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* John Berry's "She's Taken a Shine," where Rosie, a waitress who is unremarkable in looks and has nothing better to do than work at the diner day in and day out, falls for Jesse, a customer, and transforms so completely that it [[WhenSheSmiles becomes the talk of the town.]]
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There are several reasons for this. You can introduce a waitress character without too much explanation or backstory, as fictional characters tend to [[LocalHangout spend a lot of time]] in [[YouAllMeetInAnInn bars and restaurants]] anyway. Often, visiting a restaurant is the hero's [[HeroesGoneFishing time to unwind from their main job]], so the waitress interacts with him as an ordinary civilian, not Bob The Action Hero, giving their relationship a unique dynamic. This often leads to a plot twist later, where our hero must suddenly reveal his quest or SecretIdentity to the waitress, who is usually unquestioningly supportive. In these cases the waitress often provides the team [[EleventhHourRanger unexpected reinforcement in the eleventh hour]].
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There are several reasons for this. You can introduce a waitress character without too much explanation or backstory, as fictional characters tend to [[LocalHangout spend a lot of time]] in [[YouAllMeetInAnInn bars and restaurants]] anyway. Often, visiting a restaurant is the hero's [[HeroesGoneFishing time to unwind from their main job]], so the waitress interacts with him as an ordinary civilian, not Bob The Action Hero, giving their relationship a unique dynamic. This often leads to a plot twist later, where our hero must suddenly reveal his quest or SecretIdentity to the waitress, who is usually unquestioningly supportive. In these cases cases, the waitress often provides the team [[EleventhHourRanger unexpected reinforcement in the eleventh hour]].
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* ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'' has an attempted version with co-protagonist Stunk and the tavern hapry waitress Meidri. Stunk spends many evenings sexually harassing her and asking her to be his girlfriend. She ''would'' consider it, but she's too put off by his lecherous behavior and his constant sex adventures.
* In ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', Dandy loves to visit the [[FanserviceWithASmile Breastaurant]] [=BooBies=] in his down time between adventures as a space bounty hunter (in fact, he mostly works as bounty hunter to fund his trips there). Honey is a waitress there who at first just seems like a recurring extra, but gradually develops more of a relationship with Dandy, and even shows up to rescue him in one episode.
* In ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', Dandy loves to visit the [[FanserviceWithASmile Breastaurant]] [=BooBies=] in his down time between adventures as a space bounty hunter (in fact, he mostly works as bounty hunter to fund his trips there). Honey is a waitress there who at first just seems like a recurring extra, but gradually develops more of a relationship with Dandy, and even shows up to rescue him in one episode.
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* ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'' has an attempted version with co-protagonist Stunk and the tavern hapry harpy waitress Meidri. Stunk spends many evenings sexually harassing her and asking her to be his girlfriend. She ''would'' consider it, but she's too put off by his lecherous behavior and his constant sex adventures.
* In ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', Dandy loves to visit the [[FanserviceWithASmile Breastaurant]] [=BooBies=] in hisdown time downtime between adventures as a space bounty hunter (in fact, he mostly works as bounty hunter to fund his trips there). Honey is a waitress there who at first just seems like a recurring extra, but gradually develops more of a relationship with Dandy, and even shows up to rescue him in one episode.
* In ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', Dandy loves to visit the [[FanserviceWithASmile Breastaurant]] [=BooBies=] in his
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* The protagonist of ''Film/OfficeSpace'' meets a cute waitress Joanna at a nearby restaurant but is too awkward and self-conscious to ask her out. Later on, after re-examining his life, he goes there again with a newfound confidence and asks her out to lunch, and the two become a couple soon afterwards.
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* The protagonist of ''Film/OfficeSpace'' meets a cute waitress Joanna at a nearby restaurant but is too awkward and self-conscious to ask her out. Later on, after re-examining his life, he goes there again with a newfound confidence and asks her out to lunch, and the two become a couple soon afterwards.
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** Claude, the protagonist, mostly interacts with his work colleagues and Paul (his StalkerWithoutACrush), but he falls in love with Ariadne, a waitress at the restaurant he frequents on workdays. Once she finds about about his work as a banker, she loses a lot of respect for him, and his love for her helps push him to [[spoiler: betray his employers]] near the climax of the book.
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** Claude, the protagonist, mostly interacts with his work colleagues and Paul (his StalkerWithoutACrush), but he falls in love with Ariadne, a waitress at the restaurant he frequents on workdays. Once she finds about out about his work as a banker, she loses a lot of respect for him, and his love for her helps push him to [[spoiler: betray his employers]] near the climax of the book.
