12 People Share Restaurant Unforgettable Scenes That Took a Crazy Turn

Visiting a restaurant is usually a private matter, whether you celebrate an occasion or just want to enjoy a nice meal. But sometimes strange things can happen, and you might witness something you'll never forget. Like it happened with the eyewitnesses of the following stories, who kindly shared their experiences with us.

• One day, a man, his wife, and daughter sat down at a table in a small restaurant. Just as they began eating, a strange man entered. The father froze, staring at him with visible horror and disgust.
  The man noticed, walked straight over to their table, and<strong> kissed the mother on the lips. “Still pretending you don’t remember me?” he said with a wink, then strolled off to the bar like it was the most normal thing in the world.
  The man jumped out of his chair. He grabbed his daughter by one hand and his wife by the other, and they ran out the door, jumped into their car, and were gone—just like that.
  The owner saw it happen, but it was so fast he couldn’t stop the eccentric man in time. Instead, he just yelled, “Hey, you crazy fool! Damn you! Those people didn’t pay yet! You’re buying their meal!”
  Which he cheerfully did.
• My friend was on a first date. The waitress said, “Hi, I'm Sally, I'll be your server tonight.” My friend responds by shaking her hand and introducing herself, then realizing what she did was totally awkward, and she was mortified. Now, she's engaged to the dude who took her on the date. © trippindicular / Reddit

• I was in a restaurant the day a man sent his soup back three times—“too cold,” “too hot,” and finally “too mysterious.” When the chef finally came out, smiling sweetly, the man smirked, “You finally got it right?” The chef placed a fresh bowl in front of him and said, “Actually, this one is...
  just water. You can pretend it’s soup.”
  The man stormed out, yelling, “You can’t serve water! This is fraud!” The staff applauded as the door swung shut behind him.
• There's a 24-hour diner near me that normally only has a handful of tables late. Went in after working a show. The waitress told us to help ourselves to drink refills, and she sat and watched true-crime shows at a table near us. © ravenrec12 / Reddit
• My first week in Germany, where I was sent by my company to work in one of their offices there. Went to a restaurant, totally unfamiliar with German cuisine. I saw the waiter bring a dish to a nearby table that looked good, so I pointed to it to my waiter.
  When the dish arrived, I took my first bite and couldn't stand the taste as it was some sort of liver dish, and I HATE liver. I asked the waiter for the check, and he saw my practically untouched plate and asked me what was wrong, and I simply replied that I didn't much care for it.
  He took the plate into the kitchen and out came the chef, quite upset, and wanted to know what was wrong with the dish. I explained that I didn't like liver, and I didn't know that was what I ordered. He was furious and refused my offer for payment and ordered me out of the restaurant. © HiBrucke6 / Reddit

• It was at the quiet café when a woman got up to use the restroom. 10 min passed. Then 15. The waiter knocked—no answer. Still locked.
  Finally, the door creaked open. She stepped out, face bright red. She took a breath, glanced nervously around, and said, “I… I think I just spent ten minutes in the men’s room.”
  She didn’t wait for reactions—just turned and practically sprinted out the door, clearly trying to escape before crossing paths with whoever she'd accidentally walked in on.
  Moments later, a man strolled out of the men’s restroom, drying his hands, and asked, “Did anyone else hear a woman apologizing to the urinal... and then locking herself in a stall?” The whole café went dead silent for half a second—then exploded with laughter.
• I was in training as a waiter at a steak restaurant on 6th Street in Austin, Texas, and I was on the lunch shift. I had a large party of local city council people and some other unidentified high rollers. Yeah, I was pretty nervous.
  This restaurant had a strange system of dispensing salad dressings, which was to put them in "monkey bowls" which were small metal bowls with no covers. Since I had a large party, my tray was full of salad dressing-filled monkey bowls - blue cheese, ranch & thousand island.
  Somehow, as I approached the table, my tray got off balance and the bowls of dressing all hit the floor and sent up a geyser of dressing that nicely splattered against some of the people at the table.
  The restaurant went silent, and I'm standing there at the table with everyone looking at me. I said, "Damn, I can't believe I missed the city councilman!" and everyone broke up laughing. That's probably one of the best things I've ever said in my life, as it saved me. © texasstorm / Reddit

• I live in the New Orleans area, and one lovely Saturday the wife and I took our daughters to the French Quarter to just wander around a bit and then have a bite to eat. While we were walking around, a Balloon Guy on the street made some balloon animals for my girls.
  We sat at a small table in a little restaurant right off the Quarter. When the food came, we had a hard time shifting everything around to fit all the plates. It wasn't even a lot of food; the table was just that small.
  While shifting things around, my oldest daughter managed to knock a nearly full bottle of ketchup on the floor with a resounding mixture of "smash" and "splat". Following right behind the ketchup was her balloon animal, which fell neatly onto the shards of glass. Each little tied off section of the balloon animal ruptured on its own, which produced a loud series of "POP POP POP POP POP POP".
  When it was finally silent, the restaurant erupted into a mix of laughter and cheers. My poor daughter crossed her arms on the table and hid her face. I couldn't help but laugh as I stroked her head and tried to assure her that everything was fine. When she finally picked her head up, the poor kid was beet-red from embarrassment. © MysteryBowler / Reddit
• My most embarrassing restaurant story is when I was meeting my wife, kids, and mother-in-law after work for dinner. I had gotten caught up at work and was already running a little late, then during the drive I had a bit of a gurgling in my gut. I didn't want to stop and postpone getting to the restaurant, so I just clenched and prayed.
  By the time I got to the restaurant, I ran straight inside to the restrooms. It wasn't until after I had sat down and gotten to business that I realized that I had run into the ladies' room. It was a happy hour at a fairly popular place, so the stream of women coming and going did not seem to stop.
  I was probably in there for 20 to 30 minutes before I felt it was clear enough to make a break for it. At least it gave me a chance to come up with a plausible story for when I finally did make it to the table to my awaiting family. © areser0321 / Reddit

• Once I went to a Pizza Hut with my family wearing this black shirt with orange flames (I must've been about 16/17, don't judge me!). Upon sitting down a family walks in with young kids (under 10) one of which is a young boy who was wearing EXACTLY the same flaming shirt as I was wearing! Needless to say, I felt like putting real flames to that shirt there and then to save the embarrassment of owning something a kid half my age is wearing. © TheKeiron / Reddit
• When I was about 13, my family and I were eating breakfast at a restaurant while we were on holiday. My brother told me that if you shake the little coffee creamers long enough, they will turn into butter. Vigorously shaking the cream, my father warned me to stop or else the creamer would explode.
  Not listening, I continued shaking the cream, and while the waitress was busy taking our order, the cream exploded all over her face. My parents were both angry, the waitress was a mess, I was embarrassed, and my brother was dying of laughter. © rico899 / Reddit
• When our dog was still a puppy, he had an accident on the restaurant floor. A waiter slipped in it. © dieukulele / Reddit

If you'd like to read more restaurant stories, check out our next article, 13 Unexpected Stories From Waiters Who Could Write a Book About Their Customers.