‘How much they tipped the waiter!?!’: Servers snatch diners’ dinners away while they’re still eating, and a war between politeness and hunger ensues

From a quick bite at your local burger joint to a fancier farm to table meal, there’s nothing like enjoying a nice lunch or dinner out. Well, unless a car actually drives into the restaurant you’re at, or you pay $800 and don’t get full. So, a lot of terrible things can happen when you’re just trying to have a delicious meal.

What if you weren’t even allowed to finish your meal, though? TikTok account @luongtim8tc shared a compilation of videos of people asking servers to take away their dining companion’s food. The result of the prank was hilarious… and frustrating (for both the customers and anyone watching the videos later). The best video? When a woman requested that the server remove her husband’s plate, the look on his face was a memorable combination of stunned and devastated. I totally feel him! I wouldn’t react well if someone did that to me, especially if there were still French fries in front of me.

You can probably guess how people reacted to this. Some wondered about practical considerations, with one TikTok user asking, “I wonder how much they tipped the waiter!?” That’s a great question. Sure, the servers were just playing along, but your job is to give customers their food and let them finish their dinners, right? But then again, servers rely on tips, so denying them some cash because they were trying to be funny feels harsh. It’s a complicated issue.

Most people’s thoughts can be summed up with one comment: “There’s no way anyone’s taking my plate like that.” Another user echoed that sentiment: “I would have been screaming my lungs out.” I want to know if the people who were pranked got to finish their dinners after they learned what was going on. I would hope so!

Although most people haven’t experienced the shock of having their plate taken away when they’ve just picked up their cutlery, North Americans have strong opinions about tipping in restaurants. 15% tends to be what people want to tip, according to a survey from Angus Reid in 2023 that asked Canadians about their preferences. A poll from the Pew Research Center discovered that 37% of Americans agree they should give tips of 15%.

People also feel passionately about servers leaving their plates on the table when they’ve still got some salad greens or lone French fries. As pointed out in this opinion piece for The Huffington Post, servers are just doing their jobs. Taking all the plates and cups and cutlery away so they can be cleaned and the next customers can sit at the same table is part of the natural and necessary cycle of a restaurant.

And, as it turns out, servers have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the right and wrong way to clean up. According to Food Republic, restaurant employees don’t enjoy when they see a stack of plates on the table because they want to follow a certain process.

So, we’ve learned a few things here from this TikTok: don’t take people’s meals away… and the next time you go to your neighborhood pub, leave your plates where they are before you pay the bill. But the true moral of the story is that Joey Tribbiani was totally right. No one actually wants to share their food.