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* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': In [[Recap/GhostWhispererS2E12DeadToRights Dead to Rights]], the {{Woobie of The Week}}’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
* GenderFlipped on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' where Lorelai's main LoveInterest is Luke, a guy who runs and operates his own diner, primarily as a server. It's not as straight as some of the other examples, because while this is how they met, the series starts several years later when they already have an established friendship and plenty of interaction outside the diner.
* GenderFlipped on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' where Lorelai's main LoveInterest is Luke, a guy who runs and operates his own diner, primarily as a server. It's not as straight as some of the other examples, because while this is how they met, the series starts several years later when they already have an established friendship and plenty of interaction outside the diner.
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* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': In [[Recap/GhostWhispererS2E12DeadToRights Dead to Rights]], the {{Woobie of The Week}}’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate alternative medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
* GenderFlipped on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' where Lorelai's main LoveInterest is Luke, a guy who runs and operates his own diner, primarily as a server. It's not asstraight straightforward as some of the other examples, because while this is how they met, the series starts several years later when they already have an established friendship and plenty of interaction outside the diner.
* GenderFlipped on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' where Lorelai's main LoveInterest is Luke, a guy who runs and operates his own diner, primarily as a server. It's not as
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* In ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'', Paige is working as waitress when she first encounters the team of misfit geniuses and gets dragged into an adventure with them. The team keep her on as office manager for the team, and she helps to 'translate' the real world for them, helping them interact with the people they meet. In turn, the team helps her understand her genius son, Ralph. Her being a waitress in a diner establishes her as a far more down-to-earth character than everyone else, and she gradually becomes the LoveInterest for main protagonist Walter O'Brien.
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* In ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'', Paige is working as waitress when she first encounters the team of misfit geniuses and gets dragged into an adventure with them. The team keep keeps her on as office manager for the team, and she helps to 'translate' the real world for them, helping them interact with the people they meet. In turn, the team helps her understand her genius son, Ralph. Her being a waitress in a diner establishes her as a far more down-to-earth character than everyone else, and she gradually becomes the LoveInterest for main protagonist Walter O'Brien.
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* Near the end of season 2 of ''Series/TwinPeaks'', Chief Inspector Gordon Cole visits the Double R diner on a break from his work on the investigation. Midway through the meal, he spots Shelley, a waitress, instantly declares himself in love with her, and even gets her to kiss him. It doesn't go father than that, as Shelley already has a boyfriend, who's none too pleased to catch her kissing a much older man in public.
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* Near the end of season 2 of ''Series/TwinPeaks'', Chief Inspector Gordon Cole visits the Double R diner on a break from his work on the investigation. Midway through the meal, he spots Shelley, a waitress, instantly declares himself in love with her, and even gets her to kiss him. It doesn't go father further than that, as Shelley already has a boyfriend, who's none too pleased to catch her kissing a much older man in public.
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* In Music/RebaMcEntire's "Somebody," a patron makes small-talk with his waitress about his love life. She tells him the person he's looking for could be literally anyone, and he should pay attention. At the end of the song, he realizes the "somebody" he's been waiting for is...her.
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* In Music/RebaMcEntire's "Somebody," a patron makes small-talk small talk with his waitress about his love life. She tells him the person he's looking for could be literally anyone, and he should pay attention. At the end of the song, he realizes the "somebody" he's been waiting for is...her.
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* In ''VisualNovel/CafeEnchante'', Kotone inherits her late grandfather's café and she can romance any of the regulars who happen to consist of a demon, a fallen angel, a flame-wielding werewolf, a headless knight and a government official.
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* In ''VisualNovel/CafeEnchante'', Kotone inherits her late grandfather's café and she can romance any of the regulars who happen to consist of a demon, a fallen angel, a flame-wielding werewolf, a headless knight knight, and a government official.
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* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' has a range of waitress' as potential love interests. One example is Maya from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'', a LethalChef waitress who wishes to be a SupremeChef someday.
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* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' has a range of waitress' waitresses as potential love interests. One example is Maya from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'', a LethalChef waitress who wishes to be a SupremeChef someday.
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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. This is the backstory for how Elan's parents met. He was a globe-trotting adventurer, she was a pure-hearted tavern maid, and they fell in love. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: he was also an aspiring EvilOverlord]], so they divorced soon after Elan was born.
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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. This is the backstory for of how Elan's parents met. He was a globe-trotting adventurer, she was a pure-hearted tavern maid, and they fell in love. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: he was also an aspiring EvilOverlord]], so they divorced soon after Elan was born.
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* GenderFlipped on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' where Lorelai's main LoveInterest is Luke, a guy who runs and operates his own diner, primarily as a server. It's not as straight as some of the other examples, because while this is how they met, the series starts several years later when they already have an established friendship and plenty of interaction outside the diner.
