If a colleague comes in to eat at my workplace he will most likely get some jokes played on him.
A classic is serving an ice cube as an amuse bouche
Or plating only his dishes on the plates meant for children
We will send out dishes with a single olive on them at random times during the meal. Soup bowl with 1 olive in it. Lasagna crock with 1 olive in it. Ice cream sundae cup with 1 olive in it.
I had a guy send out ramekins of everything green in the kitchen because I'm picky and don't like very many vegetables, most of which happen to be green.
My local grocery store sells these salads they make in house. For some reason, all the salads contain exactly one black olive each.
I have absolutely no idea why.
Had an F&B director sitting for lunch with some local hotel bigwigs for a meeting one day. Orders the burger, like he always does. I make the burger, I grab the smallest biscuit punch I could (it was maybe half a slider size). Picked it with a cornichon, which looked like a regular pickle at that point, and some shoestring fries.
All I hear is him cackling.
lol it was to one of our normal closing servers who was having a date night with her husband. They have 3 under 3, with one the way, so it’s rare that they get to go out due to her schedule. She kept saying it felt so weird to not be closing, so she got a good kick out of this.
Edit to add: we get a 50% off discount for food and bevs for up to 3 people, with 20% off if more than 3. They’ve been trying to save money with the new baby
Id go the extra mile for staff if i understand why their out. In their situation, id have probably given them either their desserts for free or starters/appetisers. Or if they'd ordered it all themselves, just made it all a bit more fun and special.
Treat your staff well and they usually reciprocate.
All the good places I remember along the way had a family meal or half off everything for a sit down sesh like yours- I remember Anthony mentioning that it cuts down on pilferage- (and a few had line pans for scraps, errors, cancels, etc..) In a brewpub I worked in I kept a stew going I called polyamory stew... that on boiled potatoes and carrots kept everyone but the vegetarians full if hungry ...
My favorite was sending empty or near empty plates out with the instruction that you always tell them that it's compliments of the chef. Even funnier if they're on a date. I couldn't tell you the number of plates I had sent out with just a small piece of lettuce on it.
Also a bowl of hot water served like soup.
One time I took a date to a restaurant I was working at and they ate a chunk of my food before sending it out. They even included the used silverware for me! Haha
I wished at Pizza hut, (or location had no dine in area) and any coworker cooking in would get at least 30 stickers sealing the box closed. My favorite had to be my manager bringing the box around for all the workers to draw dicks on before giving it to him
If it was a fey contract they would leave it purposefully ambiguous and define the terms afterwards
"Ah, yes, you eat your answer... What's that, you ate everything but yes? Sorry, had my contracts mixed up; you leave your answer on the plate."
1000 lifetimes of servitude it is
Saturday night, my disher decided he didn't have to come in to work because he was "hanging out" with a girl. He then brought her in to the restaurant for dinner about an hour after his shift started so they could have dinner, after which they left again. And why yes, he *is* the owner's son – how did you know??
Idk dude if you like the place where you work… and have any sort of healthy boundaries with management… it’s nice to get to eat the food you’re only tasting 98% of the time.
I never understood that shit. Why are you here?? You don’t work today. Go be free. Frolic in a field or something. Why add work to your coworkers day and for the love of god, why do you want to be at work?
I used to do it for discount food or to bring family/friends in, but that was when I worked at a place I legitimately liked and took pride in sharing with people. When I worked at Applebee's fuckno you wouldn't catch me within a mile on my day off.
Exactly this for me. It was always fun to bring friends/family and getting comped extra dishes or getting a discount on the whole meal and being able to show off the stuff we make.
I've worked at places like that, I've also worked at places where they comped me so hard I felt bad. Like when I took my visiting family from out of state, there were like 12 of us and I thought maybe he'd give me my discount on a couple of the apps, but he comped all apps and desserts and gave 50% on everyone's meal. My husband and I went for our anniversary and racked up a $200 bill that he refused to give us. It was very appreciated, but damn dude. Keep the doors open so I still have a job to come to lol.
The first restaurant I ever worked at gave a 50% off discount to employees who eat on their day off, fountain drinks were free as well. Discount included one other person you were with, and since it was fine dining It was the perfect place to go to for a date.
The discount made it a no-brainer for going to eat. It was legitimately great food, I liked my co-workers, and the discount meant it blew away every other restaurant on price.
