‘It doesn’t even feel real’: Boston woman goes to restaurant for birthday dinner. Then the server interrupts her to say she’s getting ‘a lot’ of food
A Boston woman has gone viral after her friend’s birthday dinner was soured by their server. The three-minute debrief, which currently sits at 4,052 views, begins with the TikToker explaining that she wasn’t going to name the restaurant. However, she had no qualms about putting the server on blast.
The meal started like any other, with TikToker Esteffany (@arrozysancocho) and her friend sitting down at this restaurant and putting in their drink orders. For the dinner, which was to celebrate the friend’s birthday, they decided to go straight to entrees. As the friend began telling the waiter her order, he stopped her halfway. He told her that this was a lot of food and that these were meant to be shareable.
In response, the friend said she was fine with that as she likes having leftovers, and then continued to order. Then, it was Esteffany’s turn to order. After ordering the 8oz filet, the visibly irritated server apparently took his notepad and pen and walked away. When the TikToker explained that she wasn’t done ordering, he repeated that this was a lot of food.
At this point, Esteffany admits that she’s starting to feel some “rage.” She told the server, “You don’t need to worry about what we’re ordering, you just need to take our order.”
Was she ordering ‘too much food?’
After this experience, she spoke to the manager. She explained that while she thinks the server had good/kind intentions, they lacked self-awareness and were extremely “distasteful” and “unprofessional.”
In response, the manager claimed that they had experiences where people ordered a bunch of food, felt it was too much, and didn’t want to pay for it all. For Esteffany, it sounded like “a lot of excuses.”
The manager added that, from the server’s perspective, he wanted to make sure they weren’t surprised by the size of shareable sides.
In response, the TikToker pointed out that this wasn’t exactly new for a steakhouse. She noted how steakhouses operate in the same way.
Moreover, the friend added that it was one thing to bring it up once, but another to bring it up again.
In the end, the manager offered free dessert and made good on their promise to speak to the server.
Still, despite this trouble, Esteffania still tipped 20%.
She didn’t immediately respond to The Mary Sue’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
@arrozysancocho Overall it was an unpleasant experience and I won’t be returning but the food was 10/10 lmao.
♬ original sound – Esteffany
What did commenters say?
The majority of commenters were shocked by the audacity. “His message got lost in his delivery,” one wrote. “Once your friend says she likes leftovers, there was no need to say anything else.”
Several other commenters claimed that Esteffania and her friend were too nice to the server. Another added, “The way you describe it, he sounds almost hostile. I think you were far too kind about him to the manager. Personally, I would’ve asked for a different server.”
A third concurred, “Yeah I think you guys overestimated how nice he was being. He never once attempted to explain the actual size of anything other than saying ‘that’s a lot of food.’ Him walking away from the table – also ridiculously rude. But in the moment it’s often difficult to think these things through fully so I get it.”
While a fourth remarked, “To still tip 20% is showing way too much grace and exactly why this behavior will continue for many more people after you.”
Servers gone wild
As Esteffania’s video shows, making assumptions as a server can very easily go wrong. And sadly, Phoenix server Shannon Marie (@shaanmarie) went viral when she too discovered this.
After her table of five disappeared, she asked the customers next to them where the family, who spent $400 on the bill, had gone. However, things got awkward when the said family returned and overheard their conversation.
In the end, they left the bill with a 0% tip, with a note reading, “Next time, don’t accuse a single mother of stealing in front of your entire restaurant, and you might get a tip. That was incredibly offensive, and I will be contacting corporate.”
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