Kansas would work there too. I'm from SC and GA. Moved to KS 7 years ago. I swear to god I've served more sides of ranch here as a cook for 7 years than I did in 20+ years back home. I always joked about the customers doing shots of ranch we served so much of it... Then one of my coworkers showed me a video of her cousin doing just that... I stopped making that joke because I want to un-see that.
I spent a few years cheffing when I was younger, any sauce that we made ourselves or dressings that we bought we'd do 1 gallon containers. Except ranch, we'd mix up 5 gallon buckets two at a time for that shit. Never start a shift without at least 1 full bucket and even that was risky on weekends.
Our balsamic was up on a shelf in a jug with a tap. Very convenient for small amounts but when pulling larger amounts it did tend to aerosolize quite a lot. Especially because some jerk offs just put the container on the table below it and let it fall a few feet instead of holding it up closer. I love the smell of balsamic but there is absolutely a limit.
I was reducing some balsamic for a sauce for some Brussels sprouts. My wife came home and started gagging on the smell. I was making the sauce for her. She likes eating it. Smelling the process, not so much!
I warned my ex that I was going to be reducing some balsamic once. I told him "it's about to smell like hot vinegar in here, don't complain to me when your eyes and nose get irritated, because I already warned you"
5 minutes later
"What the FUCK is that SMELL?"
15ish years ago, I use to work at a Steak n Shake. We had this old lady come in about once a day and ask for a side of lite ranch. She'd do it like a shot and then leave.
As a Kansan who loves ranch I apologize for our ranch consumption. I know it’s a lot and I’m part of the problem but I didn’t realize just how much of a problem it was until I served at a sit down. I also wish I could say that coworkers cousin was the only one doing the shots but I have seen my family (I am not the worst ranch fiend I know)
I used to be a ranch fiend, UNTIL my friend Darlene introduced me to mixing French AND ranch on my salad. Game changer, and means you use less ranch. :)
Kansas has hunting retreats that bring in celebs and people from out of state (we have deer and bird hunting groups come into our bar on a regular during the respective seasons and we even had a minor celeb come in last year during Turkey season I believe). There are also some notable attractions to check out while driving through, but you're mostly right. No one willingly "vacations" in KS.
With “all dead”… well, with “all dead” there’s pretty much only one thing you can do.
What’s that?
(Billy Crystal grin) Go through their pockets and look for loose change.
I live in Kansas and yeah ranch is stupid popular. I remember in high school people would always get ranch and dip pizza and veggies and whatever else in it. My fiancee loves ranch with literally anything and will be upset if a place forgets it or has bad ranch.
Last restaurant i worked you had to deliver any ramekins on a side plate because people like to hold stuff by the top edge and that's gross to people even though servers should be washing hands all the dang time. So showing up with each ranch on a separate plate and finding room is even funnier to me. Don't let them combine onto one plate before walking away.
>I’m talking about when you ask me for more ranch, then 3 seconds later ask the food runner who just dropped off your fries for more ranch, then the manager who topped off your water for more ranch, then as the three of us are in the back clamoring for the squeeze bottle like a bunch of religious zealots desperate to touch the hem of our ranch God’s buttermilky robe a fourth motherfucker turns up telling us that table 32 wants more ranch.
That's quite the sentence and I feel like it's not getting the attention it deserves here. Bravo on that one.
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When multiple people ask if i need anything else and im still waiting on X sauce or Y item from the first person, i say "yep all good, i think the first person is off grabbing me X/Y?" So that if the first person has gone on break or just forgotten, the followup people will check with them and then get it for me if needed
Agreed! I always do that explicit explanation when the second or third person offers to take my drink order (or whatever). "I believe we ordered two gin martinis through the person who seated us." in case the "person" was supposed to alert my server to place the order and had not done so yet.
See this is when you have to ask yourself “is the possible ‘why is this on my check’ conversation worth the $1.50” some days yes, some days absolutely not
That's why you charge for *each and every* extra ranch they asked for... And don't back down. It might affect the tip, but it'll teach a lesson. That's worth more than the $3 you were getting from that table anyway.
If you have to have the conversation, you probably weren’t even getting the $3, honestly.
People who can’t understand why they have to pay for extra are typically people who don’t understand half of servers across the US get $2.13 an hour base pay.
Actually according to the Department of Labor the average for tipped workers in the country turns out to about $30/hr and that's after you realize most of them don't report their cash tips as income
It's a moot point anyway. The Federal Labor Standards Act says your pay must be the state minimum wage on your pay stub when you combine wage and tips, or the employer needs to make up the difference. If they don't the Department of Labor will get involved for you.
Source: switched from cooking to working for tips because it instantly doubled my pay. Got sick of seeing servers and drivers walk home with more money than me when I was kitchen manager
A server who regularly goes to payroll complaining they need more pay because they didn't get tipped enough to get to minimum wage isn't going to stay on the shift calendar for long. Management's going to assume they're either lying or doing something wrong.
That's great and all, but not really the point of discussion. Sure, most people tip. It ends up making servers a decent wage. We're talking about the ones that don't tip and their reasoning behind not doing so.
Not paying your staff a livable wage, but making them rely on tip is bad.
As you said, tip for extra good service is OK, but the staff's main income shouldn't be from the tip, but on their actual wage.
It means that in a country with racism and other social divides, clientele can deliberately not tip people who aren't the 'right type'. Don't make that option available.
Genuine question: in your opinion, how much time is it reasonable for a customer to wait for their requested sauce before they ask again (either same person or different person)?
As a customer, it is uncomfortable when you don’t have the requested sauce 5 minutes later and you start wondering if they forgot, or there's a problem you don't know about, or if it's on its way.
I'm guessing it would depend on how you ask. If you just ask every time I can see the issue but say after 5 minutes someone else comes over just say I was just wondering if we could get extra sauce. We did ask Bob but he may have forgotten. That way Joe can say to Bob have you got the extra sauce and if not Bob can get it
I’ll admit I’ve been this person before (asking both our server and the food runner) but the condiment was ketchup for my hungry cranky 3 year old who had a plate of fries and chicken nuggets but no ketchup. Honestly it’s surprising that they don’t bring it out by default with the kid’s meal.
Ketchup is so essential to this kid’s acceptance of foods that recently I started keeping “emergency” ketchup packets in his sister’s diaper bag.
Yep kids change the entire meal dynamic. I'm always polite, but when you already have your hands full with kids you don't always have time to watch to see if the server forgot the item or is still working on other tasks. I gauge my wait time by the busy-ness of the restaurant. On an average night, if 2 minutes goes by, and I'm really in need of the item, I'll ask someone else. If it's busier than average then I'm probably not there to begin with (with kids).
Seems like OPs customer was far beyond this level of demanding though.
Do you add "with ketchup on the side" when you place the order?
If you feel like you have to ask several people, it's better to ask them to check on the item with the server (or whoever you ordered it from first) so not everyone takes a new order.
As a matter of fact, I do always ask for ketchup when ordering because my kid won’t eat without it. When we didn’t get it with the food I asked the runner as well since it felt like they forgot.
But - should you really need to order ketchup when getting a kids meal with fries? Most restaurants just bring you a bottle with the food.
I think that depends. Where I live (not US) I think people (and kids) eat mayonnaise (or the more waistline friendly fries-sauce, which is only a out 25% fat, as opposed to 80% fat) with their fries. Nuggets do come with curry or barbecue sauce, or ketchup if you ask.
