This server thinks you should stay away from restaurant lemons. In a viral PSA that’s accrued over 144,000 views, Adrianah Lee (@adrianahlee) explains why.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but do not get a lemon in your water at a restaurant,” she says. “Don’t ask for a lemon in your water. The minute I became a server I realized this.”
The TikToker then goes on to explain why lemons in drink are so bad.
“I realized I’m never gonna ask for a lemon in my water ever again. Because first, you know, the servers put that on themselves, right?” she says. “Like, they’re touching money. They’re charging other people’s plates when they’re pre-bussing. They’re touching all sorts of things.”
She concedes that while servers do often sanitize their hands, she says it’s not enough to nullify lemon grossness.
“And yes obviously servers wash their hands frequently. But when you’re running a table and they’re saying let me get four waters with lemon. They’re just putting them on top,” Lee says. “And I know this because I’m a server, and I’ve been a server. I wash my hands a lot of times.”
Why is this server warning against getting a lemon in your water?
Lee said that there are additional lemon issues folks need to consider before asking for one in their drink.
“But that’s not even all you need to worry about. They cut the lemons themselves, like the servers most of the time, are required to cut the lemons,” she elaborates. “And I cut lemons always with gloves on, but I can’t account for anybody else.”
She goes on to state that the lemons themselves often aren’t thoroughly cleaned prior to going inside of customers’ glasses.
“The produce is never washed,” she says. “Like we don’t be like washing…when I’m at home, I wash all my produce. I like, even do the baking, whatever, and the whole method of washing produce. But I’ve never seen a lemon washed in my life at a restaurant.”
She adds that in her experience working in the food service industry, lemon-washing isn’t a standard practice.
“I don’t know, I’ve worked a lot of restaurants, I’ve worked at five star places. I’ve worked at diners, OK?” she says. “But, like, comment if y’all have seen a lemon washed at a restaurant and you’ve worked at a restaurant before. Like please let me know, I’m concerned.”
Lee says this warning extends to other restaurant procedures.
“To be honest, there’s a lot of things I turn a blind eye to working at a restaurant, that I know are not the best for me,” she concedes. “Like, I know at the end of the day there’s someone touching my silverware when they roll it. [I know this] when I sit down at a restaurant, but the lemons, I can just never get over.”
Lee ended her video doubling down and urging her followers not to put lemons in their beverages.
“I don’t know about y’all. But I’ll never ask for a lemon in my water,” she says. “And if I see one I’m taking that out right away… I can get over the silverware, I can get over the plates. Everything. I just can’t get over the lemons, guys. The lemons. Don’t get a lemon in your water.”
@adrianahlee I still shake my head when people specifically ask for lemon #psa #serverlife #server #fyp ♬ original sound – Adrianah Lee
Other lemon warnings
She’s not the only one who warns against restaurant lemons, either. Local news outlet News4JAX says that while putting a lemon in your water “might seem like the healthy move,” it isn’t. According to the report a “former health inspector says bacteria and viruses may be on some lemon wedges in restaurants.”
An author for radio station 99.5 WKDQ also penned a vacation story about a mystery illness they were afflicted with. The root cause? A lemon they had in their water.
Business Insider also penned an article about lemons at restaurants. The outlet echoed the aforementioned sentiments, along with Lee’s exhortation to kick lemons to the curb.
“A study from the Journal of Environmental Health, researchers tested 76 lemon samples from 21 different restaurants during 43 visits and found that many of the lemons contained microorganisms, including some pathogenic ones that may cause diseases,” Business Insider reported. “To minimize your risk a bit, squeeze the lemon into your drink instead of dropping the whole wedge in. And if you see employees handling lemons with their bare hands, it might be best to stick to plain water.”
TikTokers weigh in
One commenter said that the restaurants they worked in engaged in much different lemon-handling practices. “When I was a server, I worked at Olive Garden and we have tongs to pick up the lemons and the cooks had to cut them bc they wore gloves whats going on with y’all’s restaurants,” they penned.
However there were others who nodded their heads in agreement with Lee’s statement. One person penned, “AND we don’t wash the lemons before we cut them.”
Another added info that painted an even grosser picture. “And the lemon slices are kept in a container by the soda machine and every single server is grabbing lemons with their bare hands,” they claimed.
Someone else replied, “Yeah no one got time for tongs.”
One TikToker said that they don’t even have time to wash their hands as a server: “We’re supposed to be washing our hands frequently? Who got the time for that during a rush.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Lee via Instagram DM for further comment.
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