When inviting someone over for a meal, people usually expect to enjoy some yummy food and pleasant company. Sadly, that's not always the case!
People on Quora share the rudest thing that happened at a friend's house during dinner. Content edited for clarity.
Not Making A Good First Impression
“The rudest thing I have ever experienced was at my grandmother’s house.
So I was dating a guy from a Greek family. At the time I was vegetarian, but whenever I was at a family event of his where the main meal was meat, I would eat it. I did this out of respect for the cook. Coming from an Italian family, I take the cooking of a homemade meal at a celebration to be a sign of love and labor.
Anyway, after numerous family gatherings with his family, I decided to invite him to one of mine. My nonna(grandmother), prepared a beautiful feast, beginning with her world-shatteringly good lasagna.
If you’ve ever made lasagna, you know how long and arduous the process is. The bolognese has to be made and then the béchamel. To add to that, she handmade her pasta. It’s so good, it’s a secret recipe, and I have never tasted any lasagna like that since.
The pasta was only one part of the meal, and she made three courses. A full roast with two types of meat and different vegetables, a dessert, and some crostoli for tea afterward. There were homemade drinks from my uncle’s home vineyard and some home-grown and pickled artichokes. Just beautiful, carefully crafted food.
My grandmother served up my ex-boyfriend lasagna first. He looked down at the lasagna with disgust and said he had eaten before he got there. He didn’t even try it. It was so awkward, being surrounded by family, all eating pleasantly, and him just sitting there not eating a bite.
He wanted to leave, claiming he ‘felt sick.’
From my grandmother’s house, we went to a mate’s house, where his sickness suddenly disappeared.
He would pull a similar stunt on my mom’s birthday, where he pitched up to the French restaurant but never came inside. Once again, he was too sick. Not too sick to play PS4 with his friends, though.
That was the last time my grandmother cooked for the family. She is a bit too old to make such amazing meals now, and I am so sad that her final lasagna was wasted on a person who wouldn’t even try a little.
Needless to say, my grandmother did NOT like him, and the relationship was destined to fall apart.
I think it is so rude when you come to a person’s house and just reject their food (unless you have certain dietary requirements) especially when it’s a meal with cultural significance. I am a vegetarian, and when I cook I do have to cater to different dietary needs to my own. Most of the time, hosts will do the same( just let them know in advance).
I think my ex-boyfriend rejected the meal because he was scared of food that didn’t come from his mother, or from a heat-up box.”
She Ruined Dinner And A Business Deal
“Several years ago I was new in town, so basically I knew no one. I met this guy through work. He stood to make a lot of money through us if we went with a contract with his small company. In fact, he would probably become rich through his small company, as it would help him grow overnight.
It had been a few months and Christmas was coming up. He realized I had nowhere special to go. This guy invited me to his home for Christmas dinner. At first, I declined as I really didn’t want to be at a family dinner. He insisted, saying they put on this dinner every Christmas Eve with an assortment of family and friends. So I finally agreed.
On Christmas Eve I got dressed up and went to the house. When the front door opened, his wife stood there looking at me like I was from Mars.
‘Yes?’ she said.
‘I’m Rick, Bill’s friend,’ I replied.
‘Oh, yeah, whatever,’ she answered.
I stepped in through the front door. There was a group of eight or ten people already there. I didn’t know anyone. I smiled, said hello, and gave them a wave.
Bill’s wife started walking away, then stopped and turned to the group and said, ‘Oh, yeah, this is, what’s your name?’
‘Rick,’ I told her.
‘Yeah, whatever. This is one of Bill’s loser friends. He’s got nowhere to go, so he has to come here to eat our food,’ she told the group.
She then turned and walked back to the kitchen.
I stood there very embarrassed. The people in the room also looked embarrassed, and no one seemed to know what to say.
I only had my coat half off. I slowly pulled my coat back on and turned to the group and said, ‘Well, it would have been nice to meet you.’
All these people started saying things like, ‘Oh, please stay,’ and ‘She didn’t mean anything by that!’
Unfortunately, I was simply embarrassed to be treated like by the host, and no inkling of staying.
