"86" is different in the hospitality world

NBC News -  Federal prosecutors say former FBI Director James Comey's use of the term “86” on Instagram was a threat “to do harm" to President Donald Trump — but some food service workers say the term is "everyday lingo" to them.

"It’s probably the most overused word in hospitality," said Mike Reyes, 45, who has worked in the hospitality industry for years, currently as an operational excellence consultant at FLIK Hospitality Group.

"Any time you're out of anything, it's 86-ed" — meaning it's unavailable and needs to be replenished or replaced — he said, adding that he first heard the term when he started his first restaurant job at age 14.

....David Brungoli, the owner and chef at Pavin 86, an upscale New York City Italian eatery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, called that interpretation "ridiculous."

He said he added the number to the eatery’s name because of its location — East 86th Street — and its longtime ties to the restaurant industry.

“It connects with restaurants,” he said.

“The term ‘86,’ we use only when the staff runs out of an item,” Brungoli said, and it has “been used forever.”

He said he never equated the term with death or murder.

“If it’s 86, the next day we order more. It’s 86 for now,” he said.

Reyes said he was surprised by the charge, as well. "It's weird, because it’s a term used so often and without malice," he said.

He said he had heard the term used in relation to people before, but only in a joking manner. "We’d have that as a joke. 'Where’s Raoul? He got 86ed' — meaning he got fired or died," he said.

John Coppola, a chef who runs Bread & Spread Sandwich in Brooklyn, N.Y., said he’s unsure of the origin of the term, but he’s always heard it to be used as meaning they’re out of something, or we “should get rid of something.”

“If the chef didn’t like” how a dish came out, “he’d say 86 it, meaning make it disappear.”

“It can be a noun, a verb, future tense, past tense, like ‘we’ll make it this until Friday and then we 86 it,’” he said.

Coppola added that he sees how the term can be viewed as a threat.

“In my world, it’s not a death threat, but I think it can be perceived as that in someone else’s eyes,” he said.

“If you’re 86ing a person, it’s final," he added. "There’s no coming back tomorrow.”