Waiters/Waitresses/Bartenders: Tell us about your FAVORITE customers!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

I worked at a neighborhood restaurant where the food was really good, and we had very loyal regulars. I waited on a couple every Saturday night that we called 'Mom and Pop'. It was their 'date' night. They had obviously gotten married later in life (both were in their early 50s) and had a 10 year old son. Over the years, I got to know them pretty well, and learned that they had indeed met later in life and fallen in love. She was a former opera singer who now taught voice, and he was a composer and music professor. If they were still at the restaurant toward the end of the evening, they would invite you to sit down and buy you a drink.

I had finished my studies and had gotten a day job and was leaving the restaurant. I waited on them for the last time one night, and found a card as I cleared off the table. They had left a sweet note thanking me for making their dining experiences pleasurable over the years, and wished me luck. They had left $250 in the card also.

I would run into them from time to time at a local market, and went to their house a few times for their annual Christmas party. I learned a few years ago that Pop had died of cancer. :cry: I sent a long note to Mom. They were really special people.

[xmas74]

1. The drunken regular

who left a $100.00 bill for a tip. I chased him down and he said "You keep it. I read that in the paper you were a scholarship winner. You need the money for school.:
After that, I met up with him for coffee. We had a long talk. He taught me that everyone acts the way they do for a reason and that everyone has a story. He also made me believe that people are kindhearted as a rule and will go out of their to help someone if they can (I like to believe that to this day).

[Jessica]

2. Hmmm ... that's honestly a tough one.

Two sisters used to come in all the time - they drank Tanqueray on the rocks & we called them the Gin Twins. They were really funny & tipped really well. My absolute favorite customers were my parents - cause they left the best tips ever! Other than that, I'm stumped. ;-)

[SCDem]

3. A gentleman who played piano for the LA Philharmonic

I used to waitress in a small town in LA county. There was one regular customer who would sit at the counter. He was very nice and would always order tea. Then whether he had a music sheets on the counter in front of him or not he would mimic playing the piano on the counter as if he heard the music in his head and was just quietly rehearsing. Absolutely amazing!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. KICK

[no name no slogan]

5. and another kick (nt)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

6. Good stories are certainly more inspiring than the reality of waitressing

which is very hard work, and can be demeaning.

[Cuban_Liberal]

7. Back in college...

I used to tend bar back in college. The bar was a 'townie' bar that also served food. Any way, we had this one old duffer who came in every night and had the same thing--- a cheeseburger and 3 Stag's with a short glass. He was a nice old guy--- a widower, I found out--- and his kids all lived away; he was rather lonely, and I always made it a point to make some small talk with him, and when things were slow, I'd sit down and visit with him. My last night at work before graduation he came in and laid a card on the bar in front of me; I thanked him and started to open it, but he asked me to wait until after he'd left to open it, so I put it in my windbreaker pocket. When I opened the card later that night, there were 5 brand-new $100 bills inside, and a note thanking me for being so nice to him over the years and wishing me luck in my future.

:D

[Kathy in Cambridge]

8. That's a great story

You run into a lot of lonely people waitressing and bartending. Sometimes they appreciate a little company. :-)