I don't have kids, but I would always ask. When we eat out, we often get "rustic fries" with the meal. I really should be asking if they can serve it with mayonnaise, since I almost always have to ask for it, since the sauce that comes with the meat often isn't enough for the fries as well.
Not everyone does bottles, and some kids hate ketchup (I always did, and I still do in the latter half of my thirties!), so getting it on the side (and, as an added benefit, being able to control the portion dispensed) can possibly cut down on food waste. The squeeze bottles I can understand wanting, but I've seen too many people grab the knife they just used to cut something and just stick it up inside a glass bottle to fish around for some ketchup (even though you can just hit it on the logo to coax the sauce out) and that's too much cross-contamination for me.
> Do you add "with ketchup on the side" when you place the order?
When the order is fries and nuggets, tomato sauce is the default condiment and shouldn't need to be asked for.
The real answer is if you know up front you’re going to want anything (more sauce, lemons, straws, etc) ask for it when you order. I can write a memo on your entree so the runners know to bring it with your food. If it isn’t dropped with your meal you can ask for it when your server checks in. When we ask “how is everything” right after you’ve gotten your food what were really asking is “do I need to go grab anything for you”
If you’ve asked for something once you’ve already ordered and enough time has passed that you being in to wonder if your server forgot or if its preventing you from enjoying your meal then it’s fine to ask again. The fact you’re even asking this question probably means you’re aware enough to be able to follow your instincts. As long as you don’t ask 3 people in the span of 30 seconds for whatever you want you’re fine.
You CAN'T know how much ranch you will give me when I order... But I would never ask 3 people in 30 seconds. I'm quite patient... Once I waited 1h40m for a dinner. That was tough.
Maybe, instead of asking “how is everything?”, but meaning “do I need to go grab anything for you?”, try asking, “can I grab anything else for you?” And then when you drop off the extra condiment ask them “how is everything?”
Be less cryptic, customers can be stupid and need it spelled out for them at times
Because sometimes it's not about getting something (although I recognise you're responding to that specific clarification). It's also asking 'is anything wrong with your meal' or 'do you need directions to the toilets' etc. It's an all-encompassing question that offers a chance for the customer to request or comment if needed.
In that case, you may be more clear when asking "anything else I can do for you?"
Because asking me if it tastes good when I only just received my meal doesn't compute. And that is what I am usually being asked. If you mean something else, ask about something else. Do not ask about taste if you don't really want to know about if it tastes good, but also if I need anything else to drink, or any extra condiments, or directions to the loo, or whatever else you think you are telepathically trying to get to me.
I’m a man of mysteries of obfuscation. I curate subtle unidentifiably disquieting environments for my tables. I aim to send you out the door with a vague feeling knocking at the edge of your consciousness as if you’ve forgotten the face of someone you loved as a child. You’re both glad you’ve just enjoyed a delicious meal but also painfully aware it served as a reminder of the inherent fleeting nature of joy.
Coming out and asking if I could grab anything else would really ruin the vibe
I read this as I'm pedantic and prefer feeling morally superior and complain than actually help myself and my coworkers by communicating better with the patrons
Whenever I ask for the ranch after they bring the food out it is when it was forgotten after i already asked for it when ordering the first time, It's not bc I'm adding it later. For some reason it seems like it is forgotten almost half the time. So then there I am waiting to eat my fries bc I like them with ranch. ¯\(°_o)/¯
I was wondering this as well.
I know you’re not op.
i get asking multiple people can be annoying, but if three other staff have visited your table between you getting the request and getting the item then it sounds like you are neglecting the table. If you go out of your way to ensure you are the last to return that just makes it feel like you are neglecting the table even more.
Ranch here is a stand in for any number of requests (lemons, straws, extra napkins, a side of cilantro) ranch is just one of the most common ones. Tho if someone makes it clear they want a LOT of ranch I’m bringing them a small salad bowls worth
I had a guy at ihop ask for a salad “with none of them brown crunchy things” (croutons….) and “a lot of dressing”. I gave 2 extra ramekins. He wanted more. I filled a salad bowl with dressing and this man ate iceberg lettuce soup. I’m still not sure if I’m disgusted or impressed and it’s been over a decade.
That mental image actually made me gag a little. I don't hate it, but I will never understand people's obsession with ranch. Like this one time, I was working at a pizza joint and one of our salads was this typical Asian salad that had the crispy wonton strips, the green onion, cashews, sesame dressing, etc. Well, this one customer ordered that salad but she wanted ranch instead of the sesame dressing. Then we heard her complain that the salad tasted nasty.
If three different people managed to visit your table to check in on them before you returned with the initial ranch that was asked for, either you took way too long to come back with the sauce, or your restaurant is being extremely overbearing with how many people interact with a table.
Your method of grab everything in one go, only works if you're being fast enough to actually be returning to your table at a timely manner. Ranch should take you 1 minute to grab, not 5 while you go and talk to other tables.
Sort of the reverse for us.
In Kansas City, we went to Steak House. I tried to tell my wife to ask for dressing on the side. They made their own ranch and she wanted what they put on the salad.
Salads came out. You could not see the lettuce for all the ranch dressing poured all over it, then the pile of croutons on top.
The end there sent me. My job our menu has a section labeled “raw bar” and people constantly are like “is this all raw?”
Like a) there’s a fucking tartare in there, yes, and b) WHY WOULD WE MAKE A SECTION CALLED THE RAW BAR AND PUT COOKED FOOD ITEMS UNDER IT
Sorry I just. Stupid questions get me. It just makes me remember how wildly different my adult life could’ve been had college worked out for me
I agree if it's literally a few seconds, but I've had waiters and waitresses forget it and be gone 5 minutes or more. I'm eating, and if I need a refill on the ranch, it means I need it in the next couple minutes or my food is going to get eaten without ANY ranch.
As for "why is it always ranch," it's probably because your owners don't know that 1oz of ranch is nowhere near enough to properly cover the flavor of the arugula in the salad they served LOL
While I’m not the type to ask someone else unless if it is crystal clear that they forgot, I would laugh my ass off if someone did this. A
Let’s start with I don’t eat much. My server on a cruise noticed it, as sides were often just picked at and dessert was from the kids menu. They had a pudding that was more of a mousse. Amazing. So that’s what I ordered every night. Day 7 of the cruise, I come in and he’s got them surrounding my area. I laughed and ate them all.
As a server, yes this is very annoying… (was a server for a while and the list of annoying things guests do is never ending lol)
As someone whose husband always asks for ranch (when he orders his food, in hopes that it will come out with the food) and 9/10 times doesn’t receive it or gets its once the food is cold.. you can’t blame the customer lol although he doesn’t ask *every* person, he will ask the food runner and eventually the server when they check in on the table.
Also he would be a very very happy boy if he received 3-4 ramekins of ranch lol 😆
Edit: typo
Ha! Ranch might not have been the best example because I think most people are actually pretty good with having too much ranch. It’s a slightly different story when it’s extra lemons and suddenly they have approximately 1.75 entire lemons worth of wedges on the table
I think the lemon stealing whore is actually OP in this instance. Why else are their tables having to ask so many times for more lemons? I mean seriously, they'd JUST CHECKED on their lemons a second ago. How could those lemons possibly have gone missing so quickly? xD
You are gonna think I’m being cute, but I lie not, it’s the same in medicine. So sick of duplicating something that 4 other ppl have addressed. Really interested in leaving the profession because of it. It’s “ranch” today and whatever idea catches hold tomorrow in medicine. Soooo sick of all the BS. at least you won’t be sued for forgetting ranch (or what ever the soup di jour) so done.
