A woman and her friend were dining out in New York City, and their server had an atypical reaction to their request for more food.
Annie T. (@annietinnyc) posted a stylized video of her pal cracking up across the table from her. A text overlay intones why: “I asked my friend if maybe we should do another order of the soup dumplings.”
Next, she details the server’s response.
“The waiter said, ‘You have enough food.’”
Annie sarcastically agreed with the restaurant worker’s assessment of their portions. “Yeah, no, terrible idea forgive my gluttony,” she penned in a caption on her video.
Annie told BroBible the server’s response was all in good fun. She shared, “The waiter was NOT being purposely mean! He was so so so sweet and was truly just trying to be helpful as we had a full table of food left to finish! We thought it was hilarious and refreshing!”
A Shared Experience
Commenters shared some similar anecdotes. “My mom used to order so much pizza in college she was in the pizza delivery guy’s wedding,” one penned.
Another person wrote, “I once ordered 8 hashbrowns at McDonald’s for me and my kids (we all wanted 2). And when I got to the window the worker said: ‘ are you the one who ordered one million hash browns?’”
Someone else said their fast-food item of choice influenced a local restaurant’s serving protocols. “In High School I was obsessed with Wendy’s chicken nuggets. One time, I walked in and the guy goes: ‘She’s here, drop the nuggets now!’” they shared.
“Once I asked for two different dressings for my salad at Chick-Fil-A because I wanted to try a new one. And the person taking my order said: ‘that’s a lot of calories,’” another recalled.
Someone else posted, “One time the hibachi chef said, ‘you want more noodles fatty?’ And I just said yup not hearing what he said.’”
While several folks who commented on her video seemed to find these types of instances humorous, others felt differently.
“0% tip if a waiter said that to me,” one viewer posted.
Another echoed this sentiment, stating, “I’m way too hostile for some of these interactions.”
Furthermore, a Jersey Mike’s customer claimed she was food-shamed by a worker there when she tried to order a large sandwich.
Is There Ever A Limit On How Much Food You Can Order?
For waitstaff to take a dig at customers for seemingly eating too much may seem shocking. Restaurants typically won’t ever limit how much a table orders. After all, it’s just more money for them, right? But are there ever caps on what tables can order?
Oftentimes, the opposite is true. For example, some restaurants mandate that each diner at a table must order at least one entree for themselves.
Generally, restaurants that put order limits in place are all-you-can-eat establishments. These policies are often put in place to inhibit diners from wasting food, as Tasting Table notes.
Furthermore, there are some restaurants that prohibit folks from bringing home leftovers. This is to avoid abuse of the all-you-can-eat system.
Some of these restaurants may also fine customers for not finishing what’s on their plate.
Do These Waiters Have A Point?
Perhaps the servers in these individual situations were tired of seeing guests toss out food.
Globally, around 2.5 billion tons of food are wasted annually. And at the top of the calorie-waste chain is the United States: 120 billion pounds are discarded each and every year. This accounts for around 40% of all meals in the country and approximately 325 pounds per person, per RTS. The economic impact of this wasted food isn’t insignificant, either. It’s estimated that some $218 billion worth of sustenance is tossed out.
As for waiters shaming customers for the amount of food they’re ordering, it seems like more than a few people believed they were shooting themselves in the foot. Instead of focusing their efforts on taking orders, and racking up a fat bill for a potentially fat tip, they made their customers feel uncomfortable.
@annietinnyc yeah no terrible idea forgive my gluttony 😀