I said, ‘I’m sorry, but there’s no way the awkwardness of what just happened can be erased tonight.’
I left and ended up having dinner alone in a Chinese restaurant.
To make the story short, a rather sheepish-looking Bill came to see me on the next business day. I politely informed him we decided to go with the other company. Poor Bill lost several million because of his wife’s behavior.”
Where Did That Come From?
“My parents have been separated since I was three, and when I’d visit my dad, it would often feel like I was just dropping in on a ‘friend’ due to the nature of our relationship.
My boyfriend was with me this time, and we went to the shop to pick up a bottle of bubbly. I grabbed a fairly low-range bottle, of red, knowing my dad wasn’t fussy. My boyfriend was a little worried and suggested we got a nicer bottle. I smiled and didn’t know how to explain a gesture like that would go completely unnoticed by my dad. So we bought both bottles.
We arrived and my dad’s girlfriend answered the door, it was all smiles and hugs and shaking hands. They welcomed us in. My boyfriend was smiling and was clearly was excited and a little nervous to be meeting my father. My dad was being very charming, we laughed and joked and chatted for an hour or so. My dad doesn’t do small talk, so we dove straight into the subject of life and art, etc. My boyfriend is very warm-hearted and clued-up, he has a sharp mind and listening to him, it’s obvious he is very smart and funny. People often tell me he’s the funniest person they have ever met. His intentions are always good. He proceeded to tell my dad how much he cared for me, and how he had never felt like that about someone before, despite a few long-term relationships. The kind of thing I guess he thought a dad would like to hear about their daughter. We mentioned how in a few weeks from then we would be visiting Albania and how I would be meeting his family, but not his parents, as they had died years ago. We explained how we were unsure how long we would be staying there, as we wanted to travel around a bit. It was at this point the atmosphere changed.
‘I’m sorry, but you will not be taking my daughter unless I see that you have return flights.’
His tone was accusing, rigid, and shocking – especially to someone who didn’t know my dad. My boyfriend was frozen, when I remember it the look on his face was heartbreaking. He wasn’t sure what he was being accused of exactly.
‘I suppose we could do that’ he stammered.
The conversation continued, almost as smoothly. Except I knew my dad, and I knew the mood was still different. He was now ignoring me and his girlfriend and was looking at and speaking to only my boyfriend. I could tell he was uncomfortable, and I felt completely powerless. In retrospect, I wish I had told my dad we were leaving there and then, but something in me hoped everything would smooth over and we could leave undamaged, as I knew what that meant with him. It was foolish of me. At some point, my dad was quizzing him on the importance of success and money to which my boyfriend, who had regained a bit of his composure, told him straight money meant nothing to him and he had grown up poor and still had a great life as he was loved by his parents. He said other things, but my memory is blurry.
My dad lost his mind. Again, what he said exactly is blurry but he aimed and tried to destroy him. My dad can’t stand anyone who disagrees with him or is unaffected by him.
His girlfriend coolly asked, ‘So if your childhood was so full of love, why did you leave home at 15?’
I stared at her, completely speechless.
After some time, and dad said quietly but loudly, ‘I think you’re full of it, and you can both get lost off now out of my flat.’
I gasped. His girlfriend laughed and went, ‘yeah, I think you’re full of it. Do not go to Albania with him.’ she said, grabbing my arm, her face full of false affection.
I shook her arm off, completely stunned. I was just looking at my dad.
‘Why … are you being so defensive?’ I managed to whisper.
I heard his girlfriend say, ‘I think he’s a stoner. The way he goes on and on. Are you a stoner?’
My boyfriend had gathered his things and said to me, ‘come on, let’s go now.’
I stared at my dad and he was smiling at me. I walked out the door and my heart was pounding. Then I turned around and went back.
‘Don’t, leave it,’ my boyfriend tried to say.
But I pushed open the door and found the pair of them laughing.
‘Why did you do that? Why would you do that? You told us to get lost,’I said with tears pouring down my cheeks.
‘Oh come on, you know I didn’t really mean it to you.’ he said laughing like it was no big deal.
I shook his girlfriend’s hand off my arm again.
