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A blogger over at the Huffington Post recently found a novel way to discourage restaurant goers from making tableside "lemonade": She argues the penny-pinching practice is as filthy as it is uncouth.
It's a point that bears repeating, if only because heaping scorn on the sugar-and-lemon set has done little to dissuade them. It's an argument that also has the distinct advantage of being true.
I'm not sure exactly when lemon wedges became as obligatory as plates and napkins, but I've never worked in a restaurant that didn't garnish their glasses with them. Server sidework invariably involves slicing a few dozen lemons into half-pinwheels, a process that's almost always messy.
Since most flat surfaces in a restaurant are reserved for the kitchen crew, servers often end up cutting lemons on a board set alongside a cash register or on the base of the soda machine. I've never seen anyone rinse a lemon, except when a dull knife's made the chore a bloody one. And the cut lemons are typically stored in an open plastic container, into which servers reach their unwashed hands all night long. At most restaurants, lemons – as well as oranges, maraschino cherries, Spanish olives and other fixtures of the barkeep's fruit box – should be considered somewhat suspect.
I know folks aren't in the habit of licking their lemon rinds (although I wouldn't put it past some of my cheapest customers.) But I'm fervently hoping the vision of bare hands, blood and bacteria will help persuade the pseudo-lemonaders to order a restaurant-sanctioned drink.
Do you make your own "lemonade" at the table? Tell us in the comments.
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4-26-2010 @1:28PM jcurtis said... No argument from me here ( a nice change). It is for a similar reason that i no longer drink dirty martinis. My bartender friends admit they don't keep the olive tray as clean as it could be... Obviously this is not the case everywhere.
I have never seen anyone try and make lemonade at their table... Is this common practice everywhere? You would need so many lemons...
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4-26-2010 @8:20PM Al Schrader said... Basically you are making your own lemonade as the beverage for your meal, I guess to save the cost. But eating out is not an economy endeavor. You are paying for the chef, wait staff, energy,
decor, host/hostess, and ultimately dish crew/carpet vacuumers. You can buy a fresh lemon for 33 cents & make enough wedges for four glasses yourself. Same applies to preparing your own meal which can be made for a fraction of eating out. The Idea of eating out, is so you can relax while someone else does all of these things for you....Alfred-
4-26-2010 @9:50PM prusso1122 said... So, I can assume that a restaurant-sanctioned drink that requires a lemon slice gets a specially prepared disinfected lemon slice Right?...Why don't I believe that???
4-26-2010 @9:53PM Cylk said... My girlfriends ... yes girlfriends did it one night when we went out on a girls night on the town and I could not belive the ghettofabulousness that they showed that night. I got up and walked out. I guess they got a way home .....That was just triffling ...
4-26-2010 @9:55PM Marilyn said... What about the lemon in a glass of iced tea... is it prepared differently?? They charge a fortune for a glass of iced tea. I find it hard to believe that those lemon slices are any fresher or cleaner than the ones put in water.
4-26-2010 @11:04PM fmtessa said... Yes people do!! This is done quite often by the cheapest of customers. This is always a sign of a bad tipper. Some restaurants now charge for a bowl of lemons. Also, no that lemon on your iced tea is not washed either, so don't squeeze it in your drink. : )
4-26-2010 @11:57PM jr819 said... As a former bartender, wherever you drink dirty martini's or anything including water with lemon, or merely ice....with unsanitary products and conditions is a major problem and should be reported immediately to your local health inspection division.
4-27-2010 @12:33AM randy said... As a professional server, its ok to squeeze a lemon in your water or maybe even use one of the suger packets to sweeten the drink. It is not ok to ask for a bowl of lemons for each one in your party and also a refill on the suger caddies cause you used up all the suger making lemonade. Its twice as tacky to ask for aother round of lemons and suger for the next refill of the free water. The people that are finding it insulting for a person to write about this are probably the ones who dont see anything wrong with this practice. If you leave a nice tip and a kind word for the server, they could give 2 craps if you use lemons and suger to excess. Unfortunately the ones that do this are doing it cause they are cheap and dont plan on leaving a decent tip in the first place. They are also the ones who will bitch the loudest because they feel these restauraunts should incorporate the cost of all the free lemons and suger into the bottom line. come on admit to yourselves thats what you cheapies are thinking so dont even bother responding to my post ive seen it from all the angles you can bring. Bottom line. Tip well and you will always get anything you want from your servers. And by that I dont mean 10 bucks on a hundred dollar bill. Thats 20 and ill do anything within my power ro make your meal a success.
