If anyone works or has worked in the food industry, then they have undoubtedly come across some... interesting requests. Restaurants, especially fast food restaurant, seem to really bring out the weird in people. Here are some of the most insane questions and requests made by real customers at real restaurants. Edits have been made to some of the entries for clarification purposes.
At Least The Food Was Good
“I work for a restaurant delivery company based in the Tampa, Florida area. We had an order come in from a customer ordering a second time, wanting us to deliver Indian food to them. Seemed to make sense, right?
They informed me that their address had changed, which is not unusual, but when I entered in the new address I noticed that the zip code wasn’t one that I was familiar with.
When I looked it up I realized they were ordering from a zip code in New York! I assumed it was just some prank call and was ready to hang up but decided to ask her a few more questions.
I asked the lady on the other end if she is aware that we were based in Florida – she said yes and that she enjoyed the food we delivered for her so much while she was down here on vacation she was hoping we could deliver some more to her.
So, of course I had to tell her that there is no way we could take this order and she started to flip out. She rants and rants and eventually I simply hang up the phone. Bad call. She tried calling back about 20 times that night and about a dozen times the next day. We didn’t answer it, obviously, and we didn’t answer any of the other numbers she tried to use with NY Area codes.
Finally she sent a massive ranty email to my boss complaining about me and our service. My boss laughed it off with the rest of us.”
The Super Cancer
“I worked eleven years at a grocery store – I still have visible scars – but this one is my personal favorite story of customers with a ridiculous request. We had a regular shopper that refused to allow us to scan her groceries because she believed the laser would radiate her food and therefore give her ‘the Super Cancer’. Her words, not mine, I promise. She would come in, load up her cart and come to the service desk when she was done. As soon as we saw her walking our way, we knew our day was going to get just that much longer. She would have the produce guys weigh and price anything she had picked up in their department. She’d then hand us the stuff and we’d key in the UPC and slide it back over to her. Every. Single. Item. She would refuse vehemently any offer for us to save time and scan the groceries, but at least she would bag her groceries herself. Thankfully she only shopped twice a month and would come in when it was slow.”
The Button Pusher
“Of course my worst and most stupid experience was back at McDonalds. This group of these trashy people walk in and one of them asks for something not on the menu. I tell her we don’t have it and all of a sudden she gets mad, started raising her voice, and asks if ‘we can make it anyways.’ I tell her we can’t because then we wouldn’t be able to charge her for it (special items don’t really work at McDonald’s because we have specific buttons for every single item on the menu). Then she demands it for free. Like what?
After 10 minutes of arguing why I can’t give her free food, she still tries to order it. I finally snap and tell her ‘There’s a button on the register for everything on the menu. I can’t give you something that’s not on the computer system that runs the registers. ORDER SOMETHING ON THE MENU.’
I swear to God, she asks, ‘Then go to the back, and make me a – insert expletive here – button so I can order what I want!!!’ I swear she was being serious NOT sarcastic. And of course, I have to explain to her for another ten minutes how that is IMPOSSIBLE. Finally after 45 minutes, she orders pancakes. She ruined my entire day. My manager had to hold me back from spitting in her food.”
They Call Him Alicia Keys Now
“I recently started working at a fast food place. I was at the counter taking orders. About 30 minutes before clocking out, a man was asking me for 5 large cups because his car was on fire. I told him that ‘It will be x dollars for that.’
Then he yelled at me saying ‘My car is ON FIRE, I NEED THOSE RIGHT expletive NOW!’
The manager heard the noise and joined the conversation. And I calmly told him, ‘You still have to pay for those but I can give you these small water cups for free.’
He said he needed the large cups because those are too small.
At this point, we already figured he was trying to scam us and run away with 5 large fountain cups for free.
The manager sticked his head outside of the window to see if the car was really on fire to which she replied ‘I ain’t seeing any fire.’
The man was again yelling at us saying he needs them. After a few minutes of shouting, the manager threatened to call the cops. He walks away and I saw him heading to another fast food place across the street.
About five minutes later I heard a siren. There were two firetrucks outside. The manager told us to stop working on what we were doing and evacuate the building (I guess it was a part of safety manual). The car was on fire. Fortunately, the fire was not big and it was extinguished right away. We all then headed inside and I clocked out. The guy came in the store again and complained about how the other store just gave the cups for free. I asked him why didn’t he ask for extinguisher instead. He then told me that he didn’t know the fire would have gotten this big. From that point on we referred to the man as Alicia Keys because ‘This Car Is On Fiiiiiiirrrrreeeee’ and I still get laughs out of it.”
