Andrew Zimmern's Most Annoying Restaurant Pet Peeve
If you have ever stepped foot into a restaurant — whether it's a greasy spoon or a purveyor of first-rate culinary delicacies — you have likely encountered one of your pet peeves. After all, everyone has a sticking point when it comes to service, food quality, or some other aspect of dining, even those who have reached the upper echelons of the food world like Andrew Zimmern.
Zimmern is in good company when it comes to admitting his pet peeves. While Gordon Ramsay confessed that he's a "picky eater," one thing that really bugs him about American eateries is the size of the sandwiches, claiming that when you "walk into a deli, the sandwiches are 12-feet tall" (via Hello Giggles). Bobby Flay told Tasting Table that his pet peeve is "seeing Asian dishes in restaurants that aren't serving Asian food." The Midland Reporter-Telegram shared Guy Fieri's salad-related pet peeves. The spiky-haired chef said salad components should be small enough to put in your mouth without cutting them and that lettuce should be dried. Annie Burrell told Yahoo! Lifestyle that her restaurant pet peeves include menus with mistakes or gunk on them and grungy bathrooms. And Anthony Bourdain once informed Oprah Winfrey that he really dislikes it when the waiting staff insults his intelligence.
While most diners despise dirty restrooms and sticky menus, hate being treated like they're stupid, and appreciate bite-sized lettuce, many do enjoy a monstrously massive sandwich. Sorry, Gordon Ramsay. So what is Andrew Zimmern's pet peeve?
Zimmern doesn't enjoy overly cozy servers
In one of his "Andrew Zimmern's Spilled Milk" substack videos, he is asked to share his restaurant pet peeves. Zimmern confesses to disliking the "cliched" language used by many servers and believes that lines like "Chef would like me to tell you that" should be "trained out of them." He admits that he used to hate it when servers would introduce themselves by name, but says that he now appreciates it. He really doesn't enjoy having servers kneel by the table and "try to get cozy," but that's not where his pet peeves end. He has also confessed to Bon Appétit that he possesses a few Twitter gripes as well, particularly the "gotcha police" who spend their time correcting and policing everything that people say. He's not alone there.
What exactly does Andrew Zimmern most appreciate in a dining experience? In his video, he shares that whether he's "in a diner having a $4 plate of eggs and toast or whether I am in a temple of gastronomy halfway around the world," he expects to be able to place his order, feel comfortable, and be treated like the server appreciates his patronage.
Whether your pet peeve is something finicky like you don't like your foods touching each other or it's something more commonplace like a disdain for overcooked beef, everyone possesses strong dislikes that can make or break a meal. Here's hoping that your next dining experience is completely pet peeve-free.