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* In ''VisualNovel/CafeEnchante'', Kotone inherits her late grandfather's café and she can romance any of the regulars who happen to consist of a demon, a fallen angel, a flame-wielding werewolf, a headless knight and a government official.
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* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' has Methos falling for Alexa, a waitress at Joe's bar. He's geeky and awkward and flustered, despite having thousands of years of experience. After she's turned him down, she asks why he wants to go out with her, and his answer, "Because the alternative is unthinkable," convinces her to accept his invitation after all. [[spoiler: It turns out Alexa is terminally ill, but it doesn't deter him. When he tells her he can handle what's coming, she asks why he would ''want'' to, which gets her the same answer.]]
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* In the ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee'', Koudai Yamamoto works part-time as a waiter, and one of his underclassman, Juri Hattori (who doesn't recognize him as her schoolmate) often comes to visit the cafe he works at to vent about her stress, and they eventually start dating. Their respective POV of the relationship are highlighted in "The Junior that Resembles The Person I Liked" and "I Was Told That I Was Cute".
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* In the ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee'', ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee'' series, Koudai Yamamoto works part-time as a waiter, and one of his underclassman, underclassmen, Juri Hattori (who doesn't recognize him as her schoolmate) often comes to visit the cafe he works at to vent about her stress, and they eventually start dating. Their respective POV [=POVs=] of the relationship are highlighted in "The Junior that Resembles The Person I Liked" and "I Was Told That I Was Cute".
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* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
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* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks to her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
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* ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'' has an attempted version with co-protagonist Stunk and the tavern hapry waitress Meidri. Stunk spends many evenings sexually harassing her and asking her to be his girlfriend. She ''would'' consider it, but she's too put off by his lecherous behavior and his constant sex adventures.
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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/BabyDriver https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bd_waitress.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When a MeetCute is the main course.]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When a MeetCute is the main course.]]
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* Played with in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' Season 3 Episode "Bad Day at Black Rock" when the Winchester brothers meet a comely waitress with a Louise Brooks bob. [[spoiler: It turns out she's a thief, and she steals a valuable cursed rabbit's from Sam. The "waitress," Bela, turns out to be a master thief with plentiful ShipTease with both brothers.]]
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* Played with in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' Season 3 Episode "Bad Day at Black Rock" when the Winchester brothers meet a comely waitress with a Louise Brooks bob. [[spoiler: It turns out she's a thief, and she steals a valuable cursed rabbit's from Sam. The "waitress," Bela, turns out to be a master thief with plentiful ShipTease with both brothers.]]
* In the ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee'', Koudai Yamamoto works part-time as a waiter, and one of his underclassman, Juri Hattori (who doesn't recognize him as her schoolmate) often comes to visit the cafe he works at to vent about her stress, and they eventually start dating. Their respective POV of the relationship are highlighted in "The Junior that Resembles The Person I Liked" and "I Was Told That I Was Cute".
* "Travelin' Soldier" by the Music/DixieChicks is about an 18-year-old soldier meeting and falling in love with a young cafe waitress right before he's shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War.
* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
* "Travelin' Soldier" by the Music/DixieChicks is about an 18-year-old soldier meeting and falling in love with a young cafe waitress right before he's shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War.
* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
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* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
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* "Travelin' Soldier" by the Music/DixieChicks is about an 18-year-old soldier meeting and falling in love with a young cafe waitress right before he's shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War.
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* In Reba [=McEntire=]'s "Somebody," a patron makes small-talk with his waitress about his love life. She tells him the person he's looking for could be literally anyone, and he should pay attention. At the end of the song, he realizes the "somebody" he's been waiting for is...her.
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* In Reba [=McEntire=]'s Music/RebaMcEntire's "Somebody," a patron makes small-talk with his waitress about his love life. She tells him the person he's looking for could be literally anyone, and he should pay attention. At the end of the song, he realizes the "somebody" he's been waiting for is...her.
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* In ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'', Ryuji first meets his girlfriend Nagisa at a FanserviceWithASmile cafe where all the waitresses wear [[ThongOfShielding thongs]]. Most of the times they meet after that aren't at the restaurant, though.
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* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': Angus became a regular at Coffee of Doom mainly because he liked Faye's {{Tsundere}} attitude and WittyBanter with him. They eventually started going out, [[spoiler:until he [[PutOnABus moved away to New York]] and they broke up]].
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* In ''Film/{{Triangle}}'', Greg asks Jess out after meeting her at the diner she works in. It's still too early to tell if they're going to become a couple [[spoiler:even if Jess hadn't wound up in that time loop that kills every named character (maybe except her)]].
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* "Travelin' Soldier" by the Music/DixieChicks is about an 18-year-old soldier meeting and falling in love with a young cafe waitress right before he's shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War.