Chick Fil A Employee Saves The Day
“I was a shift manager at Chick Fil A, which was in the same shopping center as Walmart.
Anyway, it’s almost summertime now. During lunch rush when our parking lot was full, people would park at the far end of the Walmart parking lot and walk over.
We had been told by multiple customers that there was a growing fire ant nest in one of the islands in the Walmart parking lot. We advised people to be careful. We called multiple times to the manager, asking him to get an exterminator. He refused, telling us he would sue us for harassment because we are always calling asking him to spend money.
So one day, a woman and three children come in during the lunch rush. They order four large meals to go, and walk out.
A couple minutes later, the woman walks back in, obviously anxious and paranoid, and waits at the back of the serving line. The line isn’t moving fast, and she’s getting more jittery by the second, so I walk over to check on her. I expected something like, You forgot one of my sandwiches or fries in the order, or My child dropped their drink in the parking lot. Can you give us a free one? As I get closer, I see she is crying.
I ask her what is wrong.
She says: ‘Excuse me. Can you help me? My son is being eaten by fire ants.’
Cue jawdrop!
I RAN as fast as possible towards the Walmart island. I spot their car immediately. Her 2 children are standing next to the car watching the 3rd one, who is dancing around in circles, screaming. His legs are covered with fire ants!
I immediately realize a problem. If this had happened closer to the store I could have used a hose to spray them off his legs. But this is the Walmart parking lot, and there is nothing nearby!
Their meals were still in the bag, forgotten, on top of the car.
I grabbed their drinks – four large lemonades! Grab two cups and sloshed them with as much force as possible onto the front of his legs to wash off as many ants as possible. Next two lemonades, back side of the legs. 99% of ants are washed off.
Grab the fast food bag. Rip open a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. Drop filet on the ground. I have two lightly buttered buns. I use the buns to carefully wipe the remaining maybe dozen(?) ants off of him. Kid still screaming, but at least the initial emergency is over.
‘Bring him in, we have a first aid kit inside.’ She scoops up the screaming kid, and the other two kids follow in her shadow. Bring her in through the back of the store, delivery entrance. Rush to office to grab first aid kit. There’s burn cream inside.
She rubs it on his legs while I call 911. Ambulance arrives within 5 minutes. Kid is not screaming anymore, but still crying. Paramedics take over. The mother gives me a hug and thanks me between tears for helping them.
24 hours later I learned that the Walmart manager had been sued by a local family for dangerous conditions at his store. The manager was fired, and replaced with an interim manager. Exterminator showed up within a week and the fire ants were killed.
Fast forward 3 months.
End of summer, but still hot as all get out outside.
Two woman and one young boy come in the store. One of them looks familiar, but not sure why.
They get up to the counter and ask to speak to me. She tells the other woman that I helped her son when he was attacked by fire ants. Realize its the woman from a few months ago, and the boy sitting there is the one I helped.
‘Hey sport! How are you?‘
He shows me his legs. There is visible scarring from the ordeal, but they look mostly healed. Give him high-five.
The other woman starts interviewing me, and I realize she works for the newspaper. I’m being written up in the paper as a local hero.
As things are wrapping up, I tell them not to go anywhere. I have something I need to give them. Come back in a couple minutes with four Chick-Fil-A combos and lemonades, to replace the ones I used 3 months ago.
She hugs me again! And as always, the Chick Fil A employee saves the day. It was my pleasure.”
“Ma’am, That Is A Felony”
“This woman came through the drive thru, she ordered a lot of food which is maybe why she asked, but it was immediately after a 60 car rush so I was already dead inside and did not care about making 5 sandwiches for one order- after what I went through prior to this order, it was basically a break. She pulled up to the window, apologized for ordering so much, and told my buddy in back ‘please don’t spit in my food’. He laughed and said that we wouldn’t, he 100% thought she was joking.
She pulled up to my window, where I was because I had a question about her order before I could make it, and she said, ‘Please don’t spit in my food, I don’t think the man at the other window took me seriously.’
By that time, he had told me he thought she was making some bad joke. I was astounded, I looked at her and quietly asked ‘Wait…what?’ To which she replies, ‘Please don’t spit in my food, I can’t afford to get my kid sick again.’
I look at her for a few moments and realize she is being completely serious. I told her ‘Ma’am, that is a felony. We would never do that to anyone.’
She looked at me relieved but did say ‘Well [different fast food restaurant] did it and my kid got really sick.’ I asked her if she went to the police or called the store and she said no. I have no idea why she wouldn’t have. I feel bad for her, but why would you not confront the restaurant about that? What the… And I’m still shook that she went out of her way to ask me NOT to spit in her food. Bless her heart.”
