I finally bit the bullet and decided to try going to a restaurant yesterday for lunch with my mom. We were at the mall and ended up at Red Robin. I have been there a bunch of times before surgery and knew that had some healthy options.

When the waitress came to take our drink order I let her know I do not want anything. My mom orders iced tea. She comes back to the table with my moms iced tea and a big glass of water for me. I tell her that I didn't order any water, and could she please remove it. She gives an attitude. When she comes back for our order, I let her know that I am very nervous because it is my 1st time ordering out at a restaurant since COVID #1, and I also tell her about my surgery #2, and let her know I am nervous about ordering because I want to make sure the order is correct, as I can not eat certain things. She rolls her eyes, starts to talk really fast, and is now rushing us. Mind you there is hardly anyone in the restaurant at this time. It is after the noon time rush. She literally had only 1 other table besides ours.

I decide on the Turkey Burger, ask if its grilled and she tells me yes. I let her know I am on a very strict eating plan, and can not have butter, oil, salt, etc. I want it plain and on a lettuce wrap with tomato only. She asks me if I still want the chipotle mayo and I let her know I can not do spicy anything. I ask what the side options are that are healthy and I chose broccoli. My mom orders the veggie burger with the lettuce wrap, and broccoli as well.

Our food gets to the table. Mine looks great so I take a bite and burn my tongue because it had the friggin chipotle mayo I told them I did not want. I hate spicy and couldn't even do it before the surgery. Upon further investigation, I see that the tomato is missing also. My moms is in a regular bun after she told them she wanted the lettuce wrap. My mom motions to her and she clearly sees her and ignores us. We finally see the manager go by and motion to him. He comes over and we explain what is going on. We let him know about the mistakes and we just want them fixed. My mom even says that it is not the waitresses fault but probably whoever made the sandwiches.

Here comes the waitress again now with our corrected order. She never apologizes, gives us a major attitude, mumbles something under her breath and walks away before we could even check our food. I double check to make sure my order is right, this time their is no mayo on it, but my tomato is missing again! OMG My moms was correct this time. I didn't even bother to ask again because at this point we just wanted to hurry up and eat and leave.

Time for the check....she tells us as she is walking by in a very fast speaking tone that we can check out using the table top kiosk. My mom was buying and always uses cash, she tries getting her attention once again to ask her how does it work, as we only know it to use a card. When we look at the total we knew it was wrong because it was for 2 orders of everything we got. Now my mom is pissed (it takes a lot). She gets up and gets the manager, explains how the girl has been rude to us the entire time, orders wrong, etc. The manager tells us we owe nothing, and we ate for free. He also tells us that he is firing the waitress today. Ummmm ok that is your problem and not for our knowledge, but now at least we know why.

Wow! What a bad 1st experience that was. I am afraid to try other places.

Wow, what a hot mess. She deserves to be fired, not for the mistakes but for the attitude. It’s called customer service industry for a reason. Sorry for your bad experience.

I am sorry you had this experience, but right now there is a serious shortage of people willing to work for the poverty wages that restaurants pay. Usually restaurants pay just over $2 an hour (yes, less than minimum wage) because they figure people will make up the difference in tips. So, be very kind to your servers and tip more than 20% especially when you have a special order. My semi-ex-boyfriend and I went to Red Robin last weekend and we had to wait for a table even though the place was empty because they only had two servers. When we sat down, realized the server was brand new, and it was a bit painful, but we just tried to be patient. Despite many mistakes, I tipped over 20%.

Don't complain if the server brings you a water you don't want - just don't drink it. That's just rude; she was clearly doing her job as it was described to her in her employee manual. It doesn't hurt you to have the water sitting on the table undrunk.

Maybe try a more expensive place or someplace that's not a chain if you want personalized service. Red Robin is a low-end burger joint.

Actually the restaurants I have worked at in college had to pay minimum wage if you do not claim at least that much in tips. You probably wouldn’t be employed there very long if that was the case more than once in a while but they do make minimum wage. Not that minimum wage makes it much better. I agree waitresses work very hard for their money and it’s way too often that they get shafted in tips, But it’s still not an excuse to roll your eyes and mumble under your breath at someone.

On the topic of waiters... I just spent a week in Naples, FL on vacation. At one restaurant (upscale, indeed), the waitress - who was amazing, btw - told us she pulls "a couple thousand" a week. Didn't mention what a "couple" means....
At a different restaurant (lunch-type, less posh), the waiter told us he's on track to make six figures this year. Both in their early twenties. We asked about cost of living and both mentioned renting 2bd apartments for $1,400-$1600 a month, split with roommates.
If I were young and hungry, I'd chase the money and move around where things are happening.

