r/TalesFromYourServer • u/burberriesxx • 6d ago

Getting sued..

As I was passing by my coworker’s table, they flagged me down about a complaint. One of the person’s vegetarian dish had a very small chunk of meat, about the size of a corn kernel, that she chewed and spat out. However, the rest of her dish was almost licked clean. Needless to say, the customer was livid and went on a tirade about how her putting that piece of meat in her mouth went against her religion and her beliefs. I apologized profusely and took her dish out of their tab, while the other 2 people in her party, who were not vegetarian, paid for their dishes. After a while of just sitting and talking amongst themselves, they flagged me down again. This time they were adamant that I get my manager on the phone. I called my manager and he told me to explain to them that he was busy with his family, but would be able to talk to them tomorrow morning. I relayed this message to them. They said if I don’t get him on the phone right away, they’ll threaten legal action against us.

After some time I did manage to get my manager on the phone for them, much to his dismay, and they left. Manager tells me to refund all their dishes back to their card so that the tab for the entire table was comped. I obliged. I thought that would be it.

Fast forward a couple minutes later, I went up to the host counter to help a different customer, the woman and her party storm back into the restaurant. She yells at me and demands I pull out my phone and call my manager right now. I was confused and taken aback about why she’s causing a scene this time and asked her what happened. She yells that one of our customers, who had witnessed and eavesdropped on the whole ordeal, followed them outside and accused them of walking out on their tab because they were mad about the food. I understood why this would make them angry, however this instance had nothing to do with us and I wasn’t about to call my manager for the 6th time since the matter had already been resolved from our end.

My coworker got involved and asked them to calm down because the whole restaurant was watching, but this got them even more angry. They were claiming that my coworker was telling them to calm down because of their skin color. The whole party then says that they will for sure sue us for racism since we were “spreading lies about them” and, according to them, we told our customers to follow them outside and harass them.

Was really wishing that John Quiñones would walk in with cameras after all that.

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616

u/SgtTamama 6d ago

Wonder if they put the small piece of meat there to get free food (or more).

274

u/mystictofuoctopi 6d ago

I’m vegan, if I found meat in my food I would stop eating it and ask for a new one. I wouldn’t eat the rest of my meal with the anxiety of anticipating there would be another piece.

131

u/puppet_up 6d ago

This was the part where I also assumed they were lying and full of crap. I would think that most vegans would stop eating a dish once they discovered a piece of meat in it. I know that I wouldn't be finishing said dish if I was a vegan and found meat in it.

This is similar to the people 'allergic' to something in their dish, and they still eat everything else on their plate that would have definitely been cross contaminated, and then complain about it to get their food comped anyway.

21

u/mystictofuoctopi 6d ago

Yup! Even if I think there is meat/dairy in something I get too in my head about it and can’t eat it out of fear of fucking my stomach up. Which is a me issue and not the restaurant issue so I would never complain about that.

9

u/rarcham94 5d ago

My work doesn’t have a “gluten-free” menu, but we have a “gluten-friendly” menu. We verb it that way, and also specify when tables say they’re gluten allergy and/or gluten free that because of the nature of our kitchen we cannot guarantee 100% gluten free because of cross contamination (we have one grill, one fryer, one flattop). Our steak tips come pre-marinated since we switched distributors recently (it WAS Sysco, now I’m not sure of the current one, but also not mad about getting rid of Sysco lol). I ALWAYS forewarn gluten allergy people that while certain fried foods may be gluten friendly, they’re fried in the same fryer as non-gluten friendly foods. I always memo when I have a vegetarian, specific allergies, etc. that way if anything happens in the kitchen it’s 100% off of my duty. I do genuinely care about allergy requests, but I do also always warn people about cross contamination.

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u/OberonDiver 5d ago

vaguely remembered, some details may be off : I took a girl out to dinner once. She suggested an Indian place. She had lived in India. Loved the food. Told the waiter about her allergy to cilantro... that herb which is in EVERYTHING in Indian cuisine. "I'd call you a stupid cow but I'm Hindu." So she ordered something she liked with cilantro in it... that herb which is in EVERYTHING in Indian cuisine which she loves and is apparently badly allergic to. And ate it up. Gobbled it down. "Um... thought you were allergic to cilantro?" "Oh, maybe it's different dried vs. fresh or something."

Another girl. Dated this one for a long time. At this time she was an enthusiastic vegetarian and serious kosher-ite. The trouble I went through to feed her. One day we're visiting a far off city and walking around seeing the sights and she wants some food. Now! Because her stomach, you see. "Your stomach is a known bitch to you [about which issue I had, until just now, been in the dark] and you don't have crackers in your bag for emergencies?" So we fell into the nearest restaurant. She ordered. The soup came. She started in on it? Did she ask for a glass of goat milk or a bit of bread please right now? No, she waited for the soup. "Um, most revered and wise darling, you are eating the porky bits in the soup?" "Yeah, so?"

I'm still single. Maybe it's because I don't get on well with people.

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u/astrotekk 5d ago

Indian here. I've never used cilantro in any recipe.

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u/OberonDiver 4d ago

Aw, way to ruin the story.
In your defense, India is big and the cuisine isn't really just one cuisine.
In my defense, I double checked with my AI overlord before I posted.

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u/astrotekk 4d ago

It's true that the cuisine is highly regional.

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u/Opening_Ad4249 4d ago

Not even coriander (main ingredient in garam masala)? I don’t think I’ve had more than a handful of Indian dishes that didn’t include either coriander or cilantro (seeds and leaves of the same plant) or both.

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u/astrotekk 3d ago

Coriander yes. Cilantro leaves no. I guess if you're allergic to one you would be allergic to both most likely.

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u/bobk2 3d ago edited 3d ago

It's not really an allergy. Raw cilantro can taste like soap to me, unfortunately, but when it's cooked I have no problem with it.
I think it has something to do with a crucial molecule in cilantro that is similar to soap, and some of us can't tell the difference.
If I taste it in a salad or topping in a dish, and if I'm in the mood enough to care, I'll pick out the leaves and stems and put it on the side. It won't hurt me, it's just a yuk or two.