You’ve Been Served

What the staff at New York's high-end restaurants really think about you, your dining habits, and your ridiculous allergies to spice.

Illustration by Gigi Rose Gray

New Yorkers have endless opinions on restaurant food, and the people who deliver it to our tables. But what do the waiters, waitresses and bartenders think about us, the pesky orderers with countless questions and annoying allergies? We went behind the scenes at New York City’s fine dining establishments to answer this question—grilling a trio of restaurant staffers about what it’s really like waiting tables and tending bar. Janine, Jacob and Jenna (not their real names) spill the beans to our host, Rex Collective of multimedia collaborative The Recollective, about horny customers, picky eaters and bad tippers.