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Subtrope of BoyMeetsGirl. Related to CoffeeShopAUFic, where an author puts characters from another work into this scenario. If a character thinks waitresses are categorically attractive, that's InherentlyAttractiveProfession. Compare/contrast HospitalHottie - while both are caregivers, a nurse love interest will meet the hero during an AfterActionPatchUp (if she's not TheMedic), giving her a closer relationship to the plot, and those relationships rely heavily on the FlorenceNightingaleEffect, which is absent here.
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!!Examples
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[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
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[[folder: Film - Live Action]]
* In ''Film/BabyDriver'', Baby (the protagonist) falls in love with the waitress (complete with fifties uniform) that works at an old-fashioned diner that he's visited a few times while on the job as a getaway driver. She doesn't learn about his true career until near the end of the movie, but she is incredibly loyal to him, willing to risk death and imprisonment for him even though she barely knows him. The AmbiguousEnding [[spoiler: implies that she waits for him for his whole jail sentence]].
* In ''Film/BabyDriver'', Baby (the protagonist) falls in love with the waitress (complete with fifties uniform) that works at an old-fashioned diner that he's visited a few times while on the job as a getaway driver. She doesn't learn about his true career until near the end of the movie, but she is incredibly loyal to him, willing to risk death and imprisonment for him even though she barely knows him. The AmbiguousEnding [[spoiler: implies that she waits for him for his whole jail sentence]].
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* In ''Film/BabyDriver'', Baby
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* ''Film/PhantomThread'': Reynolds meets Alma when she takes his breakfast order and asks her out when she delivers the food. Feeding him remains a major element of their relationship after they become lovers, whether she's [[ParentingTheHusband mothering him]], making romantic gestures, or [[spoiler:[[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisoning him]] to keep him dependent on her.]]
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* ''Film/PhantomThread'': Reynolds meets Alma when she takes his breakfast order and asks her out when she delivers the food. Feeding him remains a major element of their relationship after they become lovers, whether she's [[ParentingTheHusband mothering him]], making romantic gestures, or [[spoiler:[[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisoning him]] to keep him dependent on her.]]her]].
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[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
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[[/folder]]
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----
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Subtrope of BoyMeetsGirl. Related to CoffeeShopAUFic, where a author puts characters from another work into this scenario. If a character thinks waitresses are categorically attractive, that's InherentlyAttractiveProfession. Compare/contrast HospitalHottie - while both are caregivers, a nurse love interest will meet the hero during an AfterActionPatchUp (if she's not TheMedic), giving her a closer relationship to the plot, and those relationships rely heavily on the FlorenceNightingaleEffect, which is absent here.
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Subtrope of BoyMeetsGirl. Related to CoffeeShopAUFic, where a an author puts characters from another work into this scenario. If a character thinks waitresses are categorically attractive, that's InherentlyAttractiveProfession. Compare/contrast HospitalHottie - while both are caregivers, a nurse love interest will meet the hero during an AfterActionPatchUp (if she's not TheMedic), giving her a closer relationship to the plot, and those relationships rely heavily on the FlorenceNightingaleEffect, which is absent here.
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[[caption-width-right:350:When a MeetCute is the main course]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:When a MeetCute is the main course]]course.]]
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-->-- EvilOverLordList, Rule #31
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-->-- EvilOverLordList, EvilOverlordList, Rule #31
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* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': In [[Recap/GhostWhispererS2E12DeadToRights Dead to Rights]], {{The Woobie of The Week}}’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
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* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': In [[Recap/GhostWhispererS2E12DeadToRights Dead to Rights]], {{The Woobie the {{Woobie of The Week}}’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
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* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': The Woobie of The Week’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
to:
* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': The In [[Recap/GhostWhispererS2E12DeadToRights Dead to Rights]], {{The Woobie of The Week’s Week}}’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
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[[folder: Music]]
* In Reba [=McEntire=]'s "Somebody," a patron makes small-talk with his waitress about his love life. She tells him the person he's looking for could be literally anyone, and he should pay attention. At the end of the song, he realizes the "somebody" he's been waiting for is...her.
* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
* Implied in Landon Pigg's "Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop."
[[/folder]]
* In Reba [=McEntire=]'s "Somebody," a patron makes small-talk with his waitress about his love life. She tells him the person he's looking for could be literally anyone, and he should pay attention. At the end of the song, he realizes the "somebody" he's been waiting for is...her.
* PlayedForLaughs in the Music/AlanJackson song "I Don't Even Know Your Name." The singer becomes infatuated with a waitress at the restaurant he's in. She's not his waitress, and when he tries to flag her down for coffee, he loses his nerve. So he orders a little LiquidCourage, but overdoes it and ends up drunk. He asks her marry him, and she accepts. He [[WhatDidIDoLastNight sobers up]] in the [[AccidentalMarriage middle of the wedding ceremony,]] only to find out he's marrying his waitress, who was "missing her front tooth."
