[CFrance]

Last night we went to a free tasting dinner at Carrabbas. We got the invite because we are members of their email Amici club. You get all sorts of discounts & such. The invite mentioned tipping was encouraged and appreciated. The dinner was at 5:00. We showed up at 5:00 and got one of the few remaining seats at a long communal table. There were 80 people. Another couple showed up and were going to sit opposite us, but the husband said they should move down one set of chairs and leave the end set for someone else so they wouldn't have to climb over everybody. I was disappointed because I just had this feeling we would have had a good time sitting opposite them.

So then the last couple comes in. He's in a sweater, but she's dressed to the nines, dripping with gold and diamonds, like they were in a three-star resto in Paris or something. They sit down, order tea and coke, and immediately she starts b****ing about everything. I mean everything, starting with there's nothing to put her silverware on, and she doesn't want it sitting on the table. It's too noisy. There's not enough room. Where's the food. Not once did they look across the table and say hello, how are you. She pulls out her cell phone and begins to tweet. He asks, Who are you tweeting, and she says The world, about this place.

There was an appetizer to share--arancini, little rice balls and marinara sauce. She loudly proclaims, I'm not sharing anything. So we all take our share, and finally she grabs the plate and eats the last one, proclaims it horrible and proceeds to write that on the evaluation sheet we had. Starts yelling for clean silverware.

It went on and on. Demanding more silverware after every presentation, clean plates, refusing to share any of the side dishes (although she would take hers after everyone else had served themselves), dissing every dish.

And coughing. They are both coughing repeatedly into scarf (her) and napkin (him) and sloshing themselves in hand sanitizer. Finally he tells us, We're just getting over the flu. We're thinking, How nice of you to share.

After criticizing the rest of the dishes, he finally asks the waitress if there is a charge for the tea and coke. She says No, upon which they get up and leave, leaving NO TIP. Oh, but not before she knocks over her coke across the table, which narrowly misses landing in my lap.

I said to the lady at the other end of the table, Next year would you please not move down? The whole table of 6 had observed her rude behavior. We got a good laugh out of it up to the part where they left no tip.

The waitstaff covered this dinner for 80 in little over an hour. The service was flawless. I am appalled at this couple's behavior. Everybody at the table tipped generously to make up for it.

That's my story.

[ilovetv]

Pity the servers who have to put up with that every day, every shift (which I'm sure you and the others at the table did, and tipped accordingly).

One has to look at the husband/boyfriend who puts up with that kind of domineering, too. He's getting "something" out of this relationship that says "I like it this way"!

[CFrance]

My husband's guess was second marriage for him, and he is afraid of her!

[gerryann]

Think of it as your "entertainment" for the evening.......

[hoopsterdad]

if we are lucky, maybe they might read the post and reflect on their behavior. i admire the servers in the food industry, with what they have to endure.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by gerryann

Think of it as your "entertainment" for the evening.......

That's funny you should say that, because we were laughing about it again this morning, which made me decide to post.

But the no-tipping was crass and not funny at all. I hope the waitstaff at Carrabba's got recognition for doing such a good job. We noted it on our evaluation sheet.

[ugotme]

Originally Posted by hoopsterdad

if we are lucky, maybe they might read the post and reflect on their behavior. i admire the servers in the food industry, with what they have to endure.

Sorry - even if they do read this post (which I doubt) people like this will NEVER reflect on it.

They are just rude, obnoxious idiots who think they are special and no one else matters or even belongs in the same world as them.

[TheVillageChicken]

My Carrabbas story is from lunch this week. A waiter named Todd decided that we would all love it if he inserted himself loudly and annoyingly into our dining experience. Apparently, he believed that singing to us, being overly familiar and talking to us like we were senile nursing home folk was the way to a nice tip. He was wrong.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by TheVillageChicken

My Carrabbas story is from lunch this week. A waiter named Todd decided that we would all love it if he inserted himself loudly and annoyingly into our dining experience. Apparently, he believed that singing to us, being overly familiar and talking to us like we were senile nursing home folk was the way to a nice tip. He was wrong.

