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June 15, 2016 Edibles » Food & Drink Features

        
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Brunch Nightmares

From angry bridal parties to underwear tags

By Anita Overcash @anitaovercash

To go along with this week's Brunch Guide, CL staff talked with servers and foodies to find out what sort of brunch nightmares they've encountered. As our findings prove, not all experiences are smooth and delicious.

"Hell is heaving a tray of 40 mimosas into the air at a bridal shower, and watching the blood-thirsty faces of the women around you, plot your death…"

"I had one customer that was particularly picky about her cappuccinos. She was a total bitch, but by some luck I always made her drink just the way she liked it. She was a self proclaimed savant when it came to identifying flavors with her palate. One day I decided to test this. Rather than pulling a piping hot brand new shot of espresso, I took a luke-warm one that had been sitting for a good one-two minutes. I also took the liberty of not mixing the three percent milk she normally takes. (Yes, three percent). Instead, I took whatever was already steamed and threw it in a cup and sent her on her way. Basically, it was the laziest and worst drink I could make. She finished her coffee and came back to the counter and congratulated me on making the best cappuccino she has ever had to date."

"I was eating brunch when I found a girls underwear tag in my meal. I'm not sure how it got there, but I got everything [the meal] comped."

"There was an old lady that would come in every week and always order the same coffee drink. She would only ever order it as "her drink" — like it was a right of passage or you had to prove something to her to know what it was. I ask to take her order, and she says "I'll have one of my coffees." I asked what she normally has and she points to my manager and says, "she knows how to make it." My manager saw and put the order in for me, but I didn't find out what "her drink" was until about two months into working there."

"We just started doing brunch and the owner wanted us to fresh squeeze orange juice to order. So every time someone ordered an orange juice we had to go to this manually operated squeezer and hand squeeze a bunch of oranges to get a glass of orange juice. It took almost five minutes to get a full glass. If you're really busy and four people want a glass, that's 20 minutes of time to get the drinks out. It wasn't pretty."

"I have witnessed friendships turn into rivalries over who gets to pay the bill. It gets awkward really fast, especially when they leave it up to the server to decide who to take the money from. Public service announcement: graciously accept the breakfast sandwich and coffee your friend buys you and don't turn it into a debate worthy of The View."

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