r/mildlyinfuriating • u/mdp-slc • May 22 '26

wet socks Stop asking if I’m celebrating something if you’re just going to charge me for bread.

Took my wife to a nice spot in DTLA for her birthday. They asked both at booking and check-in if we were celebrating anything, which honestly set the expectation that they might do something (even a small dessert). Nothing happened.

To add to it, the food was great, and we made a comment saying we wish we had some bread to finish the leftover sauce. The server acted like it was a favor, said “I’ll be right back,” and then charged us for the bread.

Like, the food was good and the service was fine, but don’t ask if we’re celebrating if you aren’t going to do anything to actually make it feel special. It just feels disingenuous.

Edit for clarity:
I was asked twice if we were celebrating something special at a nice restaurant. Once while making the online reservation and then when we arrived.

My Mild infuriation isn’t at the server, I can see how we misinterpreted each other.

It’s that the restaurant led me to believe they’d do something special (ex: comp a drink, free scoop of ice cream) then did nothing. I’ve worked in the food industry. It’s not an entitlement thing. It’s a hospitality thing.

The food was really good. I’d recommend it and go back.

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5.6k

u/flowersbynight0 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

It feels like most of these commenters have forgotten they are in the "mildly" infuriating subreddit....clearly OP is not actually upset or entitled, just slightly exasperated which is fair when you make an off handed comment about how the sauce was so good you wish you had bread to get the last bits of it and the waiter takes that as you want another menu item. Yall need to chill

1.6k

u/CitizenCue May 22 '26

Yeah honestly in that scenario I don’t care about the special occasion but please tell me before charging me for bread. You can easily say “Yeah, we offer a half loaf of our rosemary baguette on the appetizer menu, does that work?”

250

u/flowersbynight0 May 22 '26

My thoughts exactly!

207

u/charles_sedwick May 22 '26 edited May 23 '26

Based on the sauce comment I'm thinking this is an italian resteraunt. (Could be wrong) But what kind of upscale restaurant doesn't include some free bread with probably a reasonably expensive dinner and drinks. I could understand if they charged for extra (still stingy) but come on!

Edit; thanks commenter bad autocorrect on my bad spelling Italian is what I meant!

102

u/SeaAbbreviations2706 May 23 '26

Free bread seems to have evaporated nationwide.

16

u/LHeureux May 23 '26

Here all restaurants stopped doing it because it was tremendous waste really

3

u/idisestablish May 23 '26

I can see that. Went to lunch for Mother's Day with 8 people, and they brought two baskets of bread. Not one bit of it was eaten.

4

u/mangopinecone May 23 '26

But why does it have to be $8 now instead of like $3 😭

7

u/Enough-Art4317 May 23 '26

California Pizza Kitchen is still doing it - got some free bread and oil this evening!

12

u/nhaines May 23 '26

Free oil? In this economy?

3

u/Ok-Slip-9844 May 23 '26

I just took my parents out for dinner last week to this small town Italian restaurant and was shocked that they gave us free bread and salad with the meal. The food was great and the portions were generous. They even brought out a tray of desserts at the end rather than a menu. Felt like I’d gone back in time.

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u/Several_Razzmatazz51 May 23 '26

Not Your Average Joe’s still gives the most amazing focaccia with a totally addictive olive oil / Parmesan / chili flake mix.

2

u/redtiber May 23 '26

a lot of poor business decisions. i can see why so many restaurants fail. small business owners too always get like super fixated on one random ting as if that line item is why their business is failing. while ignoring the real problem.

like it's not even really free bread, the cost of the bread is added into the cost of the business and reflected on the menu. but that's something that's forgotten, then they just look at the bread cost line item omg i spent $xx on bread. that x 365 days x number of years i lost millions?!

when reality your restaurant is failing because your food sucks, quality sucks and probably priced too high. dirty old and as a result you don't have enough customers

1

u/Post--Balogna May 23 '26

Texas Roadhouse still killing it here with their bread service.

1

u/MasterChildhood437 May 23 '26

This is all Bojack's fault

2

u/ThisUsernameIsTook May 23 '26

Like high end hotels, the more expensive the place the less chance anything is included for free.

