Dinners From Hell offers true stories about restaurant dining disasters written by diners, servers and chefs.

We've all had those dining experiences when things went dreadfully wrong. Perhaps it was a social blunder, an obnoxious customer, a waiter or waitress with an attitude, a temperamental chef, an embarrassing faux pas, or a food or beverage incident. Find out what others have had to endure by reading stories about dinners gone bad.

Server’s Scam

June 24, 2012 Server Stories

My wife and I recently spent a day in San Francisco. When we stopped for lunch at Pier 39 we knew we’d pay for the touristy location, but were not prepared for the magnitude of what we ran into at an Italian restaurant on the water.

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Wine Purchase Puzzles Diners

June 20, 2012 Server Stories

This happened last night and it was so weird, I’m still going over it in my mind. My husband and I took our 25-year-old niece out to dinner at a new restaurant in town. We had a reservation and were seated promptly. Very lovely atmosphere. Upscale. After 10 minutes our waitress showed up and took […]

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Server Stands by Table Entire Time

June 20, 2012 Server Stories

About two years ago I was dining at an Asian restaurant in San Antonio with my mother and younger brother. The food was delicious but a few things bothered me. First, the waitress stood right by our table the entire time and never left our side. That was nice when it came to requesting refills, […]

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Typhoon Troubles Customer

May 25, 2012 Accident & Mishap Stories

While traveling through Southeast Asia, I spent a few weeks in the Philippines. One day it was raining (caused by a typhoon). There wasn’t much to do, so I packed my Macbook Pro and went to a restaurant to use their free WiFi. I ordered a Coke and started to browse the internet.

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Manager is a Slacker

May 6, 2012 Fast Food Stories

I currently work as the fry cook at a high volume beer and wings joint in Atlanta. Been there almost exactly one year, and will be leaving in one week. Here’s why… Management sucks. My last job as cashier at a fast casual South African restaurant, where the manager and prep cook would frequently bang […]

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Customer Scalded by Coffee

April 6, 2012 Accident & Mishap Stories

I was working as a waitress at a hotel restaurant. It was my first job so I didn’t have much experience and the restaurant was always woefully understaffed. People would just call in 5 minutes before their shift started and cancel or simply not turn up – and for some reason the managers never fired […]

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Ruckus at the Pancake Restaurant

March 25, 2012 Server Stories

Many years ago my parents and I went to a popular pancake chain for dinner. This particular location was known for its poor service, but nothing like this one night. We were seated by a very disgruntled waitress, who took our drink orders and stormed to the kitchen. 

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Children Served Cocktails

February 29, 2012 Kid Stories

The last job I held waiting tables was at a neighborhood restaurant chain that catered to families and tried to liven up their bar area at night for the adult crowd. I tended bar at least one night a week and waited tables or expedited the rest of the time. One day, my friend “Lacy” […]

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Lewd Mr. Matt

February 24, 2012 Fast Food Stories

My first job was working at what is still one of my favorite fast food restaurants, specializing in chicken. The schedule was perfect and the benefits of free meals on break definitely appealed to me as a 16-year-old. I was quickly moved from a fry station to drive-thru based on my customer skills and speed. […]

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Carry-Out Order Turns into an Ordeal

February 19, 2012 Fast Food Stories

Last summer, just around the corner from where I work, a new pizza place opened up. They are a smaller, local chain and I wanted to check out what they had to offer. One day after seeing their Wednesday special posted on the sign by the road, “Two Medium 1-Topping Pizzas – $10.00″ I thought, […]

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Missing Pizza Dismays Diners

February 18, 2012 Fast Food Stories

We had some friends over one night to play board games and didn’t want to make anything, so we figured the best option was to order some pizza (before we played the board games, of course!). We ordered from a well-known pizza chain in Western Canada, one that we’ve ordered from numerous times before and […]

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Restaurant Rips Off Customers with Overcharges

February 14, 2012 Odds & Ends Stories

I had my 30th birthday in November 2000 and arranged to go out for a meal with friends and colleagues. We booked an Italian restaurant I had been to before and liked. There were 21 of us. The starters were fine, the main courses were fine. Service was very slow, but we were a big […]

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