Please, Read The Sign
“I worked at an Arby’s and we would occasionally run out of roast beef. When this happened, I would go out and just put a sign over the beef items on our drive-thru board saying “We’re out, sorry, the management” or whatever.
So one night, we ran out, I put the sign up, and I was on drive-thru that night. A lady pulls up and the conversation goes something like this.
Me: ‘Welcome to Arby’s how can I help you?’
Her: ‘One second, I’m looking for something on your menu.’
Me: ‘Take all the time you need’
couple minutes goes by Her: ‘I can’t seem to find it on your menu, I think there is a sign in the way, but can I get a medium beef and cheddar?’
Me: ‘Well ma’am, the sign actually says that we are out of beef for the evening, so I am sorry but we can’t make that for you.’
Her: ‘Oh, huh, OKAY THANKS.’
The fact she acknowledged the sign made it oh-so-much better. I don’t get how it’s that hard to look at a sign in the first place? People, please don’t waste our time by trying to order food that CLEARLY is not in stock.”
If Only Money Could Buy Time
“This happened a few years ago when I worked at a burger place with a creepy clown mascot.
I was working the late shift, scheduled off at 2am. At the time this happened, it was 11pm, and we could not sell 99% of the breakfast items. This was before our store had an overnight breakfast menu, and waaaay before the all day breakfast. However, we did have a new egg white themed breakfast sandwich that we were advertising, so we had signs out for it, but every sign said ‘only in the mornings’, or for our Spanish speakers, ‘en la mañana’. This is relevant.
I will be Me, the customer will be T, and manager will be S.
Me: -answering the headset- ‘Hi, welcome to -burger place-, can I take your order?’
T: ‘Yeah, give me a sausage biscuit with egg and two hashbrowns.’
Me: ‘I’m sorry sir, we aren’t currently serving breakfast at this time.’
T: ‘Are you f-ing kidding me…fine, what about one of these?’
Me: ‘I’m sorry? What would you like?’
T: ‘One of these mañana things.’
Me: ‘I’m sorry sir, we don’t have a sandwich by that name?’
T: ‘Just give me two of the mañana sandwiches you have on this sign, boy.’
At this point my manager, who was listening in, just chimes in and takes over, waving me to go back to my night cleaning duties.
S: ‘Sir…are you asking for a tomorrow or a morning?’
T: ‘Just give me one of these Freaking mañana sandwiches you idiot!’
S: ‘Man, get out of my drive thru.’
Of course the guy sped off, stopping by the window to shout a few obscenities at us for…not selling him an increment of time? I don’t know how, out of the giant words on the sign, he picked out ‘mañana’ as the name of the sandwich.
And yes, the ice cream machine was down.”
“I Asked For Mayo, Not Mayonnaise”
This was a couple of years ago when I worked at McDonald’s, but it’s a story that I’ve been dying to tell here on Reddit. These two girls come in dressed in wigs and bright clothing, not judging just painting a picture. I take their order, and girl one orders a McChicken meal with a side of mayo, and girl two orders a Happy Meal. At this point we had one “unisex” happy meal toy instead of two toys aimed at boys and girls. So I gather their food, grab a random toy for the happy meal, and I put mayonnaise packets on the tray. The girls go and sit down, and right away girl one comes up with the happy meal toy to complain.
Her: ‘My sister asked for a boy toy, but you gave her a girl toy. You can’t gender her like that.’
Me, not wanting to fight with her: ‘I’m sorry, I’ll grab another one for you.’ I grab all the different options we have so she can pick which one she wants, and she goes back to sit down.
Not two minutes later girl one comes back up with the mayonnaise packets I had put on her tray to complain again.
Me: ‘What can I help you with?’
Her: ‘You gave me mayonnaise packets. I asked for mayo, not mayonnaise.’
Me: ‘Well, mayonnaise and mayo are the same thing, so these should be what you asked for.’
Her: ‘No, they are not. They are two very different condiments. These packets are mayonnaise. The dispenser in the back is mayo, and they are different. I want mayo.’
My manager comes over, and we both try and tell her a couple of times that mayo and mayonnaise are the same thing, but she’s not having it.
Me: ‘Umm okay, I’ll grab some from the back for you.’
Her: ‘As you should.’
Now, even if mayo and mayonnaise are different condiments, the mayo dispenser in the back says mayonnaise on the tube. and both the dispenser and the packets are made by/for McDonald’s, and are the same condiment.
They come up again after they ate to order Frappes, and I didn’t know the machine was broken. Once I learned that, I apologize, give them a refund and offer them any dessert for free. They are not having it and yell at me. Eventually I make them Oreo shakes and they sit down.