* Implied in Landon Pigg's "Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop."
[[/folder]]
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* Played with in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' Season 3 Episode "Bad Day at Black Rock" when the Winchester brothers meet a comely waitress with a Louise Brooks bob. [[spoiler: It turns out she's a thief, and she steals a valuable cursed rabbit's from Sam. The "waitress," Bela, turns out to be a master thief with plentiful ShipTease with both brothers.]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dinner_romance1.JPG]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dinner_romance1.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When a MeetCute is the main course]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When a MeetCute is the main course]]
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* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': The Woobie of The Week’s wife is accused of being a GoldDigger by his rich and famous family because she was his diner waitress when they met. It didn’t help suspicion that they got married fast, and that he fell into a coma shortly after she took him to an alternate medicine clinic to treat his ALS. Even worse, she wanted to pull the plug on him, which only worsened her image and seemed to confirm ulterior motives. It turns out, they got married fast because they knew their time was limited because of his disease. What’s more, [[spoiler:his coma wasn’t her fault at all. His mother gave him muscle relaxant pills during a seizure, not knowing the doctors had taken him off that certain brand. They interacted with his anti-depressants and sent him into a coma. Turns out, the ghost really did want them to pull the plug, and his wife knew it because he told her himself.]]
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Last edit mushed two paragraphs together by accident, separated them again, sorry for not previewing.
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The word slept was inexplicably in the description between sentences. I removed it, and my apologies to any secret agents using it as a coded message.
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slept
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* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', when Trip and Malcolm were younger, they both frequented a restaurant where a waitress named Ruby worked. Both had crushes on Ruby and Trip even wanted to marry her, and it's implied that both of them slept with he at some point.
to:
* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', when Trip and Malcolm were younger, they both frequented a restaurant where a waitress named Ruby worked. Both had crushes on Ruby and Trip even wanted to marry her, and it's implied that both of them slept with he her at some point.
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Indexes:
* EatingEstablishments
* RomanceArc
* LoveTropes
* OccupationTropes
----
* EatingEstablishments
* RomanceArc
* LoveTropes
* OccupationTropes
----
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->''"All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick."''
-->-- EvilOverLordList, Rule #31
In works based around TheTeam, whether a WorkCom or a fantasy action show, sometimes writers want to introduce a romance subplot, but for one reason or another need to find a LoveInterest outside of the team. Maybe everyone but the protagonist is in a relationship, maybe you have ChromosomeCasting and IncompatibleOrientation, or maybe the team dynamic just calls for NoHuggingNoKissing. One of the most common ways around this is to have one of the mains fall in love with a waitress or barmaid.
There are several reasons for this. You can introduce a waitress character without too much explanation or backstory, as fictional characters tend to [[LocalHangout spend a lot of time]] in [[YouAllMeetInAnInn bars and restaurants]] anyway. Often, visiting a restaurant is the hero's [[HeroesGoneFishing time to unwind from their main job]], so the waitress interacts with him as an ordinary civilian, not Bob The Action Hero, giving their relationship a unique dynamic. This often leads to a plot twist later, where our hero must suddenly reveal his quest or SecretIdentity to the waitress, who is usually unquestioningly supportive. In these cases the waitress often provides the team [[EleventhHourRanger unexpected reinforcement in the eleventh hour]].
Plus, waitresses are paid to be charming and are sometimes even [[FanserviceWithASmile scantily clad]]. The [[ThroughHisStomach association of food and love]] doesn't hurt either.
Subtrope of BoyMeetsGirl. Related to CoffeeShopAUFic, where a author puts characters from another work into this scenario. If a character thinks waitresses are categorically attractive, that's InherentlyAttractiveProfession. Compare/contrast HospitalHottie - while both are caregivers, a nurse love interest will meet the hero during an AfterActionPatchUp (if she's not TheMedic), giving her a closer relationship to the plot, and those relationships rely heavily on the FlorenceNightingaleEffect, which is absent here.
----
Indexes:
* EatingEstablishments
* RomanceArc
* LoveTropes
* OccupationTropes
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', Dandy loves to visit the [[FanserviceWithASmile Breastaurant]] [=BooBies=] in his down time between adventures as a space bounty hunter (in fact, he mostly works as bounty hunter to fund his trips there). Honey is a waitress there who at first just seems like a recurring extra, but gradually develops more of a relationship with Dandy, and even shows up to rescue him in one episode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film - Live Action]]
* In ''Film/BabyDriver'', Baby (the protagonist) falls in love with the waitress (complete with fifties uniform) that works at an old-fashioned diner that he's visited a few times while on the job as a getaway driver. She doesn't learn about his true career until near the end of the movie, but she is incredibly loyal to him, willing to risk death and imprisonment for him even though she barely knows him. The AmbiguousEnding [[spoiler: implies that she waits for him for his whole jail sentence]].
