What's the worst experience you've ever had at a restaurant?

[Bicoastal]

(Note: Anecdotes taking place at at diners, cafes, delis, or fast food establishments would also suffice)

These don't necessarily have to be the fault of the management, such as lousy food and/or bad service. I once had to switch tables at a fairly upscale eatery when the two old men in the booth next to me started talking loudly about "those Hollywood Jews with all their money and power." (I was with my 89-year-old grandmother at the time.) Then were was the time when some drunk fools having a rowdy birthday party cornered my friend and persuaded him to pose for a picture with them--simply because my friend is 6 foot 10. He was a good sport about it, but I was mortified and highly embarassed for him.

But the WORST thing that ever happened to me took place at a Denny's after participating in a High School play. In a celebratory mood, I ordered a root beer float with my meal, but when it came, I noticed little black specs all over the whipped cream. Closer inspection revealed them to be ants. The waitress said she was sorry (but didn't look like she meant it) and offered to get me a new one, but I changed my mind and ordered just a plain root beer. However, when my new drink came, there were once again several ants crawling over the glass. This time, the waitress seemed vaguely puzzled but unconcerned about the second occurrence, so I got up and walked over to the soda fountain behind the counter. Sure enough, there was a trail of ants leading from the wall to the machine, and they were crawling ALL OVER the spigot. (How did she not notice this, not just once, but TWICE?)

I gave up and asked for water. The worst part is that, while I wasn't charged for the two drinks, they didn't comp me for the meal or offer me anything complimentary as a way of apologizing for completely putting me and all my friends off our appetites. But that's Denny's for you, I guess...

[Bicoastal]

1. Bump.

Just an attempt to keep this from disappearing off the face of the Lounge.

[TrogL]

2. Fundies bragging

Again at Denny's (what is WITH people at this restaurant?).

A group of fundies came in talking loudly, took over the best seats in the restaurant then started howling about how "jeez we really fleeced them this time, the baskets were just overflowing". Apparently they come in every week, never tip, leave a mess, complaining about the service and sometimes underpay.

[GRLMGC]

3. Once my friends and I went to this restaurant

Only one of my friends got a meal and another one of my friends wanted to order this little side dish. The waitress would not allow her to get it so my other friend got it for her. When the side dish came, my friend started eating and the waitress got really mad and told her she couldn't eat it because it wasn't hers. Anyway, we left her a bad tip. This pissed her off and she chased us outside and demanded a bigger tip so my friend gave her more money to shut her up. That was a pretty unpleasant experience.

[againes654]

5. Did you complain to managment???

She chased you guys outside for more money, and you guys actually gave it to her???

[GRLMGC]

7. I didn't. He did. We were mad about it.

That restaurant is kind of weird though. Technically, she was enforcing this rule they had about not being able to order side dishes or desserts without ordering an entree. However, she did it in a really rude way.

[againes654]

11. I am actually a waitress.

I understand if she was enforcing a rule, even though I try to give my customers as much free as I can (hoping that I get it back in a tip). I just can't believe that she chased you guys outside. I have had people leave me a freaking .06 cent tip, but I would never chase someone outside.

[femmocrat]

4. My experience really did happen in an Olive Garden!

I went there for lunch with a group of colleagues. They ordered meals; I ordered a sandwich. (I didn't want a big lunch!) The waitress brought the big salad bowl and as they began digging in, she actually took away my little salad bowl! I sat there like a dodo while they all enjoyed their salads and bread sticks. Then she served their meals. I was still waiting for my sandwich.

When she finally brought my stupid sandwich, the bread was moldy!!! When I complained, the manager came over and said it was caused by the "humidity". By now, everyone had nearly finished their meals and it was too late for me to order something else... we had to get back to our meeting. I left without eating a thing.

God, I hate that place. I have never gone back and NEVER will! And I truly enjoy all the Olive Garden jokes that you all post!

[ThomCat]

31. So, basically, he KNEW the bread was moldy and didn't care.

x(

Wow. I don't blame you for never, ever going back.

[Generic Brad]

6. Big cockroach came out from under my plate

Then it wandered back and forth across my plate. I complained to the waitress and she replied, "What can you do?"

I had an idea. I did not eat it nor did I tip. And I have not been back since.

[GRLMGC]

8. Wow. That's so disgusting! Did you get comp'd? nt

[Generic Brad]

26. I did not

And I would name the restaurant, but they have since gone out of business.

