Server Shares One Of The Dumbest Things A Customer Has Ever Done When Ordering Lemon Pepper Wings: ‘I Probably Would Have Quit And Ate Their Chicken’

Any server will tell you that they have hundreds of stories of customers being idiots. One woman on TikTok says she’s got a story that could top them all.

In a video with over 53,000 views, server and TikTok user Athena (@athenayapsalott) recalls what she says is “one of the dumbest things a guest has ever done.”

According to Athena, a table came in, sat down, and ordered “bone-in lemon pepper wings, all flats.”

So far, so normal. As any wing-eater will tell you, there are two types of chicken wings: flats and drums. Drums are a meatier cut with a single bone, while flats have two bones and a higher skin-to-meat ratio. Neither is necessarily better than the other, but having a preference isn’t unusual.

Athena says she placed the order. However, the system messed up and the kitchen did not receive it—so, instead, she passed the message on verbally.

“The food comes out. Guest tells me they wanted boneless wings,” she states. Thinking she must have done something wrong, she tells her manager about what happened. The kitchen then cooks the resubmitted order and gives it to the guest—who is still unhappy.

“Boneless wings come out. ‘We wanted these to be flats,’” she recalls the customer saying. “We wanted boneless wings—we just wanted the boneless wings to be all flats.”

She repeats this to hammer home her disbelief.

“The boneless wings—to be all flats,” she says.

Why Is This Such A Stupid Request?

For those who are unaware, “boneless wings” aren’t exactly real. They’re “real” in the sense that you can order them on menus across the country—but it’s not like there’s someone out there breeding boneless chickens to make them.

Most of the time, restaurants simply cut pieces of chicken breast to roughly the size of a wing and call them “boneless wings.'” From there, the breast meat is coated and fried as though it were a true chicken wing.

This can create confusion because, if you’re someone like Athena’s customer, you might think that you’re getting the more flavorful wing, just with the bone removed. This simply is not the case.

Instead, you’re cutting a cut of chicken breast. You can’t specify whether your “boneless wing” has meat from the drum or the flat, because the meat is actually coming from a completely different part of the bird.

Then Why Is It Called A Wing?

If you’re wondering why restaurants can call something a “wing” when it is absolutely, demonstrably not a wing, you’re not alone.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled in a customer’s lawsuit against Buffalo Wild Wings. In the lawsuit, the customer claimed that he believed that “boneless wings” were deboned wings, not simply breast meat by another name. As a result, he believed that the chain was committing fraud by continuing to sell them under that name.

However, a judge ruled in February 2026 that consumers widely associate the term “boneless wing” with chicken breast meat. In his ruling, he noted that “boneless wings are not a niche product for which a consumer would need to do extensive research to figure out the truth. Instead, ‘boneless wings’ is a common term that has existed for over two decades.”

So, next time you’re at a restaurant and see “boneless wings” on the menu, you should know that it’s just breast meat—and that you can’t specify whether you want drums or flats. If you want to be that specific, you’ve gotta go bone-in!

Viewers Can’t Believe It

In the comments section, users expressed their surprise at the customer’s apparent ignorance.

“There is no such thing as a boneless wing! They’re all nuggets!” exclaimed a user.

“They need to stop with the boneless wings,” declared another. “They don’t exist. They are chicken strips or chicken nuggets tossed in sauce. That will clear up any confusion.”

Others shared their own customer stories.

“I had a table ask me ‘does your cappuccino come in a cup?’ and I still have no idea what she meant,” recounted a user.

“I used to work at a pizza place that had reg dough, gluten free dough and whole wheat dough option. This was when gluten was first hitting the scene as evil. A guest asked if we had a whole wheat gluten free option,” offered a second. “like hmmmm.”

BroBible reached out to Athena via TikTok direct message and comment.