‘He’s a weirdo,’ she said. ‘Do not go away with him.’
I looked only at my dad.
‘I think you’re both really unhappy,’ I managed to say through my tight throat.
His eyes changed to ice, ‘Now you can get lost, for real this time.’
I didn’t hesitate and turned around and walked out immediately. I knew I had just changed the relationship forever, as I had chosen my boyfriend’s word over his. I found my boyfriend outside completely shaken and at first, we didn’t know how to comfort each other. He had never experienced anything like it and I didn’t know how to explain my dad to him, or why I had said nothing to prepare him for what happened. It was 2 am and we had hours before the first train home. We got a couple of Boris Bikes and cycled around London, going so fast, like we were trying to get away from what had just happened.”
She Was Definitely Not Invited Back
“It was my friend’s 40th birthday and he and his wife hosted a dinner party for ten friends – four couples, me (I was single at the time), and a single woman. So to the untrained eye, it looked like six couples.
The single woman arrived ‘fashionably late’ and had clearly preloaded beforehand. She was very self-centered and, being an attention seeker, tried to dominate the evening from the moment she arrived, diverting any attention from my friend (whose birthday it was and the reason for the gathering) to herself at every opportunity. She criticized the gifts (she brought nothing, no card and not even a courteous bottle of bottles – although was happy to drink everyone else’s), and sneered at the anecdotes we told about my friend that had built up over the years – I had known him since my school days.
She was thoroughly obnoxious and crass.
It was now time for the meal.
She declined the starter, stating she was on a diet, but continued to help herself to the (expensive) drinks my friend provided. The main course arrived. And this is where the real rudeness happens.
She picked at the food and pushed it around the plate, and then proclaimed, loudly: ‘This is terrible. Really disgusting. I cannot eat it!’
The room fell silent, and she excused herself to the toilet located downstairs, near the dining room. We all stared at each other in total silent disbelief. The silence was broken by the sound of her vomiting in the toilet.
She came back in, sat down, finished her drink, and proceeded to pour herself another as we all just looked at her shocked.
She turned to my friend and said, ‘That was so bad, I couldn’t allow it to remain in my body.’
My friend got up and cleared the table. He came back in about ten minutes later to say to this awful woman: ‘Your taxi is here,’ and as he said it he removed her glass from the table and just looked at her.
She got up, said an insincere ‘Goodnight’ to us all, and my friend walked her out and into the waiting taxi.
Needless to say, the rest of the night went really well. Oh, and for the record, the food was excellent!”
Mom To The Rescue
“I was probably five when this happened. My parents were in the process of getting divorced, so a schoolmate’s parents invited me over to have dinner while my parents were at the lawyer.
We sat down to dinner and as soon as everyone was seated, I took a bite like we did at home. That was when the mother reached across the table and yanked the plate away from me.
‘In this house,’ she said, glaring at me, ‘We pray before we eat. We are not heathens.’
I looked at my classmate to see what to do. I put my hands together as he did.
‘Not like that!’ She screeched. Apparently, I needed to fold my hands properly. I did as I was told.
The dad then proceeded to give what had to be the longest prayer ever. It probably wasn’t long at all, but I was five, hungry, and had never heard a prayer before.
After he finished, the mom looked at me and said, ‘for stealing from God, you will wait until after we finish before you eat.’
She then lectured me on how awful I was and how I was going to the underworld for not praying properly or knowing about prayer.
Reminder, I was five years old.
My classmate said he wanted seconds when he was done with his plate. She handed him my plate.
I didn’t get dinner.
I started crying because, you know, I was a hungry five-year-old. She was screaming at me to stop crying. I was ruining dinner for everyone!
This was when my mother rang the doorbell. I jumped up and ran to her in tears. Suddenly, the family was all smiles and politeness. She told my mom I was picky, so I wouldn’t eat my food. So I was probably hungry.
We got out to the car and my mother asked what really happened. I was not a picky eater. I’d eat anything (still will). I told her everything. My mother stormed out of the car, pounded on the door, and gave the woman a piece of her mind.”