[ThomCat]

32. Wow. That's a restaurant that should not be in business.

I don't even know if you can report places or complain to the local health inspectors. :(

[fishwax]

37. Had a similar experience once--a huge cricket fell from the light and started eating

my wife's Chicken Alfredo. Our hostess was a little more helpful than your waitress--at least she tried to be. She tried to capture the cricket between the fork and plate, but of course the pasta was mushy so the bug squirted out and did a little dance on the table before dashing away to freedom.

The manager was apologetic, but wasn't going to comp the meal. (He actually said: "we can't go giving away free meals every time a bug falls into the food" :rofl:.) There were many other people around us still eating, though, and when I stopped being discreet about our disagreement he acquiesced.

[KansDem]

55. Maybe it was the floor show?

Then it wandered back and forth across my plate.

"Good evening, ladies and germs!"

[1]

9. do not ever watch ramsey's kitchen nightmares on fox/bbc.

or you will never eat in a resturant again.

[davsand]

10. A Burger and fries in a basket. A roach runs out of the basket as the wait puts it down.

She smacks it with her hand, sweeps it off on the floor, than asks if we need ketchup...

I told her I wanted the manager to bring me a barf bag.

The manager offered apologies and free food, but by that point nothing sounded good. We left and have never gone back. I heard a few months later that the public health dept shut them down after they failed an inspection...



Laura

[mopinko]

19. i used to go to a neighborhood bar where you got a free drink if

you killed a cockroach. but they didn't serve food.

[davsand]

21. It was a work lunch and one of the guys was a former Peace Corps volunteer.

He was pretty cool about it--his comment was that they have a nice crunch if they are allowed to get big enough.

It grossed me out a whole lot more that the wait killed it on the table and acted like it was no big deal. I dunno--if the wait killed it with her hands and then acted like it was nothing--what DO you order at a time like that? If you order a salad, who makes it--that same wait? Will she wash her hands first? How about the dude in the kitchen that sent it out to play with us? Is HE gonna make me another burger that is insect free? Will he bang the basket on the counter a few times to knock the roaches loose?

I could have probably stayed there and started drinking if food wasn't in the picture. Hell--a roach won't drink THAT much and the alcohol will probably kill most germs anyhow. Let 'im do a few laps and we'll throw in a life raft--ya know?

:shrug:


Laura

Mo, Speaking of drinking! I'm starting to get ready mentally for another Chicago trip. We are in deep with a kid in volleyball, but I'm hoping we can get up there this spring!

[mopinko]

24. it would be great to see you.

du'er babydollhead is installing a mural that she did on march 20th. she is from pittsburgh. when she is here, i will be in, wait for it, pittsburgh.

but c'mon up. we'll make it a party, even if'n it's just you 2, and me and dh. getting du'ers together is the proverbial cat herd.

[mopinko]

27. fried food

is a good choice in this situation, btw. sterile for a minute, anyway.

[mopinko]

12. at a hotel restaurant in tennessee,

i ordered a simple meal. don't remember what it was exactly. i had a beer, waiting, watching the guy across the aisle, who came in after me, snarf down his hot brown. i started bitching, they apologized. the manager came over, she apologized. i waited some more. the guy with the hot brown was done eating, i was still sitting., by myself. waited a little more, the manager came by again, offered to buy me another beer, apologized again. after 45 minutes, i finally walked out. if they had tried to catch me for the beer, i would have bitten their head off.
after that i got to walk around, on a cold drizzly day, in a strange town, pissed off and hungry, looking for food. ended up with a brownie and a juice from the deli thingie in the hotel across the street.
so much for southern hospitality.

[Bennyboy]

13. Dennys. Emeryville.....

First the set up. In Sacramento in the early eighties there was a racially motivated shooting at a Carrows in downtown Sac. White guy kills black people.random race shooting.

After a concert and stay over in SF we stopped, as was our custom at the time, at the Denny's in Emeryville. There was a huge group of black people there, just fresh from church, all dressed to the nines, ties on the men and hats on the ladies. they were there way before we were and had not recieved their meals when we walked in.

We sat down, the server took our order. Not long we had our meals. The black people stil did not recieve theirs. We finished our meals and I stepped to the cashier to pay. the matriarch of the black family also stepped to the cashier and asked for the manager.

