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It depends how bad the food really is. If I'm in a high end restaurant and the food is just horrible, I will complain. I am always cordial to the waitress, but if she/he asks, they hear it. My husband gets embarrassed by this, but I hate paying a lot of money for a crappy meal.
If I have a problem with what was served, I'm not waiting until someone stops by halfway through the meal to check on the table. I get my server's attention, or another server's and ask them to get my server, and I let them know there's a problem.
That's of course if something is actually wrong, like when I was out this weekend and they left out part of my order. If I just don't care for something that is otherwise as ordered, that's a personal preference, not a fault of the restaurant. Something like too salty, I would have let them know and had it re-cooked or ordered something else.
One of the nicest meals I've had out was at a higher end chain, and the host noticed my son didn't like what he had ordered. He came over, talked to us, found out what my son wanted as a replacement and then brought him a new dish - and came back and offered seconds after my son had gobbled down the second dish because he loved it. What a nice experience that was, because I felt like we were really being attended to, without even having to ask. You can bet I left a big tip!
If asked, I generally offer feedback. Not really to complain, but it's helpful for the server to know. They're going to get customers who ask about particular dishes, and I appreciate it when a server is honest and says something like "customers seem to prefer the meatloaf to the lasagna."
If I have a problem with what was served, I'm not waiting until someone stops by halfway through the meal to check on the table. I get my server's attention, or another server's and ask them to get my server, and I let them know there's a problem.
That's of course if something is actually wrong, like when I was out this weekend and they left out part of my order. If I just don't care for something that is otherwise as ordered, that's a personal preference, not a fault of the restaurant. Something like too salty, I would have let them know and had it re-cooked or ordered something else.
This. With the exception of when we dine at our Country Club. The servers really WANT to know what we think there, and do use that information to give feedback to the chef and other diners.
My mom complains about her food everywhere. She'll take her McDonald's burger back up to the counter and demand that they make it again for any of a number of imaginary reasons. It's almost like the more she complains and the harder people have to try to make things right for her, the happier she is. When I used to eat fast food with her, she would always send me to take her food back for her fictional complaints (too cold, too dry, a little overcooked, this must not be the fat-free dressing that I ordered, etc). I would just throw out the food on my way to the counter and order her a new one. There's no reason the restaurant needs to dispense a free one because she's never satisfied.
I don't have a problem with providing useful feedback or asking for an order to be redone if something is majorly wrong...undercooked meat or chicken, for example.
I have no fear the kitchen will tamper with my food. I'm a fourth generation restaurauteur and nothing like that has ever happened in any restaurant I've ever worked at.
How many times you are asked but refrain from saying the food wasn't that great today or the dish was not tasty at all.
If something is not up to par or cooked as I ordered or the order is wrong, etc, I let the server know because they are the go-between me and the chef. I can't go into the kitchen and tell the chef he screwed up my order. I have sent back dishes that were horrible. I once ordered an open-face hot turkey sandwich. I got cold cut style turkey on cafeteria type white bread. And they charged about $15 for it. I told the waitress it was inedible and if I wanted cold cut type turkey, I would have gone to the deli and gotten Boar's head turkey lol...she took it back and I ordered something else.
I have sent back steaks and burgers because they were over cooked. I have sent back salads because there was a ton of rotten leaves (happens with baby green types of salads). Living in NYC, we pay a lot to dine out and I work hard for my money. If it's not good, I'm going to send it back--I mean it has to be absolutely bad. There have been times where the server took so long to come back that I didn't have time to replace my order so I just dealt with an overcooked burger. I survived but didn't enjoy it lol
I won't say anything if I'm with a group, unless several of us had a similar problem. Alone I might be more honest.
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