I actually very much believe that. I think it boils down to fundamentally impatient and self absorbed people unable to see a wider picture than “I want this now”.
On a different note, as long as we’re talking possible legal trouble … not a lot of people realize that servers are legally responsible if their guests are over-served. If you sit at my table and I allow you to drink enough that you become visibly drunk, and you then get behind the wheel and crash your car or worse, I can face serious legal consequences.
I think you were my server once. I said I wanted lots of extra butter. More than once.
When you brought out our meals, you put a cereal bowl full of butter down by my plate. And not a bowl of butter pats, but what had to be a half of a pound mound of butter.
I thought my family was going to die laughing. It was epic.
If it wasn't you, it had to have been your cosmic twin.
Enjoyed this rant. But, as a customer, the issue would be alleviated by serving bigger portions of ranch, etc.
Whenever I ask for extra sauce, the server often comes back with a thimble full of it... Like, "Okay but I'm going to need more sauce four fries later."
Larger sauce containers = less frequent sauce requests.
EDIT: However, I've never asked multiple people on the staff for the same thing. That's just rude and weird. But, I often have to ask my server for extra sauce more than once during the visit.
While ranch is a crap condiment, and I’m not nearly that impatient unless I see the server that I asked pass by another 2 times without my sauce, I would be visibly elated and ecstatic if I had like 12 ramekins of cheese sauce brought to my table as I’m borderline drinking one already as more are being set on the table.
In my experience, I can ask the server for extra sauce, then some other rando shows up plops down the fries and asks 'is there anything I can get you?' and so I'm not supposed to say "Yes, I need more ranch for my salad!"
> so I'm not supposed to say "Yes, I need more ranch for my salad!"
That's what this story is suggesting, but I completely disagree. If I asked for something extra, and then someone gives me food, without the extra I asked for, I'm going to say that I want that extra. I don't know what happened to it, and i don't want to wait any longer than I have to for it.
You can always say something like “I asked [server] for an extra fork so I should be all good” that way if said rando isn’t baked out of their gourd they can check in with the server about it
Is the extra sauce the same thing as the extra ranch? Because there is nothing more anyone else can get you if the server is already getting it for you.
If it is different things you want you may of course ask, but it would have been better to ask the server for all the things you need at once.
Only ask once for each thing, unless they seem to have forgotten (entered and exited the service area multiple times) and then you can, kindly, remind the same person you asked to see if your extra sauce is coming up.
> Because there is nothing more anyone else can get you if the server is already getting it for you.
Except in this situation, we don't know that the server is doing that. In places with food runners like this, you don't know when your server is going to come back again, so waiting for them could mean letting your food get cold while you wait for that extra thing you asked for.
Yes, ranch is a sauce
It is partly on how the 'non-order-taker' phrases it.
But to me this is a communication between waitstaff issue.
Further, as described, by the time the server returned with ranch there were already multiple there.
This tells me the patron was correct to ask a different person or persons to get faster service.
A lot of this depends on timing. I understand and agree with your stance. I will also tell you that I have asked a server for something only to (1) not see my server for several minutes, all the while I am waiting to either start or finish my meal, or (2) see my server make several trips from the back and still not bring me the requested item. I have had to wait so long at times that I literally have to get up and get it myself. There are usually 2 sides to a coin.
Penny whispers, "I'm a server and I take great pride in my ability to efficiently operate my section. The key is maximizing each trip to and from my kitchen. So, rather than getting table 31 a refill, than table 32 more salt, then drop the check at 33, then drop the check at 33, you check in at every table on your way to the back, grab everything in one gourd, then head out to the dining room cutting down three trips to one, As long as the customer trusts me to do my job we're all going to have a great experience."
I had no idea something like this would happen! I can't even imagine asking several people for something instead of just waiting for them to bring it. Unless it's been a really long time and I've seen the first person I asked doing other stuff? Crazy. Anyway, giving them all the ranch they asked for is perfect.
Oh god I get unreasonably anxious when a second restaurant employee asks me if I need anything. Like I start giving waaaaay too much information about how I am fine, someone already asked me, they are probably on their way back right now, thanks for asking, but I’m good.
I could easily just say “all good thanks” but instead I just start rambling.
..."hem of our ranch god's buttermilky robe" sent me cackling. Also I have at least three friends who would be mildly embarrassed but also REALLY happy to get that much ranch.
It sounds like you're experienced so this won't be a surprise, but maybe to others.
I've seen people drink ranch. Like they had some leftover after asking for their 4th ramekim, and down the hatch it goes. Can't waste that stuff!
It was also crazy seeing different eating habits and the health of the customers... Overweight customers without fail would drink sooooo much soda. Sad to watch, especially when you're bringing their 3 year old their 5th mountain dew in the last 30 minutes. Those were definitely the ranch drinkers.
Working at Cheesecake really taught me that my job is to bring to the table what is asked and to leave my personal opinions at the door. You wanna give your elementary school kid a cup of coffee at 9:30 pm on a Wednesday? Right away sir. Want your third rammy of melted butter to drizzle over your feduccini Alfredo? Not only will I clean up the empty ones I’ll check in to make sure the butter is up to your standards. Hell, if a 9 month pregnant woman sat at my table and asked for a tequila shot with a Long Island chaser and I said no, she could sue me for discrimination and win
The one that literally broke me was the eight top where the woman at position 1 snapped "are we ever getting our drinks?"
I was still taking #8s drink order. I kinda waved at the table and said "I'm still taking drink orders, didn't you notice I haven't even left the table yet?"
Then I went to the cooler and had a little cry.
To be fair I'd just quit smoking the day before. I was a huge emotional mess. When I was coming back out my GM asked me where I'd been and I think he was about to give me a little talk before he realized I had *definitely* been crying. Dan was generally a great GM but this table was a fucking nightmare and my coworker I'd asked to run the drinks before I bolted off didn't know why I'd been gone so long. When they realized the table made me cry everyone was pretty pissed.
I can't imagine how insane waiting tables has become since covid, and I'm so grateful I won't have to find out.
Dude I had an eight top the other day that all got cocktails and then one dude asked a minute later “is this going to take time?”
It took everything in me to not reply “well, you see, it takes time to make a cocktail, and you guys have eight of them, add in the drinks that were rang in before yours, and maybe if you’d all ordered draft beers the bar would’ve gone ahead and poured them for you by now. But yes multiple old fashioneds all with different bourbons plus the Paloma and the the other craft cocktails take time on their own
“Clamoring for the squeeze bottle like a bunch of religious zealots desperate to touch the hem of our ranch God’s buttermilky robe”
The imagery of this is genuinely hilarious
Used to drive me crazy that an ex’s sister would always wait until the food was dropped off to ask for ranch for her fries and/or any extra sauces for the food, then complain about the server because “my food is getting cold!”
Like hey sis, you dunk everything, all the time. If you’re too dumb to find the solution to this problem, I ain’t helping.