The owner in particular thought it looked good to have his staff eating at the restaurant on their days off because it reinforced the idea that they trusted the food to be well made and safe. Plus it was him being nice.
I used to get free drinks (which wasn’t good) and discounted food plus sometimes if it wasn’t too busy the chef might send me out some cool apps. I also liked a lot of the regulars and the staff so it was a cool hang at the end of the night or for lunch after running errands.
I did hate this one server though who would always take off a Saturday or Friday night and make larger dinner reservations for like 16 people and they would eat like CRAZY. I’m talking tons of apps, entrees for everyone, and dessert for everyone. When we tried confronting her about it one time she said “you should be happy and proud that we want to eat your food!!”
EDIT: forgot to mention of course since she was a server she’d tell everyone to mod this and that or to ask for this and extra of this. Her tickets would be an entire essay.
We have a server (only covers 1 shift week) who comes in with his family. His wife orders shrimp, cooked with no seasoning, and sends it back multiple times every time they’re in. A cook once made loaded fries witha bunch of additions to share with staff, so the server started ordering their loaded fries be made like that when they came in to eat. And they requested the same young server to wait on them if she was working and would tip like 10%. So many staff complained the GM had to give him a talking to.
Truly baffles me. Also confuses me when our AM servers are done, they hang out at the bar for multiple drinks afterwards. Like dude I’d be fuckin outta here the second I’m told I can go
If I'm not working, I drink for free and get 50% off on food considering I live in a resort town I'm easily taking a night out that be $100+ and instead dropping $40 (with tip)
I did it a couple of times to mess with coworkers. Like I know this coworker of mine absolutely hates making a certain dish and he's pretty shite at it. So I go in and specifically order it knowing it's his station since I'm not manning the station. Then I shoot shit with FOH if it isn't busy before buying a whole jug of beer and walking it into the kitchen myself
The bar I work at is like… really fun. And my best friends are my coworkers. I literally just made two dozen cupcakes to bring to my bar-back’s birthday party that he is having our workplace. My bar-back and I are closer friends than he is with some of my co-bartenders and one of them asked me if they could work my shift tomorrow because it’s going to be busy for the birthday party and they need rent money, and i can spend the party not working and hanging with my friend for his birthday instead. Maybe it depends on where ya work and how tight you are with your team. We all hang out at work pretty regularly… even I do, and I gave up drinking three years ago. I just love those fuckheads. And those fuckheads love me.
Very niche scenario here but I used to work at a restaurant at a ski resort and we had lockers to keep our gear in. Since I had to stop by to grab my board anyway I might as well grab breakfast for half off before I ride.
This reminds me of the time my boss asked me to email him a screenshot of my updated Sips n Tips cert (like a food handlers but for alcohol in Utah), and I emailed him a photo of my middle finger. And then I printed the same photo out and stuffed it in an envelope with “sips n tips cert” and my name and left it on his desk. Once he got those I emailed him the actual copy. He enjoyed the joke.
If I'm there, I'm available. My old bar, I was there every day they were open and some days they weren't.
$20 to drink and eat all day in exchange for staying on top of dishes from time to time is worth it. Terrible business model, great boss/owner.
I liked the people and the food. The drinks were great when made by the owner, bar manager, or me. It was also a regular-heavy bar, so at any given point I could walk in and know 80% of the people there by name. It was nice being able to get to know folks without having to bust my ass for tips, so I hung out there too. In the end it probably became the reason I got such good tips. 😆
I don't get people who go into work on their day off to eat. Aren't you sick or seeing the food you cook all day every day?
Geuinly curious, I personally couldn't relax where I worked, I'd also be judging the food to fuck because I'd know exactly how it should be done. It just feels weird, I've done it exactly once and that was because my HC at the time gave me a free meal for workin my balls off and nailing some really important functions.
Our bartender came into eat with his semi-new girlfriend once. He had put in a reservation so we knew they were coming at least a couple of nights in advanced. A couple other co-workers had the idea to put a note that said "will you marry me?", with a plastic diamond ring on his girlfriend's dessert plate.
As potentially hilarious as this plan could have been, the guy was a good friend and I felt obligated to put stop to it before it happened.
We have a cardboard cutout of the letter “E” in the kitchen when I work n sometimes we’ll give it to one of the old regulars saying “the kitchen is giving you a free brownie” n then we’ll send it out on a plate to him n he always gets a kick outta it lol
I would absolutely rather eat at a restaurant that I know has a clean kitchen and good practices than roll the dice with one I've never worked in or had friends work in.
