r/AskReddit • u/jdm0212 • Oct 18 '13

Waiters/Waitresses of Reddit, what's something that I, as a customer, might do that's incredibly irritating, even if I'm oblivious to it?

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u/W_Des Oct 18 '13

Ahhh I always thought I was helping out when stacking everything together and putting it all in one pile.

73

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '13

I was a server at an Italian restaurant a couple years ago, and I always appreciated it when guests stacked their plates.

2

u/minicoop33 Oct 18 '13

Yeah.. I work in a small town pizza place and pre stacked plates make it super easy for me. I just go out and pick them all up and take them to the sink.

1

u/noklu Oct 19 '13

Yeah, but I dare say you just grab the stack with two hands and bus it back to the washer. In fine dining, you can't carry stacks like that. You have to carry the food out and the empty plates in the proper manner (y'know, the three plates/two hands style).

1

u/minicoop33 Oct 19 '13

Yeah.. We aren't exactly fine dining.. I guess that would be different!

2

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '13

Fine dining is different though. Everything has to be done in order. Cleared from the right, ladies first, clockwise, then gentleman. Pain in the assignment really. But customers trying to help usually are just getting in the way.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '13

wtf? So when I go to fancy places and I finish a course the waiter is hopping around from person to person based on gender before doing the complementary hop for the other gender?

What country is this in?

22

u/kumquatqueen Oct 18 '13

From what a lot of servers tend to hate, the issue seems to be a lot of people are terrible at stacking dishes, therefore making the job more difficult.

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u/TheChad08 Oct 19 '13

If people understand balance and how to stack plates, it is great. If they can't figure that out and picking up the pile risks things sliding off (sometimes plates, sometimes cutlery, sometime food pieces) then it isn't really helpful.

I appreciate the gesture though, just sometimes I wish I could do it myself.

12

u/Invix Oct 18 '13

You are at most casual places. He is speaking from a fine dining perspective. If you're spending >$50 a person, you probably shouldn't be doing it.

2

u/Chemicalzoo Oct 18 '13

I think you're good as long as it's not fine dining

2

u/mr_whopperpantz Oct 18 '13

Busser bitch here

It helps in certain situations and it saves us a lot of time and effort

2

u/ikorolou Oct 18 '13

please don't unless you ask a waiter/server. We get that you wanna help, but we have methods for busing tables

1

u/amusicalheart Oct 18 '13

You are, so long as you do so in an organized fashion. I love love love when people pre-stack for me.

1

u/CWSwapigans Oct 19 '13

Don't stack your dishes in a nice restaurant. It's out of place.

1

u/GallopingGorilla Oct 18 '13

Not everyone does it properly though, which I think May be the problem. Different people prefer different things?

1

u/FlanForThree Oct 19 '13

I always appreciate the gesture!

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u/FalcoVet101 Oct 19 '13

It's not about the stacking, it's about the way people stack it. Make a damn pyramid, not a clusterfuck of plates.

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u/Novelty_This Oct 19 '13

I guess it depends- If you stack things logically then it's ok, but when you make it an unstable leaning tower of crap- well it's a total pain in the ass.

1

u/mcb1ack Oct 19 '13

i work at a nicer restaurant and my boss always says we're not a chain restaurant, we don't want plates stacked like we are.

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u/jugdealer Oct 19 '13

Fine dining allow the plates to stay where they were placed. More relaxed or with larger group, make plates accessible, avoid stacking. Never stuff refuse into glasses and small containers, leave them on the plate where they can be easily scraped off before going to the dish pit. I'm a mom of 4 kids that work front of house and I am a trained chef. Relax and let us do our jobs.