Going out to eat can be an exquisite experience. It can also be atrocious. Your enjoyment level depends on mood, food, and more.
As one family at Olive Garden recently learned, even the location of your table can directly impact the quality of your experience.
The issue that Krystal Griffith (@griffith1023) had with their table wasn’t something many people outside the restaurant industry may be aware of. As they dined at the spot known for unlimited salad and breadsticks on a recent summer day, they kept hearing the same refrain from waitstaff passing by: “corner.”
In Griffith’s one-minute, 15-second TikTok, servers can be heard saying “corner” at least 19 times.
Her caption says there were “soooo many more.” She also asks, “Is this a mandatory thing to say?” and warns in the text overlay, “Your reminder to never sit next to the ‘corner’ at Olive Garden.”
86-ing the corner at Olive Garden
Griffith can be forgiven for not being aware of this bit of restaurant lingo. If you’ve never worked in one, you may have never heard it.
As many pointed out in the comments, restaurant workers are required to say “corner” when going around one for safety reasons. Wait staff, busboys, bartenders, and others are often moving extremely fast and carrying heavy trays full of hot food and fragile dishware. Slam into someone one time and you too will loudly proclaim “corner” each time you go around one.
“Coming from a server… this SAVES US,” wrote a user with the screen name Peyton. “Don’t know many times I’ve ran into someone because they didn’t say it!”
Another explained it’s “so we don’t crash into each other.”
“There’s many accidents that can happen,” wrote a third, prompting Griffith to respond, “I get why they do it…still made us giggle. They could add a mirror though.”
Two people disagreed with her suggestion about mirrors. One said that checking the mirror is a distraction and opined that reaction times are better when someone says “corner.” Another, who apparently works in a house of corners, said they’d have to buy dozens of mirrors for their restaurant.
“Corner” isn’t the only lingo specific to restaurants. As others shared in response to Griffith’s post, industry terminology includes 86, behind, on the fly, and heard.
“Eighty-six” means something is no longer available. “Behind” means someone is behind you. “On the fly” is said to indicate that an item needs to be prepared quickly, in which case a cook or bartender may reply “heard” so you know the message was received.
Griffith didn’t immediately respond to a direct message sent via TikTok.
@griffith1023 ??? there were sooooo many more. Is this a mandatory thing to say? @Olive Garden #foryoupage #fyp #eating ♬ original sound – Griffith1023
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