A recent story posted to the r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit has gone viral for its hilarious depiction of an entitled ‘celebrity’ guest who thought she could get a free meal.
It might sound like a typical scenario, but the story itself is absolutely epic.
The restaurant has a ‘no free meals for celebs’ policy.
The rationale is that it’s a hassle, celebrities can pay their own way, and giving meals out for free will just attract D-listers who are looking for an ego boost.
Well, the person who this story is centered around wasn’t a D-lister. She was more of a Z-lister.
So who was this celeb?
The ‘celebrity’ was on the Dr. Phil show, where she appeared via Zoom for a couple of minutes.
Yes, the entire source of her celebrity status was a brief, non-featured appearance with Dr. Phil.
“But, because she ‘was on TV!!’ she thought she was the hottest thing to have ever happened on campus,” wrote OP.
Apparently she was getting noticed around campus, which fed into her ego.
Then, one fateful night, she stepped into the restaurant that OP is a server at.
“She was demanding a four top despite being a party of one.”
Things were already off to an auspicious start.
“The first thing I heard her say after the server said hi and introduced himself was, ‘Menu, water, new fork.’ Like she was writing out a list,” wrote OP.
She then ordered mixed greens, but unmixed. She asked how long the food would take four separate times. She demanded that the restaurant play one of her playlists. It sounds like an altogether unpleasant experience for the staff.
Then, she skipped out on her check.
She left the restaurant. OP followed her down the street, telling her she needed to settle the bill.
“She looks at me in total disbelief and says she was going to Instagram her meal with us and that’s typically enough when she goes out,” wrote OP.
Then, in what I can only assume was an incredibly cathartic moment, OP asked, “Sorry…who are you?”
The ‘celeb’ freaked out, and OP told her calmly that they’d have to involve the police if she wouldn’t pay her bill.
She didn’t pay. Police were called.
Because of her active Instagram presence, police had no trouble tracking down this wayward pseudo-celebrity.
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“I doubt the cops would’ve followed up so diligently if it were only us, but apparently she’d walked out on a couple other places that genuinely didn’t recognize her and expected her to pay up,” wrote OP. “And posted angrily about how the businesses sucked, further incriminating herself.”
So what’s it like to have a (legit) celeb in your restaurant?
Commenters (many of whom are current or former servers) chimed in with their celebrity experiences.
“The kindest, most amazing [celebs] were the BIG names,” wrote one commenter. “I loved when they came in just because they were so nice and real. The most judgmental ones, I couldn’t put a name to a face or credit to anything, but I cried on the inside when they would come in.”
Do you have any server horror stories?
This story is incredibly satisfying because of how it ended, but not all restaurant stories are like this.
In the comments below, let us know what you think of this tale, and share your own stories of life in the restaurant business!
