It happens to even the best servers. You see the impatient look on your table’s faces and suddenly realize—you forgot to put their order in.
At that point, it’s too late to go back and ask for their orders again. So what’s a server to do?
Do you fess up to the mistake? I hope they’ll be chill about it. Do you put in what you think they ordered and hope that it’s right?
This server has a creative solution, and it’s not what you think.
How a server tricks customers
In a since-deleted video filmed at the restaurant where she works, TikTok user and server Saydie (@realslimsaydie) shared her simple but brilliant solution.
Instead of making things awkward with the table of people, she tag teams with another worker. Saydie tells one of the table runners to apologize to the customers and tell them that the printer that makes the order tickets ran out of ink, and he couldn’t properly read their order.
“Would they mind repeating it?” they ask.
With a handwritten order, Saydie shows that it works like a charm every time.
Other ways to handle it
If that approach doesn’t quite work for you, here are a few other approaches from a seasoned server known as Waitress Confessions (and the cutesy names she chose to go with them):
Skittish Steve: Puts in the order late and then avoids the table until their food is served because he doesn’t want to face their wrath (and hates confrontation). When the food does come out he’ll be apologetic or will just pretend nothing is wrong.
Blamer Barbie: Instead of fessing up to their mistake, they exasperatedly tell their table that the food is going to be a longer wait because the kitchen “lost” their order or is running slow.
“Blamer Barbie knows that they guys in the kitchen will be none the wiser that she’s placed the blame on them and since they have no interaction with the guest.” This usually leads to a decent tip since the table knows it wasn’t their server’s fault the food was slow.
Humble Helen: She owns her mistake and does everything in her power to rectify it. She lets the table know what happened and then talks to a manager or the kitchen to get the now-late order expedited.
In the meantime she offers the table something on the house or is extra attentive about bread and drink refills. “The customers will leave feeling like they were not forgotten about and will return because of the honesty of the staff of the restaurant.”
If my server makes a mistake, do I still need to tip?
As long as they’re otherwise nice and helpful, you should still tip even in the case of mistakes. That’s because servers largely depend on tips to earn a living.
Waitstaff are legally allowed to be paid below the federal minimum wage. The expectation is that their lower wage will be padded by tips.
Tipped workers are currently allowed to make as little as $2.13 an hour, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The federal minimum wage for other workers is $7.25 an hour. If a tipped worker doesn’t make the minimum wage, their employer must make up the difference so the person makes at least an hourly minimum wage.
The Daily Dot reached out to Saydie for comment via TikTok direct message.
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