Birthdays are fun. The entire restaurant singing to you while you wear a sombrero, down a liquor shot, or sit on a throne can be another matter entirely. But what if you want to be the focus of the entire restaurant, and that’s denied to you? All because of a technicality.
Oliviada Quisto (@oliviadaquisto) learned one birthday truth the hard way. She learned that sometimes, despite a girl’s best intentions, a Texas Roadhouse server is going to come along and deny her the opportunity to celebrate and embarrass her sweetheart—simultaneously.
I’m Not Hungry Any More
In a TikTok that’s been viewed over 836,000 times, Quisto posted a five-second video of herself and her boyfriend at Texas Roadhouse. And while he looks happy enough, as he’s chowing down on dinner, she looks pretty upset. Sulkily curled in the corner of the booth, refusing to eat, upset.
Quisto pans the camera from her unhappy face to her boyfriend’s. He pauses eating (but not chewing) just long enough to flash his right hand up in an “L.” That internationally recognized symbol for “loser.”
What’s The Texas Roadhouse Birthday Saddle?
What’s got her angry? A request for consent. At Texas Roadhouse, there’s a birthday tradition. According to the Takeout, “If you tell your server it’s your birthday — or that of anyone else in your party — you are given a birthday saddle to sit on, as the servers sing…along with the entire restaurant.”
But that’s not the kind of attention everyone wants. So before dragging over an unwieldy saddle on a sawhorse, Quisto’s server asked the birthday boy for consent.
The in-video caption explains everything: “Just asked my server to do the Texas Roadhouse birthday thing as a surprise and she came up 5 min later and asked for CONSENT.”
Effectively, the surprise was ruined. But perhaps something else was saved?
User Keeby (@itskeeby) explains, “It’s honestly embarrassing. I didn’t know I could refuse. I cried after bc I hate that level of public perception.”
So what if Quisto’s boyfriend has refused? Or worse, started crying?
A spokesperson for Texas Roadhouse told BroBible, “Birthday celebrations at Texas Roadhouse are always about the guest. If a server learns it’s someone’s birthday, they’ll usually ask first before bringing out the saddle, so the celebration matches what the guest is comfortable with. Some love big Texas Roadhouse ‘YEE-HAW’ and a ride one the saddle, others prefer to keep it low‑key and we’re happy to follow their lead.”
No Tears At The Rodeo
The comments section is a mixed saddlebag of reactions. “As a server, I’ve had people leave the restaurant bc their family tried to ‘surprise them’ so she was just being cautious,” Kat (@smdville) said.
Kels (@couldbekelsss) said she had a change of heart once she was in the saddle. She said, “I agreed to do it on my 18th bc i thought it was funny but when i got on the saddle i could see everyone in the restaurant looking at me and all of a sudden it was notttt funny.”
Then there’s the person who thinks everyone should be coerced into mounting a restaurant saddle. “Yall are so UN-FUN. I remember going to Texas Roadhouse ALL THE TIME as a kid with 4 siblings and each one of us got this treatment, regardless if we wanted the spotlight or not … Waitress should’ve just done it because it would have probably made for a positive experience/memory,” complained Radioaux (@radioaux).
Why Do Restaurants Sing To Guests On Their Birthday?
One former Bennigan’s server thinks that “publicly singing the ‘Happy Birthday Song’ in a restaurant is a terribly wonderful tradition that brings us all together in celebration of embarrassment.”
That same writer suggests that while servers almost universally hate this tradition, they embraced it because “the better the birthday singing went, the better your tip would be at the end of the meal.” Basically, it’s capitalism dressed up as fun.
But where it really gets interesting is in exploring the birthday song, Happy Birthday To You, which was first sung in the early 1900s. So theoretically it should be in the realm of public domain. But it is not. Because in 1988, Warner Chappell Music purchased the firm that held the rights to the world’s most popular song. Now Warner earns about $2 million dollars a year from that singular, celebratory song.
A birthday gift and wish all rolled into one. Now who wants cake?
BroBible reached out to Oliviada Quisto via email and TikTok direct message.
@oliviadaquisto like wym (sorry if u see this) #server #funny #boyfriend #birthday