* ''Film/ItCouldHappenToYou''. A married police officer offers to give a waitress at a diner half of the winnings from his lottery ticket as a tip. When his lottery ticket wins, he receives millions of dollars. When he gives her half the winnings, his wife gets annoyed, eventually causing them to get divorced. Over the course of the movie, the cop and the waitress eventually fall in love and get married.
* Roy/Mr. Furious of ''Film/MysteryMen'' has a crush on Monica, a waitress at the restaurant he and his wannabe superhero friends frequent. He tries to impress her by acting "cool" and playing up the superhero angle, but she isn't interested until he begins to drop the bravado.
* The protagonist of ''Film/OfficeSpace'' meets a cute waitress Joanna at a nearby restaurant but is too awkward and self-conscious to ask her out. Later on, after re-examining his life, he goes there again with a newfound confidence and asks her out to lunch, and the two become a couple soon afterwards.
* ''Film/PhantomThread'': Reynolds meets Alma when she takes his breakfast order and asks her out when she delivers the food. Feeding him remains a major element of their relationship after they become lovers, whether she's [[ParentingTheHusband mothering him]], making romantic gestures, or [[spoiler:[[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisoning him]] to keep him dependent on her.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'', Max meets his second girlfriend after spontaneously visiting her cafe. It almost immediately turns out that this wasn't as accidental as it seemed, as Lady Tekkhi was already in love with Max before that and deliberately named her cafe after his cats to attract his attention. When he finally graced it with his presence, she then mixed a LovePotion into his drink -- it didn't work on him (as intended, at least), but he became enamored with her, anyway.
* ''Literature/TheMarkAndTheVoid'':
** {{Exploited}} by Paul, who notes the propensity of men to fall in love with their waitresses and creates a business venture, [=myhotswaitress.com=][[note]]yes, ''hots''[[/note]], that monetizes the trope by stalking waitresses then selling their personal info to male admirers.
** Claude, the protagonist, mostly interacts with his work colleagues and Paul (his StalkerWithoutACrush), but he falls in love with Ariadne, a waitress at the restaurant he frequents on workdays. Once she finds about about his work as a banker, she loses a lot of respect for him, and his love for her helps push him to [[spoiler: betray his employers]] near the climax of the book.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/Maniac2018'': In the scenario where he is incarnated as a conflicted mobster, Owen imagines his college friend Olivia as a GirlNextDoor-type waitress with whom he eventually runs away with.
* In ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'', Paige is working as waitress when she first encounters the team of misfit geniuses and gets dragged into an adventure with them. The team keep her on as office manager for the team, and she helps to 'translate' the real world for them, helping them interact with the people they meet. In turn, the team helps her understand her genius son, Ralph. Her being a waitress in a diner establishes her as a far more down-to-earth character than everyone else, and she gradually becomes the LoveInterest for main protagonist Walter O'Brien.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Subverted. In the episode "The Soup", George flirts with a Monk's waitress, Kelly, and both playfully banter with each other. At Jerry's goading, George takes Kelly out for a walk. He mentions how he likes the word "manure", which wrecks his chances with Kelly as she makes a casual mention she has a boyfriend. The next time they meet, the banter is replaced with a cold and distant formality, which makes George too uncomfortable to enter Monk's. He attempts to get her fired, but that backfires when George gets banned from the restaurant.
* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', when Trip and Malcolm were younger, they both frequented a restaurant where a waitress named Ruby worked. Both had crushes on Ruby and Trip even wanted to marry her, and it's implied that both of them slept with he at some point.
* Played for laughs in ''Series/{{Titus}}'' episode "The Break-Up". Christopher and Erin decide to break up and they both have a fling with a waitress and waiter, respectively. Complete with porn-ified ImagineSpot.
* Near the end of season 2 of ''Series/TwinPeaks'', Chief Inspector Gordon Cole visits the Double R diner on a break from his work on the investigation. Midway through the meal, he spots Shelley, a waitress, instantly declares himself in love with her, and even gets her to kiss him. It doesn't go father than that, as Shelley already has a boyfriend, who's none too pleased to catch her kissing a much older man in public.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', this is {{implied}} to be the case between Chloe's mum Joyce and her step-father David. They met while Joyce was working at the Two-Whales Diner, and in [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2 the sequel]], [[spoiler: if Joyce was killed in the storm (because the player picked the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending of the first game), David will have the receipt from the day they met (the use of which as a password also foreshadowed his appearance) framed.]]