That’s Not A True Friend
“My parents were not wealthy, but the area we lived in was extremely well off. My parents taught us manners by doing a ‘fancy dinner’ in our dining room once a week. We learned how to handle a whole fish (with skin) on our plate, and other things we might encounter at a restaurant. We were also taught, if someone else was buying dinner, to choose the second or third-cheapest meal on the menu. Their thoughts were if you always went for the very cheapest, it would be more obvious what you were doing. Also, you always ate whatever you were offered, unless there was a food allergy. All of it, unless you were really, truly full with no room for dessert (Dessert was a rarity, so this was no issue for the six of us kids!).
I was very fortunate to have friends with very kind and gracious parents. I got to experience things my parents never could have afforded due to their kindness and generosity.
My friend and her parents were taking a trip to a large theme park. Her parents asked my parents if I could go along, as they thought it would be fun for her to have a friend. I was lucky enough to go and had an absolute blast. We got to stay in a hotel that night (a total novelty to me!) and there was a restaurant there we went to for dinner. I chose the second-cheapest thing on the menu. It was a pasta dish. It wasn’t good. At all. I silently choked it down, just remembering the fun I had that day.
My friend didn’t like her dinner and threw a fit. A royal screaming, mayhem, push plates off of the table fit. She demanded dessert. Her parents told her they would order dessert for me, but not for her because of her behavior.
She told them, ‘if that charity case gets a dessert, then I should get a better one. She didn’t even order something good.’
I was stunned. I thought we were friends. I know I didn’t cry, and I am so proud of that. But my heart was broken. I decided to just be grateful for the day and never consider her a friend again.
Her parents were amazing.
Her Dad said, ‘We invited Sonja because she is a good girl and we were hoping you would learn from her good manners. She will be getting dessert, and we will be taking her to the pool later, and you will stay in the room.’
True to their word, they did exactly that.”
This Is How They Treat Their Daughter’s Friends?
“When I was about 10–11 years old my friend Meghan invited me to stay for dinner at her house. While my family wasn’t poor, Meghan’s family was definitely more well-off.
I called my parents to ask permission and my dad said it was ok to have dinner at my friend’s house, but he was making a roast, so I’d be missing out on a great meal. My dad was a great cook. When I found out Meghan’s mom was also making a roast, I thought it was a funny coincidence and told her my dad was making a roast too. She told me I was lying because we couldn’t afford roast and men don’t cook. I was taught not to talk back to or correct adults, so I just turned away and went back to playing with their dog.
A couple of minutes before dinner, I went to wash my hands and came back and everyone was seated in their chairs at the dinner table with china, silverware, and glasses. They had a place setting for me with a paper plate, plastic utensils, and a stool at an awkward corner of the table. They had more chairs and more dishes and silverware but chose to treat me worse than themselves. I was raised to always give guests the best of what I had, so I felt especially bad sitting there on a hard stool eating with my paper and plastic while everyone else had dishes and silverware.
When dinner ended, the house rule was everyone had to put their dishes in the dishwasher. Well, I didn’t have dishes, so I threw my paper plate and plastic utensils away. Then they served dessert. But not to me. The house rule is you only got dessert if you put your dishes in the dishwasher. I didn’t even have dishes, which I would have preferred, and would have happily put everyone’s dishes in the dishwasher.
By the time my parents came to get me, I was on the verge of tears. I felt like I was being punished when I did nothing wrong. I later found out that other friends had the same experience when having dinner there, so it wasn’t because I was rude or misbehaved. It was because they were horrible.”
No One Likes Helen Anymore
“We were all students at the time, so someone hosting a dinner party was a big deal. The hosts, Peter and Linda, checked with each invited guest beforehand what foods they didn’t like. Each of us listed two or three things, except Helen. Helen scolded us all and announced she was not fussy and would eat anything.
The evening arrived, everything was going along nicely until the first course. Grilled grapefruit with a hint of bubbles. Helen doesn’t like any form of adult beverages nor grapefruit. While we were eating, Helen dominated the conversation with how she couldn’t believe they manage to pick the only thing she doesn’t eat, how sour and nasty grapefruit is, and made it even worse with the bubbles.
