Who Is Responsible for Cleaning Up a Kid's Mess in a Restaurant, Waiters or Parents?

When adults go to a restaurant to eat, some are messy and some are neat, but everyone knows children are unpredictable, to say the least. With their complete disregard for simple motor skills, they’re adept at making messes. It’s expected that toddlers and babies might miss the mark when trying to feed themselves and a lot of the food meant for their tum tum ends up on the floor floor. As servers, we are expected to clean that up, but at what point does the onus of cleaning up change from the restaurant staff to the parents?

Related: Raise Your Kid to Be a Great Restaurant Diner

Do offer to help clean up

I once served a family whose children made such a mess it seemed impossible that two human beings with a combined age of only four years could possibly create such a disaster. There was food everywhere and I still believe that those kids went to bed hungry that night because I don’t think any food made it into their mouths. As the parents left, they looked at the floor and the table and then at me with a shrug and said, “Sorry about the mess.”

That was the day I learned that sweeping up cooked rice is a form of torture. With each stroke of the broom, rice dragged across the floor leaving behind a trail of starch, sticking to the broom bristles with absolutely no intention of going into a dustbin. The broken crayons, french fries, napkins, and cracker crumbs, sure. But the rice stuck to the floor like, well, white on rice.

I didn’t expect the parents to clean it up, but I did expect them to offer to help. Or at last to pick up the big chunks like the paper placemat that was ripped into a million little pieces. I’ve seen monkey cages at zoos that were better kept than what that booth looked like when they were done. They didn’t leave much of a tip, but leaving a table in shambles like that, they should have doubled it.

Related: Please Don't Make Your Server Be the Bad Guy With Your Kids

Do accept a lidded cup if it's offered

When a kid spills a drink, of course it’s our job to clean it up. After all, we’re the ones with mops and rags at hand. If it’s water, it’s no big deal. The floor could always benefit from an impromptu mopping session. But when it’s a Shirley Temple with a copious quantity of grenadine because the child wants their drink “extra pink,” the cleaning process is multiplied. The sticky, sugary, beverage makes its way into every nook and cranny of the table, the highchair, the hardwood floor, and my soul.

It’s especially frustrating when the drink wouldn’t have gone all over the place if the parents had just let me use the plastic cup with the lid which I did offer, but they insisted that little Bobby Jr. could use a big boy glass.

Related: 17 Pink Drinks That Taste As Good As They Look

Do at least pretend like you're going to help

If you’re eating out with a kid who spills their drink, at least pretend that you’d like to help. Raise your arms with mock concern and show empathy to the one mopping. It’s like reaching for your wallet to pay for something when you know you have no intention of following through. The gesture goes a long way.

Don't try to clean up broken glass

If a glass breaks, let the professionals handle it. There’s no need for you to risk getting a shard of glass in between your fingernails. Simply inform your server of the situation so they can convince someone else to  take care of it.

Related: The Right and Wrong Way to React When Someone — Maybe Even You — Breaks a Glass in a Restaurant

Do clean up vomit

I feel like the only time the customer is 100% responsible for cleaning up after themselves is when vomit is involved. If it’s your child, you need to step up and clean up. Nobody who works in a restaurant gets paid enough to clean that. In elementary school, I remember whenever someone got sick, the PA system crackled on and we’d hear the plea for the janitor, Mr. Kitchens, to report immediately to whatever classroom. He’d sprinkle a sickeningly sweet-smelling pink powder on the puddle of puke that turned it into something that could be swept up much easier than rice. Ask your server if that’s available and hop to it.

Related: What to Do When Your Friend Gets Too Drunk at a Restaurant

Do tip extra

We’ll clean up spilled Shirley Temples and dropped pieces of food, but bodily fluids is where we draw the line. If you’re leaving behind a calamity of chaos and clutter, know that your server will probably take care of it, but your tip and your gratitude need to be upped.

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