If you're a regular reader you'll know that we love to share the stupidest food orders ever recieved by the chefs over on the ChefTalk forum. Whenever we've posted about this our readers in the industry have come back with some hilarious stupid food orders of their own, so we've decided to combine them in one list.
Here then are our ultimate favourites, 58 of the stupidest food orders ever. As ever, let us know if you have any to add over on our Facebook page.
58 of the stupidest food orders ever
Chadateit
My personal favourite was a banquet order for a Caesar's salad (for a party of about 100 people) that, 20 minutes before plating, was updated saying that the Caesar dressing couldn't have anchovies, garlic, or egg. What do you even say to that?
Just Jim
"I'm very allergic to garlic, is there any in the special?" "Yes, there is a little" "Well, as long as I can't see it I'll be okay. I'll have the special."
Shi Chang Chu
I want the stuffed salmon. I don't like the taste of salmon though, so don't make it taste like salmon.
RAS1187
Order for well done burger. Not unusual, but the guest told the server, "My doctor told me I can't have any red meat" and was dead serious.
Colomboshute
Today's special was sirloin a la plancha and a customer asked my wife if we could make it vegetarian...
Recky
Customer complains after eating her omelette that the menu didn't explicitly state that it contained “so much egg...”
Just Jim
"Can I get the special with fettuccine? I'm allergic to penne." "You're allergic to a shape?"
Sergeant Pepper
Obligatory hybrid temperatures on steaks.
Will
Well-done steak tartare.
Good to go
Mid-rare ossu rucco.
Shanks
We had a guest claim that they were allergic to all fish then order a Caesar salad, when I said that the dressing contained anchovies they got annoyed and said "I eat it all the time, it's fine!"
RAS1187
French onion soup, no onions.
Locomoco
The other day I got a ticket that read: “Cheese plate (no dairy).”
Sergeant Pepper
Vegetarian filet mignon.
Otto
On a flight from NYC to Madrid, some woman ordered diet water...
Chefs share 15 of the most ridiculous customer complaints ever
Redbeerd Cantu
"Can you please make sure that the chicken is well-done? I don't like my chicken bloody..."
Mazardhe
Lady asks to see me during brunch. She tells me she wants a low-fat eggs Benedict. She wants no yolks. At all. I try to explain that yolks are a key ingredient [in] the sauce. She tells me that a good chef should be able to make it happen. She got meringue-covered egg whites. Ewww...
Ramiro Exposito Gaspe
Paella without rice please.
Ras1187
Order for burger with cheese on the side... melted. "So you want me to melt the cheese on a plate?" "Yes."
Bill Pitcher
Romaine being too crunchy.
Brian Barber
Had a medium-rare pastrami order last night.
Steven Wong
Eye fillet medium-rare, no blood.
RedBeerd Cantu
Just the other day, we got an order for our shrimp entree, hold the Manchego, "because I'm vegetarian, but please leave the chorizo on."
Berndy
I'll have the frenched rack of lamb, but not from France. I don't like my food to come from so far away.
CapeCodChef
Veggie burger, well done, no blood.
CMChef
Chilean sea bass, hold the chilli.
Kitty K
Customer requested tuna poke "well done." Had to gently explain that it didn't really work that way.
Justachef
Chicken Cordon Bleu with the ham and cheese on the side.
Sparkie
Lasagna, no meat, no béchamel.
Berndy
Sauerkraut, hold the cabbage.
Ras1187
Shrimp cocktail sent back. The complaint, "It's cold."
PaigeCake
I had a woman nearly brought to tears and anxiety-ridden after she viewed the pasta special dish (that SHE ordered) when brought to her table. She placed her head in her hands and kept repeating "Oh no ... I can't eat that ... I won't eat that ... Oh no ... I can't..." The husband finally looks at me: "She won't eat that," I ask: "Ummmmm WHY?" The husband replies; "It has lines on it." (She had ordered a rigatoni special). YOU try bringing that back into the kitchen with that excuse, and expect a chef to cook something else.
Dpr8ter
We used to have a lady come in who was absolutely loaded, and she always had the strangest requests for her meals. The strangest one I remember was she ordered the Caesar salad, but she wanted it on top of a smear of mashed potatoes.
Scofield143
"No burger, no onions, no tomato, no egg, no bacon, no pickles, no fries, no anything, Just buns."
Chefdwilliams
"Can you make another larger pizza for my buddies, 1/2 regular dough and 1/2 gluten free?"
Idiatone
"Fillet mignon, what kind of fish is that?"
Servers share 15 of the stupidest food orders ever
Steven Wong
A scoop of vanilla ice cream with the vanilla seed removed.
Craig Ross
Woman sent a scotch egg back with this excuse – ‘If I knew a scotch egg had an egg in it I wouldn't have ordered it.’
Carl Dillahay
Potatoes without carbohydrates.
Austin Finn
I once was asked for a cappuccino with the foam on the side.
Sarah Pugh
$22 Caesar salad, add chicken. No dressing, no cheese, no marinated onions, no croutons, no salt, no pepper, no oil on chicken. And yes, this was three weeks into new year's resolution diet season.
Benjamin Maiorano
I had an older customer send her food back because she was 'allergic to large portions. They overwhelm me.’
Salvador Franco
Order of pasta well done and fries medium-well.
Tim Marbach
Had an entire 10 top at brunch request 'nothing white' in all of their dishes.
Frank Molano
I still remember the one time a server at the Yacht Club came back to the kitchen saying a member wanted to order a half of a cheeseburger.
Leonidas Kritharas
Lamb shank medium rare please.
Raynan RayneFoo
I want my steak in a heart shape.
Giga Leszay
Can I have a caprese salad, but with no tomato, no mozzarella.
Joyciel
I had this one customer who always ordered, regardless of how busy it was, an arugula salad with the stems pulled off. Then she had the audacity to complain that it takes too long, even on busy Saturday nights no less.
Anthony Scott
I got one two days ago... "Is the ice cream soft or hard, I am allergic to soft ice cream..."
Katya Layfield
A woman asked if I could remove the "sour" out of the sourdough bread we served.
Mike C Perez
"I ordered 'tuna'... what's this pink stuff? I want real tuna! You know, from the can!"
Luke W Mcquillan
I’ve had gluten-free gammon ordered, not once, not twice, but three times, and to make it worse it was different customers each time.
Ana Lakakis
"I want to come in for dinner, but my child doesn't eat much - can we order half a steak for him?" – wtf are we supposed to do with the other half?!!
Shi Chang Chu
I want scallops cooked super well done, but not rubbery.
Berndy
An older American customer ordered sauerbraten in my German restaurant, but he told the waitress that he does not want it to be sour.
Mike C Perez
"What the hell do you mean you don't have vegan mayo!!? I want vegan mayo on my egg salad sandwich!!"
Hallgrímur Jóhann Hallgrímsson
I work in a hotel as a receptionist and one time guest came to me and asked me "when do they turn on the northern lights." I told them that they can’t be turned on, but they are very shy sometimes.