She told him what lousy service her family had recieved (they still had not recieved their meals)and how she felt that she might have been a victim of racial insensitivity. She pointed out he we had good service as did other customers that were seated after they were and all that.

Finally the manager told her "If you don't like the service here, maybe you can go to the Carrows in Sacramento".

I did not eat at Denny's for a long time until they publically denounced their racist policies.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Once after donating blood

I went out to dinner at a restaurant at a slightly higher elevation and passed out face first in my salad. That was pretty embarrassing. To top it off, the Blood Bank notified me the next week that my blood had "antibodies" and they couldn't use it. :shrug: I haven't given blood since.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. We both ordered scallops at the Fung Wong

We said "Bon apetit" and simultaneously popped a scallop into our mouths. The we simultaneously spit them out. They were totally rancid. We got our money back and called the Health Department, who found their refrigerator temp was too high.

We never ate there again; and now affectionately refer to the restaurant as the Fun Gus. :puke:

[kwassa]

16. a few of the classics

having dinner with friends, and everyone's order but mine comes because the waiter never submitted it. I've had this happen maybe 3 or 4 times over the years.

Walking out of another restaurant very hungry after waiting 45 minutes just to get a menu, which never came. I chewed out the waitress and the manager, and neither apologized. The place was busy, but this was ridiculous.

Walking out of a Denny's, same problem.

The giant cockroach that crawled down my arm at another restaurant.

Another eatery: I like spicy food, but the jerk chicken was so incredibly spicy hot it burned and numbed my mouth into tastelessness. I sent it back, the staff treated me like I was a wimp.

[gemdem]

17. My older son

-- then a young child -- projectile vomiting his chocolate milk all over the table at a mid-scale, casual restaurant. He loved chocolate milk and quickly drank all of it that was given to him -- a glass rather larger than he was used to having. His mother and I had cautioned him to save some for his dinner. As I recall, we weren't too far into the meal before the chocolate milk reappeared. A quick call for the check and a hasty exit brought an end to the meal. I don't believe we ever went back to that restaurant, and the event is recalled on occassions when we eat out as a family -- with humor and as a warning.

[Connonym]

18. Some joint in Clearwater FL

They were busy and clearly catered toward tourists and didn't give a shit about repeat business. There were 7 of us so they had to put us at 2 different tables. First table was done with their meal and the waitress was pushing them to leave before the second table had even been served. When this was pointed out to management they simply said that they were busy and needed the table. Alrighty then.

[Bennyboy]

20. Cockroach crawled across the cooking surface at

a mongolian BBQ. the cook (can't call him a chef)took his spatula and swatted it, right there on the grill. then started cooking my meal. Without cleaning the grill r spatual.

I left. never to return.

[Bennyboy]

22. My father said "This would be a nice place if there wern't so many

niggers and mexicans here" once (about a year ago)while we were eating ina restaurant in downtown Pasadena. Nice and loud too. I had to give everyone the eye, as if to say, "hey he is old and please don't hurt me". I was terrified to tell the truth and really unsure as to what i was going to do if the situation arose that if I was going to defend him or join in the beat down he deserved.

Something he does all the time.

[Skittles]

28. f*** giving him the eye

I would have dragged him outside right then and there and demanded to know why he would say such a hideous thing. :o

[Bennyboy]

30. Did you not read my other post?

Then I would have a huge scene, one that he would manipulate into something much larger that would end with me in handcuffs. Been there, done that.

He is a total asshole, and he is trying to work out that exact scenario. At best I would be stranded in Pasadena, with no return plane ticket or money enough to get back to Sacramento. Again, been there, done that. I was actually there to get him out of the Homeland Security office at the airport cuz they would nto let him fly with his walker and he pitched a fit.

[Skittles]

33. why are you with this guy?

I would have nothing to do with him

[Bennyboy]

39. easier said than done....

I try but it doesn't always work out. I figure the more I do, the less my Mom has to do and the more chance she will have to spend some time without him. But it is never easy.

Now my brother just moved to Montana just to get away from him. took his kids and wife and split.

[LeftyMom]

41. That's good of you.

It sounds like you're doing a really good job of being patient with him. Holding his weirder and more socially unacceptable pronouncements against him isn't going to do anything about his dementia or whatever the problem is, and reminding him that they're not acceptable is going to do less and less good, unfortunately.