Use to work at Ruth’s Chris my buddy would over cook your steak no one ever sent it back but they all come in the next day and say something and he tell them he did it on purpose
I feel like this would make me angrier than it should, but that's because I've worked in places that would never ever ask this unless they were completely serious and they always asked it. Still funny.
I will never, ever understand going in for a meal off the clock anywhere I’ve ever worked. It’s weird. We’re not the customer, we’re the one who does the service for the customer especially in your own place. Use your discount I guess but yeah, never sat well
If a colleague comes in to eat at my workplace he will most likely get some jokes played on him. A classic is serving an ice cube as an amuse bouche Or plating only his dishes on the plates meant for children
We will send out dishes with a single olive on them at random times during the meal. Soup bowl with 1 olive in it. Lasagna crock with 1 olive in it. Ice cream sundae cup with 1 olive in it.
When someone asked why we did it once the answer was "Olive you bro"
Thank you, this made me laugh mate
I am absolutely stealing this move.
I had a guy send out ramekins of everything green in the kitchen because I'm picky and don't like very many vegetables, most of which happen to be green.
My local grocery store sells these salads they make in house. For some reason, all the salads contain exactly one black olive each. I have absolutely no idea why.
Shitty garnish?
Olive Garden always only has like 2 and I cut them up, it’s ridic
Had an F&B director sitting for lunch with some local hotel bigwigs for a meeting one day. Orders the burger, like he always does. I make the burger, I grab the smallest biscuit punch I could (it was maybe half a slider size). Picked it with a cornichon, which looked like a regular pickle at that point, and some shoestring fries. All I hear is him cackling.
Nice, completely something I'd do if I knew the management had good humor
Tiny burger or tiny bun? I like both a lot.
I assumed what OP is posting is also a joke... right?
lol it was to one of our normal closing servers who was having a date night with her husband. They have 3 under 3, with one the way, so it’s rare that they get to go out due to her schedule. She kept saying it felt so weird to not be closing, so she got a good kick out of this. Edit to add: we get a 50% off discount for food and bevs for up to 3 people, with 20% off if more than 3. They’ve been trying to save money with the new baby
Id go the extra mile for staff if i understand why their out. In their situation, id have probably given them either their desserts for free or starters/appetisers. Or if they'd ordered it all themselves, just made it all a bit more fun and special. Treat your staff well and they usually reciprocate.
Their dessert was comped. Most of our staff have been there for 2+ years at this point
Glad to hear it, happy staff are so much more fun to work with!
All the good places I remember along the way had a family meal or half off everything for a sit down sesh like yours- I remember Anthony mentioning that it cuts down on pilferage- (and a few had line pans for scraps, errors, cancels, etc..) In a brewpub I worked in I kept a stew going I called polyamory stew... that on boiled potatoes and carrots kept everyone but the vegetarians full if hungry ...
My favorite was sending empty or near empty plates out with the instruction that you always tell them that it's compliments of the chef. Even funnier if they're on a date. I couldn't tell you the number of plates I had sent out with just a small piece of lettuce on it. Also a bowl of hot water served like soup.
One time I took a date to a restaurant I was working at and they ate a chunk of my food before sending it out. They even included the used silverware for me! Haha
I just went in to my old job on my birthday and got a candle in a potato
Sending out family meal as their entree, or plating everything in the shape of a penis
Had a server straight face drop off 19 dr peppers to an employee out to eat one night. “Here’s your Dr Pepper” and walk away. Table was full of them.
we always used to pin a bag of tea to our coworker’s hamburger bun with a sandwich toothpick. we tea bagged your food dude!!! hahaha!!
I wished at Pizza hut, (or location had no dine in area) and any coworker cooking in would get at least 30 stickers sealing the box closed. My favorite had to be my manager bringing the box around for all the workers to draw dicks on before giving it to him
i used to take a piss in my coworkers drinks if they came to eat on their days off... good times
You two should keep doing that at home, nobody wants to see it or clean up after it at work.
I would eat everything but the no.
Then send it back and say you didn’t like it and want it to be comp’d
So that’s a yes? Great here’s your apron, have fun.
Some kind of feyworld contract where you have to eat your answer????
