A server has revealed the disgusting reason why you should never ask for lemon or lime in your drink while dining out.
Adrianah Lee, a popular YouTube creator and waitress from the US, recently went viral on TikTok after she shared something horrifying she discovered while working in the restaurant industry.
The social media star issued a sharp warning about adding garnishes to a drink, as she explained that servers place them on glasses themselves — sometimes after “touching money” or “other people’s plates.”
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but make sure you don’t put lemon in your water in a restaurant,” she warned in the videowhich has now been viewed more than 168,000 times.
‘From the moment I became a waiter, I realized that I would never ask for a lemon in my water again.
A server has revealed the disgusting reason why you should never ask for lemon or lime in your drink while dining out (stock image)
“Because, first of all, you know the servers imposed that on themselves, right? They touch money, they touch other people’s plates… They touch all kinds of things.
‘And yes, of course the servers wash their hands regularly, but if you’re managing a table and [the customer says]“Let me get four water with lemon,” they just put them on there. I know this because I’m a server.”
Adrianah added that waitresses are also responsible for cutting the lemons and although she wears gloves when she does so, she “can’t answer to anyone else.”
She also claimed that the products used for drinks are ‘never washed’.
“When I’m home, I wash all my produce, but I’ve never seen a lemon washed in a restaurant in my life,” she continued.
“I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants, I’ve worked in five-star restaurants, I’ve worked in diners. I’m worried.’
The waitress said she learned “a lot” of other things from working in restaurants where she “turned a blind eye,” but she only had to share the lemon snack — that probably includes limes.
‘I just [can’t] get over it [it]. I don’t know about you, but I will never ask for a lemon in my water. And if I see one, I immediately take it out,” she concluded. ‘Don’t leave lemon in your water.’
Waitress Adrianah Lee explained that servers apply garnishes to drinks themselves — sometimes after “touching money” or “other people’s plates”
Viewers seemed divided on Adrianah’s opinion, with many stating that they will continue to get lemons in their drinks
Viewers seemed divided on Adrianah’s opinion, with many stating that they will continue to have lemons in their drinks.
“It’s literally fine,” one person wrote. Another added: “And… the world kept spinning.”
‘I’m a waiter, but I always get water with lemon, I don’t do that [give a f**k] it’s so good,” someone else shared.
“This is so true, but I still get that lemon… Out of sight, out of mind,” read a fourth comment.
A fifth said: ‘I’m still going to order lemon. I’m sure I’ve been exposed to worse. I have to build up that immune system somehow.”
Some other servers chimed in, admitting they had very different experiences.
‘Don’t you use pliers? It was mandatory and we had to wear gloves and wash lemons EVERY TIME,” one person wrote.
“My work has little tongs for the lime and lemon wedges,” another agreed.
‘Where I work, we wash the lemons, wear gloves when we cut them, pierce them with a skewer and put it on the drink. Depends where you work, I guess,” someone else explained.