[Skittles]

45. ah.....your mom

understood and I sympathize

[amitten]

23. Gigantic hunk of broken glass in my dumpling.

At some chain called "Big Bowl" in Chicago.

I bit into the dumpling and felt something hard. I pulled out, I kid you not, a thick piece of glass cut into a perfect and very sharp triangle, about 2x2x2. I swear to God it was a fucking weapon...if I'd accidentally swallowed it, my stomach would have been shredded.

I showed it to the waitress and she treated me EXACTLY like I was trying to scam the restaurant (lawsuit). She clearly thought I was full of shit, as did the manager. They finally apologized and said they would comp our meal (I was with a friend).

We got our check and guess what? All they comped was the dumplings! :rofl:

And then when I complained, they bitched and moaned and acted all pissed off. And I could have sued these pricks for a bazillion dollars, but they were pissed about comping a roughly $30 check! Unreal.

[FloridaJudy]

25. I odered a plate of snails

In garlic sauce in a small restaurant on the Costa Brava. I had just eaten a few, when I encountered a very large molar in the middle of the plate. I assume it was human, since it had two silver fillings. The staff of the restaurant professed complete bewilderment as to how it got there, and comped me the meal - the rest of which was molar-free and delicious.

Oh, and in case anyone else ever needs to know how to say "Hey, waiter! There's a tooth in my snails" in Spanish:

"Oiga! Camarero! Hay un diente in mis caracoles!"

[HuffleClaw]

46. the rest of which was molar-free

did you KEEP it ?

[FloridaJudy]

51. Nope

The manager whisked the offending dish away with profuse apologies. My Spanish isn't that good, but even I could hear him railing at the kitchen staff, in a rant in which the word "diente" was prominent.

Where that thing came from is a mystery that will confound me for the rest of my life. People don't ordinarily lose teeth in the process of cooking.

[madrchsod]

29. watching a girl fall through a non-safety glass door

and gashing both of her legs from her ankles to knees....i`ve had bad food and service but nothing in my 61 years comes close to that

[Awsi Dooger]

34. Parisian chef threw a knife into the wall above our table

I'll never forget that image. It was truly like slow motion and I can virtually picture every revolution of the knife.

This was mid '70s, a family trip to Europe, in a very nice but not ultra exclusive restaurant in the heart of Paris. I was into my teens but my younger sister was about 10. We ordered steak and it came hideously rare, their preference but not ours. We had tried to use the French term for medium beforehand, but it had no impact. All of us sent it back once. My mom, dad and I realized once was probably all they would tolerate but my sister was very upset and insisted on sending it back a second and then a third time.

At that point the waiter began mumbling to the nearby tables, clearly identifying us as trouble makers with mocking gestures. The other patrons were laughing and having fun at our expense. Then the chef stormed out and began yelling at my father. But it was zero French from my dad and zero English from the chef. I was more amused than stunned or nervous, until the chef drew the knife out of his apron and hurled it above our heads, smack into the paneled wall above our table. It was maybe two feet above my sister's head when it stuck in the wall.

My dad is 6-2 and at that point about 200 pounds. He leaped from his seat and grabbed the chef near the neck. Before it escalated the waiter and a patron from an adjacent table separated them. From that point my memory is mess clear, other than plenty of shouting. I was in disbelief.

And sorry, but from that meal forward I've accepted every stereotype of the French as rude and problematic. I've traveled extensively and it's not even close, more troubles dealing with the French than all other heritages combined. Once in French Quebec a mother and son who owned a gas station tried to rip me off by charging the number of liters as if it were the number of dollars. That might not be far off now but at the time it was nearly a 2/1 scam. I guarantee they successfully pulled it off on some unsuspecting Americans. When I called them on it and threatened to turn them in they got defensive and unbelievably tried to portray me as the villain. To this day I wish I had contacted the authorities.

[Javaman]

63. That restaurant story sounds like a scene from Fawlty Towers. LOL

man that is just classic! :rofl:

[GirlinContempt]

64. And yet, I've had nothing but great dealings with French people.

A couple of bad experiences don't make prejudice ok. Clearly you aren't sorry.

