An ex-Cracker Barrel server exposes a couple of innocent tricks she used to play on customers. Does this mean that servers are lying to you?
TikTok user Shells (@tilapiia) spent one summer working at the country breakfast chain restaurant. On Friday, she posted a video exposing two of the tricks she employed during her time there.
“Sometimes your server’s lying to you,” Shells says to close the video.
What are the two tricks?
The first trick is what Shells would employ when she mistakenly forgot to greet a table. According to her, per Cracker Barrel’s policy, servers were asked to approach tables that had been seated a while and ask them if they wanted to start with a beverage.
“There was somebody that was seated for like five minutes and I went up to them and was like, ‘Can I get you something?’ and ‘Let me go check on who your server is,’” Shells says. “I went to get their drink, and I went to the seating chart, and I saw that was my guest.”
Shells notes that this was her first time working as a server. “So I was still getting the hang of it,” she says. “So I went up to them and was like, ‘Your server is not available right now, but I’m going to help you.’”
As a bonus tip, Shells reveals she once forgot to put a ticket into the kitchen and told the patrons that there was a mishap in the kitchen, so their meal had to be remade.
Do servers really lie?
A couple of years ago, the Daily Dot covered a restaurant server who went viral after saying he was rewarded for lying to a table. In 2023, another server went viral for a similar scenario. This time, the server said the dishonesty netted him a whopping $200.
However, one server sparked conversation online earlier this year when he revealed that getting caught in a seemingly innocent white lie made him look bad in front of a table.
According to Quickstaff, restaurant servers often mislead customers about things like being out of certain dishes, changing the thermostat, and whether the coffee they’re drinking is regular or decaf.
@tilapiia ♬ original sound – Shells
Viewers react
In the comments section, plenty of viewers offered opinions on the substance of Shells’ server lie story.
“We know when they are lying,” wrote one viewer.
“Or we could just be accountable and apologize instead of lie? Character and integrity,” wrote another viewer.
However, other viewers remained fixated on the bag of frozen broccoli that Shells was eating during her storytime.
“Me thinking this was about the broccoli,” wrote one viewer.
“Girl, I thought you was about to drop a broccoli recipe,” wrote another.
The Daily Dot reached out to Shells via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. It also contacted Cracker Barrel via email for comment.
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