3 minutes ago, dms75 said:

On the topic of waiters... I just spent a week in Naples, FL on vacation. At one restaurant (upscale, indeed), the waitress - who was amazing, btw - told us she pulls "a couple thousand" a week. Didn't mention what a "couple" means....
At a different restaurant (lunch-type, less posh), the waiter told us he's on track to make six figures this year. Both in their early twenties. We asked about cost of living and both mentioned renting 2bd apartments for $1,400-$1600 a month, split with roommates.
If I were young and hungry, I'd chase the money and move around where things are happening.

Martha’s Vineyard is like that. During season they bank some serious cash.

13 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

Martha’s Vineyard is like that. During season they bank some serious cash.

Yes, and OP should go to a restaurant where servers are making bank, not Red Robin, if she wants a fine dining experience.

Just now, lizonaplane said:

Yes, and OP should go to a restaurant where servers are making bank, not Red Robin, if she wants a fine dining experience.

What does OP mean?

1 minute ago, ShoppGirl said:

What does OP mean?

Original Poster

On 06/08/2021 at 15:20, lizonaplane said:

Yes, and OP should go to a restaurant where servers are making bank, not Red Robin, if she wants a fine dining experience.

Every paying customer deserves a respectful and pleasant experience. Yes, it’s Red Robin, but that doesn’t mean a server should be unprofessional.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, but there are things you can do as a customer to make things go more smoothly. Yes, it's her job to serve you, but it looks like you might have overwhelmed her by giving her so much information about your situation. She just wanted to take your order, and probably wasn't prepared to hear your whole story about your COVID anxiety, your surgery, your medical restrictions, etc.. It's not really fair to put that responsibility on the server. It's probably standard protocol for them to bring water to people who don't order a beverage, and assuming you didn't get charged for it (which you typically don't, even if you ask for water), did it hurt anything to have an extra glass of water sitting on the table? It's good to be assertive about what you need, but you don't need to go out of your way to make additional demands.

@HealthyLifeStyle I'm sorry I was so harsh yesterday. I didn't realize how irritable I was from lack of sleep. I agree with everything @BigSue said, but I could have been nicer in my response, like she was.

20 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Wow, what a hot mess. She deserves to be fired, not for the mistakes but for the attitude. It’s called customer service industry for a reason. Sorry for your bad experience.

TY Like I said it takes a lot for my mom who is 74 yrs old to get mad. This waitress was just being very rude to us.

20 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

I am sorry you had this experience, but right now there is a serious shortage of people willing to work for the poverty wages that restaurants pay. Usually restaurants pay just over $2 an hour (yes, less than minimum wage) because they figure people will make up the difference in tips. So, be very kind to your servers and tip more than 20% especially when you have a special order. My semi-ex-boyfriend and I went to Red Robin last weekend and we had to wait for a table even though the place was empty because they only had two servers. When we sat down, realized the server was brand new, and it was a bit painful, but we just tried to be patient. Despite many mistakes, I tipped over 20%.

Don't complain if the server brings you a Water you don't want - just don't drink it. That's just rude; she was clearly doing her job as it was described to her in her employee manual. It doesn't hurt you to have the water sitting on the table undrunk.

Maybe try a more expensive place or someplace that's not a chain if you want personalized service. Red Robin is a low-end burger joint.

There was no shortage of waitress/or waiters at this place. I know first hand about being a waitress as I was one for various places, including low and high end. She was just extremely rude to us for no reason. When I go out I always tip at least 20% and if they are extra nice I tip more. TY

19 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Actually the restaurants I have worked at in college had to pay minimum wage if you do not claim at least that much in tips. You probably wouldn’t be employed there very long if that was the case more than once in a while but they do make minimum wage. Not that minimum wage makes it much better. I agree waitresses work very hard for their money and it’s way too often that they get shafted in tips, But it’s still not an excuse to roll your eyes and mumble under your breath at someone.

TY I worked as a waitress so I know exactly what it is like. I always got paid less than minimum wage plus tips. She was just plain rude to us.

19 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

Yes, and OP should go to a restaurant where servers are making bank, not Red Robin, if she wants a fine dining experience.

I did not want a fine dining experience. I simply wanted the waitress to be nice.