Since someone posted about sending back food, I wanted to pose a question about what to do when you encounter a server at a restaurant who is either under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

This doesn't happen to me every day, but I have noticed in the last few years that some of the waiters I've had at restaurants have seemed to be high. I'm not talking about just being absent minded or scattered. I'm talking about not being able to visually focus and having difficulty doing very simple tasks.

A few weeks ago we went to a restaurant and we were pretty sure our waiter (when he finally came) was under the influence of some illegal substance. He couldn't keep his pencil in his hand. He could not maintain eye contact with either of us. His words were very mechanical. We got little attention from him after we ordered. Someone else brought us our food. Near the very end, he must have realized his tip was going to be bad if he didn't shape up and began to get us refills. After we left, I turned to my husband and we said in unison, "I think he was high."

So what do you do when this happens? Ignore it or ask for another waiter? I've always let it go in the past and hoped it doesn't happen again.

Tell the manager of course.

Ask him if the drugs he is on are on the menu as well.

It is not uncommon for someone else to bring the food. That is not a sign of being drunk or high.

I'm aware that sometimes someone else brings the food. I wrote that to show that his interaction with us was fairly minimal, not to indicate he was at fault.

Firstly, in many restaurants, runners bring the food to the table.

Secondly, while of course it's a possibility, there could be other reasons for such behavior other than drugs or alcohol. Instead of making an assumption that this person was high or drunk, consider the other possibilities - a result of a perscription drug (or lack of) for Tourette's, adult ADHD, or other disorders or perhaps he was just having a very bad day.

I might have asked "Are you feeling well?" You showed kindness and compassion by ignoring it and that's probably what I would have done.

As a restaurant owner, I strongly recommend the next time this occurs that you contact the mgr. Even if the waiter/ess is NOT abusing drugs or alcohol, if he/she is not in any condition to be on the floor, someone should be alerted. Just as if you were not functioning correctly/feeling well in your office, a person who is carrying hot food on heavy plates should not be serving customers.

Here is what I do...In my best Spicolli I say:

DUDE...Where's my car???

Just an idea.

I appreciate the input. I agree that there may be times where a server may have a disability or not be feeling well. This may have been the case with the example I gave but his eyes were pretty glassy when he took our order. And I noticed that our service suddenly improved when tip time approached. Still, I could have been wrong.

atlswan,

You're right, I was pretty messed up that night!

AL

This has happened to you more than once? Are you sure you can recognize the difference between "bored and unmotivated" and "drunk or high"? In my many years of experience dining out in the best & worst places, this has not happened to me even once. I consider myself to be a very alert consumer and I am sure that I would recognize a "drunk or high" waitperson.

We had a server a couple weeks ago that I am pretty sure was stoned. We didn't do anything about it, just enjoyed our meal and were amused by this guy's behavior. There weren't any real problems with the service, just an extremely spacy and giggly waiter.

If my server is high, then I'd ask him/her to pass it on for a quick toke.

LOL, I like the answers here

1- glassy eyes can be from many sorts of medications or eye problems or contacts etc.
2- Soooo many people have crossed my path who have the sort of personality/speech patterns/behavior that one could attribute to highness and that is just the way they are~
3- as long as they didn't ask you if you want to share, and they didn't drop food in your lap, you might just ignore it next time...we all have problems focusing sometimes..Uhhhh where was I?
Oh yeah, most kitchens are run by a FireBreathingDragon who would toss a worker out on his high Arse if he were caught stoned..

From my time in food service, it's not the servers who are ususally high, but the diswashers.

I guess I would have mentioned it to the manager.

From my grandfathers time as a chef, it was the cooks who were drunk LOL

If your orders correct and were served to the right person, he probably wasn't high. As someone else mentioned, in many cases the server who takes your order won't deliver the food or even necessarily provide the refills on water. He should check back a few times to make sure everything is alright and ask if you want anymore wine, and then again at the end of the meal. So he wasn't necessarily groveling for tips!

So he was high but his behavior improved toward tip time? I guess whatever he was on wore off by then. It sounds like a drug called troll.

This thread title just gave me a good, much needed laugh. I think I'd be amused if the waiter was under the influence, that is, unless it had an affect on my food or the service.

Sorry to disappoint you, jacketwatch. I am not a troll despite your suspicions. This really happened. ;-)

Question...

What should the waiter do if the customer is drunk and becomes obnoxious?

Now that is something to chew on