‘Price is whatever I make it’: Olive Garden server shares how she gets back at tables she doesn’t like

It's always nice when you're out eating and your bill came out to less than you were expecting to pay. Scanning the receipt, you may notice that some items you ordered aren't present on the tab. The soft drinks you ordered? Gone. One of the appetizers you asked your waitress about? Missing.

If this happens, then your server probably liked working your table during their shift and wanted to let you know. So, take your blessings from the sit-down restaurant Gods and pass some of those savings onto the employee.

The flip-side also applies, however. This was illustrated by TikToker and Olive Garden worker Lillian (@lillianstrauch) in a viral clip that's accrued over 42,000 views. In her video, she intones that mean diners won't be receiving any food tab concessions from her.

Rude diners pay full price

"Pov me ringing in every single refill and side to rude tables," a text overlay in the video reads. In the clip, Lillian taps the POS screen at the restaurant with a slight smile on her face.

Oftentimes, servers will hook customers up with freebies if they have a good rapport. There's an unspoken rule surrounding these kind surprises, however: you give a little extra on gratuity to the food service employee. This implied "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours" agreement goes out the window, however, once a table is rude.

Lillian's post highlights how waiters and waitresses can often tell when they're going to get a difficult patron. Veteran food service employees have relayed tell-tale signs they've clocked in diners to determine if they're difficult. Customers who are problematic and pedantic aren't usually magnanimous when it comes to gratuity, either.

Non-tippers

Redditor u/Repulsive-Ad-6491 penned in a viral post to the site's r/TalesFromYourServer sub, that they could smell a non-tipper from a mile away. "Sometimes you can tell who won't tip..." they wrote in the title of their brief Reddit blog.

They said two poorly-mannered young men racked up a $105 tab. When they were presented with the bill, the restaurant worker said the customers giggled. This laugh, they said, was what keyed them into knowing they wouldn't receive gratuity. After expressing this fear to their co-workers, it turned out they were right. To make matters worse, they wrote, the diners wrote out "$0.00" as if to add insult to injury.

In the same piece, the Reddit user penned that oftentimes tips are collateral damage. They said their co-worker received a written "You Wish" on a bill's tip line from one large dining party.

The reason, was for matters out of the server's control: the diners apparently didn't like their table selection. On top of that, they constantly changed how they wanted their check split at the end of their meal. Consequently, they took their dissatisfaction on the restaurant's choice of decor out on the employee's potential earnings.

@lillianstrauch #fyp #serving ♬ Get It Sexyy - Sexyy Red

Commenters agree

Several viewers of Lillian's video said they follow the same philosophy.

One person noted that servers have more control over item costs than people realize. "Biggest thing i’ve learned that price is whatever i make it," they wrote.

Another said that they'll go out of their way to make sure rude customers pay extra for the same meals. "My personal fav is ringing up extra soups or salads as apps instead of sides," they added.

Condiments, according to this user on the app, aren't safe from price surcharges either. As one user said, "No fr charging for ranch and sauce that .75 add up."

This one also engaged in salad price spikes: "Nahhh when i worked at OG and they wanted a salad as their meal and i charged for like “add salad” which was $5 instead of the 'garden salad' for like $7 bc i thought they were chill but they WERENT."

Others said that they receive gratification from clapping back at rude customers with high priced tabs. "Yep, when working a table and then you prove their expectations wrong. It’s so nice," one user wrote.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Olive Garden via email and Lillian via TikTok comment for further information.

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