“I Wasn’t Expecting Leonardo DiCaprio to Act This Way”: Servers Share Encounters They Had With Celebrities

This article was originally published on excellenttown.com

Meeting your favorite A-lister can be just as dreamy and wholesome as you imagine it to be, or it can be a huge disappointment. Maybe it’s for the best that for most of us, meeting our favorite star stays in the realm of our imagination. People with jobs in food service get to see celebrities unfiltered in the real world—those who are good, those who are awful, and everyone in between. With this in mind, we’ve collected stories from Reddit users who served celebrities at restaurants. Do you have a favorite celebrity? Read on to see if they made the list and what they are really like in real life. Or don’t – if you don’t want to shatter that perfect image you have of them!

Matt Dillon

Here is a story about a restaurant manager going above and beyond to provide excellent service to Matt Dillon: letting him in when the store was already closed, then comping his meal. I don’t know if I would be that nice, not even for a celebrity. Also, I wonder who Matt Dillon is since he’s obviously supposed to be some kind of celebrity.

I’d heard the name, obviously, but I couldn’t name anything that he was in. So I Googled his name and looked at his filmography, and guess what? I still have no idea who this guy is. If I was a restaurant manager and he came knocking at my door 15 minutes after closing, I would probably assume he was just some rando and turn him away. Although, to be fair, I might turn away a regular celebrity as well. It’s late, man, I wanna go home.

Kobe Bryant

The legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant was loved by many, and this story highlights his decent character. In 2009, DJ Clue’s birthday celebration was in full swing at the glitzy atmosphere of Club M2, and the beloved basketball player Kobe Bryant made a lasting impact by partying till the wee hours of the morning in the VIP section.

As the evening ended, Bryant’s kindness shone through as he left the servers who had served him an astounding $2,000 tip. Imagine receiving this tip amount, especially in 2009, when the money value was utterly different. Bryant’s gesture redefined what it means to make an entrance – and an exit.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z

I feel like the writer of this next story thought Beyoncé had been really rude and wanted all of us to think that she’d been rude as well. After all, what kind of monster doesn’t want her peaceful dinner out interrupted by fans clamoring for a picture? Talk about selfishness!

I’m being sarcastic, obviously. It’s probably not rude to ask a celebrity for a picture in most situations, but I also don’t think it’s rude for the celebrity to say no. They have their own lives, and sometimes they just want to be allowed to eat their dinner. So I’m on Beyoncé’s side here.

Justin Timberlake

I hope I’m not showing my age too much if I tell you that I was a huge NSYNC fan when I was a teenager. We had a tape of a Disney special they did and watched it repeatedly, so I had their names, backgrounds and personalities memorized. I could have told you any of their birthdays, home states, or favorite foods.

So I definitely could have told you that Justin has always been, at his core, a nice, well-behaved Southern boy. It’s super nice to have that confirmed, plus it’s super nice for him to sign all of those autographs. Most of all, I’m intrigued to know that he is taller and more muscular than he appears on TV, because he looks pretty good on TV. He must be dazzling in real life.