4-27-2010 @12:47AM Amanda said... I work as a server on weekends. We do wash our lemons where I work, but we are all guilty of sometimes grabbing lemons without using the tongs (they are slippery little suckers). BUT I will tell you this - EVERY server gets angry when someone asks for EXTRA lemon AND sweeteners. I had a woman ask for a small bowl of lemons & then asked for Splenda after I brought it to the table. I brought it out, watched her make the lemonade & then said "you know we have fresh-squeezed lemonade here that's outstanding". She replied "Oh I don't really like Lemonade..."
Most people are cheap, especially when it comes to anything that a restaurant will give out for free. These are the same people that steal the sugar packets before the leave...
4-27-2010 @1:16AM Karon said... I am a server at a VERY FINE restaurant, and am not the least bit insulted when a customer asks for additional lemons on the side for their water. I chose to be a server, and in order to get a "reasonable" tip, (for the most part, 20% minimum) It's service with a smile .......... They come to enjoy their meal, and if lemon in their water, followed by sugar/equal, etc. is what they want, that's what I happily serve them. Besides the fact, more often than not, there are others at the table, and the others more than make up for the few that do want just the water with lemon.
When I go out to eat as a restaurant, I myself (remember, I'm a SERVER) order water with lemons, to make my own "lemonade" . NOT because I'm cheap, but because I enjoy the taste of fresh lemons and can regulate how much sweetener I like! (that fake cabonated lemonade tastes gross anyway - and I don't drink sodas). Its a good way to enjoy water - something I don't get enough of.
So, for those servers who "assume" from the initial drink order that I'm going to be the cheap tipper just because I ordered water with lemons to make my own lemonade ........ You're SO wrong. If you come to my table with that attitude - you'll definitely get my minimum tip (15%). Not because I'm cheap. but rather, because of your attitude with the assumption you've made. Try to bring a different attitude to the table .........some of us "stereotype" customers might even surprise you! If you're not there to serve what the customer wants, maybe it might be best for all of us if you found another "profession".
4-27-2010 @2:10AM Joe said... Re lemonade makers at restaurants. I don't see a problem if they are charged appropriately.
There's no free lemon tree! As an old friend used to say, " if you can't afford to get wet, don't go near the water"!
4-27-2010 @2:24AM Kimberly said... Although I have never made "lemonaid" at my table, I do like a lemon wedge (no sugar) with my water, it adds an extra tang and the vitamin C is good for you, but after reading this I guess I don't really feel like eating out at all anymore. There seems to be a lack of appropriate sanitary measures and hygiene.... and I don't feel like paying for a server's dirty hands all over my food or drink, nor do I care to tip a server who has so little regard for my health, so I guess my hubby and I will be eating in from now on and server's can learn to treat their customers better when they figure out that those customers don't have to eat out. Guess the server's won't realize what they had until they don't have it (customers) anymore.
4-27-2010 @5:35AM Simzee said... I'll NEVER eat casino food. The bacon & sausage are fried in oil.grease, yummy. The eggs come out of a bag. (liquid eggs) & most times are NEVER cooked on a grill but in a steam table. (yes still in the bag in the steam table) Oh yea, watch out for the mashed potatoes.
4-27-2010 @7:01AM Richard said... When they stop charging $2 for the fountain cola that cost them about a dime, I'll give up on the water with lemon.
4-26-2010 @1:35PM Matt said... Great, now we know Hanna has no problem serving unhygienic food to the patrons she takes care of.
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4-27-2010 @12:33AM Rachel said... I think that's why she wrote the blog dumbass. Obviously she has a problem with it. But she can't outright say to customers "Don't order that because it's unsanitary" she'd probably be fired. This is her way of warning people. Take it or leave it.
4-26-2010 @1:54PM Frank said... "I've never seen anyone rinse a lemon, except when a dull knife's made the chore a bloody one."
I'm not usually one to hate on these posts, but ewwwwww!
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4-27-2010 @1:51PM DD said... I sqeeze the lemon slice in my water all the time, but it's not to make "lemonade". The citric acid cuts some of the "skunky" compounds in the water that make it taste bad (same reaction when you put lime slice in Corona beer). It makes the water taste fresher, better.
I'm a bit insulted by the article.
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4-26-2010 @3:53PM Brittney said... I actually know SEVERAL people who make a regular habit of asking for a dish of lemons and making lemonade at the table. I personally am embarrassed for them that they don't have the $2.99 to pay for a god damned glass of lemonade. I don't believe she is bashing people who use the lemons casually.
That being said, I have heard this on the news before. Some places found fecal matter on the lemons, they are disgusting.
4-26-2010 @8:45PM Dawn said... I agree with DD. I don't make lemonade, but I always ask for water with lemon and just squeeze the lemon in my water. If I want lemonade, I order lemonade. Anyone trying to make lemonade with sliced lemons will spend their whole meal time squeezing lemon slices. As far as bacteria, we all take that chance when we eat out; you don't know what goes on in the kitchen, whether they are coughing, sneezing, etc. over your food before bringing it to you.