As they leave, I’m taking the orders of some college football players, and girl one interrupts us. Her: ‘I just want to let you know this is the worst customer service experience I have ever experienced. You guys are so rude, and the next time you have free time, which I know you will because you are horrible at your job, you should try mayo and mayonnaise to tell the obvious difference. I will be telling corporate about this.’ And she storms out.
College football dude: ‘Do you want me to go outside and beat her up?'”
As Long As They Foot The Bill
“While bartending, I once had a customer ask if I could put my big toe in his shot of Jack before he drank it. At first I thought he was joking, and I was kind of grossed out, but he persisted until I finally asked him, in a joking manner, how much of a tip I was going to get for doing it. He told me $20 and I laughed it off, served some more people, and came back.
He didn’t give up. He offered me $50. I still thought he was joking so I just shook off the request and continued cleaning off some glasses while waiting for someone to order. Then he called me over and finally he offered me $100 and I was like ‘Are you serious? Because I will do that for $100.’ Took my shoe off, stuck my big toe over a shot glass and poured him a Jack. Easiest $100 I’ve made in my entire life.”
I’d Rather Be A Weather Wizard
“We had an outdoor cafe seating area at the restaurant, and on nice days it would usually fill up pretty fast. I was hostessing that day, and a woman walks into the restaurant and asks to be sat outside. There aren’t many open tables (at least that she finds desirable) but she decides on one that is up against the perimeter barrier. There’s an awning outside that covers the tables and does a pretty good job, but not a good enough one for this lady.
She calls me back out after a few minutes and asks ‘Uh, could you do something about (points upward vaguely)…this? The sun is in my eyes.’ I start explaining to her that the awning is out as far as it goes but I could– ‘No, no’ she interrupts, ‘not the awning (and points up more directly)…this.’ She is pointing right at the freaking sun in the sky. I sort of smile for a second, thinking she must be joking, but she remains completely genuine. I figure I must be misunderstanding what she’s asking, but she continues to make it very clear that she wants to remain exactly where she is, doesn’t want to touch the overhead awning, and that I must have a solution for her. I wish I had a picture to show you how serious she was, like she was truly expecting me to shift where the sun was hitting
‘Well, no ma’am I can’t…’ What am I supposed to say here? Can I control the dang sun? Would I be working in some trash restaurant and the middle of nowhere if I could control the weather like that? No. I’d be some sort of wizard. That would be awesome. But I’m not, and I can’t fix the sun’s position in the sky.
I offered to switch her place setting to the other side of the table where she would not be facing the sun, and after an exaggerated sigh she said, ‘Fine, I guess,’ and shook her head as if she was settling for some subpar solution.
By far the weirdest thing a customer has asked of me in earnest. It was just so odd. Still, I prefer the weirdos to the rude people any day.”
“I’d Like A Small Coffee Please, Black.”
“Interestingly enough, the dumbest/strangest thing a customer has ever asked me for is coffee.
Please, allow me to explain.
Last summer I worked in a butcher shop for about three months. Half of the store sold fine drinks and cheese and fresh meat, and the other half was a sandwich shop/deli. I worked in the deli. I live in a small yet very touristy town, so sometimes the lunch rushes can go for a few hundred customers at a time. One day, the last customer of the rush came in around quarter of two. This man was soaking wet, literally dripping on the floor, he had fresh cuts all up his left arm and leg, and a big open wound on his head.
‘I’d like a small coffee please, black.’
I told the man I refused to give him coffee until he explained himself. He very nonchalantly recalled the tale to me, of how he was weed-wacking next to his pond, slipped, got weed whacked across the left side of his body, fell into the pond, got his foot caught in mud, conked his head on a rock, and almost drowned.
He said he wanted to go to town to get some coffee while his niece was fetching medical supplies for him. I guess he couldn’t afford good health insurance, and refused to call the hospital. I gave him the coffee for free.”
Serving The Devil
Super Store
“I was working at a small grocery store in a high-end ski town a few years ago and Harvey Keitel and his wife come in to grab some stuff. At this point I knew not who he was but everyone else was making a big deal out of it. He was fine; no problems with him, but his wife was a royal pain in the rear. She was demanding an egg timer and tongs (which aren’t often stocked in grocery stores) and was making me walk all over the store finding every single item on her list. So I smiled like a good little grocery servant and appeased the queen. I spent almost an hour going around the entire store like a scavenger hunt trying to find every single thing for the Devil – oh sorry, I mean Mrs. Keitel.
Post script to the story: Mr. Keitel later attended a community theater production of Grease I was in, twice, and told our stage manager during intermission that I, personally, brought down the house. Feels good, bro.”