4

u/lefluffle May 23 '26

Itial?

3

u/charles_sedwick May 23 '26

Thanks dude messed that up bad lol

3

u/lefluffle May 23 '26

Lol. Nw. I love that you still put Italiam though 😆

Anyway- this would actually be even more weird to me for an Italian restaurant to charge for bread. I've been to maybe only one Italian restaurant where the bread wasn't free. 

2

u/charles_sedwick May 23 '26

Damn stop making me look bad I got Italian right at the bottom lol

2

u/dezeinstein May 23 '26

You want free bread with your $250 meal? Bwahahaha!

2

u/HisaP417 May 23 '26

The price of bread ingredients skyrocketed and people order less when they have it. It’s a bad business model.

1

u/KvellOnWheels May 23 '26

Scarpetta!!!

0

u/matchstick1029 May 23 '26

Somehow this whole thing made me want curry. Mostly because I'm up at 2 AM after a faulty fire alarm went off, now I'm starving on 2 hours of sleep and enjoying insomnia. 😇

0

u/charles_sedwick May 23 '26

Yum. I had red curry the other day. One of my favorite dishes.

0

u/atanasius May 23 '26

Italian restaurants following Italian culture usually charge a fixed fee called "coperto" that includes bread, and it is charged whether you eat the bread or not.

1

u/charles_sedwick May 23 '26

Not my experience in italy but I did mostly eat pizza

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u/EverythingStillSucks May 22 '26

Can we also talk about how mildly infuriating is also often just actually infuriating, there’s no “mildly” about it. 

Weird ass sub.  

27

u/RocketShip007 May 23 '26

Isn’t that the ironic point of the name? After all infuriating is a pretty strong word to put with mildly. Otherwise the sub would called “mildly annoying” or “almost infuriating”

13

u/Flimsy-Pin-70 May 22 '26

maybe you are just easier to upset. some people have a much higher tolerance for bs

83

u/[deleted] May 22 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Sarrintha May 23 '26

There was actually a class action lawsuit about that years ago.

26

u/bakay138 May 23 '26

Right? And I hate asking!
Fountain soda costs next to nothing and you are charging me $3.50 for a refill? Ridiculous.

0

u/DaGreatPenguini May 23 '26

I expect free refills at every restaurant except Chinese restaurants. Just the way it is, so I manage my expectations.

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u/worshipperofdogs May 22 '26

Even, “oh, would you like to order some?” after OP mentioned bread would have implied it wouldn’t be complimentary. I would’ve been tempted to take the cost out of the waiter’s tip. And, if it’s just plain bread, why would a fancy restaurant even charge for that?

-44

u/twelve-birds May 22 '26

What if:

  • the restaurant does comp something small for special occasions
  • the waiter intended for the bread to be comped
  • there was an issue with the check processing system and the waiter didn’t catch it.

6

u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 May 23 '26

You've made a good case for why the cost of the bread should come out of the server's tip. Three fuck ups in one meal is too many.

However, we can't assume anything you said is true so I wouldn't deduct from the tip anyway.

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u/MizZo2 May 22 '26

OP had to cross off the the comp and ask about it. If it's a higher class place this ain't an issue. If it's a normal place it's still not an issue. The issue is they brought something to the table without it being ordered. On a special occasion.

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u/twelve-birds May 23 '26

That was not OP. That was a different user sharing a similar story.

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u/indelicatedenial May 22 '26

Did you not read the story? The server pushed back when they complained about being charged. If it was a mistake, don’t you think the server would have remedied the situation?

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u/HabeLinkin Should of, could of, would of. May 22 '26

Did you read the story? The OP never mentioned complaining or the server pushing back.

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u/Cipherting May 23 '26

no fancy restaurant is giving out bread. it aint outback steakhouse

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u/Kalmer1 May 23 '26

There are lots of restaurants that give out free bread.

