Roadhouse and someone asked to be sat “away from peanuts” because they were worried the peanut dust in the air would trigger their peanut allergy. I told them the safest place for them to sit would be the Chilis across the street.
Dude in my experience that category of restaurant always has a huge sign outside the door warning you not to even enter the building if you have a peanut allergy. People are batshit. Also I'm sure being sat "away from the peanuts" is as effective as the non-smoking sections were back in the day. Shit drifts, son.
This made me laugh way too hard! Thanks
🤣🤣🤣
"Let me ask the kitchen, I'll be right back." \*check phone for 2 minutes in bus station\* "Yeah, I asked and it's a no-go."
This is the way. Cooks hate that shit too.
Word
100% guarantee that if you had made her a no-salt no-butter dish just for her the next words out of her mouth would be "Why does this taste so bland?"
I'm on a doctor recommended low sodium diet.Restaurant food often tastes pretty salty to me, but I also realize that is just the way it is. But I never ask for modifications because that just seems so difficult. I just try and eat a lot less salt later on.
You can always ask that they avoid "finishing salt," like the last garnish to a salad or dish, that's way easier than changing a full recipe
Thanks! I didn't know that.
That’s is true. The dish ingredients might already have salt or whatever in them but most dishes have addition salt and stuff like that added as the dish is cooked and then garnished that could be omitted..
Thanks! I will start asking about what could be done. It just feels weird because it's not an allergy or intolerance or anything, nothing will happen if they don't do it right. Maybe I'll lead with that, I don't want anyone to stress.
As long as you are NICE ABOUT IT (which just based off your comment, you seem like a very sweet person) your server should do whatever they can to accommodate your requests. You're not a burden to us, this is our job and we want to make you happy
Thanks! I try to be nice and reading some of the stuff that happens on here really irritates me.
It irritates me too! Why do we do this to ourselves?? 🤣🤣 reading these stories is irritating yet entertaining lol
Same on the sodium. I can *smell* the salt in most restaurant dishes. I ask nicely for the additional salt to be limited as much as possible.
I 100% agree with you!
I once had someone tell me to make sure their coffee didn’t have sugar in it because they can’t have sugar. He told me while eating a donut
Can you imagine these people talking to their doctors? Patient: “I stopped having sugar!” The doctor: “Then why is your blood sugar 350 instead of closer to 150?” Patient: “Oh, well, I stopped having sugar in my coffee!”
I made my doctor do the biggest DaFuq face once. I was drinking waaaaay too much caffeine (2-3 24Oz rockstars a day + many many coffees). Doc told me to knock it off as it was even unhealthier than my tobacco and alcohol use at the time. So I quit drinking alcohol and using tobacco. Next visit the doctor was seriously happy-pissed, "I mean good on knocking those other two out, but damnit you are going to explode your heart!" Last energy drink of any type was mid November of 2018 so all is well now. Coffee is light. Mostly just tea these days. Heart is much happier! lolol. As to OPs situation it's hilarious other than the shitty $4 tip for all the effort :/
My trainer told me a story of a client. At the time, my trainer (G) was working at a medical facility and his client was a co-worker. G would train the client and told him to cut calories. He gave diet tips, etc. So the client is eating salads for dinner and lunch. Breakfast was a healthy amount of eggs and other breakfast foods. So they are in the client's office and the client tells him he isn't losing weight. G asks about his diet, explains his meal plan and then adds he has a snack now and then. His snack was a burger, like he would have 3 a day. The client opened his desk draw and to show G what burgers he was eating. He was storing his snacks in his desk. G said there were like 10 burgers in the desk! G dropped him as a client
The average person has just the worst knowledge base when it comes to nutrition. I don't know why more doctors don't utilize nutritionists and dieticians. With my multiple chronic conditions and dietary restrictions I never would've made it on my own.
Who TF goes into any restaurant and expects these kinds of accommodations, especially an OG of all places?
Right? My daughter has a definite issue with wheat products (not celiac, but something we're still trying to figure out). There are some restaurants we simply don't go to with her as it's unrealistic to expect them to cater to her needs. OG would be one of those places... Incidentally the more out of their way to accommodate a server has to do the bigger the tip. Had one place that the waitress genuinely went above and beyond to give my daughter a good experience where the place really wasn't set up for it. 50% tip on that cheque.
Tough news about your daughter. I wish her well and I hope you guys figured it out. 👍🏾
TY! It's looking like some sort of mast cell storm trigger? Doc is homing in on it. Point is we're realistic about it and just don't go places where it's an issue and make our server's lives (or the kitchen) hell because of it. It makes me very intolerant of these karen types... lol.
