Unlimited sides? Steakhouse customer pays double for meal after miscommunication

‘I just meant you could order as many as you wanted to,’ waiter tells customers

Two friends at a steakhouse were told that sides were ‘unlimited’ by their waiter only to find they had to pay double after receiving the check.

In a viral TikTok video, user Mikey (@notmikeyd) explained to viewers that when dined with his friend Josh at a restaurant, his server explained to them that their steak meal would come with “unlimited” sides. Excited, Josh ordered the steak, while Mikey got pasta, and both agreed to share their orders. Mikey noted, “We’ll have a little sharing experience. It’ll be lovely.”

The pair went on to order every side on the menu, and as they ate to their heart’s content, Mikey said that he thought to himself: “This restaurant is absolutely haemorrhaging money, but kudos to them for giving us a fantastic night.”

He even joked with the waiter that the unlimited sides deal seemed like a “terrible business model to be giving away this much food for the price of one steak.” To which the waiter replied, “It’s there, right? Go for it. Enjoy the sides. Unlimited fellas.”

But the deal was unfortunately too good to be true because when they received the check at the end of the night, Josh found himself charged a jaw-dropping $95 when he expected to pay $40 for the steak. The pair at first thought it was a prank, but the waiter was reportedly as serious as a heart attack.

The waiter explained that the $55 extra charge to their bill was due to all the sides they ordered. Confused, the pair reminded the waiter, “But you said the sides were unlimited.”

“Oh no,” the waiter’s face dropped. “I just meant you could order as many as you wanted to.”

Although the pair ultimately paid the bill in full, Mikey asked TikTok viewers if they were in the wrong, saying: “Are we stupid? I feel like we’re stupid.”

Since Mikey posted to the platform, the video has received over 420,000 views and 400 comments. Many viewers agreed with the top comment assigning blame to the waiter: “Honestly with how it seems… that’s on the waiter,” the top comment read.”

Viewers noted the waiter’s miscommunication with the customers was a clear faux pas. One person wrote, “You would absolutely never use unlimited in this context to mean anything other than you pay for the steak and get unlimited free sides.”

“Oh absolutely not,” another added. “I’m not disrespectful but I’d be talking with the manager before that waiter had finished saying ninety-five.”

Using the word “unlimited” in food service commonly indicates that the customer will be able to order an item on the menu as many times as they want depending on the deal.