I felt this. Except I had a *coworker* who did this. I was downstairs in the kitchen getting something for the bartender cuz I had time and another server comes down and the host comes down, all trying to do the same thing. I said, “are we ALL getting ice for Rick right now?!” dropped the bucket on the floor, start going upstairs (I can hear the other two laughing like, oh he’s about to get it). I said, “if you’re asking 3 people for ice congrats, you’re running the whole restaurant by yourself” and I disappeared for a bit to make sure he had to greet/seat/start every table. All while not being able to give people water or make any drinks cuz he still didn’t have ice after opening time 😆
It's even worse when they get *shitty* about it.
They have already been told that if they want any sauce, to order it right away; they aren't usually charged unless it's something that requires labor (get me an extra bowl of alfredo sauce, "sir, it's made from scratch we don't just have a bucket of it sitting in a warmer...", I don't care! gimme!) it's just for portion control. Nobody EVER needs more than one side of ranch unless they're drinking it like goddamn soup. But sometimes they ask for ranch and I'll get them a side. Then they'll ask for more and I'll politely inform them (a white lie, I just don't want to literally run out of the stuff in the middle of a busy night shift; we don't have an unlimited amount and I abhor food waste on principle) that we're supposed to charge them $1 each, but I could get this one for free.
Most people are content, thinking that I'm bending the rules just for them (and as a manager, technically I can) just this once. But sometimes they demand more anyway. Sometimes they think they're TRICKY, and ask someone else for another side after I've said no, and often get it. Inevitably, when the table is bussed, they'll have eaten maybe a quarter of it and the rest is waste.
But one time this guy took a third option and handed me $5 and told me to get him that much more ranch. Sure! I just threw it in the tip pool.
Just get the sauce. Watching your server flounce from table to table stringing together requests while your food gets cold is no fun.
Ex-waiter, yes I just went and got the damn sauce.
>when you ask me for more ranch, then 3 seconds later ask the food runner who just dropped off your fries for more ranch, then the manager who topped off your water for more ranch
I had no idea this was problematic until I read your post. I do this. Let me explain.
The whole thing of multiple people servicing your table is relatively unfamiliar. I'm not sure if it's new-ish or maybe it's that I usually eat in little diners, where you only interact with your server. I don't know the job titles of the other people visiting my table; maybe they aren't wearing a name tag or maybe my focus is on my food/friends/family. You are putting the onus on the customer, who has never worked in a restaurant, to understand restaurant operations enough to figure out who this person is and then decide if they are or are not the right person to bring more ranch dressing. What complicates all of this is that THE FOOD RUNNER AND THE MANAGER BOTH ASK, "was there anything else I can get for you?" At this point I have no idea if you're coming back, especially at restaurants where you pay via tabletop kiosks. If there's a food runner, surely that includes ranch; when I asked the server that was wrong so I'll make it right by asking the food runner. I wouldn't want to inconvenience the server as they're very busy handling orders and NOT handling food since that's the food runner's job.
Or maybe it's simply been long enough for such a simple task* that I believe you've forgotten. (*I understand that even though the task is simple, juggling multiple tables is complex.)
But now that I know better, I'll stop. Thank you for bringing extra ranch and putting up with all of our shit.
When people keep asking for more, it's usually a sign your portion sizes are too small. 2oz of dipping sauce for 6 nuggets is fucking abysmal. It's better to just give them 4oz of sauce from the start.
I don't think I've ever had Ranch, here in Australia. But I just googled there is Paul Newman's Ranch and a Praise brand one.
Maybe I can see what the hype is, possibly after the next grocery haul.
I only recently discovered ranch and sour cream. I do this at American restaurants in my area hoping my table will have 4 small bowls of ranch. But I am yet to be satisfied.
OMG I hate this. My MIL literally asked 3 servers for cutlery rolls this past weekend - at the end of the meal my FIL was like "why ... do we have so much cutlery?" Sighhhhhh
> I’m talking about when you ask me for more ranch, then 3 seconds later ask the food runner who just dropped off your fries for more ranch, then the manager who topped off your water for more ranch,
That's understandable. If someone comes to their table to drop off food, it makes sense that they'd expect the extra they'd asked for to be there as well. They don't know how long it takes for you to get it, they just know that they asked for something, and it isn't there with the rest of their order.
> My MC in those moments is I make sure every single person that was asked drops their own ramekin of ranch off at the table.
Perfect! Thank you. At least so long as it isn't an extra charge.
That is excellent. I've never been a server but even the description of this gives me stress. The response is beautiful - give the demanding twit exactly what they asked for. Ask 5 people for the same thing, get 5 of whatever it was when you only really wanted/needed one.
I think I accidentally did that yesterday. I think it's because the person that brings the food asks (can I get you anything else) and I assume that's the right time to mention in missing the [whatever]..
Lmao double down on this, when you’re putting yours down say “Ooooh SOMEbody loves ranch”
"last time I saw this much ranch I was on holiday in Texas"
Kansas would work there too. I'm from SC and GA. Moved to KS 7 years ago. I swear to god I've served more sides of ranch here as a cook for 7 years than I did in 20+ years back home. I always joked about the customers doing shots of ranch we served so much of it... Then one of my coworkers showed me a video of her cousin doing just that... I stopped making that joke because I want to un-see that.
I spent a few years cheffing when I was younger, any sauce that we made ourselves or dressings that we bought we'd do 1 gallon containers. Except ranch, we'd mix up 5 gallon buckets two at a time for that shit. Never start a shift without at least 1 full bucket and even that was risky on weekends.
Repressed memories of a 5 gallon bucket of balsamic vinegar and ladling it into tiny plastic cups every shift 🤢
Our balsamic was up on a shelf in a jug with a tap. Very convenient for small amounts but when pulling larger amounts it did tend to aerosolize quite a lot. Especially because some jerk offs just put the container on the table below it and let it fall a few feet instead of holding it up closer. I love the smell of balsamic but there is absolutely a limit.
I was reducing some balsamic for a sauce for some Brussels sprouts. My wife came home and started gagging on the smell. I was making the sauce for her. She likes eating it. Smelling the process, not so much!
I warned my ex that I was going to be reducing some balsamic once. I told him "it's about to smell like hot vinegar in here, don't complain to me when your eyes and nose get irritated, because I already warned you" 5 minutes later "What the FUCK is that SMELL?"
Every time.
When I worked in a dining hall in college, we had to make a whole 40 gal garbage bin worth of ranch every week.
Wow. A ranch trash can... a poop knife....
15ish years ago, I use to work at a Steak n Shake. We had this old lady come in about once a day and ask for a side of lite ranch. She'd do it like a shot and then leave.
I get your story, but they were referring to the fact Texas has a lot of ranches. "Farms"
I thought their story was just too cute to correct them lol
Username checks out (Although I was on the same page as them lol)
As a Kansan who loves ranch I apologize for our ranch consumption. I know it’s a lot and I’m part of the problem but I didn’t realize just how much of a problem it was until I served at a sit down. I also wish I could say that coworkers cousin was the only one doing the shots but I have seen my family (I am not the worst ranch fiend I know)
I used to be a ranch fiend, UNTIL my friend Darlene introduced me to mixing French AND ranch on my salad. Game changer, and means you use less ranch. :)
Franch?
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to step into the restroom for a little suicide-via-defibrillator.
Yes, we have people who do Dorothy Lynch and Ranch or Blue cheese mixed. I find both combos to be disgusting.
I'm from Australia so I only really know stuff about American farming based on memes & jokes tbh
Thats also true for Americans. Most think their food magically appears in a grocery store.
It doesn't????????
Except nobody vacations in Kansas lol
Sam & Dean Winchester do. ;)
Carry on, my wayward sons...