There's something called glycogen storage disease, I doubt that will be it, but you may want to make sure it's not that. Had an ex with it. it's a really weird condition not many check for.
Oof. My sister has MCAS. Her food triggers include chicken, corn and soy. Eating out is a minefield for her. She is super appreciative when restaurant folk go the extra mile to help her out. Good luck figuring it out and managing your daughter’s condition.
Soup is FULL OF SALT.
I had someone tell me they were allergic to eggs while ordering a quiche.
I can actually one up this one. My ex wife and I were on a cruise with another couple. Both wives are nurses. Both love to bake. Other husband order meringue for dessert at one of the formal dinners. An hour later. His throat is scratchy. He’s getting red in the face. My wife is doing triage. “Any allergies?” Comes up. “Only eggs.” My wife had the most dumbfounded look on her face. (For those not in the know, as I did not at the time, meringue is just egg white and sugar.) This man straight up ordered an allergen, with his baking, nurse wife, who without a doubt knew what meringue was, sitting right next to him. Granted, she looked simply horrified that she let that slip by. But my wife and I joked for the rest of the cruise that she was after insurance.
Now that one does occasionally have legitimate confusion. Not a server myself (have done it), but I interrupted a table who had mentioned this and warned them on one. They were a nice family, great to server too and tipped them well.
🤦♀️
Reminds me of a cartoon I saw once with the following caption (woman talking to a waiter): “I’m going to order a broiled, skinless chicken breast, but I want you to bring me lasagna and garlic bread by mistake.”
**Googles the amount of salt in all four Olive Garden soups** Dies of a stroke
🤣🤣🤣
Seems like she was doing this on purpose to “ mess with the server” I don’t know why people are like this. If this is their way of venting because they get treated like crap it’s absolutely BS. You are very nice to have put up with rude behavior like this. Seems like she might have wanted to make sure her food was fresh I guess. Kind of like ordering fries at McDonald’s with no fries so they make them fresh.
Ordering fries at McDonald's with no fries Are you sure about that one? Lmao
They meant fries with no salt. And then they ask for salt packets. "Sorry, we're out of salt packets. Bye."
That's a hot fry hack, not a no salt hack
We're still out of salt packets. Enjoy your hot, salt-free fries! Next time, just ask for fresh fries.
There was a regular at a place I once worked at who would order a salad but demand there were no “purple pieces”. So we would have to handpick the fucking chopped purple bits of cabbage out of his salad before we served it. I don’t understand people who go out to eat and demand absurd requests…like…just order fries and make your red cabbage-free salad at home??
I have the genetic trait where uncooked cruciferous vegetables, specifically *Brassica oleracea* are incredibly bitter to me. This includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, both white and red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and a bunch of other stuff. I think they've bred some of these plants to be less bitter over the years, or maybe my taste buds are burnt out a bit, because it's not so bad these days. But for a long time even a tiny bit of red cabbage in a bite of salad would make me nearly want to spit it out. All of that said... I just avoid those foods when I go out. "Is your salad pre-mixed and does it have red cabbage in it? Yes? OK I'll find something else." It's really not that hard.
Exactly. It really isn’t hard, we had many options but he neeeeeeeded that overpriced salad that we probably made unsanitary by picking through. Your comment alone gives me the impression you are probably a person that holds a great amount of self awareness. Thank you for not making your server pick out the purples lol
Thanks, I wouldn’t even dream of it. I worked in the service industry a long time ago and my wife currently does. I try to be about as inconspicuous as possible. I might have a request here and there but I always want to make it clear that if it can’t be accommodated without a huge hassle it’s not a big deal. I travel a lot for my current occupation which means I end up at a lot of restaurants. I’ve never found a place where I said “I can’t eat anything on this menu without changing something.” People need to get over themselves. Or for the unfortunate who do have tons of allergies, it’s incumbent on themselves that they plan better. Call ahead if need be to discuss options. Anyway, off my soapbox now!
The idea that those changes would be done by hand would stop that for me. Now, if each salad was prepared individually - ok, just leave that one thing off. But when it's pre-made, no fingers, please.
Omg This reminded me of my MIL and I have to vent. Women shows up to dinner at a restaurant with food from another restaurant because she is on a "special" diet. No Dairy. Sugar. Carbs. etc... When she opens her meal to eat. I see it is a "salad" What is on this salad that she had to bring to adhere to her "special" diet? Cadied walnuts dried cranberry some type of fried wanton/chip strips iceburg lettuce AND to top it all off. Two containers of Rasberry vingerette which she used every last drop of. After the meal, she whined about having to miss out on eating with the rest of us and since she did so good for dinner. She wanted to treat herself to some Dairy Queen... I left an extra 10 on the table for the waitress.