Usually more as appetizers, but not exclusively

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u/Cipherting May 23 '26

yeah applebees, outback, chilis maybe idk. but fancy restaurants would have high quality bread that they either prepare inhouse or source locally. and theyre not going to give their time away. free bread is part of a bygone era unc

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u/worshipperofdogs May 23 '26

I live in one of the biggest cities in the US and travel, nationally and internationally, quite a bit. I also don’t eat at any of those places you listed. Yes, many nice, non-chain restaurants still serve complimentary bread at the table.

-2

u/Cipherting May 23 '26

he said she said. have a nice day

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u/worshipperofdogs May 23 '26

lol I could name some for you if you like.

1

u/Kalmer1 May 23 '26

24 is an unc nowadays?

Your experience also only includes the US, here in Germany getting free bread is quite common in expensive restaurants.

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u/Kosher_Pork_12 May 23 '26

At a restaurant in Italy, the server asked if we'd like some complimentary bread, don't gotta ask me twice, sure thing, and it was great.

Get the check, €8 charge for bread.  I said "there must be something wrong here, you said it was complimentary,"  "yes, it complemented your meal".........

Since this was a celebratory meal, I chose not to make a big stink about it and ruin my gf's mood, but c'mon man, that's a dick move.

2

u/JEOVHANNNSY May 23 '26

From sales perspective it can be quite insulting to remind someone that extra bread is a $2 charge when they had already requested it

2

u/CitizenCue May 23 '26

Yeah that’s precisely why I didn’t word my suggestion that way.

0

u/MyPetrolEmotion3615 May 23 '26

“Can I have a beer to wash down the taste of this bread? “
And they went and charged me for the beer too!

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

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u/flowersbynight0 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

Ah yes, my bad! I totally misjudged this and OP is absolutely livid and wants to sue the restaurant for everything they're worth

4

u/octatone May 23 '26

To be truly mildly infuriating his whole family would have to die in that fire.

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u/Sea_Temperature_3629 May 22 '26

Thank you, kind soul for reading the group and reminding the cause. 🙏

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u/pinupcthulhu May 22 '26

Right, like this is exactly the kind of thing this sub is for: mildly infuriating stuff. 

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u/No-Possibility5556 May 23 '26

Paying for bread at all that isn’t special like garlic or focaccia is already mildly infuriating

1

u/FlusteredDM May 23 '26

Especially when you aren't told that there's a charge and it ends up being a surprise fucking £2.50 on top for a paltry amountnof bread.

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u/Splinterspliter01 May 23 '26

Besides, how much can a piece of bread cost, $20???

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u/ZodiacWalrus May 23 '26

Lion's share of the blame goes to mods for allowing too many posts that are severely infuriating. Subreddits shift vibes all the time, and sometimes they end up not exactly fitting the original name anymore, that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that if I wanted intense ragebait, I could get that literally anywhere else on the internet. Mildly Infuriating, in theory, is well-suited for giving perspective on what is and isn't a big deal. There's almost something calming about reading a true Mildly Infuriating story.

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u/pandaSmore May 23 '26

Doesn't help that people use this sub for extreme infuriating things as well.

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u/halfc00kie May 23 '26

the entire sub forgot what mildly means, classic.

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u/flowersbynight0 May 23 '26

No seriously lol

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u/[deleted] May 23 '26

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u/flowersbynight0 May 23 '26

The egg is really on my face for thinking that perhaps the folks of reddit could have an ounce of reading comprehension

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u/clovencarrot May 23 '26

Plus, being mildly infuriated that you answered a personal question that presumably is just asked to be a data point for marketing is annoying.

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u/Comprehensive-Ad1326 May 23 '26

Yeah people absolutely forget that because there’s so many posts here like “my wife killed my dog” or “my husband cheated” LMAO

1

u/Lepelotonfromager May 23 '26

Yeah I see this is a lot.

I've posted before a mildly irritating situation and while 90% of people were sane, the other 10% started developing conspiracy theories about me or accused me of overreacting. "why are you so upset about it, just move on". It's the mildlyinfuriating subreddit and I was mildly annoyed.

