Many servers, waiters, and baristas say that you learn to be nice if you work in the service industry. Besides long hours and dependence on tips, you have a lot of rude and nasty customers that these brave servers have to deal with.
But waitstaff fight back with amusing and snarky ways to poke fun at the people giving them a hard time. The things they bring back after an order has left people online in stitches and we’ve collected some of the best for you. So check out these 45 hilarious servers and use them as examples of why you should treat servers and wait staff with respect.
1. Say Cheese
After a long tiring shift, most servers just want to get home and relax. But when this server was asked to take some photos by some of his customers, he was more than happy to accept. But as it turns out, he just made a bunch of goofy selfies for them to sift through when they got home.
2. Who Orders a Small?
This patron went to a German restaurant and asked for a small beer. Well, they got exactly what they wanted; a small amount of beer in a child’s sized glass mug. Can you imagine being the only person in the room drinking beer out of a teacup? Pinkies out!
3. Careful about your Clothes
Parents always say “think about what you wear before you leave the house.” Otherwise, you can run into the problem this waitress has when their flesh covered leggings made it look like they were making drinks without pants. You can imagine the shock the patron felt before they noticed that she was wearing pants.
4. Don’t Spill None, Won’t Sip None
This restaurant patron must have spilled the orange juice one too many times. Because the server came back with a child’s sippy cup to keep the mess to a minimum. You can just look at the boy’s face and see how unhappy he is with this development. Oh well, live and learn.
5. The Last Supper Served
This waitress wanted to do something special for her last day at the restaurant. So she got twelve willing friends together to recreate the famous “Last Supper” painting at a bar. The best part has to be the location of the nacho basket.
6. A Not So Hidden Message
Don’t get the joke behind this picture? Next time you’re not near children or your boss, try saying it aloud. We bet most employees wish they could say this at their jobs. Definitely one of the best employee shirts around.
7. Peak Waiter Performance
Can we stop and take a moment to admire this server’s pluck and determination? That’s about 11 servings of food all balanced on just two arms. If he managed to get them all to the table without issue then he deserves the biggest tip around! Way to go!
8. Don’t Insult these Lattes.
This Redditor enjoys drinking lattes. But his friend claimed that they were drinks for something that means “coward” and “cat”. Well, their server didn’t take kindly to that so they turned the insult around by making this incredible piece of coffee art. This is how you shut down crude and nasty customers.
9. A Yelp Yipes
We heard about wearing your heart on your sleeves, but reviews on your back? We don’t know why Danica hated the service at this restaurant, but the owners found it so funny that they turned it into a part of the uniform. Fans of the restaurant can laugh at Danica, while Danica can enjoy their message reaching new people.
10. Foaming at the…
This waiter didn’t enjoy hearing complaints that his customer’s beer wasn’t full enough. so he filled a mug with mostly foam and drew in a special angry message inside. It’s a bitter message for sure, but we bet the customer learned to not complain about their beer at that establishment.
11. The World’s Tiniest Check
This customer got the surprise of their life when they asked their waiter for a small check. The waiter printed out only the essential information and items to keep the check barely larger than a thumbnail. Wonder if the customer appreciated the good dad joke?
12. Don’t Remember Reading about These Dinos
This bartender went the extra mile to provide a fun and unique experience with this amazing dinosaur costume. Wonder how often Jurassic Park lines were quoted at her over the course of her shift. All we know is that this server deserves big tips and more!
13. Winter is Coming…but don’t say anything
This bar took their Game of Thrones seriously. Maybe they never got to watch it when the episodes aired or they had a lot of clients that loved the show. But good on them for protecting their patrons from spoilers. Wonder what spoilers are off the list right now.
14. A Plate to go
Be careful what you ask for around Dad-Joke waiters. This patron asked for her plate to go and she got exactly what she asked for. It looks like she had a good giggle at the joke so no harm done.
15. Kindly wait your turn
This shirt delivers a very simple message. When a waiter isn’t looking at you, they may be busy with other customers. Men and women in service work hard to make everyone happy so why not show a little patience?
16. Cloak and Swagger
This kind old woman mentioned how cold they were. Now, most restaurants don’t have spare sweatshirts and coats for guests, but this server improvised. He turned a spare table cloth into a comfy cape to keep this woman comfortable. It’s a pretty thoughtful move.
17. Comments Without Even Trying
If your waiter was kind enough to give you feedback comments to share, would you use them? Before you answer, what if this server did all the math for your check including the tip? Is that too far for a full-service experience?
18. Who Ordered the Spotted…
We can’t make this one up if we tried. Doesn’t this resemble something perhaps inappropriate? It makes you wonder where this restaurant is and if this dessert was part of a good-natured and very adult prank? So many questions and no answers!
19. Say What You Mean
This boy said he didn’t want anything for dessert. Well, this server did just that and gave him a nice big plate of…nothing. His family was cracking up at the snarky order. The boy, not so much.
20. Oh She was Paying Attention
This customer had a very exact order for their quesadilla. So they took careful notes to make sure that the customer was satisfied. They even proved it with this copy of the check. Great to see such meticulous attention to detail.
21. Is this a sweet roll?
This waiter found out that it was their customer’s birthday. Since they couldn’t do a cake due to lactose intolerance, the waiter decided to meet them in the middle and create a chocolate covered dinner roll. We can’t say if it was delicious but, at least it’s an experience that they’ll never forget.
22. One Fry to Square Them All
If you’ve ever wondered if a waiter shortchanged you a fry, then this server has an answer. When they were called out for losing a fry, they went to the trouble of repaying their debt down to the single spud. Imagine getting a plate with a single fry on it and hearing “Now we’re even”, how would you feel?