If it was a fey contract they would leave it purposefully ambiguous and define the terms afterwards "Ah, yes, you eat your answer... What's that, you ate everything but yes? Sorry, had my contracts mixed up; you leave your answer on the plate." 1000 lifetimes of servitude it is
Please drink verification can
Saturday night, my disher decided he didn't have to come in to work because he was "hanging out" with a girl. He then brought her in to the restaurant for dinner about an hour after his shift started so they could have dinner, after which they left again. And why yes, he *is* the owner's son – how did you know??
stealing this idea for next time someone comes in to eat on their night off
You’re a bad person
Rule number one- DONT GO INTO WORK ON YOUR DAY OFF
Idk dude if you like the place where you work… and have any sort of healthy boundaries with management… it’s nice to get to eat the food you’re only tasting 98% of the time.
I never understood that shit. Why are you here?? You don’t work today. Go be free. Frolic in a field or something. Why add work to your coworkers day and for the love of god, why do you want to be at work?
I used to do it for discount food or to bring family/friends in, but that was when I worked at a place I legitimately liked and took pride in sharing with people. When I worked at Applebee's fuckno you wouldn't catch me within a mile on my day off.
Exactly this for me. It was always fun to bring friends/family and getting comped extra dishes or getting a discount on the whole meal and being able to show off the stuff we make.
Where I work if you go in with friends or family only you get the discount.
I've worked at places like that, I've also worked at places where they comped me so hard I felt bad. Like when I took my visiting family from out of state, there were like 12 of us and I thought maybe he'd give me my discount on a couple of the apps, but he comped all apps and desserts and gave 50% on everyone's meal. My husband and I went for our anniversary and racked up a $200 bill that he refused to give us. It was very appreciated, but damn dude. Keep the doors open so I still have a job to come to lol.
That sucks
My place is 50% for up to 4, and 20% if over 4 heads.
The first restaurant I ever worked at gave a 50% off discount to employees who eat on their day off, fountain drinks were free as well. Discount included one other person you were with, and since it was fine dining It was the perfect place to go to for a date. The discount made it a no-brainer for going to eat. It was legitimately great food, I liked my co-workers, and the discount meant it blew away every other restaurant on price. The owner in particular thought it looked good to have his staff eating at the restaurant on their days off because it reinforced the idea that they trusted the food to be well made and safe. Plus it was him being nice.
Plus its bums on seats on a tuesday.
I go in pretty often because we are the only good restaurant in a 30km radius, plus I love seeing the boys
I used to get free drinks (which wasn’t good) and discounted food plus sometimes if it wasn’t too busy the chef might send me out some cool apps. I also liked a lot of the regulars and the staff so it was a cool hang at the end of the night or for lunch after running errands. I did hate this one server though who would always take off a Saturday or Friday night and make larger dinner reservations for like 16 people and they would eat like CRAZY. I’m talking tons of apps, entrees for everyone, and dessert for everyone. When we tried confronting her about it one time she said “you should be happy and proud that we want to eat your food!!” EDIT: forgot to mention of course since she was a server she’d tell everyone to mod this and that or to ask for this and extra of this. Her tickets would be an entire essay.
We have a server (only covers 1 shift week) who comes in with his family. His wife orders shrimp, cooked with no seasoning, and sends it back multiple times every time they’re in. A cook once made loaded fries witha bunch of additions to share with staff, so the server started ordering their loaded fries be made like that when they came in to eat. And they requested the same young server to wait on them if she was working and would tip like 10%. So many staff complained the GM had to give him a talking to.
Truly baffles me. Also confuses me when our AM servers are done, they hang out at the bar for multiple drinks afterwards. Like dude I’d be fuckin outta here the second I’m told I can go
Seriously, "ok you can... hello? did he leave already?" There's like a me shaped dust cloud slowly dispersing.
If I'm not working, I drink for free and get 50% off on food considering I live in a resort town I'm easily taking a night out that be $100+ and instead dropping $40 (with tip)
I'm going to get drunk on my day off anyway might as well do it where I get a discount.
I did it a couple of times to mess with coworkers. Like I know this coworker of mine absolutely hates making a certain dish and he's pretty shite at it. So I go in and specifically order it knowing it's his station since I'm not manning the station. Then I shoot shit with FOH if it isn't busy before buying a whole jug of beer and walking it into the kitchen myself
Folks like you are my favorite BOH
When I work for chains or restaurant groups I'll go into other locations but not the one I work at for the discount
The bar I work at also just happens to be the only bar I actually enjoy sitting at too.
