11 Things That Make Your Waiter Mad

Ever wonder what your waiter says about you when he goes back into the kitchen? Sure you have. Remember that night when one of your martini-soaked relatives complained to the restaurant about the size of the serving plates? In his mind, they were too small and he let the waiter, maître d', and just about everyone else in the establishment know about it in a boisterous voice. You've never left a restaurant feeling so embarrassed, right? And you can only imagine how the waitstaff retold the story over shift drinks later that night. But besides being drunk and loud, what other things are you doing that really make your waiter mad?

Click here for 11 Things That Make Your Waiter Really Mad Slideshow.

The restaurant is there to serve you, but as part of the social contract, the customer also has a certain responsibility to act as a gracious guest. They say there's truth behind every cliché. So it is with the line, "Everyone should have to wait tables at some point in life to know what it's like."

The reality is that most of us haven't waited tables, heard the obnoxious remarks, felt the inappropriate slap on the behind, been called "honey," or known the countless other irritating things that customers do and that waiters see, hear, and experience firsthand every day.

Because many of us have just never seen what it's like on the other side, we asked well-respected restaurateurs to weigh in with 11 things they absolutely hate that customers do. From making snide comments about the burger taking so long they must have had to butcher the cow to using vulgar language in the presence of other guests and the waitstaff, here is what they said really got under their skin.