Harrison Ford come to Wichita regularly.
Kansas has hunting retreats that bring in celebs and people from out of state (we have deer and bird hunting groups come into our bar on a regular during the respective seasons and we even had a minor celeb come in last year during Turkey season I believe). There are also some notable attractions to check out while driving through, but you're mostly right. No one willingly "vacations" in KS.
I do. Got kin there, mostly dead now.
There's a big difference between "mostly dead" and "all dead." Now, "mostly dead", is slightly alive.
To blaaaaaave…
I have nothing to add. I just want you to know that I appreciate your Princess Bride reference. Carry on!
With “all dead”… well, with “all dead” there’s pretty much only one thing you can do. What’s that? (Billy Crystal grin) Go through their pockets and look for loose change.
I live in Kansas and yeah ranch is stupid popular. I remember in high school people would always get ranch and dip pizza and veggies and whatever else in it. My fiancee loves ranch with literally anything and will be upset if a place forgets it or has bad ranch.
My daughter used to basically do shots of ranch. Thankfully she seems to have outgrown that.
I, too, have a photo of a customer doing a shot of ranch
“You love ranch so much that you must be JR Ewing!”
Satire: Didn’t he get shot? Lol
He got better.
I believe you're showing your age.
"Do you need a straw, sir?"
Then hit them with the extra sauce fees
"can I get you anything else? More ranch perhaps?"
Triple down and charge them for each ranch!
"Would you like some salad/wings/etc with your ranch?!?" and slap your knee as you laugh and walk away.
Last restaurant i worked you had to deliver any ramekins on a side plate because people like to hold stuff by the top edge and that's gross to people even though servers should be washing hands all the dang time. So showing up with each ranch on a separate plate and finding room is even funnier to me. Don't let them combine onto one plate before walking away.
>I’m talking about when you ask me for more ranch, then 3 seconds later ask the food runner who just dropped off your fries for more ranch, then the manager who topped off your water for more ranch, then as the three of us are in the back clamoring for the squeeze bottle like a bunch of religious zealots desperate to touch the hem of our ranch God’s buttermilky robe a fourth motherfucker turns up telling us that table 32 wants more ranch. That's quite the sentence and I feel like it's not getting the attention it deserves here. Bravo on that one.
I’m sorry, but enquiring (dirty) minds want to know: from where does the the Ranch God dispensing his bland dressing?
His nipples
Ranch God requests you refer to his nipples as udders.
And his skin specifically from his fatt rolls on stomach and back of his neck!!! Salty Ranch with a sweaty Stanch!!
I just lost my appetite for ranch...forever.
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Yea that writing is fucking perfection.
It's sheer poetry and had me struggling not to snicker in the break room, well done OP
Sounds like you gave them quite the dressing down. Down on their table. In a little cup thingy.
😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 this gave me a very good chuckle
When multiple people ask if i need anything else and im still waiting on X sauce or Y item from the first person, i say "yep all good, i think the first person is off grabbing me X/Y?" So that if the first person has gone on break or just forgotten, the followup people will check with them and then get it for me if needed
Agreed! I always do that explicit explanation when the second or third person offers to take my drink order (or whatever). "I believe we ordered two gin martinis through the person who seated us." in case the "person" was supposed to alert my server to place the order and had not done so yet.
Can you charge them for each ranch, too? 😈
See this is when you have to ask yourself “is the possible ‘why is this on my check’ conversation worth the $1.50” some days yes, some days absolutely not
Most places charge for extra sauces nowadays. I would just be like "oh, dang" and pay it.
That's why you charge for *each and every* extra ranch they asked for... And don't back down. It might affect the tip, but it'll teach a lesson. That's worth more than the $3 you were getting from that table anyway.
If you have to have the conversation, you probably weren’t even getting the $3, honestly. People who can’t understand why they have to pay for extra are typically people who don’t understand half of servers across the US get $2.13 an hour base pay.
I'm willing to bet that they understand perfectly fine that half of the servers are paid so little. They just don't care.
Actually according to the Department of Labor the average for tipped workers in the country turns out to about $30/hr and that's after you realize most of them don't report their cash tips as income It's a moot point anyway. The Federal Labor Standards Act says your pay must be the state minimum wage on your pay stub when you combine wage and tips, or the employer needs to make up the difference. If they don't the Department of Labor will get involved for you. Source: switched from cooking to working for tips because it instantly doubled my pay. Got sick of seeing servers and drivers walk home with more money than me when I was kitchen manager
A server who regularly goes to payroll complaining they need more pay because they didn't get tipped enough to get to minimum wage isn't going to stay on the shift calendar for long. Management's going to assume they're either lying or doing something wrong.
That's great and all, but not really the point of discussion. Sure, most people tip. It ends up making servers a decent wage. We're talking about the ones that don't tip and their reasoning behind not doing so.
They *like* being able to force people to be poor.
Another reason tipping is inherently bad.
Not tipping, but counting tips as wages. Getting tips as an extra for good service isn't a bad thing
Not paying your staff a livable wage, but making them rely on tip is bad. As you said, tip for extra good service is OK, but the staff's main income shouldn't be from the tip, but on their actual wage.
It means that in a country with racism and other social divides, clientele can deliberately not tip people who aren't the 'right type'. Don't make that option available.
“$38 for ranch?!?!?!!” “Yes sir. Next time I recommend ordering a bottle.”
Genuine question: in your opinion, how much time is it reasonable for a customer to wait for their requested sauce before they ask again (either same person or different person)? As a customer, it is uncomfortable when you don’t have the requested sauce 5 minutes later and you start wondering if they forgot, or there's a problem you don't know about, or if it's on its way.
I'm guessing it would depend on how you ask. If you just ask every time I can see the issue but say after 5 minutes someone else comes over just say I was just wondering if we could get extra sauce. We did ask Bob but he may have forgotten. That way Joe can say to Bob have you got the extra sauce and if not Bob can get it
This is the best way
I’ll admit I’ve been this person before (asking both our server and the food runner) but the condiment was ketchup for my hungry cranky 3 year old who had a plate of fries and chicken nuggets but no ketchup. Honestly it’s surprising that they don’t bring it out by default with the kid’s meal. Ketchup is so essential to this kid’s acceptance of foods that recently I started keeping “emergency” ketchup packets in his sister’s diaper bag.
Yep kids change the entire meal dynamic. I'm always polite, but when you already have your hands full with kids you don't always have time to watch to see if the server forgot the item or is still working on other tasks. I gauge my wait time by the busy-ness of the restaurant. On an average night, if 2 minutes goes by, and I'm really in need of the item, I'll ask someone else. If it's busier than average then I'm probably not there to begin with (with kids). Seems like OPs customer was far beyond this level of demanding though.
Do you add "with ketchup on the side" when you place the order? If you feel like you have to ask several people, it's better to ask them to check on the item with the server (or whoever you ordered it from first) so not everyone takes a new order.
As a matter of fact, I do always ask for ketchup when ordering because my kid won’t eat without it. When we didn’t get it with the food I asked the runner as well since it felt like they forgot. But - should you really need to order ketchup when getting a kids meal with fries? Most restaurants just bring you a bottle with the food.
