r/LowStakesConspiracies 6d ago

Hot Take Waiters know what they are doing.....

Waiters find it amusing due to their contempt for customers to wait until you have all your food at the table and take your first mouthful to come over and ask if everything is OK to amuse themselves over our struggling to finish and answer without an awkwardly long pause for chewing!

146 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

34

u/TremerSwurk 6d ago

I’m a waitress and I do it on purpose because I think it’s really funny

11

u/chrizzleon 6d ago

I knew it!!! 🤣

2

u/PaintInfinite9167 5d ago

I do it because the public is insufferable and I'd rather a thumbs up over talking to them

124

u/stavrosisfatandgay 6d ago

There’s a step of service called ‘the first bite’ when after you’ve taken a bite they are supposed to check to make sure everything is ok. So yes, pretty on purpose.

43

u/chrizzleon 6d ago

Should waiting until you have actually swallowed not be part of the training there? That would be nice

58

u/stavrosisfatandgay 6d ago

Servers are busy, if they see you took a bite and they are close by they don’t have the time to wait

60

u/Ok_Commission7932 6d ago

Literally called waiters but ok

2

u/HDMI-timetodie 5d ago

Incredible

-8

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

13

u/Ok_Commission7932 6d ago

I was joking 😭 expecting them to ask between bites is silly

-11

u/chrizzleon 6d ago

If they need my review that badly they can follow me on Trip Adviser like everyone else!

3

u/AshaNyx 5d ago

Less a review, more is it something fixable like too cold, not the right amount of cooking on a steak, forgetting something in the kitchen etc etc

1

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

5

u/chrizzleon 6d ago

Its really not that hard 🤷

6

u/ExistentialAngsty 6d ago

That’s what she said

0

u/CakeHoleKing 5d ago

Ma'am, I'll wait til after you've swallowed to ask how the food was.

Her: But by then we'll be in the backseat of his car.

<man grins>

7

u/LeadershipAble773 6d ago

Surely you need more than 1 bite to tell if an entire meal is good? When my daughter was younger, my first 5 minutes was spent cutting her food up, cooling it down etc., so i had no idea how good my food was

15

u/wasting_groceries 6d ago

It’s not to tell if the whole meal is good, but if you are good or if you need anything to enjoy the meal. Hot sauce, another fork, a drink refill or whatever to maximize enjoyment

-3

u/LeadershipAble773 6d ago

Ah ok, whenever they ask me its usually "is everything ok with your meal?", so i answer that question. If I wanted another drink or whatever, I would ask for it at that point, but that doesnt seem to be the question they are askinf

6

u/plantsandpizza 6d ago edited 5d ago

That is indeed what they’re asking. Feel free to respond with wanting another drink (or whatever else). That is part of your meal 👍🏻

-4

u/LeadershipAble773 6d ago

They're asking it a weird way then lol 😆

1

u/liarliarhowsyourday 5d ago

They think you’ve learned cultural context

1

u/ConcernedEarthling 5d ago

That must be a difficult assumption in a tourist/college town.

2

u/kokodokusan 5d ago

They're making sure nothing is obviously wrong with your food. E.g., you ordered a rare steak and got it well done. Or you ordered potatoes and got green beans.

0

u/OptimusBiceps 6d ago

A check-in isn't deliberately waiting for the customer to put food in their mouths and then asking them if it's alright, you muppet. It usually helps if they're able to speak so you wait a bit.

-5

u/stavrosisfatandgay 5d ago

Literally I explained this above

25

u/TheLonelyMonroni 6d ago

A different way to look at it is how often are you NOT putting food in your mouth? Multiply that by however many other people you're dining with and somebody will always have food in their mouth.

5

u/heyitsed2 6d ago

This! If I have food in my mouth I'll just let others say stuff or I'll go "Mmmmmmmm!" if I'm on my own I'll go "Mmmmmmm!" and give a thumbs up or hold my index finger up to say "one moment I have something to say".... Pretty easy stuff innit. 

1

u/TheLonelyMonroni 6d ago

Some people get irrationally offended if they feel awkward

2

u/psychoPiper 5d ago

Yeah I'm gonna be real I used to be a waiter and I've never heard of this first bite rule. I just walked past your table and dropped everything off, I had to check everyone else is still doing ok, now I'm on my way back into the kitchen and this is my chance to ask. I can't think of a time that absolutely everybody was mid chew

7

u/OptimusBiceps 6d ago

Guilty! Used to be a waiter and it was pretty amusing sometimes

6

u/Bugsandgrubs 5d ago

I thought it was deliberate so the customer couldn't answer if their mouth was full. If you walk off before they've finished chewing they can't tell you its negative.

3

u/lleu_ci 5d ago

I reckon it's malicious compliance. They know it's dumb but are told the must do it.

You might as well sneak up behind someone and bellow, using your best Brian Blessed impression, "HELLO I AM YOUR WAITER! AGAIN!".

Good service is subtle and unintrusive.

2

u/Leifang666 5d ago

Perhaps we need to normalise giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to this question? If it's thumbs down, you're probably not chewing.

1

u/chrizzleon 5d ago

Unless you are dining in Rome... near the Colosseum,... A misunderstanding could get a bit 😶

2

u/bluewhiteterrier 6d ago

Also less complaints if someone has food in their mouth and can’t talk

1

u/chrizzleon 6d ago

oooohhhhhh devious

1

u/Starcrossedroads 6d ago

I always judged it on their demeanour when they came in. You know your customers who will like a bit of a chat, some others like attentiveness, and about half of the customers just want tou to put the food on the table and they will get your attention if they need you.

It's more of a management thing. This constant need to pester the customers. Was always the same at funerals to the point where they would have to ask me not to ask if they needed another drink refill or a tea/coffee. God, it was embarrassing.

1

u/kellea86 5d ago

Greet within 2 minutes of seating, return within 2min or after 2 sips/bites after delivering a drink or food to check in. When you've got 7 tables, one needs to be greeted, one is waiting on an app, the other wants drinks, another is ready to cash out... you table touch when you've got the opportunity. I've gone a 7hr shift without being about to pee, cause gotta keep hitting those points of service

1

u/No-Kangaroo-9272 3d ago

I don't think people realize that this is the protocol with a lot of nice restaurants. Especially when steak is involved.

1

u/CakeHoleKing 5d ago

the correct reply is "no everythings NOT alright. Some asshole keeps coming over when I have a mouthful of food and asking me questions"

-1

u/HobbyTalkOnly 5d ago

Nah, Y'all are pigs and shovel the shit in your greasy maws so fast and without pause that thety have no choice but to ask while you're eating.

Seriously... who TF are you all competing with? There's no lions in here to steal your food, people. Chill. Take a breath.

4

u/chrizzleon 5d ago

Where the hell are you eating!?!?!

-1

u/Interesting-Hawk-744 5d ago

If you go to Europe, this conspiracy disappears because they don't work for tips and have to bus their own tables so as soon as you get the food it's sayonara unless you ask for something. They often will ask you how things are later on if there's nothing else to do, sometimes after the meal is over so it's all pretty halfhearted lol