Food fact vs. fiction: How accurate is the culinary world portrayed in film and TV?

There are countless films and TV shows centered on the restaurant industry, but some, although not completely accurate, are more realistic than others.

If you ask anyone in the industry, most immediately bring up “Waiting …” (2005), sometimes seriously, sometimes with a grain of salt.

Available on Hulu, the film follows a group of young servers – portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Dane Cook and more – during the dinner shift at Shenanigan’s fighting off boredom while dealing with abusive customers and taking revenge in turn. “Waiting …” is available on Hulu.

“This one is a massive exaggeration of what working in a restaurant is like, but it does get some aspects right,” Globe Bar & Kitchen lead mixologist Nate White said, mentioning specifically that kind of chaos surrounding the dinner rush with servers struggling to manage multiple tables at once.

But, of course, it’s not all negative. “You really become a family when you have a good team,” White said.

Luna bar manager Cody Winfrey said that while his team operates on a level worlds away from the kinds of nightmares portrayed in “Waiting …,” he hasn’t always been so lucky at previous places of employment.

“We hate to say it, but sometimes it’s too real,” Winfrey said, remembering some particularly stomach-turning situations working at a particular chain restaurant. “That movie is haunting.”

There’s always the one hot mess server – always late, never on top of their tables; the lovable dishwasher, out of his head. But there’s also the superstar who goes above and beyond every single day making sure the place operates at the same level.

“People think that service isn’t a ‘real job,’ ” Winfrey said. “In America, hospitality isn’t portrayed as a career, but you go outside the country, and you’ll see people passionately doing it their entire life.”

Despite how frequently waiting might be portrayed as a “filler job,” it’s never easy. “We’re each running six to eight tables at once, remembering peoples names, preferences and allergies, communicating with the kitchen – remembering that salads take 3 minutes to hit the table while the well-done filet is going to push 26,” Winfrey said.

“All while trying to turn that table for the reservation in 15 minutes that requested that exact booth. It’s a multitasking skill like no other, and when it’s depicted as this easy job to do until something better comes along, it bothers me.”

White agreed, mentioning the progression of a particular character in “New Girl,” Nick Miller, who starts as a bartender and gradually progresses to bar manager and finally ends up owning the bar.

“I think Nick represents a lot of us who choose to bartend,” White said. “He has a degree and is a BAR-certified lawyer but chooses to stay in the industry because it’s his passion. A lot of bartenders, myself included, have college degrees, but choose to stay in the industry.”

Another aspect that some shows approach more accurately than others is the personal and professional relationships behind the scenes. It’s not all “Vanderpump Rules,” Winfrey said.

Gander and Ryegrass owner and chef Peter Froese recommended “Chef’s Whites” on Amazon Prime Video’s BritBox extension. Starring Alan Davies as chef Roland White and Darren Boyd as his best friend and sous chef, Bib, the show explores their dysfunctional partnership running a hotel restaurant in the English countryside.

Another favorite, Froese said, has to be “Chef.” “The dynamic between Jon Favreau’s chef character and the owner of the restaurant was really representative of an everyday dynamic in restaurants,” Froese said.

Sometimes, the tension is more or less. But the dynamic of holding back costs coming from the owner and the push of the creative from the chef plays out in all restaurants.

“As a chef and owner, I have to have a lot of debates with myself,” Froese said. “Chef” is available on Netflix.