To Food Servers Who Treat Black Customers as an Inconvenience

Dear food servers who treat Black customers as an inconvenience, 

As a Black woman raised by a foodie, I am certainly no stranger to microaggressions while dining out. As I’ve gotten older and turned into a foodie and food blogger, experiencing poor service while dining out has become such a pet peeve. 

I used to serve and understand how much labor goes into it, so I aim to always tip above and beyond - but it isn’t easy to honor that when severs give your table up because you’re the only Black couple in the establishment or when you’re just blatantly ignored when you’re sat. Like, come on, stop playing in my face. 

And I think what’s most disappointing is that the belief that “Black people are harder to please” or “that Black people don’t tip” is really just a self-fulfilling prophecy because we end up tipping less due to the fact that we are given poor service because of anti-Black bias. Newsflash, we can notice when we aren’t being treated like everyone else in the restaurant. 

Despite your beliefs about Black restaurant patrons, the Black people I know don’t play when it comes to good food and a good experience, so we are more than happy to show our gratitude through generous tipping. 

I’m writing this note on my phone as I leave an establishment with Top Chef’s, chef judge, Tom Colicchio’s name on the side. I’m reminded that no matter how many followers you have on Instagram, no matter how many monthly blog views you have, no matter how often you study food - when you’re Black in spaces where you’re perceived as an “outsider,” there’s a likelihood that all you’ll be treated poorly. That’s the reality.

Black people go so hard for Black spaces in the food world because of how often we experience microaggressions while dining out. So the next time you give your table away because a Black person was sat in your section, or you give mediocre service because you assume you’re not going to be fairly tipped by a Black patron, I want you to know that you are the issue and you shouldn’t be serving. 

- an exhausted Black foodie