Gino loses it

Don't be mean to your waiter.

1984, I worked for a high-end restaurant in Brentwood, CA, called Gatsby’s. Gatsby’s was owned by Bill Rosen, his wife Helen Grayco-Rosen, and her brother, Tony Grayco. Helen was a former torch singer, who was originally married to the zany bandleader Spike Jones. The running joke at the time was that Tony would bring the people in, and Bill would drive them out. Bill was a former partner in the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas. Bill did something that caused him to fall out of favor with the bosses, and Bill was told he was no longer welcome in Las Vegas. 
Gatsby’s was a gathering place for a group of wise guys when they had business in Los Angeles. They were my best customers. I learned to keep my mouth shut, and they tipped very generously. One night, one of these gentlemen came in with his entourage, and the place was full. Well, Bill Rosen went up to a young starry-eyed coupe who happened to be sitting at the wise guy’s favorite table. Without asking, Bill picked up their plates, and brought them to the bar, simply saying, “Why don’t you finish your meal at the bar? It’s on the house. When the man objected, Bill threw them out of the restaurant. That’s just the way it was.
An older, high-strung Sicilian guy named Gino worked there as a waiter. He had done some hard time, but Bill favored him because he was the restaurant’s resident bookie. Gino chain-smoked Camel cigarettes, and stuttered. He had a badly broken nose, which he had acquired in the ring back in the Bronx.
One very busy Saturday night, two well-dressed couples came in. They acted like royalty, and asked not once, but twice, for a different table. The table that they finally deemed as worthy was in Gino’s station. Gino took their order. One of the men had a very condescending attitude, and was very loud. We’ll call him Big Mouth. Big Mouth ordered a steak, and told Gino in a very threatening manner that it had better be medium rare. When Gino walked away, Big Mouth leaned into his group, and said something that made them all laugh. Gino came to the bar to place their drink order, visibly upset. “I’ll show that c***su****,” he muttered, and swirled his tobacco-stained finger in Big Mouth’s martini. I kept an eye on the action at their table. After all, I did have a ringside seat.
Gino brought their meals. As he gave them the prerequisite, “Enjoy your dinner,” and started walking away, Big Mouth stopped him, saying, “Whoa, whoa , whoa”, and cut into his steak. “This steak is NOT medium rare. Didn’t you hear what I told you? Bring it back, and get me another one.” Well, our chef, Arturo, was a great grill man, and always cooked his steaks at the perfect temperature. And, he did not take kindly to waiters who returned anything, because Arturo was responsible for food cost. Gino came back to the bar, visibly shaking. He was swearing like a stuttering pirate under his breath. I said nothing.
Try to imagine being a waiter in an extremely busy restaurant, working a station loaded with too many tables. You are hung over, everyone wants something at the same time. On top of that, you’ve got a professional ball-buster at your best table, abusing you for a cheap laugh. Gino brought back the second steak, and as he walked away, Big Mouth pulled the back of Gino’s tuxedo and said, “Don’t go anywhere pal.” The people at the table had big grins on their faces. Gino stood there, nervously looking around at his other tables, as the guy sawed into his steak and began shaking his head. “Are you kidding me? This steak is not medium rare. Get me another one.” Gino tried to tell him that the steak actually was medium rare, and the guy said, “Are you deaf, paisano? I said to bring me another one”. Gino swallowed hard and took the steak to the kitchen. I could hear Arturo screaming at him in Spanish.
When Gino got back to the bar, I slid a big shot of bourbon to him. He didn’t even look around. He just slammed down the shot. I felt like Robert DeNiro egging on Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. “Are you gonna let him treat you like that, Gino?” I asked. Gino’s right eye began twitching, something I had never seen before.
Gino brought the third steak and stood at the table. The people at the table were laughing out loud. People at surrounding tables stopped eating and watched the unfolding drama. Big Mouth began shaking his head before he even cut into his steak. Suddenly, Gino grabbed him by the lapel of his sports jacket and pulled him to his face. Gino screamed at him, “You’re gonna eat that f***ing steak! Do you hear me, a*****e? You eat that f***ing steak right now. No one was laughing now. Big Mouth looked terrified. They all got up and left, swearing that they would call the police and ruin the restaurant. Bill followed them into the parking lot. No one heard what he said to them, but there were no police, and Gino kept his job.
After all, he was a great bookie.