* In ''VideoGame/LilysGarden'', Phillip Jones met his late wife while she was working in a restaurant in New Orleans. He happened to be visiting the city for work and ended up staying a week in order to keep seeing her.
* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' has a range of waitress' as potential love interests. One example is Maya from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'', a LethalChef waitress who wishes to be a SupremeChef someday.
* In ''VideoGame/UnchartedWatersNewHorizons'', various waitresses around the world's inns can be wooed by any protagonist (except [[TokenGirl Catalina]]) in a sort of a proto-RomanceSidequest.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. This is the backstory for how Elan's parents met. He was a globe-trotting adventurer, she was a pure-hearted tavern maid, and they fell in love. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: he was also an aspiring EvilOverlord]], so they divorced soon after Elan was born.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Web Original]]
* Discussed by the EvilOverlordList:
--> '''31.''' All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': According to "WesternAnimation/SchoolsOutTheMusical," Cosmo and Wanda met at a diner where Cosmo was working as a waiter. Despite Cosmo [[TheKlutz tripping and getting food all over himself]] while trying to serve Wanda, it was LoveAtFirstSight.
[[/folder]]
-->-- EvilOverLordList, Rule #31
In works based around TheTeam, whether a WorkCom or a fantasy action show, sometimes writers want to introduce a romance subplot, but for one reason or another need to find a LoveInterest outside of the team. Maybe everyone but the protagonist is in a relationship, maybe you have ChromosomeCasting and IncompatibleOrientation, or maybe the team dynamic just calls for NoHuggingNoKissing. One of the most common ways around this is to have one of the mains fall in love with a waitress or barmaid.
There are several reasons for this. You can introduce a waitress character without too much explanation or backstory, as fictional characters tend to [[LocalHangout spend a lot of time]] in [[YouAllMeetInAnInn bars and restaurants]] anyway. Often, visiting a restaurant is the hero's [[HeroesGoneFishing time to unwind from their main job]], so the waitress interacts with him as an ordinary civilian, not Bob The Action Hero, giving their relationship a unique dynamic. This often leads to a plot twist later, where our hero must suddenly reveal his quest or SecretIdentity to the waitress, who is usually unquestioningly supportive. In these cases the waitress often provides the team [[EleventhHourRanger unexpected reinforcement in the eleventh hour]].
Plus, waitresses are paid to be charming and are sometimes even [[FanserviceWithASmile scantily clad]]. The [[ThroughHisStomach association of food and love]] doesn't hurt either.
Subtrope of BoyMeetsGirl. Related to CoffeeShopAUFic, where a author puts characters from another work into this scenario. If a character thinks waitresses are categorically attractive, that's InherentlyAttractiveProfession. Compare/contrast HospitalHottie - while both are caregivers, a nurse love interest will meet the hero during an AfterActionPatchUp (if she's not TheMedic), giving her a closer relationship to the plot, and those relationships rely heavily on the FlorenceNightingaleEffect, which is absent here.
----
Indexes:
* EatingEstablishments
* RomanceArc
* LoveTropes
* OccupationTropes
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Anime/SpaceDandy'', Dandy loves to visit the [[FanserviceWithASmile Breastaurant]] [=BooBies=] in his down time between adventures as a space bounty hunter (in fact, he mostly works as bounty hunter to fund his trips there). Honey is a waitress there who at first just seems like a recurring extra, but gradually develops more of a relationship with Dandy, and even shows up to rescue him in one episode.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film - Live Action]]
* In ''Film/BabyDriver'', Baby (the protagonist) falls in love with the waitress (complete with fifties uniform) that works at an old-fashioned diner that he's visited a few times while on the job as a getaway driver. She doesn't learn about his true career until near the end of the movie, but she is incredibly loyal to him, willing to risk death and imprisonment for him even though she barely knows him. The AmbiguousEnding [[spoiler: implies that she waits for him for his whole jail sentence]].
* ''Film/ItCouldHappenToYou''. A married police officer offers to give a waitress at a diner half of the winnings from his lottery ticket as a tip. When his lottery ticket wins, he receives millions of dollars. When he gives her half the winnings, his wife gets annoyed, eventually causing them to get divorced. Over the course of the movie, the cop and the waitress eventually fall in love and get married.
* Roy/Mr. Furious of ''Film/MysteryMen'' has a crush on Monica, a waitress at the restaurant he and his wannabe superhero friends frequent. He tries to impress her by acting "cool" and playing up the superhero angle, but she isn't interested until he begins to drop the bravado.
* The protagonist of ''Film/OfficeSpace'' meets a cute waitress Joanna at a nearby restaurant but is too awkward and self-conscious to ask her out. Later on, after re-examining his life, he goes there again with a newfound confidence and asks her out to lunch, and the two become a couple soon afterwards.
