I have seen a lot of posts about being afraid to inconvenience the waiters/waitresses at restaurants. I work at a restaurant and I can tell you all, it is not an inconvenience. I also want to say that there are alot more people than you think that walks into that restaurant making special requests. You are not the only one. We have people all the time to come in and make requests and if it is in our power to do it, we do it. It doesn't bother us at all. The waitresses don't mind. The way they see it is they are working for the tip, so anything they can do to please you is what they will do. As a matter of fact, we have had some people come in and tell the waitress, "well, I just started this low carb diet and don't really know what I can have". It has gotten to where they will come and get me and I sit down with them and show them stuff on the menu they can have. So, don't feel awkward at all. Don't be afraid. Unless you just get a crabby one, they really don't mind. And if they are crabby, they shouldn't be waitressing.

I felt the same way, didn't want to be a bother, But ya know what? WE are going there to eat and spend OUR hard earned money. So if that waitress wants a good tip she will accomodate moi, LOL...

I have had waitresses roll their eyes, sigh, etc.. One time I said to this one waitress, "Is somthing I said amusing to you?" She turned so red faced, smiled and said ,"No mam" veggies a s a side it is!.. I just had to laugh.
ANgel

I too have worked in restaurants for the last 15 years...everything from management to waitressing. Your requests are never a problem. If you are made to feel like it is an issue...then it's your server who has a problem. Especially when you consider that most low carb dieters are merely asking for a sauce to be excluded or a side to be changed. Seriously...It has never once bothered me to receive a special request. The reason I've been in this business for so long is because I like the instant gratification that I get. I've made someone's night enjoyable and it's nice to play a part in that. Kinda silly to ruin that goal by getting persnickety over a small change that will make the customer happy.

I always found, as a waitress, that if the request was made politely I would bend over backward to get the customer what they wanted. I try to extend the same courtesy when I go out to eat. "Could you please substitute...." is always greeted more helpfully than "I want _____ not ____" It may seem picky, but ordering the waitstaff around never helps.

That being said, the rude customers are theoretically entitled to the same service.

I ask politely and never had problems ordering anything. If you do get a crabby waitress/waiter
I ususally smile nicely and ask them if they are having a bad day...That usually snaps them out of it...but that is very rare....

When I go out to eat I am always polite to the waiter/waitress and take into consideration that these are human beings serving me not robots. They make mistakes just like I do and deserve to be treated with respect.

If they make a mistake I ask to please take it back and have it redone and I say it with a smile, a friendly one not a sarcastic one.

We always say please and thank you and always tip big. If DH tips he tips the necessary, but I tip double the necessary. When it comes to my food and if it's a restaurant I frequent I want them to know when I walk in that door, hey she tips good so give her good service and so far I have no complaints.

Hell I even tip my grocery bagger good. DH doesn't understand why I fork over 10 bucks for a bagger when he only gives 2 or 3 bucks. I just say hey, we shop here every weekend and these guys pack our stuff and walk it out to the car and are polite even if it's raining, they deserve it. Especially when they only get paid by tips cause they don't have a salary.

Good service is hard to find, it's worth my money when they go the extra mile.

I went to a restaraunt for breakfast once and ordered eggs, bacon and slice tomatoes or salad or whatever they had handy. The waitress said I should just order a side of eggs and a side of bacon. I asked her if I could please get sliced tomatoes or would she not sell them to me. She looked at me like she was thinking about all the extra work that would be. I did not leave her a tip. Now I go to macdonalds for the protein platter breakfast, which I like and is way cheaper.

I've had at least four waitresses smile when I've been asking for substitutions and say "Oh, are you doing Atkins?" I say yes and ask if alot of customers come in and make requests because they are lc'ing and they say "Yes, Alot" None of them have ever seemed to mind or think I'm picky.

I find if I ask " Can I please ahve.." as opposed to " I want.." I get better results. It has a lot to do with basic human nature as in the former the waitress feels like she is doind you a favor and feels good about meeting your needs as opposed to the later where they just feel bossed around. Or course this assumes you do get a server who needs a big attitude adjustment

I love my local norms. We are good tippers and never need to ask for anything. As soon as we sit down we are brought diet pepsis and the dishes always come with extra veggies and no potatoes.

P.s whenever a server says "yes we can do that" I always make sure to give them a big smile to let them know I appreciate it even if its something they'd have to do anyways.

I had to buck that attitude of not wanting to impose that I learned from my parents. I have lots of friends that are super fussy about their food, so I learned from them. I don't think I've ever sent anything back, but I do ask for what I want.

It took me a while to get comfortable with asking for my food the way I wanted it, but found it really isn't difficult once you start doing it. A friendly smile never hurts, but I have run into a problem when I ask for a burger,less the bun, and don't even get the tomato and lettuce that was listed in the ingredients on the menu. It was a pretty dry patty, but that was just that particular waitress, I had asked before and received it the right way many times. You just never know when someone will misinterpret what you want!!!

The other night at a grill, I said "is it possible to have a double vegetable instead of the baked potatoe" He said not a problem.
I'm somewhat in the food service so I know that the potatoe was not neatly as expensive as the asperagus was, but he did it for both of us with a smile (we left a nice tip )

I asked the waitress in a very expensive resraunt is I could substitute the potatoes with a vegetable and she said yes and reccomended the asparagus. When the check came we were charged for a very expensive side of asparagus.

I have never had problems asking for what I want. I haven't had any problems with the wait staff either however. I guess because I am always polite and make sure I tip what is expected.

Of course ... I do go to places that I know have items that don't need too much alteration. And ... really ... almost any place has a salad.