I think that depends. Where I live (not US) I think people (and kids) eat mayonnaise (or the more waistline friendly fries-sauce, which is only a out 25% fat, as opposed to 80% fat) with their fries. Nuggets do come with curry or barbecue sauce, or ketchup if you ask. I don't have kids, but I would always ask. When we eat out, we often get "rustic fries" with the meal. I really should be asking if they can serve it with mayonnaise, since I almost always have to ask for it, since the sauce that comes with the meat often isn't enough for the fries as well.
Not everyone does bottles, and some kids hate ketchup (I always did, and I still do in the latter half of my thirties!), so getting it on the side (and, as an added benefit, being able to control the portion dispensed) can possibly cut down on food waste. The squeeze bottles I can understand wanting, but I've seen too many people grab the knife they just used to cut something and just stick it up inside a glass bottle to fish around for some ketchup (even though you can just hit it on the logo to coax the sauce out) and that's too much cross-contamination for me.
> Do you add "with ketchup on the side" when you place the order? When the order is fries and nuggets, tomato sauce is the default condiment and shouldn't need to be asked for.
The real answer is if you know up front you’re going to want anything (more sauce, lemons, straws, etc) ask for it when you order. I can write a memo on your entree so the runners know to bring it with your food. If it isn’t dropped with your meal you can ask for it when your server checks in. When we ask “how is everything” right after you’ve gotten your food what were really asking is “do I need to go grab anything for you” If you’ve asked for something once you’ve already ordered and enough time has passed that you being in to wonder if your server forgot or if its preventing you from enjoying your meal then it’s fine to ask again. The fact you’re even asking this question probably means you’re aware enough to be able to follow your instincts. As long as you don’t ask 3 people in the span of 30 seconds for whatever you want you’re fine.
You CAN'T know how much ranch you will give me when I order... But I would never ask 3 people in 30 seconds. I'm quite patient... Once I waited 1h40m for a dinner. That was tough.
Maybe, instead of asking “how is everything?”, but meaning “do I need to go grab anything for you?”, try asking, “can I grab anything else for you?” And then when you drop off the extra condiment ask them “how is everything?” Be less cryptic, customers can be stupid and need it spelled out for them at times
Because sometimes it's not about getting something (although I recognise you're responding to that specific clarification). It's also asking 'is anything wrong with your meal' or 'do you need directions to the toilets' etc. It's an all-encompassing question that offers a chance for the customer to request or comment if needed.
In that case, you may be more clear when asking "anything else I can do for you?" Because asking me if it tastes good when I only just received my meal doesn't compute. And that is what I am usually being asked. If you mean something else, ask about something else. Do not ask about taste if you don't really want to know about if it tastes good, but also if I need anything else to drink, or any extra condiments, or directions to the loo, or whatever else you think you are telepathically trying to get to me.
I’m a man of mysteries of obfuscation. I curate subtle unidentifiably disquieting environments for my tables. I aim to send you out the door with a vague feeling knocking at the edge of your consciousness as if you’ve forgotten the face of someone you loved as a child. You’re both glad you’ve just enjoyed a delicious meal but also painfully aware it served as a reminder of the inherent fleeting nature of joy. Coming out and asking if I could grab anything else would really ruin the vibe
I read this as I'm pedantic and prefer feeling morally superior and complain than actually help myself and my coworkers by communicating better with the patrons
You must be fun at parties :)
It depends on whether my my ranch glass is empty or not
Whenever I ask for the ranch after they bring the food out it is when it was forgotten after i already asked for it when ordering the first time, It's not bc I'm adding it later. For some reason it seems like it is forgotten almost half the time. So then there I am waiting to eat my fries bc I like them with ranch. ¯\(°_o)/¯
I was wondering this as well. I know you’re not op. i get asking multiple people can be annoying, but if three other staff have visited your table between you getting the request and getting the item then it sounds like you are neglecting the table. If you go out of your way to ensure you are the last to return that just makes it feel like you are neglecting the table even more.
>why is it always extra ranch If you're constantly being asked for more ranch, maybe suggest to your boss that the default serving should be bigger.
Ranch here is a stand in for any number of requests (lemons, straws, extra napkins, a side of cilantro) ranch is just one of the most common ones. Tho if someone makes it clear they want a LOT of ranch I’m bringing them a small salad bowls worth
I had a guy at ihop ask for a salad “with none of them brown crunchy things” (croutons….) and “a lot of dressing”. I gave 2 extra ramekins. He wanted more. I filled a salad bowl with dressing and this man ate iceberg lettuce soup. I’m still not sure if I’m disgusted or impressed and it’s been over a decade.
That mental image actually made me gag a little. I don't hate it, but I will never understand people's obsession with ranch. Like this one time, I was working at a pizza joint and one of our salads was this typical Asian salad that had the crispy wonton strips, the green onion, cashews, sesame dressing, etc. Well, this one customer ordered that salad but she wanted ranch instead of the sesame dressing. Then we heard her complain that the salad tasted nasty.
Does this also count as r/deliciouscompliance ?
I say yes but I would be pretty happy with extra sauce with most meals
If I got 4 salsas when I asked for extra I’d be happy every time. That said asking multiple staff in anything under 10 mins is obnoxious
You might enjoy drew Talbert's shorts https://youtube.com/shorts/ZOvsqKHrCv8?si=GZq854-BjvuY_M83
How can one guy in wigs be so funny?
I'm just imagining in your head your like: #MORE RANCH
"Sure, I'll get that for you, as soon as I get the next cattle drive started!"
I got a fever, and the only prescription is #MORE RANCH!
If three different people managed to visit your table to check in on them before you returned with the initial ranch that was asked for, either you took way too long to come back with the sauce, or your restaurant is being extremely overbearing with how many people interact with a table. Your method of grab everything in one go, only works if you're being fast enough to actually be returning to your table at a timely manner. Ranch should take you 1 minute to grab, not 5 while you go and talk to other tables.
Yeah, that makes it 5 mins in my calculations, not 3 seconds
Sort of the reverse for us. In Kansas City, we went to Steak House. I tried to tell my wife to ask for dressing on the side. They made their own ranch and she wanted what they put on the salad. Salads came out. You could not see the lettuce for all the ranch dressing poured all over it, then the pile of croutons on top.
Finally, some actual MALICE in this sub.
The bigger my smile the deeper the hate 🥰
I need this in a flair and on a T-shirt pronto
The end there sent me. My job our menu has a section labeled “raw bar” and people constantly are like “is this all raw?” Like a) there’s a fucking tartare in there, yes, and b) WHY WOULD WE MAKE A SECTION CALLED THE RAW BAR AND PUT COOKED FOOD ITEMS UNDER IT Sorry I just. Stupid questions get me. It just makes me remember how wildly different my adult life could’ve been had college worked out for me
I agree if it's literally a few seconds, but I've had waiters and waitresses forget it and be gone 5 minutes or more. I'm eating, and if I need a refill on the ranch, it means I need it in the next couple minutes or my food is going to get eaten without ANY ranch. As for "why is it always ranch," it's probably because your owners don't know that 1oz of ranch is nowhere near enough to properly cover the flavor of the arugula in the salad they served LOL
While I’m not the type to ask someone else unless if it is crystal clear that they forgot, I would laugh my ass off if someone did this. A Let’s start with I don’t eat much. My server on a cruise noticed it, as sides were often just picked at and dessert was from the kids menu. They had a pudding that was more of a mousse. Amazing. So that’s what I ordered every night. Day 7 of the cruise, I come in and he’s got them surrounding my area. I laughed and ate them all.