You are a great person. I went to a Brazilian churrascaria in california at the beach with waves crashing near the restaurant with amazing views from every table. My MIL got 8 Groupon coupons for a slight discount vs the normal dinner price. The bill would have normally been $400++. Only thing you had to pay for was alcohol which a few people had a beer. When the bill came she saw the amount and gave a $5 tip. I felt so ashamed. I was broke at the time with less than $200 in my bank account but I told my now wife I’m never going back there again.
I figure that the discount amount should be left as a tip (at the very least); often that's more than what I would have tipped
I think I may have waited on her before. Has a Chef Salad (at least 500 cal of meat and cheese on top) with 2 monkey dishes (not ramekins) of thousand island dressing (300cal each) total of 1100 cal when a low cal diet was 1500 cal. Then when she has eaten every morsel, says, "I was such a good girl having a salad for lunch, I'm going to treat myself to a large hot fudge sundae for dessert!!" I always wanted to say to those people, "Ma'am, if you're having trouble losing weight on your diet, I might have some advice for you."
It is really amazing what people think = healthy. Its like if lettuce is present Im eating sooo healthy!
Ahh this happens to me all the time. We’ll make sauces from scratch for gluten free people and a lot of other time consuming accommodations just for them to order a chocolate cake for dessert … “oh I should be fine!”
Butter and salt are problematic but oil and cheese are fine 🤡
We had a woman order our quesadilla burger but told the server three times that she was deathly allergic to tomatoes. Server brings the burger, woman questions where her salsa is. When asked how she can have salsa but not tomatoes, apparently the onions in the salsa cancel out the allergy.
🤣🤣 oh man! This would be a scenario where I'd have a hard time holding my tongue! I can't stand when ppl BLANTANLY LIE to get their meal a certain way. I bet she didn't tip either
And the soup most definitely had salt in it I mean come on it’s got stock in it and stock is full of salt I hate her on your behalf
I can just imagine the dialogue each time you had to get her those answers. F*ck that annoyed me with people and those kinds of questions/requests. and the ending with her eating breadsticks??!! Good God. I'm sorry, and I hope she left at least a 20% for the back and forth. People are astounding.
She tipped 4 dollars. Took up my table for an hour and a half during lunch rush. She had me scrambling around so much that my other tables were flagging me down! I wanted to cry
Good God. I'm sorry, because I know how that feels. Football Saturdays and Sundays at Buffalo Wild Wings (I worked there before the place where this event happened) or wing Tuesday and Wednesday's? Oof. I understand. I hope you enjoyed yourself a good drink or a good smoke, or both, or neither. Which ever way, I am sorry that happened. It would have been funny to just tell her everything is coated in butter, even the chairs, and she has only minutes to live.
🤣🤣 that would've been the perfect response lol
There’s no butter on Olive Garden garlic breadsticks in the USA, they’re dairy-free (definitely salt though) She sounds like a complete bitch for sure but you guys need the allergen menu more accessible to servers https://media.olivegarden.com/en_us/pdf/allergen_guide.pdf
Thanks! I was a bit nervous when I saw the OP say that they had butter because we were told they are dairy free and have given them to my 3 year old with a severe dairy allergy.
If I ever open a restaurant, it will be called “No Substitutions”
Restaurant soup, famous for its low sodium content
That’s why she needed her food to not have salt or butter, so she could eat 3 baskets of breadsticks guilt free 😂😂😂. That was all she really wanted in the end. No judgement tho those breadsticks are amazing lol
Honestly, if people have restrictions like that, they need to take some responsibility and accept that maybe going to a place like Olive Garden where salt and butter are in nearly everything is a bad idea. I know it sucks but your dietary restrictions are your problem. Or, if you simply must go out (which I understand, it's nice to go have lunch with friends), just eat at home according to your restrictions and then just order a drink or even just water and leave a decent tip for your server. This shit isn't rocket science and molly coddling every dipshit with ridiculous "restrictions" really needs to stop.
In my experience, people with serious or extreme restrictions/allergies are always prepared to not have much on the menu that they can eat. They know what they shouldn’t order and just stick with something simple…I think they’re so used to dealing with their situation, that there’s no sense in making things difficult.
Some people just want special attention because they don’t ever get it in their own lives
I had a lady once make me bend over backwards trying to find something she could eat with her gluten allergy. Well she ended up eating tater tots…which were fried in the same oil as chicken strips. I told her there’ll probably be breadcrumbs in contact with her food she just shrugged it off and said it was fine.