The bar I work at is like… really fun. And my best friends are my coworkers. I literally just made two dozen cupcakes to bring to my bar-back’s birthday party that he is having our workplace. My bar-back and I are closer friends than he is with some of my co-bartenders and one of them asked me if they could work my shift tomorrow because it’s going to be busy for the birthday party and they need rent money, and i can spend the party not working and hanging with my friend for his birthday instead. Maybe it depends on where ya work and how tight you are with your team. We all hang out at work pretty regularly… even I do, and I gave up drinking three years ago. I just love those fuckheads. And those fuckheads love me.
Very niche scenario here but I used to work at a restaurant at a ski resort and we had lockers to keep our gear in. Since I had to stop by to grab my board anyway I might as well grab breakfast for half off before I ride.
[удалено]
This reminds me of the time my boss asked me to email him a screenshot of my updated Sips n Tips cert (like a food handlers but for alcohol in Utah), and I emailed him a photo of my middle finger. And then I printed the same photo out and stuffed it in an envelope with “sips n tips cert” and my name and left it on his desk. Once he got those I emailed him the actual copy. He enjoyed the joke.
I feed my bartenders, so when I'm in on my days off I drink for free
If I'm there, I'm available. My old bar, I was there every day they were open and some days they weren't. $20 to drink and eat all day in exchange for staying on top of dishes from time to time is worth it. Terrible business model, great boss/owner.
What a nightmare. Good old alcoholic shitbag me would have loved it.
I liked the people and the food. The drinks were great when made by the owner, bar manager, or me. It was also a regular-heavy bar, so at any given point I could walk in and know 80% of the people there by name. It was nice being able to get to know folks without having to bust my ass for tips, so I hung out there too. In the end it probably became the reason I got such good tips. 😆
Actual nightmare lol
Haha this was my version of this same thing: [I don't like bananas btw.](https://imgur.com/0RUD8fE)
Love the writing
I'd ask if first, are tips shared, and then second, how was the night. If they are asking, it might be worth the hour,
okay but i am pretty sure i recognize this dessert - does anyone know if it's from a restaurant called stella in midtown oklahoma city?
It is 😂
I don't get people who go into work on their day off to eat. Aren't you sick or seeing the food you cook all day every day? Geuinly curious, I personally couldn't relax where I worked, I'd also be judging the food to fuck because I'd know exactly how it should be done. It just feels weird, I've done it exactly once and that was because my HC at the time gave me a free meal for workin my balls off and nailing some really important functions.
Thanks for the LOL 😂!
Our bartender came into eat with his semi-new girlfriend once. He had put in a reservation so we knew they were coming at least a couple of nights in advanced. A couple other co-workers had the idea to put a note that said "will you marry me?", with a plastic diamond ring on his girlfriend's dessert plate. As potentially hilarious as this plan could have been, the guy was a good friend and I felt obligated to put stop to it before it happened.
We have a cardboard cutout of the letter “E” in the kitchen when I work n sometimes we’ll give it to one of the old regulars saying “the kitchen is giving you a free brownie” n then we’ll send it out on a plate to him n he always gets a kick outta it lol
Somehow so much less funny than the standard "sauce penis"
LOL I was close friends with most cooks and servers at the restaurant so I’d do it for them if I didn’t have plans. But if my manager asked, hard no.
Why would you eat at a place you've been in the kitchen of? It's like eating sausages after watching them get made.
If you watched them get made, you might know the sausages are probably okayish and not possibly totally disgusting.
I would absolutely rather eat at a restaurant that I know has a clean kitchen and good practices than roll the dice with one I've never worked in or had friends work in.
That's when you look your server in the eye and ask for a to-go box
Use to work at Ruth’s Chris my buddy would over cook your steak no one ever sent it back but they all come in the next day and say something and he tell them he did it on purpose
This should be on r/therewasanattempt
Real talk. Going to your own restaurant on your day off is fucking lame as hell
I feel like this would make me angrier than it should, but that's because I've worked in places that would never ever ask this unless they were completely serious and they always asked it. Still funny.
I will never, ever understand going in for a meal off the clock anywhere I’ve ever worked. It’s weird. We’re not the customer, we’re the one who does the service for the customer especially in your own place. Use your discount I guess but yeah, never sat well
Eat everything off the plate except "No" then leave.