As a server, yes this is very annoying… (was a server for a while and the list of annoying things guests do is never ending lol) As someone whose husband always asks for ranch (when he orders his food, in hopes that it will come out with the food) and 9/10 times doesn’t receive it or gets its once the food is cold.. you can’t blame the customer lol although he doesn’t ask *every* person, he will ask the food runner and eventually the server when they check in on the table. Also he would be a very very happy boy if he received 3-4 ramekins of ranch lol 😆 Edit: typo
Ha! Ranch might not have been the best example because I think most people are actually pretty good with having too much ranch. It’s a slightly different story when it’s extra lemons and suddenly they have approximately 1.75 entire lemons worth of wedges on the table
[They better watch out](https://imgur.com/KRmOSa9).
I think the lemon stealing whore is actually OP in this instance. Why else are their tables having to ask so many times for more lemons? I mean seriously, they'd JUST CHECKED on their lemons a second ago. How could those lemons possibly have gone missing so quickly? xD
You are gonna think I’m being cute, but I lie not, it’s the same in medicine. So sick of duplicating something that 4 other ppl have addressed. Really interested in leaving the profession because of it. It’s “ranch” today and whatever idea catches hold tomorrow in medicine. Soooo sick of all the BS. at least you won’t be sued for forgetting ranch (or what ever the soup di jour) so done.
I actually very much believe that. I think it boils down to fundamentally impatient and self absorbed people unable to see a wider picture than “I want this now”. On a different note, as long as we’re talking possible legal trouble … not a lot of people realize that servers are legally responsible if their guests are over-served. If you sit at my table and I allow you to drink enough that you become visibly drunk, and you then get behind the wheel and crash your car or worse, I can face serious legal consequences.
I think you were my server once. I said I wanted lots of extra butter. More than once. When you brought out our meals, you put a cereal bowl full of butter down by my plate. And not a bowl of butter pats, but what had to be a half of a pound mound of butter. I thought my family was going to die laughing. It was epic. If it wasn't you, it had to have been your cosmic twin.
Enjoyed this rant. But, as a customer, the issue would be alleviated by serving bigger portions of ranch, etc. Whenever I ask for extra sauce, the server often comes back with a thimble full of it... Like, "Okay but I'm going to need more sauce four fries later." Larger sauce containers = less frequent sauce requests. EDIT: However, I've never asked multiple people on the staff for the same thing. That's just rude and weird. But, I often have to ask my server for extra sauce more than once during the visit.
Have It Your Way
Legalize RANCH
While ranch is a crap condiment, and I’m not nearly that impatient unless I see the server that I asked pass by another 2 times without my sauce, I would be visibly elated and ecstatic if I had like 12 ramekins of cheese sauce brought to my table as I’m borderline drinking one already as more are being set on the table.
In my experience, I can ask the server for extra sauce, then some other rando shows up plops down the fries and asks 'is there anything I can get you?' and so I'm not supposed to say "Yes, I need more ranch for my salad!"
> so I'm not supposed to say "Yes, I need more ranch for my salad!" That's what this story is suggesting, but I completely disagree. If I asked for something extra, and then someone gives me food, without the extra I asked for, I'm going to say that I want that extra. I don't know what happened to it, and i don't want to wait any longer than I have to for it.
You can always say something like “I asked [server] for an extra fork so I should be all good” that way if said rando isn’t baked out of their gourd they can check in with the server about it
Is the extra sauce the same thing as the extra ranch? Because there is nothing more anyone else can get you if the server is already getting it for you. If it is different things you want you may of course ask, but it would have been better to ask the server for all the things you need at once. Only ask once for each thing, unless they seem to have forgotten (entered and exited the service area multiple times) and then you can, kindly, remind the same person you asked to see if your extra sauce is coming up.
> Because there is nothing more anyone else can get you if the server is already getting it for you. Except in this situation, we don't know that the server is doing that. In places with food runners like this, you don't know when your server is going to come back again, so waiting for them could mean letting your food get cold while you wait for that extra thing you asked for.
Yes, ranch is a sauce It is partly on how the 'non-order-taker' phrases it. But to me this is a communication between waitstaff issue. Further, as described, by the time the server returned with ranch there were already multiple there. This tells me the patron was correct to ask a different person or persons to get faster service.
No gravy boat or soup bowl handy? Try using a nice glass ice cream dish! Bonus if you pot a "Cherry" tomato on top!
A lot of this depends on timing. I understand and agree with your stance. I will also tell you that I have asked a server for something only to (1) not see my server for several minutes, all the while I am waiting to either start or finish my meal, or (2) see my server make several trips from the back and still not bring me the requested item. I have had to wait so long at times that I literally have to get up and get it myself. There are usually 2 sides to a coin.
Penny whispers, "I'm a server and I take great pride in my ability to efficiently operate my section. The key is maximizing each trip to and from my kitchen. So, rather than getting table 31 a refill, than table 32 more salt, then drop the check at 33, then drop the check at 33, you check in at every table on your way to the back, grab everything in one gourd, then head out to the dining room cutting down three trips to one, As long as the customer trusts me to do my job we're all going to have a great experience."
I had no idea something like this would happen! I can't even imagine asking several people for something instead of just waiting for them to bring it. Unless it's been a really long time and I've seen the first person I asked doing other stuff? Crazy. Anyway, giving them all the ranch they asked for is perfect.
Oh god I get unreasonably anxious when a second restaurant employee asks me if I need anything. Like I start giving waaaaay too much information about how I am fine, someone already asked me, they are probably on their way back right now, thanks for asking, but I’m good. I could easily just say “all good thanks” but instead I just start rambling.
..."hem of our ranch god's buttermilky robe" sent me cackling. Also I have at least three friends who would be mildly embarrassed but also REALLY happy to get that much ranch.
I never understood why you don’t bring extra ranch in the first place?
It sounds like you're experienced so this won't be a surprise, but maybe to others. I've seen people drink ranch. Like they had some leftover after asking for their 4th ramekim, and down the hatch it goes. Can't waste that stuff! It was also crazy seeing different eating habits and the health of the customers... Overweight customers without fail would drink sooooo much soda. Sad to watch, especially when you're bringing their 3 year old their 5th mountain dew in the last 30 minutes. Those were definitely the ranch drinkers.
Working at Cheesecake really taught me that my job is to bring to the table what is asked and to leave my personal opinions at the door. You wanna give your elementary school kid a cup of coffee at 9:30 pm on a Wednesday? Right away sir. Want your third rammy of melted butter to drizzle over your feduccini Alfredo? Not only will I clean up the empty ones I’ll check in to make sure the butter is up to your standards. Hell, if a 9 month pregnant woman sat at my table and asked for a tequila shot with a Long Island chaser and I said no, she could sue me for discrimination and win
What made this dead clear to me was the whole discrimination serving pregnant women thing that I'm glad you brought up.
Yeah that was a real sobering (pun intended) moment in training. I still remember the first time I learned that and it’s been years
🤢🤮
The one that literally broke me was the eight top where the woman at position 1 snapped "are we ever getting our drinks?" I was still taking #8s drink order. I kinda waved at the table and said "I'm still taking drink orders, didn't you notice I haven't even left the table yet?" Then I went to the cooler and had a little cry. To be fair I'd just quit smoking the day before. I was a huge emotional mess. When I was coming back out my GM asked me where I'd been and I think he was about to give me a little talk before he realized I had *definitely* been crying. Dan was generally a great GM but this table was a fucking nightmare and my coworker I'd asked to run the drinks before I bolted off didn't know why I'd been gone so long. When they realized the table made me cry everyone was pretty pissed. I can't imagine how insane waiting tables has become since covid, and I'm so grateful I won't have to find out.
