Eating out..

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Have you ever watched Seinfeld?
I used to send things back and still will on occasion. But knowing the cook/chef will not like it, I prefer to remember this and NOT GO BACK! :ROFLMAO:

Uh oh - I hate to ask! I have heard stories of waiters and cooks spitting in the food when a dish is sent back from a nasty customer, plus other horror stories. I just never think about that when I send food back. Maybe I should!
 
I complained about a particularily horrid pizza that DH picked up from our usual place and that we got last weekend. I sent an email to their website, and got a response the next day. I left it to DH to respond and of course he didn't. The manager tracked our phone number down, apologized for the pizza, and we have a $20 credit next time we order from them. Now that's service!

Very nice!
 
Uh oh - I hate to ask! I have heard stories of waiters and cooks spitting in the food when a dish is sent back from a nasty customer, plus other horror stories. I just never think about that when I send food back. Maybe I should!

I'm sure the attitude of the customer determines how their corrected order is handled. Has more to do with how the wait staff is treated than the cooks.
 
The only time I go out to eat is with one of my kids. One of Poo's favorite places to eat is The Cheesecake Factory. The menu is more of a book. Page after page. I no longer look at it and order my favorite meal. Meatloaf. But I order it from the Children's menu. But I explain to the waitress that I am willing to pay full price. The CF gives me three thick slices of meatloaf with too much gravy, a huge pile of mashed or French Fries that would feed an orphanage. Plus the overcooked veggie of the day. If my plate is overflowing with food, I feel overwhelmed and can't eat. I just don't know where to start. There isn't even room left on the plate to cut the first slab of meatloaf. Oh I know, I can take the leftovers home. But that is not the problem. The problem is just too much food on my plate.

My daughter likes to go to Italian restaurants. Fine by me. The one she likes is about three minutes from where we live. I always order their Eggplant Parm. Mainly because they peel their eggplant. And eggplant is my favorite veggie. Most restaurants don't. For those restaurants, I order raviolis. The normally will put seven or eight large raviolis on the plate. Five is enough for me. And I know either my daughter or SIL will eat what is left on my plate. :angel:
 
I'm sure the attitude of the customer determines how their corrected order is handled. Has more to do with how the wait staff is treated than the cooks.

I'm always polite about it, so hopefully nothing has come back tainted!
 
I hear you about the Cheesecake Factory's menu, Addie. I have rarely seen such a book.

DH and I usually split a meal. If we're still hungry, which is rare, we just order something else.

My 84 pound (deceased) mother used to be able to tuck away twice her size at places like Olive Garden and Red Lobster.
 
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Most restaurants put more on a plate than I eat in one sitting. I tend to eat smaller amounts, then more later when I'm hungry again. When we eat out I usually "order" a carry-out container right with the meal. The server is always happy to bring one along with our meals. I put half (or more) into it, then I end up with more room on my plate too. Presto, solves the too much food/no room issue, plus the what to have for dinner tomorrow problem! :LOL:

I've been know to send things back, but again you have to be polite to the server. Back in the day when we actually ate at chain restaurants we went to an Olive Garden near the mall we were at. The bread toasts for the dip were still frozen in the middle, there was something not right with my entree - but the service out of the kitchen was so slow I needed to eat when it showed up. Issues all around. On the way out as we paid the bill I asked if I could speak with the manager. I explained the issues politely, explaining if he didn't know what the problems were he would never know why people didn't come back. We had no plans to return there. He thanked me for my critique and promised changes. Then he gave me a $50 gift card (more than we had spent that night) and asked for us to try again. We made a point of going back to that location a few months later. Wow, my complaining did make a difference! Everything seemed to run much better. The power of one when the manager does care.

Years ago we were wandering up the western side of CT. Stopped in some little village for dinner in an old building. I don't remember the town or the restaurant's name, but it was one of my best experiences. Whatever seafood I had ordered was no longer available that night. Rather than the server telling me (she may not have known at first) the Chef/owner came out to tell me and explain they had run out of that fish, then offered an alternate prepared in whatever way would make me happy. Boy, did I feel special!
 
We ate at Emeril's restaurant @ Universal City in FL some years ago and it was great. Food, service, atmosphere - all great.
 
The only time I go out to eat is with one of my kids. One of Poo's favorite places to eat is The Cheesecake Factory. The menu is more of a book. Page after page. I no longer look at it and order my favorite meal. Meatloaf. But I order it from the Children's menu. But I explain to the waitress that I am willing to pay full price. The CF gives me three thick slices of meatloaf with too much gravy, a huge pile of mashed or French Fries that would feed an orphanage. Plus the overcooked veggie of the day. If my plate is overflowing with food, I feel overwhelmed and can't eat. I just don't know where to start. There isn't even room left on the plate to cut the first slab of meatloaf. Oh I know, I can take the leftovers home. But that is not the problem. The problem is just too much food on my plate.

Ask for a to-go box when ordering so you can pack up part of the meal before you start eating.

Edit: Darn, should have read all the posts before replying. Why can't I delete a post in the mobile app?
 
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Went to a Macaroni Grill a long time ago. Karen ordered a clam dish. It was served with several unopened clams. Obviously it was sent back. We were a little upset about it. When they brought out the "replacement", it was the same dish, but the clams had been pried open. There were even pieces of broken shell in the dish. Now we were really mad. Everyone within hearing distance of my raised voice heard about us being served unopened clams. Haven't been back since.
 
