20 People Who Had an Unforgettable Experience at a Restaurant

For some people, going to a restaurant or cafe is a special occasion. A person tries to dress up and have a great dinner or evening. For others, on the contrary, it’s something ordinary. But both of these groups can experience stories that are funny, embarrassing and fascinating.

• I remembered my most ridiculous and fateful date in October. We didn’t know each other personally, but we knew each other through mutual friends. He wanted to meet me very badly. So one day, he texted me, “Hey, let’s meet.”
  I was young and wanted romance, especially in October. He invited me to a restaurant. I walked into the restaurant in a beautiful dress and high heels. It was evening, almost all the tables were occupied. Waiters were running past me.
  I stepped forward, and suddenly a waiter with a tray in his hands fell on me. It was hard to keep my balance in stilettos, and we flew across the slippery floor straight into the center of the room. I hit the man’s legs with all my might, and the waiter flew further away. I raised my head and saw the astonished face of a man I landed on.
  “Who are you?!” he asked perplexedly.
  “Lara,” I said embarrassed, removing salad leaves from my hair.
  He held out his hand to me, helped me up, and sat me down at his table. I never got to meet my date. But I met my future husband. © Anonymous 03 / VK

• I was in a restaurant with my child and a friend. My daughter is very sociable and started a small talk with the men at the neighboring table: “Misters, where are your misses?” They say they don’t have them.
  My daughter says, “Maybe you could look after Aunt Tana then? Because she complained that there is no one to take care of her. No one looked after my hamster, and it started to smell bad.”
  Everyone lay down on the table laughing. The waiters wept. The friend left the restaurant in a hurry. © Happiness is simple / VK
• I worked in a chain of expensive restaurants in Canada, and we had a guest who ordered expensive dishes, could order for $200 and tip $1,000. One day they were celebrating something. He was wearing an expensive watch, and our waiter praised it.
  So the guest took it off his hand and gave it to him as a gift. Next morning he came back to the restaurant. The waiter was back on shift. He thought that the man came back to take back his present. The guest said, “I gave you my watch yesterday, I feel awkward about it.”
  The waiter handed over the watch, saying, “Here it is, safe and sound.” And the man replied, “You misunderstood me. It’s not nice to give a secondhand watch.” And he hands our employee a box with a new watch of the same brand. © ChillOut Best Stories / VK
• When I was 3 years old, my father opened a business and worked 24/7. He took us to a restaurant as a family once, and the waitress decided to make me laugh.
  — Baby, who’s Mummy’s husband?
  — Daddy.
  — And who’s Daddy’s wife?
  I blurted out something that made my parents blush, “Work.” From that moment on, my father spent more time at home. © Overheard / Ideer

“The amount of uncooked bacon fat in my wife’s ‘traditional’ Italian restaurant’s carbonara.”

• I’ve never had much luck with waiters. They were either rude, or inattentive students.
  But recently I had lunch at a place near my work. It had home-cooked food, a cozy atmosphere, and not many guests. Everyone was served by a nice lady, who was very attentive and polite. I had never had such a great and somehow homely reception, even in fancy venues.
  When paying, I decided to express my sincere admiration and thank her for the delicious food. I told her that it was the first time I saw this kind attitude to a client. And she replied, “I’m the owner, I try my best to keep people coming back and making them feel at home!” Take note, guys, who work as waiters! © Chamber 6 / VK
• A friend asked me to help her prepare for her first date (hair, makeup, manicure). We spent half a day, but at the appointed time he didn’t call. She decided to call him herself to figure out what happened. It turned out that he had some accident and asked to postpone the date.
  We decided to go to a restaurant ourselves so that the beauty we’d made would not be lost. At a restaurant, we met that guy with his wife and 2 children. When seeing us, he and his family moved to the furthest corner. I was tempted to approach his wife and show her his profile on the dating website. But we decided to stay out of it. © Overheard / Ideer
• We went to a cafe, sat down at a table, made an order. Then I noticed that the waitress serving us was vaguely familiar, but unfriendly. She threw the menu and talked to me rudely. So, I asked her, “Do we know each other?”
  She replied, “Of course we do. You cribbed off from my work in the sixth grade and got an A, and I got a B. Although I think I’m better.” I was stunned, but decided to leave her a tip. I hope she did the math without any problems.

“Sandwiches but boiled egg instead of bread.”

