JD Harmeyer Reveals Why He’s Afraid to Ask for Food Substitutions at Restaurants

Whether it’s dinner at Natalie Maines’ house or a breakfast broadcast with Joe Buck, meals with JD Harmeyer are always an adventure. On Wednesday morning, the mush-mouthed staffer shared two more awkward dinner stories and revealed he’s afraid to ask for food substitution at restaurants.

In the first, he wanted to order duck as his entrée, but his plans were derailed because he didn’t like what else came on the plate with it. “The side was like broccoli rabe or something like that,” JD explained. “The only other thing that had a decent side I thought was the filet mignon, which had a potato side, but I didn’t want the filet mignon. I wanted the duck.”

So, while JD’s dinner companions enjoyed themselves, he was stuck staring at the menu, trying to decide what to order. Finally, he asked a friend for help. “They actually spoke up for me when the waiter came over,” he explained. “[They] said, ‘Can you replace the sides for him?’ And the waiter said yes.” 

Howard couldn’t understand why JD was so apprehensive.

“I get worried about people spitting in my food. Some of these restaurants, I feel like the chefs could take offense,” JD said.

“A grown man and he couldn’t ask for a potato,” co-host Robin Quivers marveled.

JD then shared a more recent story about eating out at an Italian restaurant. He tripped over his words so badly that he needed to tell the story twice just so anyone could understand him. “I had — it was— I wanted the chicken parm, but I didn’t really want the spaghetti, so I almost got this other type of pasta instead,” JD said.

“What was the other type of pasta?” Howard asked.

“I can’t remember what it was. It was pasta with stuff inside, usually,” JD responded. “It’s not ravioli but it’s something like that.”

“I love this guy,” Howard told JD. “I don’t know how the fuck you got through life. Thank god I got you a job.”