Food service workers are getting a lot of attention thanks to the Chinese-created social media app TikTok. As servers and other restaurant workers begin to record their time on the job and upload it to the social media platform, they reveal the things that go on while they’re on the clock at their place of employment. In February 2023, one server from Olive Garden went viral in a big way because of something she decided to do to a customer when the person started sharing their food with another diner at the table.
In the viral video, which was posted by TikTok user @ariel.marie824, the server is wearing an Olive Garden uniform as she shows a customer’s bill. The video, which is only five seconds long, included on-screen text that read, “POV you witnessed the guest who said she wasn’t hungry, eating some soup and salad, so you charged $9.99.”
People flooded the viral video with comments and responses. Many people thought the server was wrong for charging the other diner for eating some soup and salad off the other person’s plate.
“If someone needs to share a soup and salad, they’re probably struggling. I wouldn’t be so proud of myself for charging them,” one compassionate person wrote.
Another person proclaimed that the server was wasting their time, writing on TikTok: “Girl…. ik they don’t pay you enough to do all of that.” However, this person seems to miss the point that the server would likely get a bigger tip by increasing the size of the total bill since tips are based on a percentage of the bill in question.
Other restaurants charge customers who share their orders with other diners. One person wrote about their experience when the same thing happened to them at a restaurant: “This happened at a village inn. My husband took a couple of sips of my coffee, and they charged us for an entire pot!”
“So what does Olive Garden do with the uneaten portions of salad? They trash them, so unless they order another helping, then it shouldn’t matter.”
One person wrote, “Mr. Olive Garden himself is going to come to thank you for this.”
Some people were concerned for the server because they were worried that by charging the diners for the soup and salad, they were going to cut into the tip they received.
Another wrote, “I mean if that’s what you want them to spend your tip money on.”
Although the server received a lot of responses from people who felt like she should not have charged the table the extra $9.99, she also had her fair share of supporters who understood why she did it.
“Y’all saying that’s her tip, but if the lady is sneaking a shared meal, I promise you she probably wasn’t going to tip anyways.”
Do you think this server should have charged the customer after she caught them eating the other person’s meal?