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I'm not shy about sending food back for any reason. Even if there is nothing wrong with it, but I simply don't like it.
That's where I draw the line. If the food is not as you ordered, or it's under- or overcooked, or is for any other reason not as specified, it's a legitimate reason. If you order something and it's exactly as it should be but you just don't like it, that's on you. The restaurant hasn't done anything wrong.
That's where I draw the line. If the food is not as you ordered, or it's under- or overcooked, or is for any other reason not as specified, it's a legitimate reason. If you order something and it's exactly as it should be but you just don't like it, that's on you. The restaurant hasn't done anything wrong.
I agree with this up to a point.
I've had times where I've ordered a meal in a restaurant that I've been many times before, and received my meal exactly as ordered only to realize that I'm not in the mood for what I ordered. That is completely on me -- the food is fine, I just should've ordered something else. If possible, I just ask for a to-go box because I figure I'll feel like eating it later, but I always pay for it.
If, however, I go to a new restaurant or try a new dish at a familiar restaurant, and it's bad, I don't necessarily think it's on me. If I get a bad dish, I do try to fix it at the table with what I can -- some salt, pepper, hot sauce, lemon, whatever I think it needs. But if it's inedible, it's inedible, and it goes back.
Notice, though, that I said inedible -- as in, the taste is so bad that I just can't eat it beyond a couple of bites. This has rarely happened to me, but it has happened. There have been lots of times that I've received a dish and upon the first few bites, know it isn't to my taste and I wouldn't order it again, but I've still eaten what I could and certainly paid for it.
1- I ordered a cheeseburger, they brought me this BBQ burger. I told the girl that's not what I ordered, she looked at her check and was like "oh you are right, I did write cheeseburger here" and I got my burger.
2- I ordered a chicken sandwich, cut it in half, and before I bit into it, could see the chicken was RAW on the inside, no not pink, RAW, like they threw it on the grill for a minute and cooked it medium rare! Luckily I didn't bite it!
I'm not shy about sending food back for any reason. Even if there is nothing wrong with it, but I simply don't like it.
Sometimes when I'm asking my server for opinions regarding, for example, their specialty cocktails, s/he will often encourage me to try a particular drink, and assure me that if I don't like it, I can exchange it for something else. I've rarely met a cocktail I couldn't drink, but I'm more likely to try something new knowing I'm not stuck with it if I hate it.
My daughter and I went to Hilton Head for a weekend trip.
Before we came home, we stopped at this pizza place that is new
and people had told us to eat there, they said great pizza.
We were so hungry, and went in on a weekday, around 5pm, the place
was busy.
We ordered our pizza first, knowing it would take a little time to make,
and since we were so hungry, my daughter ordered soup.
She found 2 dead flies in the soup.
She called the waitress over and I told her to tell the kitchen we weren't
going to eat the pizza, give me the bill for 2 sodas, and we left.
We didn't make a scene, we could have, but we didn't.
We will never eat there again, and we will go back to the beach there
again.
I was in the food business for 13 years, and there is NO EXCUSE for that.
None.
Oh, and then there was the time I ordered a salad and the little green bug
that was looking up at me when I went to eat it. LOL!
I didn't really care that much about the little bug, it happens.
I sent the salad back, but I stayed for the rest of the meal.
But dead flies in soup? No.
The only times that I have sent food back is when I have ordered fish and it was spoiled meaning it was bad before it was cooked according to the taste which made it not fit to eat (at least for humans).
My sister sent a bowl of chicken tortilla soup back because she specifically told them she was allergic to avocados and to leave them out - which the waiter promised to have done. He brought the soup loaded with avocado slices and when this was pointed out to him, the waiter promised to have a fresh bowl brought to her. Instead, they simply removed the avocado slices from the same bowl of soup. My sister's eyes and lips swelled immediately. We did not pay for her soup and had no intention of doing so. Suppose someone had a fatal allergic reaction to a particular food all because the waiter, cook, whomever ignored the customer's request?
If I send something back because it is incorrect, I don't expect to have my food spat on or crotch sweat to be added and I don't think that happens as often as some people claim. They make it sound like the kitchen is full of sensitive, mean-spirited lunatics who can't bear the thought of someone wanting their food cooked properly.
I seldom send food back. But just last weekend, hub and I went out for dinner, and I ordered a medium rare steak (a rare indulgence in red meat). It was cooked between medium and medium well. I ate 3 or 4 bites, and decided it wasn't worth the calories or fat. Hub asked if wanted to send it back, and I really didn't want to make a fuss, but I didn't want to eat it. He insisted that, for what it cost, I needed to send it back, not just have it go to waste.
So they did prepare another steak for me. The mgr brought it to me himself; he had me cut into it to be sure it was cooked to my liking, and he was very polite about it all. The second steak was delicious!!! So much better than that overcooked, dried out thing that showed up the first time.
I guess I was happy hub pushed me into sending the first one back......but I hadn't thought about the cook doing something icky to my second one.
You make a great point. It depends on the establishment.
We went to an upscale trendy restaurant not too long ago. We ordered tacos thinking they were going to be similar to homemade tacos, meaning ground beef, sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, hard shells; you know, normal tacos.
They bring back some Asian sweet and sour, shredded beef concoction that was called 'tacos' (no description) on the menu, no cheese, lettuce, just this strange shredded sweet meat on mini soft sour-dough tortillas. I could only have a bite of one, knew I didn't like it, but ate another one to be polite. Husband didn't like it either, so here we are with about a dozen of these awful trendy tacos not touched looking unhappy.
After husband explained why we were unhappy to the server, the chef came over and apologized and politely had the server take them off our bill. So we all parted ways on a good note.
First I am very careful to order items exactly as I want them, I specify say gravy on the side not on the item, or no pepper etc. I read the menu carefully to see how is lists something will be, such as with spices or sauce and ask accordingly. With that said I WILL send back anything the comes out not what I ordered or as I ordered it, I will send back anything cold and report these things to the manager.
When I am eating out and paying for the food I expect to get what I ordered correctly served, I am not going to a soup kitchen where I take what they give me.
Service and quality will only improve if everyone who does not get what they should sends the food back.
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