* ''Film/PhantomThread'': Reynolds meets Alma when she takes his breakfast order and asks her out when she delivers the food. Feeding him remains a major element of their relationship after they become lovers, whether she's [[ParentingTheHusband mothering him]], making romantic gestures, or [[spoiler:[[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisoning him]] to keep him dependent on her.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'', Max meets his second girlfriend after spontaneously visiting her cafe. It almost immediately turns out that this wasn't as accidental as it seemed, as Lady Tekkhi was already in love with Max before that and deliberately named her cafe after his cats to attract his attention. When he finally graced it with his presence, she then mixed a LovePotion into his drink -- it didn't work on him (as intended, at least), but he became enamored with her, anyway.
* ''Literature/TheMarkAndTheVoid'':
** {{Exploited}} by Paul, who notes the propensity of men to fall in love with their waitresses and creates a business venture, [=myhotswaitress.com=][[note]]yes, ''hots''[[/note]], that monetizes the trope by stalking waitresses then selling their personal info to male admirers.
** Claude, the protagonist, mostly interacts with his work colleagues and Paul (his StalkerWithoutACrush), but he falls in love with Ariadne, a waitress at the restaurant he frequents on workdays. Once she finds about about his work as a banker, she loses a lot of respect for him, and his love for her helps push him to [[spoiler: betray his employers]] near the climax of the book.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/Maniac2018'': In the scenario where he is incarnated as a conflicted mobster, Owen imagines his college friend Olivia as a GirlNextDoor-type waitress with whom he eventually runs away with.
* In ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'', Paige is working as waitress when she first encounters the team of misfit geniuses and gets dragged into an adventure with them. The team keep her on as office manager for the team, and she helps to 'translate' the real world for them, helping them interact with the people they meet. In turn, the team helps her understand her genius son, Ralph. Her being a waitress in a diner establishes her as a far more down-to-earth character than everyone else, and she gradually becomes the LoveInterest for main protagonist Walter O'Brien.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Subverted. In the episode "The Soup", George flirts with a Monk's waitress, Kelly, and both playfully banter with each other. At Jerry's goading, George takes Kelly out for a walk. He mentions how he likes the word "manure", which wrecks his chances with Kelly as she makes a casual mention she has a boyfriend. The next time they meet, the banter is replaced with a cold and distant formality, which makes George too uncomfortable to enter Monk's. He attempts to get her fired, but that backfires when George gets banned from the restaurant.
* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', when Trip and Malcolm were younger, they both frequented a restaurant where a waitress named Ruby worked. Both had crushes on Ruby and Trip even wanted to marry her, and it's implied that both of them slept with he at some point.
* Played for laughs in ''Series/{{Titus}}'' episode "The Break-Up". Christopher and Erin decide to break up and they both have a fling with a waitress and waiter, respectively. Complete with porn-ified ImagineSpot.
* Near the end of season 2 of ''Series/TwinPeaks'', Chief Inspector Gordon Cole visits the Double R diner on a break from his work on the investigation. Midway through the meal, he spots Shelley, a waitress, instantly declares himself in love with her, and even gets her to kiss him. It doesn't go father than that, as Shelley already has a boyfriend, who's none too pleased to catch her kissing a much older man in public.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', this is {{implied}} to be the case between Chloe's mum Joyce and her step-father David. They met while Joyce was working at the Two-Whales Diner, and in [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2 the sequel]], [[spoiler: if Joyce was killed in the storm (because the player picked the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending of the first game), David will have the receipt from the day they met (the use of which as a password also foreshadowed his appearance) framed.]]
* In ''VideoGame/LilysGarden'', Phillip Jones met his late wife while she was working in a restaurant in New Orleans. He happened to be visiting the city for work and ended up staying a week in order to keep seeing her.
* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' has a range of waitress' as potential love interests. One example is Maya from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'' and ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'', a LethalChef waitress who wishes to be a SupremeChef someday.
* In ''VideoGame/UnchartedWatersNewHorizons'', various waitresses around the world's inns can be wooed by any protagonist (except [[TokenGirl Catalina]]) in a sort of a proto-RomanceSidequest.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. This is the backstory for how Elan's parents met. He was a globe-trotting adventurer, she was a pure-hearted tavern maid, and they fell in love. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: he was also an aspiring EvilOverlord]], so they divorced soon after Elan was born.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Web Original]]
* Discussed by the EvilOverlordList:
--> '''31.''' All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': According to "WesternAnimation/SchoolsOutTheMusical," Cosmo and Wanda met at a diner where Cosmo was working as a waiter. Despite Cosmo [[TheKlutz tripping and getting food all over himself]] while trying to serve Wanda, it was LoveAtFirstSight.
[[/folder]]
