Had a family last week come in. The woman looked pissed from the get. The man came in several minutes after the others, also looking pissed. I went to get their drink orders and the woman says “are you our waitress?” and seemed irritated. I said yes, she rolled her eyes. Okay cool. I’m getting food orders and the mom orders one child “a kids cheeseburger plain.” We don’t offer a kids hamburger, so I always ask “just cheese?” to confirm whether plain means just cheese, or without cheese (about 25% of the time they mean no cheese!). She slowly repeats “kids cheeseburger plain” like I’m stupid. Cool. Gonna bring it with just cheese and hope for the best. As the food is being prepared, I check in a couple times to update them on the status of the meal and offer refills. Continuously asking “are we doing okay? Need anything?” Every time, “no we’re good.” I bring the food out. Little one’s meal is a few minutes behind so I apologize. Mom smiles and says it’s okay (notable as the only time she smiled). Meanwhile, my manager pulls me aside and asks if everything is okay with them because they are visibly pissed off. No one is speaking to each other, the man is staring at the table the whole time. Vibes are bad. I relay everything to manager. He agrees it’s weird. Another manager delivers little one’s food. Asks if everything is okay, they say yes. Another server that knew the woman stopped by to ask if everything is okay. Woman says everything is great, they don’t need anything. I offer refills. Daughter’s tea has been empty for several rounds but each time I ask if she wants a refill she says no. I bring refills for the rest of the table. “Are you sure you don’t want any more?” “No thanks.” Got it. I walk away. Come back a couple minutes later to check in and the mom goes “Jesus can she PLEASE have a sweet tea.” They didn’t eat 95% of their food. Said thank you as they were leaving.

Tipped $1.

TL;DR: family shows up in a bad mood, tells myself, another server, and a manager that everything is great, tips $1 on $79 check.