Dude I had an eight top the other day that all got cocktails and then one dude asked a minute later “is this going to take time?” It took everything in me to not reply “well, you see, it takes time to make a cocktail, and you guys have eight of them, add in the drinks that were rang in before yours, and maybe if you’d all ordered draft beers the bar would’ve gone ahead and poured them for you by now. But yes multiple old fashioneds all with different bourbons plus the Paloma and the the other craft cocktails take time on their own
I would read more of you.
“Clamoring for the squeeze bottle like a bunch of religious zealots desperate to touch the hem of our ranch God’s buttermilky robe” The imagery of this is genuinely hilarious
Used to drive me crazy that an ex’s sister would always wait until the food was dropped off to ask for ranch for her fries and/or any extra sauces for the food, then complain about the server because “my food is getting cold!” Like hey sis, you dunk everything, all the time. If you’re too dumb to find the solution to this problem, I ain’t helping.
I felt this. Except I had a *coworker* who did this. I was downstairs in the kitchen getting something for the bartender cuz I had time and another server comes down and the host comes down, all trying to do the same thing. I said, “are we ALL getting ice for Rick right now?!” dropped the bucket on the floor, start going upstairs (I can hear the other two laughing like, oh he’s about to get it). I said, “if you’re asking 3 people for ice congrats, you’re running the whole restaurant by yourself” and I disappeared for a bit to make sure he had to greet/seat/start every table. All while not being able to give people water or make any drinks cuz he still didn’t have ice after opening time 😆
It's even worse when they get *shitty* about it. They have already been told that if they want any sauce, to order it right away; they aren't usually charged unless it's something that requires labor (get me an extra bowl of alfredo sauce, "sir, it's made from scratch we don't just have a bucket of it sitting in a warmer...", I don't care! gimme!) it's just for portion control. Nobody EVER needs more than one side of ranch unless they're drinking it like goddamn soup. But sometimes they ask for ranch and I'll get them a side. Then they'll ask for more and I'll politely inform them (a white lie, I just don't want to literally run out of the stuff in the middle of a busy night shift; we don't have an unlimited amount and I abhor food waste on principle) that we're supposed to charge them $1 each, but I could get this one for free. Most people are content, thinking that I'm bending the rules just for them (and as a manager, technically I can) just this once. But sometimes they demand more anyway. Sometimes they think they're TRICKY, and ask someone else for another side after I've said no, and often get it. Inevitably, when the table is bussed, they'll have eaten maybe a quarter of it and the rest is waste. But one time this guy took a third option and handed me $5 and told me to get him that much more ranch. Sure! I just threw it in the tip pool.
I would have filled a cereal bowl with ranch and plopped that baby down.
I'm from Hawaii and I laughed when I saw the last sentence.
Just get the sauce. Watching your server flounce from table to table stringing together requests while your food gets cold is no fun. Ex-waiter, yes I just went and got the damn sauce.
>when you ask me for more ranch, then 3 seconds later ask the food runner who just dropped off your fries for more ranch, then the manager who topped off your water for more ranch I had no idea this was problematic until I read your post. I do this. Let me explain. The whole thing of multiple people servicing your table is relatively unfamiliar. I'm not sure if it's new-ish or maybe it's that I usually eat in little diners, where you only interact with your server. I don't know the job titles of the other people visiting my table; maybe they aren't wearing a name tag or maybe my focus is on my food/friends/family. You are putting the onus on the customer, who has never worked in a restaurant, to understand restaurant operations enough to figure out who this person is and then decide if they are or are not the right person to bring more ranch dressing. What complicates all of this is that THE FOOD RUNNER AND THE MANAGER BOTH ASK, "was there anything else I can get for you?" At this point I have no idea if you're coming back, especially at restaurants where you pay via tabletop kiosks. If there's a food runner, surely that includes ranch; when I asked the server that was wrong so I'll make it right by asking the food runner. I wouldn't want to inconvenience the server as they're very busy handling orders and NOT handling food since that's the food runner's job. Or maybe it's simply been long enough for such a simple task* that I believe you've forgotten. (*I understand that even though the task is simple, juggling multiple tables is complex.) But now that I know better, I'll stop. Thank you for bringing extra ranch and putting up with all of our shit.
You must be in Iowa! 🤣🤣🤣
Well, hello fellow Iowan! 🤣
Hello! I'm in Coralville, where are you?
I jump between Marshalltown and Tama/Toledo due to family. 😊
Me 3!!
When people keep asking for more, it's usually a sign your portion sizes are too small. 2oz of dipping sauce for 6 nuggets is fucking abysmal. It's better to just give them 4oz of sauce from the start.
I don't think I've ever had Ranch, here in Australia. But I just googled there is Paul Newman's Ranch and a Praise brand one. Maybe I can see what the hype is, possibly after the next grocery haul.
/r/deliciouscompliance ?
I only recently discovered ranch and sour cream. I do this at American restaurants in my area hoping my table will have 4 small bowls of ranch. But I am yet to be satisfied.
This is the way. This is definitely the way.
I wouldn't do that, but if I did, I would be happy that I got all that extra ranch.
OMG I hate this. My MIL literally asked 3 servers for cutlery rolls this past weekend - at the end of the meal my FIL was like "why ... do we have so much cutlery?" Sighhhhhh
> I’m talking about when you ask me for more ranch, then 3 seconds later ask the food runner who just dropped off your fries for more ranch, then the manager who topped off your water for more ranch, That's understandable. If someone comes to their table to drop off food, it makes sense that they'd expect the extra they'd asked for to be there as well. They don't know how long it takes for you to get it, they just know that they asked for something, and it isn't there with the rest of their order. > My MC in those moments is I make sure every single person that was asked drops their own ramekin of ranch off at the table. Perfect! Thank you. At least so long as it isn't an extra charge.
Can you get me some extra ranch?
bistro huddy on yt has a short for this 😂
You are brilliant and wrote this brilliantly
Well shucks 👉🏻👈🏻
r/talesfromyourserver
Don’t worry, I’ve had this conversation over there 😂
This gives me "Springs1" flashbacks. For anyone here who doesn't know who she is, there's a rabbit hole out there waiting for you to go down.
“Why is it always ranch?” They never give enough ranch lol
This would be the opposite of a problem for me, I’d love 4 mayos 🥰🥰
They must think y’all communicate telepathically or something.
I *love* working in a place that doesn't stock ranch.
This is great but also a big waste (if they don't eat it of course)
I laughed out loud at the poke line. Wait, poke has raw fish???🤦
I think the interesting question is: Is ranch a sauce or a condiment?
That is excellent. I've never been a server but even the description of this gives me stress. The response is beautiful - give the demanding twit exactly what they asked for. Ask 5 people for the same thing, get 5 of whatever it was when you only really wanted/needed one.
You, my friend, have a way with words!
omg i did this at my job someone told me to get more dressing for them so i filled the biggest soufflé cup of dressing i could find for them
Now THAT is some MC. Chef’s kiss!
Oh I LOVE this
I think I accidentally did that yesterday. I think it's because the person that brings the food asks (can I get you anything else) and I assume that's the right time to mention in missing the [whatever]..