I certainly didn't see him last night.

[LndLocked]

If Mrs High Maintenance had her own separate entree .... I would bet the ranch she had a lil something "extra" added at no charge by the wait / cooking staff.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by LndLocked

If Mrs High Maintenance had her own separate entree .... I would bet the ranch she had a lil something "extra" added at no charge by the wait / cooking staff.

I didn't understand why she came to begin with. Carrabba's doesn't use tablecloths. She must know that. If she's been a member of their email discount club, it's safe to assume she's been there before.

I wish, I wish, I wish I had had the nerve to say "NO TIP?" when they got up to leave!

[kittygilchrist]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Last night we went to a free tasting dinner at Carrabbas. We got the invite because we are members of their email Amici club. You get all sorts of discounts & such. The invite mentioned tipping was encouraged and appreciated. The dinner was at 5:00. We showed up at 5:00 and got one of the few remaining seats at a long communal table. There were 80 people. Another couple showed up and were going to sit opposite us, but the husband said they should move down one set of chairs and leave the end set for someone else so they wouldn't have to climb over everybody. I was disappointed because I just had this feeling we would have had a good time sitting opposite them.

So then the last couple comes in. He's in a sweater, but she's dressed to the nines, dripping with gold and diamonds, like they were in a three-star resto in Paris or something. They sit down, order tea and coke, and immediately she starts b****ing about everything. I mean everything, starting with there's nothing to put her silverware on, and she doesn't want it sitting on the table. It's too noisy. There's not enough room. Where's the food. Not once did they look across the table and say hello, how are you. She pulls out her cell phone and begins to tweet. He asks, Who are you tweeting, and she says The world, about this place.

There was an appetizer to share--arancini, little rice balls and marinara sauce. She loudly proclaims, I'm not sharing anything. So we all take our share, and finally she grabs the plate and eats the last one, proclaims it horrible and proceeds to write that on the evaluation sheet we had. Starts yelling for clean silverware.

It went on and on. Demanding more silverware after every presentation, clean plates, refusing to share any of the side dishes (although she would take hers after everyone else had served themselves), dissing every dish.

And coughing. They are both coughing repeatedly into scarf (her) and napkin (him) and sloshing themselves in hand sanitizer. Finally he tells us, We're just getting over the flu. We're thinking, How nice of you to share.

After criticizing the rest of the dishes, he finally asks the waitress if there is a charge for the tea and coke. She says No, upon which they get up and leave, leaving NO TIP. Oh, but not before she knocks over her coke across the table, which narrowly misses landing in my lap.

I said to the lady at the other end of the table, Next year would you please not move down? The whole table of 6 had observed her rude behavior. We got a good laugh out of it up to the part where they left no tip.

The waitstaff covered this dinner for 80 in little over an hour. The service was flawless. I am appalled at this couple's behavior. Everybody at the table tipped generously to make up for it.

That's my story.

Your story, CF, is possibly about a personality disorder. Sad but true. The person can't see through anyone's eyes but their own, and their view is skewed way out of kilter.
I like Carrabas and wish I had been there, even if someone made a spectacle of herself. and if there two it's folie a deux.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by kittygilchrist

Your story, CF, is possibly about a personality disorder. Sad but true. The person can't see through anyone's eyes but their own, and their view is skewed way out of kilter.
I like Carrabas and wish I had been there, even if someone made a spectacle of herself. and if there two it's folie a deux.

Okay, Kitty, join the Amici club online and go with us next time!

[graciegirl]

I just want to bite when I hear stuff like this. I think it is kind of Kitty to say that she had a personality disorder. I'd say it was a serious case of being self centered.


Hope she didn't have kids.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I just want to bite when I hear stuff like this. I think it is kind of Kitty to say that she had a personality disorder. I'd say it was a serious case of being self centered.


Hope she didn't have kids.

Unfortunately... they do. In the few sentences we exchanged, the husband said they were headed to Atlanta to babysit grandkids while the son & dil head off to Puerto Rico. They were hoping not to convey their flu to the babies.

If I had a larger mouth, it would have grazed the table.