Uh oh - I hate to ask! I have heard stories of waiters and cooks spitting in the food when a dish is sent back from a nasty customer, plus other horror stories. I just never think about that when I send food back. Maybe I should!

I never even thought about it until my wife mentioned it one time when we were eating out. Since then, I am extremely careful about ordering and doing my best to make certain I will get what I ordered.

Think about this scenario.
You're steak is over cooked. To remedy this issue, they must make you a new steak. The second steak still comes out over done. Do you send it back again? I have been in this spot before. I wanted to go back into that kitchen and show them how to make a steak. A rare steak.
I ended up eating it and leaving a good tip. I will never order another steak in that restaurant again.

That's what I figured. It's not hard to be polite when sending stuff back.

Its very easy and I am polite to everyone including and not limited to wait staff. I do understand their position. This is why I tip so well. My wife says I give to much.

Ask for a to-go box when ordering so you can pack up part of the meal before you start eating.
Edit: Darn, should have read all the posts before replying. Why can't I delete a post in the mobile app?

I also do this and always ask for a to go cup if its lunch time or we are traveling. Makes it so they have two less glasses to wash and we do not have to ask for them after the meal. And we have our drink in the proper cups when we leave.
Lunch only as I cannot take beer on the road.
 
I haven't been out to eat for years. Living in the country it's just easier to fix something myself. I will occasionally get Chinese take out but that's only because I'm feeling lazy and don't want to cook. I also don't consider the rare deli or fast food sandwich for lunch because I need fuel as eating out.
I don't go to restaurants to be impressed by the food. It's not a matter of could I do better. It's a matter of social interaction and I don't have to cook. I'm usually happy with what's served and perhaps I might come away with an idea or two to help me in my culinary adventures here at home.
As far as sending food back. As I said I'm usually happy with what I'm served but I've seen too many videos and heard too many stories to feel comfortable with any complaint other then something being still frozen or something along those lines.
Enjoy going out eating but this hermit has no problem fixing meals at home. Even if it does mean I gotta do the stinking dish's. :(
 
But you have that awesome kitchen Zagut!

My kitchen sucks. You wouldn't believe the production it takes for me to get adequate space just for the prep of a large meal. It usually entails pulling out a 6 foot folding table in the "dining room".
 
Thank you for thinking my kitchen is awesome PF.

It's a mis-mash of recycled parts of others leftovers. But I guess we tend to take for granted what we are blessed with.

Dishwasher or not it still doesn't do the stinking dish's by itself. ;)
 
Went to a Macaroni Grill a long time ago. Karen ordered a clam dish. It was served with several unopened clams. Obviously it was sent back. We were a little upset about it. When they brought out the "replacement", it was the same dish, but the clams had been pried open....

When I worked at the mall, my friend and I would go to TGIF's for a late bite when we closed up shop. Years earlier I had fallen in love with their Cobb salad, but since I don't like bleu cheese I would order it without. Unfortunately, most times the kitchen didn't catch the "No Bleu Cheese" note on the order and it would be there. After complaining to the server, about half the time when the salad came back out they had only brushed the crumbles out, leaving pieces in the salad and a streak across the rim of the dish. :rolleyes: After an exceptionally trying time to have them get it right my friend came up with an idea: the next time we were out and I said "no bleu cheese" she chimes up "because she's highly allergic. If she has as much as one piece she swells up and starts to have breathing problems". Stunned, I rolled with it. Guess what? Some restaurants are a lot more careful when they think they might get sued! :LOL:
 
I think eating out is great!!! However, when in college (ummm, centuries ago) and working as a summer waitress I learned many things.

Order what you want the way you want it served to you. If you want the dressing on the side, simply ask. Food allergy? , a chef will come to the table, nutrition is available, special dishes can be prepared with ingredients eliminated or added upon request.

Pay exorbitant amounts of $$$ for a simple steak and baked potato that can be prepared better at home will never happen here.

Eating out should be an experience, a time to try something you like but would never prepare at home because it's too time consuming or costly. It could even be a good meatloaf or an open fire grilled burger and real French fries. It should be a time to have time to talk with friends and or family.

It should be considered Dining Out not simply 'eating out'
 
If I am sitting at a table that is covered by a cloth and have to place a cloth napkin in my lap, then I expect my food to be cooked properly. I expect my coffee cup to be refilled free of extra charges. I expect my wait person to stop by at least twice to ask if there is anything else I may need without being intrusive. If I order a dish that I would not normally make at home, I do so at my own risk. I would never cook alligator or kangaroo meat at home. And to order it in a restaurant is pure folly on my part. After the first bite, I may find myself sitting there watching everyone enjoying their meal, while I sit there with my tummy growling. (Been there, done that!)

When Poo graduated from college with his second Masters Degree, I took out him, his wife, in-laws, and a friend to dinner. When I made the reservations, I told the person on the phone what the occasion was. We were seated in a small room with about four other tables that had table clothes, napkins, etc. My son's BIL ordered Lox. Oh Dear. After the food came, we told him what Lox was. He decided he didn't like the idea that it was raw fish. I insisted he order another dish and explained to the waiter why. The chef came out and very nicely asked him what kind of seafood he did like. "Anything cooked." The Lox didn't show up on the final bill. I left that place with a sizable tip for our wait person and a tip also for the chef.

Sure there were dishes such as the Fried Haddock that I could have made at home. The fried clams would have been more than half the price at Royals just up the street from me. And I could have had it delivered to my door. But did I really want to put myself through all of that trouble? If I had we all would have missed out on a great dinner had by all. And I would have been too exhausted to enjoy my meal. :angel:
 
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