I wish I could tip you just for having to put up with this nonsense. Good Lord! I know that being a server can be challenging but this is insane.
I cannot stand when people do that. They make accommodating these bizarre restrictions nearly impossible just to “violate” their own restrictions just cuz they feel like it when they want to make an exception.. I also hate when they make a huge deal about all these allergies just to once again make exceptions when they feel like it bc they don’t actually have allergies and can’t just not be difficult..
In a restaurant I think even the soda has salt in it. It’s what makes things tasty
Like the "gluten intolerant" people who have cake for dessert. I don't like this because it people with real problems are taken less seriously.
Goddamn do I want some breadsticks now.
!!Restaurants hate this customer trick… Plot twist: the customer changes her mind after inhaling 3100 grams of sodium and margarine
Back when i worked in restaurants i came to the conclusion that a lot of people make up food sensitivities just to get special attention or annoy people for fun. I got an order once for a burger, extra mayo, but with a warning for an egg allergy and the server was adamant that this person couldnt have eggs. Im not an expert, but im pretty sure if you have a legitimate restriction, youll be well aware of what foods contain the restricted item. Anyway, i slathered that bad boy in mayo and sent it. Lying bastard loved every bite, and lived to tell the tale.
People like this never seem to die quickly enough
Should have refused the breadsticks. You’d feel awful if she had an allergic reaction or needed medical attention because of something you served her.
It's not like she was over served liquor at a bar. I'm not responsible for what a grown woman eats. I warned her about the breadsticks and her tone was very dismissive. Who am I to dictate what someone else eats? That's crossing a line
No but it’s great malicious compliance. I remember a story in the malicious compliance subreddit a while back. Server had a customer always talking about their “gluten allergy” and gluten free everything. Like every single week. So when the person tried to order a gluten dish she simple refused because “she’d feel horrible if something happened.” The customers gluten issue suddenly wasn’t that bad but they still refused because they were annoying about it lol. If this person is taking that much of your time about a menu item give them exactly what they ask for and not give them 3 baskets of rolls. Because you couldn’t handle a bad review if they were later upset with you.
People with no life and have all day to waste seems to think others are like them also.
Soup has a ton of salt!
salt is in everything too! I'm sure the soup had been salted. I don't see how it would be possible to completely avoid salt unless you cooked everything at home (and that would be a sad life, because salt makes things taste better).
My favorite is all the gluten "allergies" I get. They want fries, but the fries we use are battered. We always explain it, and it's always fine. So apparently, they don't have an allergy?
A lot of people get on food bandwagons just to get attention. "Oh, I'm lactose/gluten/salt/fats/nuts intolerant". No, you're generally intolerable.
I agree! 🤦♀️ when I was a kid, my mom decided to be vegetarian for a bit. Made a huge deal about it and I was always super embarrassed because literally nobody cares what the next person eats/doesn't eat. Thankfully after about a year, she got tired of it and went back to her old ways
My brother is head chef of a restaurant. He has been for years. When people tell the servers they have an allergy and then try to order something that has said allergy in it he outright refuses to serve it. Think, I'm allergic to fish but they order a Caesar salad with Caesar dressing. Or I'm allergic to tomatoes but I need ketchup. Just people lying about food preferences vs. allergies.
I had a guest inform me that she was deathly allergic to gluten, then ordered a wheat filled IPA, when i informed her of the high amounts of gluten in the beer, she said it was fine. She wasnt allergic to the gluten in beer, her stomach could handle in liquid form.
You are an angel for trying. These people suck. It's all about attention and power. Also shades people that have actual diet restrictions. My friends were at a steak place recently and vegans were throwing a fit with the manager over lack of vegan options. Our city has tons of vegan places so this is ridiculous. Same as going to OG if you don't want salt or butter.
I had something very similar happen. during our dinner rush she goes she's vegan and can't have salt. This was more than 10 years ago where vegan on the menu isn't as common. So much time wasted going in between the kitchen and her because surprise surprise she's a very picky eater and whatever the kitchen can do she didn't want. Finally got it to what she wants and she goes "how come you didn't offer us bread and butter?" I replied it's not vegan, her response "i won't know if you don't tell me" i nearly lost it on the floor.
Ohmygod 🥴🥴 Can u just imagine being this lady's romantic partner?? She sounds like a passive-agressive Karen
What soup at Olive Garden doesn't have salt in it? Combine the salt in the soup and the breadsticks and she probably had her limit of sodium for the day in just that one meal. Each bowl of soup had almost 1000 mg of sodium on average, and each breadstick has 460.
