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.

19 hours ago, GummyBearQueen said:

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

TY not be rude to myself and my elderly mom. She was very rude to us.

13 hours ago, BigSue said:

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.

Ok so the only reason I told her no water was because that was a suggestion from someone else on here when I told everyone I was apprehensive about eating out for the 1st time. I really didn't think about it, but I guess I just didn't have to take that advice and could have had the water sitting there. No biggie there. I was very nice about it when I asked to have it removed.

My story was very short and all I said was that it was my 1st time out since Covid and that I was on a strict eating plan. It took all of 30 seconds to tell her that.

I certainly didn't go out of my way to make any "demands". I simply told her no oil, butter, or salt, or mayo. Lettuce wrap and add tomato. My moms order was veggie burger with lettuce wrap and it came in a bun. How is that being demanding?

Our order was messed up twice, and the waitress was very rude to us from the beginning. So tell me again how did I make "additional demands"????

I was told by different people on here that I shouldn't be nervous about letting wait staff know about my dietary needs, and now after this experience, I am more nervous about eating out than I was in the 1st place.

The thing is it sounds like you basically made up your own menu. If you have to say no to 4 different things, change something, and add something else...that's a lot. I've also been a waitress before and if someone asked me to remove the free water I would also probably immediately flag them as a "difficult" table that wasn't going to tip me.

I've eaten at a lot of restaurants since my surgery and haven't had an issue. Red Robin probably isn't the kind of place to go though. It's easiest to go to a health focused kind of restaurant first where all you have to do is find some lean protein on the menu.

I think that how one treats a waitress is just about as controversial as abortion or politics. I have seen spouses argue over this on more than one occasion. I can only speak to My personal experience and as a waitress I would not have found ANYTHING you described as overwhelming or a burden. I would have thought to myself wow this person is telling me they are anxious and if I don’t turn this around I am not gonna get a decent tip.

And I don’t even care if you had asked for a water and then asked me to take it away as long as you asked me politely. (Granted I would have thought you were crazy but I wouldn’t have cared). And I wouldn’t care how many changes you made to the food because I am not preparing it. The only thing I had to do was enter it into the computer. I would have honestly heard you that you were anxious and had some dietary concerns and thought to myself challenge accepted and figured out how to make you happy.

Now the fact that your order got messed up twice was most likely the kitchen. Assuming she entered it into the computer correctly and that itself can be frustrating to a waitress cause they can do everything right and still get a crappy tip cause the kitchen messed up. I wouldn’t let this experience cause you more anxiety or stop you from eating out though. Most people i have known in customer service WANT you to tell them exactly what you want so they can give it to you because that’s what makes happy people and happy people tip well and make for happy managers.

2 hours ago, LaoDaBeirut said:

The thing is it sounds like you basically made up your own menu. If you have to say no to 4 different things, change something, and add something else...that's a lot. I've also been a waitress before and if someone asked me to remove the free Water I would also probably immediately flag them as a "difficult" table that wasn't going to tip me.

I've eaten at a lot of restaurants since my surgery and haven't had an issue. Red Robin probably isn't the kind of place to go though. It's easiest to go to a health focused kind of restaurant first where all you have to do is find some lean Protein on the menu.

How did I make up my own menu. Turkey burgers is on the menu and so isn't the choice of getting a lettuce wrap instead of a bun. I asked to add a tomato and hold the mayo. I asked if the turkey burger was actually grilled and that I didn't want added butter, or oil, etc. It was not a difficult order.

I have worked as waitress at different places before and this is not a difficult thing to do.

If you read my post. My mom even said to the waitress that she knew it wasn't her fault, and probably the fault of the sandwich maker.

This waitress had an attitude from the very beginning. She was very rude to my elderly mother and I.

If you want a decent tip, then act like a nice person. I always tip on the heavy side if the person deserves it. Just because I asked her to remove the water shouldn't be a red flag for crappy tippers.

2 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I think that how one treats a waitress is just about as controversial as abortion or politics. I have seen spouses argue over this on more than one occasion. I can only speak to My personal experience and as a waitress I would not have found ANYTHING you described as overwhelming or a burden. I would have thought to myself wow this person is telling me they are anxious and if I don’t turn this around I am not gonna get a decent tip.

