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I had a crappy experience at lunch with my coworkes on Friday. We ate at an upscale place that is very popular and busy. I have been there for cocktails and dinner a few times. The drinks are excellent. The food is good but some dishes are overpriced, but it isthe best choice in the neighborhood (a highend shopping district) where most place close early and have expensive crappy food. It is a few blocks from my office.
My colleagues had gone a few weeks ago and enjoyed their lunch. As i read the menu i wanted a kale salad with orange vinaigrette, dates, almonds and quinoa. But i wanted to add a different meat. The standard choices were chicken and steak. They had another salad, that sounded uninteresting yet had grilled salmon.
We asked the waitress about adding the salmon to the kale salad. The waitress replied I am unsure but went to check with the kitchen. My other colleague wanted to sub her fries for a salad and tbe waitress said the kitchen refuses to make that type of modification (this should have been a clue). I have been there before, and they made vegetarian friendly modifications without issue.
The waitress returned, said the modification was fine and would charge us the price of the salmon salad. Which was likely cheaper than the pricing i would have expected.
Well when our food came i was quite surprised at what appeared. The salmon salad with kale replacing the lettuce. Not the kale salad with salmon on top. My colleague (who is quite vocal at restaurants and is very picky) took the lead complaining and noted the salad was missing quinoa and the cinstruction of the right salad.
The waitress took the plates and returned a few minutes later with "fixed" plates. The kitchen added quinoa. And did not remake the dishes. We complained and explained to the waitress in detail what was wrong with the dish. She took the plates again and they came back. This time with all the ingredients from the right salad on top of the same old wrong salad. We said this is still wrong and the waitress was "apologetic." She now finally asks if we want the kitchen to remake it. At this point we were frustrated and our lunch break was dwindling. We said no because we had to go back to work.
Obviously she was trying to save face with the kitchen.
Obviously the salad wasn't very good as the ingredients were not well integrated. The waitress avoided us until it was time to present the bill.
I decided to write this place off due to poor service and lack of effort from the kitchen.
When I'm time restrained, they get one chance to fix it. If it's still not correct, I ask for a manager, politely explain the problem, request they make the correct salad "to-go," and say something to the effect of "since I'm not going to be able to eat my lunch until I return to work, could you please discount my check?"
I don't pay until I've received the "to-go" and confirm that it is correct.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,036,872 times
Reputation: 28903
Is it possible that she didn't understand that you wanted THAT salad (but with salmon instead), rather than THIS salmon salad but with kale instead?
I almost expect things to be wrong when I ask for "this" instead of "that," and then I'm pleasantly surprised when they do it right.
If the restaurant wasn't crazy busy, I think that I would have asked to have it fixed, to be the way that I had requested. I think that a lot of restaurants that are always busy specify "no substitutions" on their menu -- smart move on their part.
after complaining 3 times , id have taken that salad and dumped it on your head (running-------->
cant you just order from the menu?? and not be so complicated?
seriously, I think you overloaded her with the modifications
We only asked for an addition. Salad x with salmon on top. She turned into a modification. She repeated it back to us in the same way we requested. The kale salad with salmon. Sounded clear to me. (As you coukd have the same salad with chicken or steak). I think she confused herself and was embarassed to admit it. When we arrived it was empty, when our food came each table was packed and our waitress was not attentive.
We imagined getting salad that had tampered with if we sent it back again. The takeout idea is good. It's a tough restaurant town, SF. No room to bother with crappy service.
I also learned to never let my colleague handle these things, she gets to POed and gets hostile. Not a good idea when dealing with food. I missed the first complaint as i was away from the table. I would not be surprised if she made it confusing.
I will never send it back I don't enjoy eating spit or snot or have my food dropped on the floor. You don't want your food messed up just order whats on the menu, and if your friend is quite vocal image all the extras she has eaten. Definitely not someone I would want to eat with especially if they remember her :O
I will never send it back I don't enjoy eating spit or snot or have my food dropped on the floor. You don't want your food messed up just order whats on the menu, and if your friend is quite vocal image all the extras she has eaten. Definitely not someone I would want to eat with especially if they remember her :O
Restaurants don't actually mess with your food. Food tampering is illegal. Restaurants aren't going to risk shutting down just to get even with a customer for... What? Wanting the correct food? Not worth it.
Restaurants don't actually mess with your food. Food tampering is illegal. Restaurants aren't going to risk shutting down just to get even with a customer for... What? Wanting the correct food? Not worth it.
That's what yiu think. Everyone i know who who has worked in a restaurant has confirmed it happens. They don't typically get caught.
It can be minir like cooking your well done meat to hocky puck status. Or worse.
After that the manager gets to write off the bill.
Also understand though I would never ask for anykind of substitution or addition during a heavy rush time like lunch hour.
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