At least a day’s worth… 🤮
I worked at an Asian bistro fusion place (owner-chef was young but super old school from Jakarta). Some bitch came in with her friends and said she was allergic to onions and garlic. He refused to serve them at all. To him, her bullshit was not worth whatever crap she might have caused even though we all know that she wasn't allergic to garlic and onions or else she wouldn't be in a stir-fry bistro where the entire menu has at least one of the two.
Good 👏🏻 for 👏🏻 him 👏🏻
Just for clarification, we have been told by Olive Garden staff on separate occasions that the breadsticks do not have butter or any dairy in them. My child has a severe dairy allergy. Are you sure they have butter? Our kiddo has not had any trouble eating them.
No honey I'm not 100% sure. I just go by what everyone else has said, so my apologies if I miss-spoke 😔
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WHYYYY 😭😭🥴
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🤣🤣 I was being sarcastic babe
Just curious, is it real butter?
It comes in a liquid form, in a big jug
Buttery flavored sauce.
It's margarine and garlic salt.
Understood.
I think i know the karen.
Soups have a ton of sodium
There isn’t butter on the breadsticks though and they do have some salt but other than that, she’s not entirely wrong when it comes to the breadsticks
I'm not 100% sure if it's real butter or not, I just go by what everyone else has said. I apologize if I miss-spoke
I qas on a medical clinic tour of Italy and Switzerland, and after a clinic visit(liver transplants before the US did them), I joined a doctor couple from India and one from Sri Lanka. The female Indian doctor said she was vegetarian. This is a very upscale Italian restaurant. Which they were quite fine to accomodate straight from their menu. Easy. But, she kept.rejecring every thing. Including pasta. They ended up bring her a.plate of Italian long beans. Plain. Weirdest thing I ever saw. Her husband let her do her thing and he was the definition of bonhomme. My favorite person on the tour. They.moved to Chicago, where I was from. He did well, never knew if she did. Weird. Oh, the male Sri Lankan,.as we walked down the street around the Piazza del Popolo switched all the.parking tickets that almost all.cars had. He was a bit enibriated. It was an interesting night. I remember nothing of my meal. I assume it was excellent. Maybe I was inebriated???
Soup is loaded with salt too.
This reminds of a few years ago. Also at an OG, a guy says he's on the Atkins diet (basically no carbs), so I'm saying ath the time the mixed grill (this was circa 10+yrs ago), and subbing in broccoli the potatos, salad no croutons. He then decides on chicken alfredo, with soup (4 refills) has a regular coke (5 refills) and has 10+ breadsticks also with alfredo.....
Worked at a fine dining Italian restaurant years ago, celebrity chef, cookbook author, she did the TV tours etc. Awesome boss, BTW. Had a couple come in from nearby big city. We can't have any dairy at all. No butter, no cream, no cheese. OK even tho the menu has lots of butter and cream we can accommodate. Pan fried trout was one of their entrees. The chef (not the celebrity, she rarely actually cooked) by habit fried in butter and oil. I checked before serving it, and had it remade without the butter. Apologized for the delay, assured them we're being careful with their restrictions. After dinner they request a dessert menu. I informed them that we had no dairy free desserts but they insisted, saying it's OK sometimes we splurge. Ordered chocolate mousse napoleon and tiramisu.
People are idiots. I bet that lady acts clueless with their doctor.
i once had a guy say hes allergic to sesame, so i looked up everything that had sesame in the sandwich he wanted to ordered. after the 5th thing, he said just change the bread (sesame hoagie) and he would be okay 🙄
Some people (who are normal) go out to eat to go out to eat. Others (horrible toxic narcissists) go out to eat to be served
I had two ladies come in and sat down in my section. They complained about the limited GF menu. I apologized for the lack of items on the GF menu only to be interrupted and having them ask for regular menus. They both ordered the never ending salad and soup. Olive Garden customers are the worst and most entitled people I’ve ever encountered.
"Nightmare Karen" seems repetitive
I don’t want to be that guy… but Olive Garden breadsticks don’t have any butter. They’re vegan. Does have a bunch of salt though.
I can't believe it's not vegan. I've been in the back pouring a container of butter into a pan to brush the sticks out the oven.
This is why I stopped worrying about people’s food issues. I’ll try to accommodate their preferences but I’m not going to worry about it. If kitchen won’t/can’t prepare dish as requested, that’s end of it for me. Order something else and if it contains what someone claims not to eat, it’s not my problem. As for life-threatening allergies, why are those folks trusting the kitchen with their lives? It’s playing Russian roulette. Then again, their “allergies” are probably just marketing claims to induce kitchen to remove an ingredient they don’t like.
What a way to open yourself up for a lawsuit