Omnivore - Dumb things diners (and servers) do

Let the server clear the dishes

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  • southernbelly.wordpress.com

Just about every day, I run into my friend Sally, a server at a popular Atlanta restaurant. Sally always keeps me apprised of her ever-lengthening list of despicable things that diners do.

Today, Sally told me that she hates when she is clearing a table and a diner hands her a plate.

“We have a method,” she said. “We’re trying to stack the dishes, but if you hand me, say, a butter plate with a knife on it while I’m still picking up the entree plates, it makes stacking the dishes almost impossible. So don’t do that, damn it.”

I told Sally I despise when servers ask me if I’m still “working” on my meal. I also hate when I’ve cleaned my plate and they shout, “Well, I guess you didn’t like that, huh?” I further hate when they come around earlier in the meal and ask if everything is “good.”

So I’ll stop handing servers my butter plate if they’ll stop asking dumb questions.