9 Of Reddit's Wildest Food Conversations

Anyone who has worked as a restaurant server knows that in that line of work, you tend to see some wild things. From rude customers to awkward failed marriage proposals to weird food orders, servers and bartenders really do see it all. After dealing with unruly customers all day, the r/Tales From Your Server subreddit feels like a virtual bar where food service workers from all around the globe can gather to commiserate and swap some of the wildest stories you've ever read. For example, there's one thread dedicated to customer's failed attempts at dining and dashing, including one woman who dined and dashed but left her entire purse behind at the restaurant. Whoops! Another person chimed in to share a story of a couple who dined and dashed at her restaurant. The problem? The restaurant was on a cruise ship, and their meal was linked to their cabin number. 

While there are plenty of rude customer stories in this subreddit, there are also some stories of customers who are just straight up wacky. Like the so-called "Lasagna Lady," a woman who showed up at a restaurant a month after she had dined there, asking if they still had the leftover lasagna she forgot to bring home. Spoiler: They did not. Let this be a lesson that if you misbehave at a restaurant, you might read about yourself on Reddit.

Yes, you read that right: this is a popular subreddit about bread that has been stapled to trees. That's it. That's the sub. This thriving community of bread stapled to tree enthusiasts runs about 318,000 deep. According to Bon Appetit, it was started by two friends back in 2017 as a joke, but has taken off ever since. Users come to r/BreadStapledtoTrees to share images of toasted white bread stapled to an ash tree, a marbled rye stapled to a palm tree, and even a sourdough starter stapled to a tree. There's something weirdly wholesome and calming about the thread. Redditors seem to understand and even celebrate the silliness of this tradition, while still respecting the strict rules.

Yes, there are rules. Lots of them, in fact. For starters, the founders of the thread spoke to tree conservationists who confirmed that staples won't hurt mature trees. But the group does have a strict no young trees, bonsai, or cactus policy (via Bon Appetit.) There is also a list of approved breads, which is quite extensive and ecompasses everything from Pop Tarts, taco shells, and more typical types of bread. So if you're inspired, why not grab some challah, matzah, or even some gingerbread men along with a stapler and join in on the fun?

They say we eat with our eyes, but unfortunately not all food can look appetizing. There are plenty of foods out there that look disgusting but actually taste great, like cottage cheese or passion fruit. The first person to ever look at a raw oyster and say, "I think I'll eat that" was a brave soul. But the r/ShittyFoodPorn sub is full of beautifully disgusting food gems, a lot of which aren't guaranteed to be as tasty as a briny oyster straight from the sea. 

With over 2,000,000 members, this wildly popular sub is full of the most hilariously disgusting examples of food gone so very wrong. A parody of the idea of a "food porn," which ostensibly refers to images of food that are enticing, maybe even seductive, this subreddit is the opposite of that. Take this image of one user's school lunch, which also doubles as a sad reflection of the state of school lunches. Or this image of a licorice cake that one user made for her husband that seems more like something you'd make for someone you hate. Ever wonder what a Caesar salad looks like without the lettuce? Look no further. This sub makes for a hilarious read, though you may want a barf bag handy. 

With so many subreddits devoted to sharing images of the grossest food imaginable, it's nice to take a mental palette cleaner. May we suggest wandering on over to r/BowlofLemons? This is a sub devoted entirely to, you guessed it, pictures of bowls of lemons. And while it sounds weird at first, there is something calming and mesmerizing about seeing image after image of a delightful and cheerful bowl of yellow citrus fruit. How can anyone not be charmed by this? After all, bowls of lemons have long been the subject of many a still life painting. They're art!

But the subreddit is not without its own drama. Some users break the sanctity of this lemon-only space by sneaking limes and other fruit into the mix, which prompted this hilariously "angry" post from another user. There are also a few users who like to push the boundaries of what a lemon bowl could be. And if all this lemon-gazing starts to get you hungry, we've got tons of lemony recipes to help you work your way through your very own big bowl of lemons!

Now, r/SushiFails might be a bit newer and a bit more retch-inducing than r/CakeFails, but it's still a hilarious ride. Admittedly, sushi tends to be a more nuanced and complicated food than cake. After all, there's sushi and sashimi, and the types of sushi one can make get even more specific than that. But the folks over at this subreddit really take "not understanding how sushi works" to a whole new level, complete with hilariously gross results.

One Redditor shared a photo of how his mother prefers her sushi: Fried in oil until not a hint of rawness remains, and then served between two slices of bread. For some reason, it feels worth mentioning that the bread is not even toasted. Another user shared a photo of what could probably be known as American sushi, and would probably make an Itamae weep. Another user shared a photo of this sushi and Flamin' Hot Cheetos mashup that absolutely no one asked for. Although in a shocking twist, one user commented, "Having had it, I can confirm it is in fact delish." We're just going to trust them on that one.