We progressed to the main course, which was the most gorgeous homemade steak and kidney pudding with vegetables and gravy. Helen does not like kidneys, so she had just vegetables. We then got a lecture about the function of the kidney to filter out waste matter and excrete urine. Helen could believe we knew this and can still find kidneys delicious.
Finally, dessert of building your own banana split. Yes, you guessed it, Helen didn’t like bananas. She kept exclaiming she couldn’t believe this has happened to her, every course had something in it to make it inedible.
By the end of the meal, we were all rather tipsy except Helen. Helen doesn’t like drinking. She then leaves in disgust because ‘we’ have ruined ‘her’ evening. Needless to say, she wasn’t invited to any other meals.”
At Least They Ate Before They Came
“There’s a woman who lives on my road.
She’s very forthright. Some would say tactless. The first time I ever met her, shortly after moving onto the road, she told me ‘You seem like a very anxious person. You should consider homeopathy.’
It was an interesting statement to make to someone you’ve just met and don’t know.
There are few people on my road who can tolerate her. She just says things that make most people cringe, but I have a strange tolerance for people’s quirks, so long as I know they mean well.
She came round our house one day, back when I was married. She said she was having a few of the neighbors round to her house for a soirée. She handed us an invitation.
‘Do eat dinner before you come, because I won’t be serving food, just nibbles,’ she told us.
My (ex) husband wasn’t too keen, because, well, because he’d met her! But, I insisted, it would be rude to turn her down.
So we showed up at her door on the designated night and time. Our bellies were full. We’d had our dinner beforehand, just as we’d been instructed. When she answered the door, it was almost as if we’d caught her unawares. For a split second, I thought maybe we’d got the date mixed up.
But, she soon invited us in. Phew, we thought. At least our other neighbors would help take the edge off this already awkward start.
Except, there were no other neighbors. There was no one else there. Just her and her husband.
Hmmm…
She waved her hand and muttered something about how everyone else she’d invited was busy. Absolute lies.
But things got even weirder when she and her husband began to serve themselves their dinner at the table! Two place settings.
I’m sorry, what?
‘Oh, would you two like some?’ she asked, as her husband placed her plate in front of her.
Well, erm, actually no. Because we’ve already had dinner. Like you told us to. Remember?
‘Oh, well, we’ve not had dinner, so we need to eat,’ she informed us. ‘Have a seat.’
So, that was the night we sat at a table like awkward interlopers, just watching two people we barely knew eat their dinner.
It was seriously the oddest experience. After they’d finished eating, we chatted with them for a bit, then we said our goodbyes and walked across the road, toward our house.
My husband and I didn’t even look at each other as we walked away from their house. We stared straight ahead, and all I heard was his voice mutter, ‘Never. Again.’
I couldn’t argue with him.”
They Could Have Afforded It
“Years ago, my wife at the time invited one of her friends over for a crab feast. She had a bushel of crabs prepared and flown in from Maryland, which cost her several hundred dollars and offered multiple sides along with them. She held the dinner at a park because with all the food she was offering, it was going to need a lot of space to hold it. I think the final bill including drinks was around $500.
She didn’t charge this woman or anyone in her family a cent. In fact, they weren’t required to bring anything except themselves and an appetite. She did it because she wanted to share her home state (Maryland) with her friends in her new state (Georgia).
Fast-forward a few weeks later. This woman wants to ‘thank her’ for her hospitality. She asks us to come by for dinner at her family’s house with one caveat:
Bring your own main course.
That’s right, to demonstrate their gratitude for spending hundreds of dollars on a dinner they highly enjoyed, we were offered sides—stuff like store-bought coleslaw and beans. The food was cheap and atrocious. She likely spent less than $15 on the entire spread… for eight people.
Now before anyone thinks maybe this was all these people could afford, her husband was a builder—and a wealthy one at that. They lived in a very expensive home, had tons of expensive grown-up toys, beautiful cars, sent their son to private school, etc.,
They just didn’t want to spend their money on anyone else.
While she stayed friends with the woman, we never went back for dinner.
Thanks, but we can buy our own side dishes.”