Key points
- A Reddit thread asked servers to share the strangest or silliest questions they have been asked by customers.
- Many comments reveal how little some diners know about food, restaurants, or even basic math.
- While frustrating at times, the thread became a comedy goldmine of behind-the-scenes restaurant life.
Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows that customers don’t just come in for food, they bring plenty of confusion, too. A viral Reddit thread on r/Serverlife asked servers to share the dumbest things guests have ever asked, and the results were as hilarious as they were revealing.
The thread quickly filled with stories that show the unpredictable reality of service work. Some questions were harmless slip-ups, others displayed a total lack of food knowledge, and a few were so off-the-wall they left staff speechless.
Here are some of the funniest highlights.
Parmesan Isn't Cheese
One server recalled a guest who insisted on ordering a vegan pasta dish, only for the conversation to take a surreal turn when the plate arrived:
Customer orders a vegan pasta dish. The dish comes out as ordered.
Guest: ‘Where is the parm? This is supposed to be topped with parm.’
Server: ‘I’ll be happy to get you some, we don’t include cheese in vegan dishes as it is an animal product.’
Guest: ‘I said parm, not cheese.’
Server: ‘Just to make sure we’re on the same page, we’re talking about Parmesan cheese, correct?’
Guest: ‘Parmesan isn’t cheese, it’s cellulose.’
Server: ‘Ours is cheese, ma’am.’
How many in a dozen
Another server shared an encounter that combined both basic math confusion and a bizarre request for a menu item that didn’t exist:
Customer: ´How many wings are in a dozen?´
Server: ´12.´
Customer: ´So how many in half a dozen?´
Server: ´6.´
Customer: ´So if I get a dozen, will there be ten or eight?´
Server: ´...there will be 12?´
Can you find any pork for me the back?
The same guest then shifted gears and asked:
Customer: ´Do you have any pork?´
Server: ´Unfortunately, we took all the pork off the menu and no longer have any.´
Customer: ´So if I order the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, can I switch it to pork instead?´
Server: ´...no, we don’t have any pork. Haven’t for months now. The menu changed like five months ago.´
Customer: ´So... you can’t find any pork for me in the back that you could make into a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, but with pork?´
Best one-liners
“Is salmon a vegan dish?”
“Is it too hot to sit outside? — I don’t know, you just came in from outside, and I’m inside. You tell me.”
“Are the cauliflower wings boneless?”
“Can you do something about the bugs?”— asked by a guest seated outdoors on a beautiful summer day.
“Is it windy outside on the patio?”— asked after the customer had already walked inside from the patio.
“Is there a tomato-free ketchup?”
“What’s the closest thing you have to Chef Boyardee?”— in an Italian restaurant.
“Are lamb ribs beef or pork?” — a surprisingly common mix-up.
“What kind of spaghetti is the spaghetti?”—a question that left servers speechless.
“Are there eggs in your omelets?”
“Is your chicken salad vegan? Like, do they use vegan mayonnaise in it?”
“What’s the size difference between the 6-oz glass of wine and the 9-oz glass of wine?”
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