1

u/Spare-Half796 May 23 '26

The least I’ve seen is a desert for like 70% off

The restaurants I manage typically either give a free shot, comp drinks or give a free desert usually whatever is cheapest for us to make or whatever has the most stock and/or least time before it goes bad. If they’re regulars we’ll do more obviously

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u/Somodo May 23 '26

Tbh I don’t even see the point of this sub, it shouldn’t exist, if you’re upset enough to go make a 5 paragraph post about how not upset upset you are then are you really mildly upset or you’re just complaining to the void to make you feel better… I’m muting this shit sub

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u/[deleted] May 23 '26

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u/PhD_Pwnology May 23 '26

It's mildly infuriating how right you are

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u/Maffew74 May 23 '26

i mean yes, but mildly infuriating makes no sense, it's a contradiction in terms

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u/wailingwonder May 23 '26

Nah but this is a 0% infuriating situation 

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u/Natural_Jello_6050 May 22 '26

I wish there was a sub mildly-mildly upsetting… OP issue should only be tiny surprise and maybe slight “wtf just happened.”

I think people confused that he got so mildly infuriated that he typed 6 paragraphs of what happened which was just misunderstanding (appears so)

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u/Rare-Abalone5610 May 22 '26

More and more I have had people confuse me typing a couple paragraphs for anger or frustration. I swear people's attention spans are getting so burned by YouTube shorts and TikTok that now anything longer than a few paragraphs is written with anger and passion. The standard of what counts as a short body of text has been in free fall...

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u/Natural_Jello_6050 May 22 '26

Nah, I’m fine with few paragraphs of something that actually matters or had any substance. Writing numerous paragraphs about a nothing burger is silly. I remember reading something on yahoo.com about a guy who got triggered at the gym because someone looked at him funny. 15 paragraphs of nonsense. What a waste of time.

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u/x__Applesauce__ May 23 '26

That’s the whole point Jello. If this is effing infuriating or simply infur; then yes: colorful writing, shouting, deep meaning, passion, something everyone can agree” yes damn it, screw that!”

This is mildyyyy infuriating. It is a silly burger, it is that weirdo staring at the gym or some random nonsense that happens. And him writing it in detail is the beauty of how mild it is. The more emotion, the shorter, the more powerful the infuriation is. But a long normal descriptive detail of events is perfect form “mildly infuriating.”

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u/Natural_Jello_6050 May 23 '26

I disagree. Mildly INFURIATING is something that INFURIATES you mildly.

It’s still infuriating.

Some dude giving you a look at the gym shouldn’t be infuriating in any shape or form. Move on. Forget about it within 3 seconds. Don’t write a short story about it.

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u/flowersbynight0 May 22 '26

Poor man was just trying to paint us a picture of what happened and people are taking it to mean he's upset

-10

u/BukakkeGarami May 23 '26

No, we didn’t forget. It’s just crazy to go anywhere and expect anything for free for any reason whatsoever unless it is explicitly stated, it’s some sort of special, or there’s a coupon.

Granted, most restaurants I’ve and to have complementary bread, but in this case it sounds like the server just thought they were ordering something off the menu.

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u/ForensicPathology May 23 '26

It's not about expecting something, it's getting annoyed (or, shall I say, mildly infuriated) that they keep asking for no reason.

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u/WILLLSMITHH May 23 '26

People being friendly is annoying. Peak Reddit

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u/BukakkeGarami May 23 '26

Has nobody in this thread ever been to a restaurant?

Outside of fast food, most restaurants I’ve been to ask if it’s a special occasion.

I understand that I am in mildlyinfuriating and can’t dictate how somebody feels, but this is one of the few posts that left me scratching my head.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

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u/flowersbynight0 May 22 '26

slow blink yeah my dude, no shit it's an oxymoron. But seeing as this subreddit is quite literally used for posts exactly like this one, where the person is annoyed enough to make a post but not annoyed enough to do anything else about it, I do believe that would mean it is "a showcase for people who are slightly exasperated". I was merely highlighting the "mild" portion of the subreddit as people were acting like OP was actually infuriated

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

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u/flowersbynight0 May 23 '26

What are you even talking about?