Do you ever complain or send food back in restaurants?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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I have done both. Any examples? The most recent example I remember (which was a while back) was when I ordered a pizza with an egg broken on top. I stressed to the waiter when I ordered it that I wanted a runny yolk. And well... it wasn't. They got it right, after it got sent back.
 
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TastyReuben said:
Very, very rarely because I’ve known enough people over the years who work in the industry to know what can happen when you do that.
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If any restaurant does what I'm thinking you mean they shouldn't be open. If I were to start worrying about that sort of thing I'd never eat out. If they can do things to complainants they might do it because they don't like your face or something. Or just for a laugh.
 
MrsT will send things back, but she’s wildly apologetic when she does. On two occasions (not one, but two), she’s complained about something not being right, and the server in each case actually tried her food/drink, right there at the table, and both times, they agreed that she was right, something was wrong. :laugh:

My mom won’t send anything back, but she’ll complain and complain to everyone else, and adopt an air of “such is my lot in life, I suppose, to suffer and suffer.”
 
Depends on the restaurant. Most restaurants dish out mediocre or worse so personally I really don't expect much dinning out in general and for that reason I don't make a formal complaint. If the restaurant portrays themselves as an establishment that endeavors to elevate the dinning experience with fresh ingredients with competent staff in an environment that is also meant to portray that same experience and executes those attributes at the table, and where the cost of dinning is also higher then I'm more critical and will make my disappointment heard.
 
Morning Glory said:
If any restaurant does what I'm thinking you mean they shouldn't be open. If I were to start worrying about that sort of thing I'd never eat out. If they can do things to complainants they might do it because they don't like your face or something. Or just for a laugh.
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Exactly.

I rarely complain, last time was 4 years ago because my steak was raw and cold, just seared on the outside
 
Unusual for me to do so, but I can think of two occasions.
Once, I was at a Country Club with some friends, and the waiter brought bread with a garlic butter. Tried it, then called the waiter.
" That´s not butter; it´s margarine".
"No, it´s butter!
" No it´s not. Ask the chef"
5 minutes later:
" Chef says sorry, it is margarine"
The second time, we were in an Italian restaurant and I ordered penne all arrabiata. I got a dish with tomatoes, ham and bacon. No hot peppers. So I sent it back.
Waiter: "The chef said this was his version"
Me: " The chef is barking up the wrong tree. This is more like an amatriciana"
He got it right the second time.
 
I just remembered another one - this was in a restaurant which had a good reputation. I ordered a dish with clams in the shell. I simply couldn't eat it because the clams hadn't been purged and were full of grit. The chef came out to apologise and agreed it was a mistake. I was offered another dish 'on the house'.
 
I am not the kind of person to ask a waiter to send it back, I think I simply hate conflict. However, I did send an appetizer back to the kitchen a few months ago. It was a seafood pancake at a Korean restaurant, but I don't remember broken glass being on the list of ingredients in the menu :eek:
They made us a new one after they discarded the first batch of batter.
 
"Waiter, what´s that fly doing in my soup?"
"Breaststroke, sir"
Come to think of it, my wife often sends things back; but that´s because she absolutely hates raw onion, spring(green) onion, chives, etc. on her food. QED: a plateful of sushi with green onion on it, and a spaghetti with snipped chives on top.
 
I have done it despite what others say what will be done to your food when you do. It's usually at fine dining places where the steak temperature is not correct. That happens quite often. Sometimes the chef appears with the new steak but they do not speak and just stand there after the server introduces them. I will send cold truffle fries back as well. Funny thing is the fancy, pricey fries are served in a cylindrical silver cup. At the bottom are all the burnt, dry, bits and ends. Guess they figure people do not eat them all. I don't but looked at the bottom of it just for kicks.
 
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