6 Movie Characters with Bad Restaurant Etiquette

As rainy spring weather turns into sunny summer days and restaurant restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic begin to lift, there's a good chance you'll soon find yourself dining out for the first time in what might feel like years. If you, like me, are among the millions of Americans who've been relying on DVD libraries and streaming services to cope with extended isolation boredom, you've spent countless hours watching old classics and new favorites to pass the time. It's been a while since I've stepped foot in my favorite spots, so I put together a list of the worst on-screen diners I watched during my months of self-isolation and takeout.

Movie Characters with the Worst Restaurant Etiquette

Although our restaurants may look a little different when we return for dine-in service – your server will probably wear a mask, for example – how we treat our servers and fellow diners shouldn't change. Whether you're enjoying an al fresco meal on the patio or find yourself seated several feet away from the next table in the dining room, these movie characters are great examples of bad dining etiquette you'll want to avoid.

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in You've Got Mail (1998)

In this rom-com set during a simpler time of anonymous AOL chat rooms, protagonist Kathleen Kelly is waiting in a coffee shop for her date, who is – unbeknownst to her – rival bookstore owner, Joe Fox (played with usual charisma by Tom Hanks). The coffee shop is busy, which we know because every table in the background is occupied, yet Kathleen, having ordered a cup of tea, waits alone for some time as Joe debates whether he should go in. She watches a few more customers enter and declines to let a large group take the extra chair at her table before Joe finally joins her.

There's nothing inherently wrong with waiting for someone who's running late, of course. However, if you're taking up a valuable table at a small coffee shop, especially a very busy one, be mindful that you're impacting the business's table turn times, their profit for the day, and your server's tips. Order a second drink, enjoy a pastry, and remember to tip a bit extra based on how long you held the table.

The Entire Cast During "La Vie Bohème" in RENT (2005)

After leaving a protest that dissolved into a riot, the main cast of RENT and a few vocally talented extras stop in at a local restaurant, ignoring the hostess's pleas to go away because they'll cause a scene. Wouldn't you know, that's exactly what happens? After the group's sometimes-antagonist Benjamin Coffin III declares, "Bohemia is dead," they break out into song and dance – complete with table dancing, jumping off said table, and a lot of coordinated chaos aimed derisively at the men accompanying him – all while the server tries to get everyone's order correct.

You should never break out into an elaborate musical number while dining at a restaurant, even if you can hit the high notes; although kids can sometimes get away with running around the place, it's less cute when a group of adults try it. A more likely pitfall for diners sitting at a large table – even if your local restaurants are limiting groups to six people – is enjoying the company of your dining companions so much you forget to communicate effectively with your server. As a reminder, when they ask, "Is that it here?" after running through a list of a dozen or so orders, you shouldn't just scream back, "Wine and beer!"

Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) in Reservoir Dogs (1992)

"Uh-uh, I don't tip. I don't believe in it." Thus begins Mr. Pink's classic anti-tipping monologue, which is punctuated throughout the five-minute scene by disbelief and raucous commentary from his companions. Among his reasons for not tipping, the frugal criminal insists the waitress can quit if she doesn't make enough money, that she should have "really [put] forth the effort" and refilled his coffee "six times" to receive a tip, and that he "used to work minimum wage" but no one ever tipped him. Ultimately, Mr. Pink does put in his $1 toward the tip – but only because someone else picked up the bill.

There's a lot to unpack here, but it boils down to this bit of restaurant etiquette: Please tip your servers. Mr. Pink is confused that he's expected to tip a waitress at the diner but not an employee at McDonald's, which means he doesn't understand that tipped employees – such as those waiting on you in full-service restaurants – have a much lower "minimum wage" than non-tipped employees.

Most servers rely on tips to earn a living wage – even when they're having a bad day, service is slow because the restaurant is busy, or your drink doesn't get refilled as many times as you'd like. Tipping isn't mandatory, but it is an integral component of America's full-service restaurants and greatly impacts the front-of-house employees who serve you.

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) & Summer (Zooey Deschanel) in (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Indie darlings Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel paired up for this darling indie film that is not, a narrator warns at the beginning, a love story, so it shouldn't be surprising that it includes a memorable breakup scene. However, it may surprise you that Summer breaks up with Tom in a diner. "I think we should stop seeing each other," she tells him right after he orders pancakes. The waitress brings them their food between Summer explaining they're like Sid and Nancy and Tom abruptly leaving the diner without touching his pancakes.

Breaking up with someone in public is enough of a standard practice that there are several guides out there with advice on where and how to do it – and there are very legitimate reasons to make such a personal decision in a public space, including safety – but you may want to choose a less structured setting than a sit-down restaurant. Not only are you putting the other person in a situation where it's rude to get up and leave if they want or need to, you're turning your server into a third wheel to your personal drama. We can assume Summer pays the bill before she leaves, but I'm not sure how much you're supposed to tip to compensate for the awkwardness of making your server witness an unexpected breakup.

The Hillard Family in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

This classic Robin Williams flick finds him playing Daniel Hillard, a man navigating two plot points – masquerading as a Scottish nanny in an elaborate ruse to see his kids after a divorce and seeking steady work after quitting a freelance voice acting gig – that converge into a scene full of terrible restaurant etiquette. A dinner with an industry contact (which requires him to arrive as Mr. Hillard) falls on the same night as a dinner with his family (which requires him to arrive as Mrs. Doubtfire), and because both dinners are at the same restaurant, he spends the evening slipping in and out of his nanny persona. Until, of course, the whole charade – and his disguise – falls apart, leading to a loud confrontation in the middle of the restaurant between the two parents.

If you're living a double life, don't schedule dinners for both of your identities at the same time, at the same restaurant, and then drink too much to remember which persona belongs at which table. Moreover, out of respect for fellow diners and the serving staff, it's polite to save dramatic family reveals for dinners at home, where loudly proclaimed betrayals, disagreements, and shocking truths won't interrupt dozens of other people trying to enjoy their meals.

Immediately preceding this scene, Hillard also sneaks into the kitchen to tamper with the meal being served to his ex-wife's boyfriend – but I'm sure I don't need to remind you that you shouldn't sneak into the kitchen, or that intentionally triggering a food allergy is no joke.

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) in Venom (2018)

In this recent adaptation of the titular symbiotic lifeform and the man he possesses, a Venom-inhabited Brock (who isn't quite sure what's going on yet, but is visibly unwell) shows up to an upscale restaurant to talk to his ex-fiancée-slash-attorney. Fueled by the symbiote's hunger and drenched in sweat, he begins snatching food off other people's plates in search of a satisfying meal before hopping into a lobster tank and chowing down on an unfortunate crustacean.

Jumping into a tank full of live lobsters is obviously frowned upon, and eating those lobsters – uncooked and unpaid for – won't endear you to the restaurant staff, either. It's just as distasteful as crashing someone else's lunch as an uninvited guest, especially if that person recently broke up with you.

Ultimately, Eddie Brock is no restaurant role model because he broke what has become the cardinal rule of dining out (or going anywhere else) these days: If you're feeling unwell, just stay home. Chomping the head off of a lobster at a fancy restaurant isn't worth the possibility of spreading your symptoms – or the extraterrestrial symbiote currently infecting you – to other people.