The Customer Takeout Order Behavior That Angers Servers

Takeout was a common enough option before the COVID-19 pandemic, but once the plague descended upon us all, it became de rigueur for any restaurant that wanted to stay afloat during those troubled times. And while the days of masking indoors and limiting the number of people at gatherings are largely over, takeout is clearly here to stay, becoming the dominant method by which people order from restaurants these days. Just as fine dining has its etiquette, so too does takeout culture — like the tipping fracas that still rages. And one behavior that you should definitely ditch? Running too late when picking up your order, a move that annoys some servers to no end.

The vast majority of online ordering platforms, whether you're going directly through the restaurant or using a third-party app like DoorDash or Uber Eats, give you a general pick-up time (for some, it's more of a window) to head inside and grab your food, or you choose your time slot. This ensures that the food is at its best, hot, crispy, or whatever quality it's most tasty as.

When you pick up your order more than, say, 15 minutes after your time slot is passed, that opens up the restaurant to complaints when it wasn't at fault in the first place. No one wants soggy fried food or warm sushi, after all. If you're incredibly late, a few hours or more, the food could no longer be safe to eat, so the restaurant has to decide whether to refrigerate the order, remake it, or consider itself ghosted, none of which is ideal.

Maybe your last work meeting ran over its allotted time, or your little five-minute nap turned into a whole hour (that's a dangerous game to play as an adult). Whatever the case, now you're a half-hour late to pick up your Friday pizza order, and you'd rather not get blacklisted by this restaurant in the future. What can you do? It is absolutely essential that you give them a call and let them know you're on your way, with an ETA (if you've used a third-party app, you might also be able to text them through it). This not only lets them know you are indeed coming to get your order (remember – politeness toward waitstaff gets you better service), but it also gives them a chance to decide what to do about your food, whether it's still good under a heat lamp or needs to be remade.

In the event something truly unprecedented happens, and you can't pick up your order at all, don't fret. A courtesy call as soon as possible, or even an email to the restaurant's account, explaining the situation and apologizing for not being there to grab the food, can go a long way in smoothing over the situation and soothing annoyed servers. Unfortunately, you aren't entitled to a refund, especially from a small business, but it might give you one if it's feeling generous.