Types of customers at a restaurant

The sweet, the creepy, and the clingy

By Tania Arora, Staff Writer

I have been a server for almost two years now and I can surely say that I never get bored of my job. Every day I come across hundreds of people and just four won’t be enough to categorize them all, but I am sure every reader can relate to this. Which one are you?

The tongue-entwined couple:


If you are one of those couples who displays all the affection and love for your partner nowhere on earth except exclusively at the restaurant I work at, then you need to hear this—GET A ROOM! It becomes so awkward for a server to go to the table to do their job and actually be like “Hey, can you take that hand of her skirt or his crotch and pass me that plate because I am not able to reach that far?” Or if you’re lucky: “Can you actually take that tongue out of your partner’s gaping mouth and tell me how the food tastes or if you need anything? I want to ensure that my job is done, and I am not screwed for not giving my best shot even though you people are disgusting.”

People who think everyone is a server:

Yes, the food and beverage industry is all about serving the best of delicacies with top notch service and everyone you see under that roof is there to do the same. BUT… there is a reason that a person is assigned to serve a particular section. When you take a seat your server comes to you to greet you, asks you how you are and generally screams their name in your face to clarify that it is exclusively them that that will serve you tonight. These subtle social cues basically translate that the same person is your point of contact all night. But this category of people will stop every person, their mother, their extended family, and their long-lost estranged brother walking past them to ask for something. Like, what?

The grumpy ones:

I feel bad for such kind of people. I feel like going up to them and asking, “Hey, did someone slap you in your face or steal your money?” They are always rude and grumpy all the time and act as if the server is the reason behind all the decades of accumulated personal problems in their life. 

Poor joke category:

Yes, even if you crack the dumbest of all jokes, I would still laugh. But then this category of dumb-joke crackers won’t stop after one… every single time you go to their table, they crack a poor joke. God bless the soul of the server who has the strength to laugh at every single one of those jokes.

A whole 5,000-word essay could be written on the types of people existing in a restaurant. No matter how your day was and who you are with, you have no right to ruin the day of your server. The least you can do is be considerate and sweet and who knows? Maybe you’ll actually get good service once you deserve it.