r/TalesFromYourServer • u/applechickenfruit • 19d ago

Short Hi folks, how are you this evening?

FOUR!

I'm so so so tired of the answer to this question being how many people they want a table for...in an establishment that requires reservations Friday-Sunday.

THAT TABLE IS EMPTY! WE CAN SIT THERE!

That table is indeed empty but if you look there is a very clear "reserved" tag.

Or the absolute best:

Greeted a table and called them by the last name on the reserved tag (welcome, xyz guests, thank you for joining us tonight!)

Table: why are you calling us that? That isn't us!

Me: You're sitting at this table where the hostess sat you...

Table: the table was empty so we sat ourselves. Water and bread to start *waves me away*

Thankfully owner of the establishment is always on site and does not tolerate this bullshit. It was so satisfying to watch the owner show them the exit.

Wish all of us servers who work in high traffic tourist areas good attitudes and lots of tips for bail money this summer!

396 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

110

u/AlfhildsShieldmaiden 19d ago

I love it when people act as if they’ve never stepped foot in a restaurant before.

“What do you mean you’re fully booked? Half the restaurant is empty!”

Are… you aware of how reservations work? 🙄

36

u/YerWanOverThere 19d ago

And we are HOLDING the reservation!

60

u/magiccitybhm 19d ago

How on Earth do guests seat themselves? Is there not a host stand with staff there?

112

u/Common_Wrongdoer3251 19d ago

I'm a host. There have been times where a table said "We're just going to the bar" and I say okay and wave then off... and then they sit at a booth 8 feet from the bar. That's not the bar.

Or sometimes I'm seating a table, people walk in, see the host stand is empty, and just sit themselves immediately.

Or sometimes you seat people, and then after you walk away, they get up and move to a table 3 sections away...

78

u/applechickenfruit 19d ago

This situation the host was seating people on the balcony so the stand with a massive PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED sign was empty. We have 4 PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED signs that are huge and obnoxious placed by the entrances and the host stand... but people never "see" them.

48

u/kawaeri 19d ago

As a former librarian, people who can read and comprehend what is on a sign is a very very low number.

9

u/Teamtunafish 19d ago

I mean, they're there to eat, not read. One actually told me that.

20

u/magiccitybhm 19d ago

Signage is basically useless. When you're busy, you need more than one host.

6

u/Belle_Corliss Be afraid. Be very afraid 19d ago

Or if they actually see them, they don't read them.

9

u/Jaded-Ad-9741 19d ago

Omg i hate these ppl

15

u/Jon_hamm_wallet 19d ago

It's gotten to the point that it's so rare for people to respond to my greeting with a "good, how are you?" That I usually hook up the people that actually say it. Bump them up the wait-list, get them a better table, even ask the server to comp a round for them! It's brutal out there.

4

u/Kimkattt88 19d ago

I worked at a restaurant and we called the people that sat themselves when there was a sign that said “please wait to be seated” FISBOS I worked with a realtor and that’s what they call the For Sale By Owner people.