And I don’t even care if you had asked for a Water and then asked me to take it away as long as you asked me politely. (Granted I would have thought you were crazy but I wouldn’t have cared). And I wouldn’t care how many changes you made to the food because I am not preparing it. The only thing I had to do was enter it into the computer. I would have honestly heard you that you were anxious and had some dietary concerns and thought to myself challenge accepted and figured out how to make you happy.

Now the fact that your order got messed up twice was most likely the kitchen. Assuming she entered it into the computer correctly and that itself can be frustrating to a waitress cause they can do everything right and still get a crappy tip cause the kitchen messed up. I wouldn’t let this experience cause you more anxiety or stop you from eating out though. Most people i have known in customer service WANT you to tell them exactly what you want so they can give it to you because that’s what makes happy people and happy people tip well and make for happy managers.

Thank You for your understanding. It was not a difficult order. My mom even told her that she knew it wasn't her fault and probably that of the sandwich maker.

first @HealthyLifeStyle there is no reason you need to defend yourself, you did nothing wrong. I waitressed for 20+ years and no customer deserves a rude server. It's not so hard to Not bring water to the table, and it's not hard to get a grilled turkey burger, no bun, no mayo add tomato..... It doesn't matter if you are dining in a 5 star or a dang Denny's (just example).... A server should always be courteous.
Next time simply say with a smile, I'm so sorry you are having a terrible day..... when they say they are not..... Shake your head and say... what a pity. They will get the point.

2 hours ago, BayougirlMrsS said:

first @HealthyLifeStyle there is no reason you need to defend yourself, you did nothing wrong. I waitressed for 20+ years and no customer deserves a rude server. It's not so hard to Not bring Water to the table, and it's not hard to get a grilled turkey burger, no bun, no mayo add tomato..... It doesn't matter if you are dining in a 5 star or a dang Denny's (just example).... A server should always be courteous.
Next time simply say with a smile, I'm so sorry you are having a terrible day..... when they say they are not..... shake your head and say... what a pity. They will get the point.

TY for understanding. I was also a waitress and was never rude to anyone. It just really made me mad when she was being rude to my elderly mom for no reason.

I am allowed to drink up until I start eating. I drink water while waiting for my meal. Is your plan no drinking 30 mins before and after?

11 hours ago, Jaye W said:

I am allowed to drink up until I start eating. I drink Water while waiting for my meal. Is your plan no drinking 30 mins before and after?

Yes, even though I am 9 months out. I double checked with my nutritionist last week and she told me that this is a rule I should always go by. Also, if I drink up till I eat, I won't have room for food. I still get very full quickly.

I’m sorry you had this experience. I’ve eaten at Red Robin a few times and I always get the chicken Ensenada (maybe spelled right?). It has sauces on it but you could just ask for all those on the side. That might be a simpler order then, it would just be a chicken breast. I get the sauces on it because I love spice, but it wouldn’t be a problem to leave them off I’m sure. I’m sorry your diet is so restrictive- I have no problem with salt or fat, etc, so I don’t worry about those additions. I always get water, and just ignore it. Easy breezy.

Best advice is to not worry too much about what you get on your plate you won’t eat- just leave it behind. I’m trying to reform my clean plate ways!

14 hours ago, Jaye W said:

I am allowed to drink up until I start eating. I drink Water while waiting for my meal. Is your plan no drinking 30 mins before and after?

That has always been the rule i was taught. 30 & 30......

Do you give yourself “cheat meals”? You may want to go to restaurants in those circumstances if possible. Prob a lot less stressful for you.

When we are stressed and anxious, it can impact someone else’s behavior too.

Also, I know I’ve accidentally drank water when out to eat bc it’s right in front of me but I know the waitress is going to bring it so I usually try to move it away from me as a reminder not to drink. They don’t get it and it’s not worth the headache to explain.

Wow ok. Yes she was wrong to be so rude but damn you gave her more instructions on how to serve you than a manual book on how to build a house! WTF!! Stay home and make your own food if you have so many restrictions.

13 minutes ago, Lilly89 said:

Wow ok. Yes she was wrong to be so rude but damn you gave her more instructions on how to serve you than a manual book on how to build a house! WTF!! Stay home and make your own food if you have so many restrictions.

No she didn't. I do the exact thing. I'm paying for a meal and i want it the way i can eat it. Why should she stay home? She wasn't the one with the bad attitude...... If anyone needed to stay home it was the server.