23. It’s a Shoe-in
Waitresses and servers depend on tips for most of their payment. This means that customers that don’t tip can cause stress for employees in need. This server wanted to tip things in their favor with a little message for pity. Do you think it’d work?
24. Cracker Jack Ticket
We’ve heard about itemized lists, but this might be taking it a bit far. Imagine getting your bill and seeing every single cracker or french fry listed as a separate item. We bet the server thought this was really funny. Hopefully, the customer thought the same thing.
25. Maybe the Bartender isn’t Happy
Bartenders tend to get a little more leeway to deal with annoying customers than servers do. That led this bartender to placing a customer’s drink on top of an overturned stool for the ultimate game of balance. Makes you wonder how the customer messed up this bad with the bartender.
26. Don’t Taunt Godzilla
This customer threatened that he would destroy a city for every pickle he saw on his burger. Well, this cook decided to dare this destroyer of worlds to make good on his promise. He brought a plate with three ickles and a list of his three least favorite cities. Your move now, oh destroyer of worlds.
27. More Honest than you’d Expect
Waitress and server work is a lot of work…sometimes. You either have long periods of boring waiting or hectic action from clock-in to clock-out. Well, this server was bored and fell asleep. He was still ready to work, so he was kind enough to leave a sign for customers to read.
28. Just cleaning a whole restaurant
This is impressive. This server developed a talent for collecting more plates than you might think possible for any single person. Too bad this skill isn’t the most useful for any other industry. Just another day in foodservice.
29. Let’s be honest
This customer gave a very well appreciated tip to a server who had to deal with a rude customer. So in a candid confession, they told their true feelings about the mean customer. We’re glad that this tip may have saved someone’s life, but wouldn’t it be better to just be nice in the first place?
30. When snark gives you lemons…
This waiter has clearly seen it all. When you ask for more lemons for your water, it’s still an expense and inconvenience. So this waiter snapped back with a fully loaded lemon glass treat that looks silly. Wonder if they got the point?
31. Meals on Wheels
Waitressing and food service is hard work. But how much harder is it if you do it on roller skates? Well, that’s the magic behind this incredible display of foodservice mastery. Would you visit this restaurant?
32. Alright that’s a good pun
We all hear stories about people flirting with bartenders hoping for cheap drinks. Well, this shirt sets the record straight that you don’t get free drinks for sleeping with the bartender. But the pun that comes after is both incredible and worth a smile. But how many tip dollars is that smile worth?
33. Play with this food
Ok, this one is pretty cute. Making Pac-man pancakes complete with pellets is just such a neat trick for classic arcade game fans. If you love Pac-Man, you’re probably hearing the wakka wakka sound right now. But what would you use for the ghosts?
34. Feeling crabby at the Lobster
This thank you card is particularly honest. Either this is the server’s last day or they just don’t care anymore. Makes you wonder how terrible they had to have been to get this kind of reaction. Would you change your ways if you saw this card?
35. Grumpy cat doesn’t mince words
This server didn’t have much to say to these customers. He was just happy to give them their check so they could go away. The tip comes with a clear farewell and a great artistic rendition of the classic meme kitty. Would this get your tips?
36. The Crude Ranch
This gem of a comment was written just to make the server and cook staff laugh. Most customers wouldn’t have even noticed it when they paid their bill. Thankfully this customer noticed it so we could all see how ranch dressing makes a famous crude joke.
37. Hot coffee for this hot patron
Take a look at this image carefully. Do you see the surprise? In what could be described as the start of a college-based rom-com, here we have a hidden message on a cup. If the customer noticed, do you think they were flattered?
38. Scrooge McDuck would be Proud
St. Patrick’s Day is a very exhausting night for bartenders and servers across the country. Expensive green beers and lots of bad Irish jokes are sure to leave anyone wanting to just plop down face first when they get home. But when you think about all the tips for a night of drunken fun, maybe it’s not so bad.
39. Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice
It’s not every day that you meet an understanding fan of your favorite shows. So that must be why this customer was so happy with the Blossom addition to their cake order. What a cute way to make a dessert day sweeter!
40. Doodle Day
Speaking of cartoons. How would you feel if your favorite characters were doodled all over your tickets? Would you want to keep them as impromptu restaurant art? Well, these customers seemed to appreciate the fun gift they received.
41. Not steamed hams but…
Usually, Halloween costumes are about dressing up as something else. But this bartender didn’t get the memo and chose to dress up as a famous cartoon bartender. We don’t blame you if you are hearing the infamous Simpsons character’s lines in your head.
42. Much to pay about nothing
This IHOP waiter had a sense of humor when he brought this customer an empty glass of water and gave them a bill for the nothing they ordered. It’s just a little thing to make someone’s day while having a little harmless fun. But how do you tip for nothing but a smile?
43. Lightbulb solutions
This tall waiter was tired of bumping his head on the hanging lights and fixtures around the restaurant. So he decided to plant the fixture on his head so it wouldn’t swing around and hit him. Now we hate to be the bearer of bad puns but would you call this a bright idea?
44. He’s got legs and knows how to use them
It might take you a moment to realize what’s going on. But a mirror and some really good placement make it look like this server has an incredible lower body and a cute skirt. The person who snapped this opportunistic photo had to have a good laugh about it.
45. Just a little more coke
Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it. Take this customer who asked their server for a little more diet coke. Well, the server came back with a fancy sauce thimble full of diet coke and a comically oversized straw. Well, they got what they wanted.
So what do you think? What would your reaction be to any of these hilarious server moments?
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.