From dirty cutlery to spitting in food, a server has dished on the realities of the industry

A WOMAN has revealed the sneaky ways staff manipulate customers into buying more — and why you don’t want to return your food.

A “DISGRUNTLED” waitress has opened up about the highs and lows of the job in a candid interview.

The unnamed woman, who said she had worked in an American-style bar and grill for the last two years, recently lifted the lid on some of the food industry’s biggest secrets during an interview with Refinery 29.

She said the worst part of the job was dealing with drunk or rude customers who don’t tip.

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“The restaurant I work at is big on service. Some customers pick up on that and take advantage by making silly complaints,” the woman told Refinery 29.

“The restaurant I work at has a popular bar, so people are often drunk before they even sit down to eat. The waitresses get hit on a lot.

“Having said that, the owner of the restaurant (who is a woman) actually encourages the waitresses to flirt with male customers to get drink sales up.”

She said the industry also tended to attract party animals to its ranks.

“A lot of the full-time staff stay after hours and drink for free. Two actually had sex in the stockroom after hours once,” she said.

She also touched on the issue of exploitation, which is notoriously rife in the food service industry.

“We do either day or night shifts — so 9am to 5pm, or 5pm until midnight. We have a lot of eastern European staff who work double shifts though,” she said.

“I’m pretty sure there’s supposed to be a limit to how many hours you can do. It sounds like they’re being exploited but they really try to work as many hours as possible.”

The waitress also spoke about hygiene — and the news was grim for germ-phobics.

“The cutlery and plates get washed in a massive commercial dishwasher, which in most restaurants will have seen a few years’ service,” she said.

The woman said it was common for servers to steal food from customers’ plates. Picture: iStock

“They’ll often leave bits of food on plates and between the prongs of forks. There’s usually a porter or waiter who will give them a quick wipe with a damp cloth to remove any bits.

“So basically, things are never as clean as you’d like to think. Also — kind of gross, but waiting staff often nick food off customers’ plates.”

The woman also revealed she had once been the victim of a “dine and dash” after a table of men left the premises without paying.

She also revealed she had ended up in court after an irate customer spat in her manager’s face, and said she had also witnessed fights between customers, which led to the police being called.

“Another time, I served a large table and when I gave them the bill they basically claimed they had already paid. So the manager went over to the table and the customers made out that I had charged them twice. So humiliating,” she said.

The US woman, who earns minimum wage, said tips often caused tension between staff members as they had to be shared, despite the fact that some servers worked harder than others.

And she said restaurant staff — especially chefs — never appreciated food being returned by customers, even if the complaint was legitimate.

“I’ve never seen anyone actually spit in a burger, but to be honest I wouldn’t put it past them,” she said.

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Originally published as From dirty cutlery to spitting in food, a server has dished on the realities of the industry