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May 19, 2024
Food/DrinkHotelsRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When restaurants/hotels have really large sets of gravy boats, I hope the staff refer to it as the Gravy Navy”

Gravy boats (sauce boats) are not boats that sail on water, but there are jokes. "If you had enough gravy boats would you have a gravy navy?" was posted on X/Twitter by John…

May 23, 2020
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When the cave people went to the cave bar and asked for a drink on the rocks, they meant it”

"On the rocks" (on ice) is usually not taken literally -- except in some jokes. The American television sitcom New Girl, the episode "What About Fred" that originally aired on…

April 1, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When The Most Interesting Man in the World eats at a restaurant, the waiter tips him”

"When [X] eats at a restaurant, the waiter/waitress tips him" is a joke said about several powerful people, including American martial artist and actor Chuck Norris and Dos Equis beer…

April 1, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When The Most Interesting Man in the World eats at a restaurant, the waitress tips him”

"When [X] eats at a restaurant, the waiter/waitress tips him" is a joke said about several powerful people, including American martial artist and actor Chuck Norris and Dos Equis beer…

October 13, 2025
Food/DrinkRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When you order a slice of pizza from a pizza place, you’re sharing a pizza with a group of strangers”

When you buy a slice of pizza and other people eat the other slices, are you "sharing" a pizza? This was posted on Reddit -- Showerthoughts on September 16, 2014: "When you order a…

February 1, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When you said ‘friends with benefits,’ I assumed you owned a coffee shop”

"When you said 'friends with benefits,' I assumed you owned a liquor store" -- or taco truck, or coffee shop -- is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images.…

February 1, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When you said ‘friends with benefits,’ I assumed you owned a liquor store”

"When you said 'friends with benefits,' I assumed you owned a liquor store" -- or taco truck, or coffee shop -- is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images.…

February 1, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When you said ‘friends with benefits,’ I assumed you owned a taco truck”

"When you said 'friends with benefits,' I assumed you owned a liquor store" -- or taco truck, or coffee shop -- is a jocular saying that has been printed on many images.…

February 3, 2026
Food/DrinkRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When you split a dessert the waiter should bring two forks and one of those chess clocks you smack to let the other person know it’s their turn”

When people share a restaurant dessert, they often take turns eating it. But who eats first? When does this person stop for the next person to eat? This was posted on X/Twitter by Herschel…

October 23, 2025
Food/DrinkRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food StoresTransportation

“When you think that all is lost, that there is no hope left, remember the lobsters in the tank at the Titanic’s restaurant”

The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk on April 15, 1912. This was a tragedy for the human passengers, but, as a joke goes, a miracle to the lobsters in the ship's restaurant tank.…

October 23, 2025
Food/DrinkRestaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food StoresTransportation

“When you think there’s no hope left, remember the lobsters in the tank at the Titanic’s restaurant”

The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk on April 15, 1912. This was a tragedy for the human passengers, but, as a joke goes, a miracle to the lobsters in the ship's restaurant tank.…

November 9, 2015
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“When you wait for a waiter in a restaurant, aren’t you the waiter?”

"When you wait for a water in a restaurant, aren't you the waiter?" is a one-line saying that has been printed on many images. "When we wait for a waiter in restaurant,…

January 27, 2026
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food StoresWork/Businesses

“When you’re at the checkout line and they ask if you found everything, say, ‘Why, are you hiding stuff?’”

When a customer reaches a store's checkout, the customer is often asked if they found everything they were looking for. If a customer didn't find something, the store usually provides…

March 25, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“Whenever a waiter asks me how I want my steak, I always say ‘free’”

Waiters ask how a diner would like a steak to be cooked, such as "rare" or "medium" or "well done." A joke on this was published by John Wagner’s Maxine comic…

January 13, 2026
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food StoresWork/Businesses

“Whenever I see an iPad at a cash register, I know that I’m about to tip for something I never had to tip for before”

Many people go to a drive-thru at a place like Starbucks and are confronted with an iPad, and the question of what amount they want to tip. This was posted on X/Twitter by Bobby C on April 1, 2022,…

March 14, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food StoresTime/Weather

“Where are you celebrating the Ides of March?”/“Little Caesars!”

March 15th (the middle of the month) is called the Ides of March. Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C. Little Caesars is an American multinational chain…

March 24, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“Where can you find Moses at the supermarket?”/“Eggs aisle (exile).”

"Exile" sounds like "eggs aisle," and there are jokes. "Eggs Aisle" is track 10 on Live from Space (2013), the first and only live album by American rapper Mac Miller…

March 24, 2024
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“Where can you find Napoleon Bonaparte in a supermarket?”/“Eggs aisle (exile).”

"Exile" sounds like "eggs aisle," and there are jokes. "Eggs Aisle" is track 10 on Live from Space (2013), the first and only live album by American rapper Mac Miller…

January 30, 2018
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“Where can you go to get a lap dance and a decent steak?”/“The New York Strip Club.”

A "New York strip steak" has nothing to do with a New York strip club (although some clubs serve the steak), but there are jokes. "When I'm in a steak house I order the NY…

March 23, 2016
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“Where can you see a man-eating fish?”/“In a restaurant.”

A "man-eating fish" is quite different from a "man eating fish." There's a joke: Q: Where's the best place to see a man-eating fish?A: A seafood restaurant. "And…

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BARRY POPIK is a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Yale Book of Quotations and Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Since 1990 he has also been a regular contributor to Gerald Cohen's Comments on Etymology.

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