Online, countless servers have shared anecdotes of their experiences—especially those about unreasonable customers. But server Kelly (@kellybrooke.m) may well have the most outrageous story, with one of her customers sending back her steak not just once but multiple times.
With an on-screen subtitle reading, “When you’re upset because you get what you order,” Kelly got the experience off her chest.
“I actually love it when you send your dish back four times to the kitchen,” she began. “I actually love it when you get exactly what you ordered and how you ordered it, but it’s not good enough.”
Things Started On The Wrong Foot
Kelly then walked viewers through her shift in a clip that has amassed 566,100 views. While her shift started on a positive note, her manager went up to her and said, “Let me know if you need help with table,” which, in server-speak, means that the table might be difficult.
Things start on a difficult note because the customers can’t take advantage of the restaurant’s birthday deal due to a glitch in the system not sending them the emailed coupon.
While they were unhappy about this, Kelly said she tried to bring her “A-game” serving them. When it came to ordering the food, most of the table ordered no problem. Then there was the birthday boy/man and his wife. The husband asked for medium-rare prime rib and wanted it lightly seared with Cajun seasoning. The wife ordered what Kelly described as the restaurant’s “special steak.” This is a type of steak that is so thick-cut that they can’t cook it beyond medium-rare.
Despite this, the wife asked for it medium-well and said that even if they couldn’t cook it to medium-well, they could just cook it medium-rare, and she would send the meal back anyway. According to her, she does this every time she eats here in order to get a medium well. Kelly tried to explain the kitchen can’t really cook it medium-well. So, the wife responds by saying that if they leave it on the grill too long, she won’t be upset. Kelly informs the kitchen, and they say they’ll attempt to cook it medium-well.
Then The Steak Send-Backs Began
At this point, Kelly focuses on her other tables, but then the husband complained that his steak was wrong. Someone told Kelly that the wife seemed happy with the steak but then said hers was wrong too. The wife seemed to be convinced she didn’t have the “special steak.” Also, while the steak was medium-well, she claimed it was too well done.
In turn, Kelly asked whether she wanted it remade. The wife replied that she just wanted the steak she ordered. Kelly confirmed that she would get it remade medium. As for the husband, he wanted a rarer prime rib. When the second lot of steaks went out to the table, the wife once again complained that the steak was too well done. The manager asked Kelly what the customer ordered. The server insisted that the wife said several times that she wanted a medium-well steak. Still, the kitchen made her next steak medium-rare, and apparently that was “perfect.”
How Did It End?
Kelly continued: “I wanna clarify that every time I went by the table to make sure they didn’t need anything in the meantime, while all of the steaks kept getting refired, they always made these little comments: ‘Yeah, you really dropped the ball,’ ‘This is the worst experience we’ve ever had,’ ‘Yeah, we’re gonna be leaving a lengthy Yelp review after this.'”
“Hey guys, I’m literally doing my best to get you exactly what you want. All in all we had to take plates back to the kitchen three times for her and two times for him.”
In total, the dinner was $200, but Kelly notes that it was comped so much it ended up being $45. She also said that they gave her a $5 tip. When she asked the table if they wanted dessert, the husband said he wanted a free birthday dessert. He added: “We’ll see if you can do that right.” Kelly sent the dessert out, and they seemed happy. She says that when she dropped off the check and thanked them, other members of the table thanked her and complimented her food and service. They apparently were “side-eyeing” the husband and wife. On the way out, someone also is said to have heard a person saying that they’ll leave a Yelp review about the food and service.
Kelly didn’t immediately respond to BroBible’s request for comment via email.
@kellybrooke.m they told my manager that I must have rang their steaks in wrong #serverlife #restaurantlife #storytime #steak #customerservice
How Did Commenters React?
Some commenters were sympathetic. “This sums up working in the restaurant industry,” one wrote. “Yet again, normalize allowing servers to match energy,” another said. While a third added: “EVERYONE should be required to work customer service for at least a year.”
Others were suspicious of the customers’ intentions. “They did that on purpose to have a pay cut on their tab,” a fourth claimed. While a fifth pointed out: “I’m sure you know, but they didn’t get the birthday email because it wasn’t their birthday.”
And a sixth said: “She was upset at the medium well steak, cause she wanted to be able to send back the medium rare one multiple times. Their goal was to complain to get things comped.”
How Many Times Can You Send Back Steak?
On TikTok, stories of customers sending back their steak multiple times is common. For one restaurant, six seemed to be the cut-off point. However, a single Texas Roadhouse customer was able to get away with sending his steak back five times.
A baffled bystander on a nearby recorded the whole thing. As the customer sawed through the steak, another person on the table went as far as shining a phone flashlight on the food. When the server took away a steak, a new one soon came out.
“This person sent their steak back 5 times at Texas Roadhouse, and each time they bought out a new steak,” on-screen text read.
Clearly, while there’s no hard and fast rule about how many times to send a steak back, there comes a point where you need to seriously evaluate your life.