• So my wife had a doctor’s appointment today, about 90 minutes from home, so I decided to take the day off and go with her. After her appointment, we decided to hit up a restaurant before heading home. It’s a nationwide chain.
  A boomer couple sit in a booth across from us, when the lady boomer spills her sweet tea all over the table. The waitress rushes over with a towel and a tray, proceeds to slide the tray under the edge of the table, in an attempt to catch most of it before it goes all over her (the boomer) and the floor. Mr. Boomer decides that he will not sit at a wet table and begins to grab their silverware, salad plates, etc., and moves a couple booths down the line, all while the waitress is attempting to clean the mess the Mrs. made.
  The waitress grabs another towel and waits patiently for Mr. Boomer to get out of the way. He then grabs the Mrs. glass, puts it right in the waitresses face and says, “You be sure to refill my wife’s sweet tea. It’s sweet tea, not regular.” The waitress turns her head in my direction, where she plainly sees me, with my mouth hanging wide open, and just stares. I was dumbfounded! Was this guy for real!? © sagitalistheway / Reddit
• I once sat in a restaurant courtyard, eating, not touching anyone. It was crowded there, chairs and tables were right next to each other. And suddenly someone licked my left ear. I froze at first from surprise.
  Then I turned round and saw a small dog standing on the chair behind me. Resting its paws on the back of the chair, it was looking at me with interest, while the owners had gone somewhere. © Overheard / Ideer

“Ah yes, serving food in a container made for fish at a vegan restaurant.”

• I haven’t seen my friend for 6 months, we are sitting in a cafe. She asks me what interesting has happened in my life during this time. My story lasted no more than 2 minutes, my friend managed to yawn a couple of times, and at the end the guy at the next table said, “Miss, I apologize for interfering, but I feel really sorry for you.” © Overheard / Ideer
• My girlfriend and I were going to an event last Friday and wanted a small meal beforehand. At dinner time, we went to a Japanese restaurant we frequent. We both ordered a miso soup and one of their classic rolls (a little over $20 for that and a coke). The waitress scowled at our order and as she collected the menus she says, “Next time, just order online takeout, okay?”
  I work in the retail service industry myself and found this an insane comment to make to a customer. When she put our bill down and collected it with haste and no comment, I decided I was not tipping her at all. I’ve discussed the situation with my coworkers and a few have commented “that’s rude, but I’d never not tip” and obviously judged me for it. © ScoresMann223 / Reddit
• Once, as a student, I was sitting with a guy in a cafe. A popular song was playing on the radio in the background, and then he kissed me. There was nothing serious between us, we broke up after a couple of months.
  But it’s been 15 years, and when I hear this song somewhere, I automatically remember, “Oh, Mike and I kissed under this song!” I don’t know why this happens: I didn’t like the song, and Mike was not the love of my life, but for some reason my brain decided that it was necessary to remember it! © Overheard / Ideer

“We were at a restaurant where they serve tacos in this unusual way.”

• A few years ago, I met a perfect woman. We met on a dating site, chatted for a month and decided to meet in real life. We sat down in a cafe, ordered tea and cakes.
  After about 15 minutes, she said, “Let’s go to my place to eat dumplings.” So I stayed with her for 3 days, and we were dating for about a year. She later confessed to me that the idea with dumplings was a 100% chance to win over a man she liked. © Overheard / Ideer
• We went with the kids to a kid’s club. The club had a quite decent restaurant. It was not the first time we spent time there. We made an order and waited, the children’s entertainment program began.
  2 hours later there was still no food, the children started to run up and ask if there was something to eat. And not only ours. The hall was full of people and everyone had a questioning expression on their faces. We asked our waiter, he made big eyes and promised that food would be ready soon.
  We waited another half an hour, and my husband went to the neighboring fast food restaurant to get some French fries for the kids. When he brought them back, the waiters quickly appeared and said that it wasn’t allowed. We were already pissed and shouted at them. They disappeared.
  Then a new waiter approached us with 2 cocktails on the house. He admitted that the cook had been out last night and was in no condition to work. Another cook was called in, but he had just arrived and started cooking earlier orders. Would we wait? We cursed them and left and never went there again, of course. © Tatiana Lobanova / ADME
• Once on holiday we went to a tavern. And we waited for our order for more than 2 hours. People around us came, ate and left. I ordered a well-done steak. In the end, the steak came raw with sauce in a separate plate. We were hungry and tired, and we still had a couple of hours to drive.
  It turned out they were looking for the zucchinis we ordered all over town. And we told them that we were hungry and tired. And they were looking for the bloody zucchinis and not bringing the rest of the order!
  If they told us, they were out of them, we’d have ordered something else. The interesting thing is that there were 4 of us, and we all ordered different dishes. Only one dish of them contained zucchinis. © Diana / ADME
• Let me tell you about how we had our first dinner in Bulgaria. Flight, customs, transfer... We were tired and hungry. We went to the nearest restaurant to have a normal dinner for the first time in a day.
  We were surprised by the low prices, so we asked the waiter, “Is it per dish or 100 grams?” The waiter was surprised, but confirmed that it was per portion. We ordered soup, salad, some vegetables...
  They brought almost a liter of soup, a pan with grilled vegetables, a bowl of salad. Instead of bread, they brought a huge flatbread. The waiter, looking conspiratorial, whispered, “I made you bigger portions.” We were blown away! From then on, we took only one portion for 2 people. © SpikaTheMerc / Pikabu

And if you would like to know what restaurants are worth visiting, check out this article. Professional chefs shared their tips there.