[chknltl]

35. We got kicked out of a Shari's

I used to photograph the local bands and sometimes they would treat me to dinners. Most of these bands had little to no money so I never got treated to anything fancy like Olive Garden but what the heck free food is free food. The band I was with, Church Of Hate, had just got done with a show and they were still in costumes and makeup. Admittedly we made quite the visual splash when we walked into Shari's. As was typical, we got seated as far from public view as possible and as usual it took forever for a waiter to take our order. We each chose one of the breakfasts and went back to waiting for it to be served. About ten minutes later a couple of young ladies got seated nearby and their order was taken. After another 20 minutes their food arrived and I heard them complain that their food was cold...they got up and walked out. Our food FINALLY arrived a bit after the two young ladies had walked out and yes it was absolutely cold. I walked up and found our waiter and asked him if he could come check on us, he hadn't after he dropped off our meals. We all complained about the cold food and the delay in getting it. We were in no way disrespectful or belligerent or loud or anything out of the ordinary. (If you discount the makeup and goth attire, we actually were pretty ordinary.) He said he would talk to his manager. About 5 minutes later two cops and the manager came. We were made to wait while our our ID's were run.

I swear that I have NOT exaggerated this. While we were stuck there, two more cops came back to make sure that we did not try any funny business. They were nice enough but they were not letting us move from our seats while our ID's were being run. While this was going on one of the two girls who had left earlier showed up looking for her missing cell phone. I asked her in front of one of the cops why she and her friend had left without eating their meals. (Those uneaten meals were still sitting there in plain sight for the cops to see!) She told the cops that their food was late in coming and it was absolutely cold, so they said the hell with it and left. She even informed the cops that we were here when they arrived and yet they got served before we did. I believe that she was able to convince the cops that we were NOT making stuff up because their demeanor softened after her accounting. They returned our ID's and asked us to leave. The manager followed us out and told us that we were 86ed from that Shari's forever.

True story.

Church Of Hate has a you-tube video if any are so inclined to go look it up. It is not ...um...family oriented so I'll not post the link. In spite of their stage antics, these guys are musicians with normal lives. They all have wives and kids, regular jobs and rents to pay. Their music is absolutely NOT everyone's cup of tea and no, they are not a racist band...even if they kinda act like it from time to time. (The call themselves "Equal Opportunity Haters" which translates to EVERYONE getting picked on for whatever reasons happen to strike their fancy at the time.)

[Coyote_Bandit]

36. I once paid a $20 tab

entirely in pennies, nickels and dimes. And left a 2 cent tip.

Place wasn't busy. Our waitress was still on duty. We kept asking for the ticket. Never got it. Couldn't get anybody to make change or process debit/credit cards even though they were accepted. We spent an hour trying to pay and leave. While waiting, we concocted this idea. The friend I was with actually left the premises and retrieved her kids piggy banks to make this possible. We left a huge mound of mixed change and tried to use as many small coins as we could. Took somebody a while to sort - and I doubt the 2 cent tip was noted.

Even though the food was good and the service was otherwise ok I never went back. This happened in a good size established locally owned resturant. Before this incident we had frequented the place at least once a month or so.

Place is now out of business.

[chknltl]

38. Not a bad experience but an interesting practical joke.

While in college, I worked at a fancy 4 star restaurant as a cook. We were VERY proud of our restaurant because at the time it was the only 4 star place to dine in Bellingham Washington. We employees were treated like family by the working owners too, which meant that basically we were a happy workforce. Executive Chef Dave, (one of the owners), had his parents visiting from Texas and brought them in for dinner one night. They were treated to the best table, our best waiter and a fine salad prior to being served: DOMINO'S PIZZA! No, they were looking forward to Osso Bucco and Mahi-Mahi but the looks on their faces when the Domino Pizza boy arrived with their "ENTREE" was beyond precious. Chef Dave has a great sense of humor so the joke went over well. He said the pizza was top notch! The entire restaurant was a-titter over that one for years.

[fishwax]

40. there was something chunky in my milk

I have no idea what it was. The milk didn't taste sour, but several small, squishy chunks of something came out of my straw. I spit it out, of course, and got up and left the restaurant.

The weird thing is I never, ever order milk in restaurants because I was afraid of something like that. For some reason I was in the mood for milk that day, but I haven't ordered it in a restaurant since.

[laconicsax]

42. IHOP

went to an IHOP with my family about 15 years ago. We were driving to OSU (Oregon) and decided to stop for breakfast. The place was practically empty so we were seated promptly. My parents ordered coffee, which came out a long time later, and was cold. About 10 minutes later, the waitress came back, and we ordered our food, in addition to asking for coffee that wasn't cold.

I don't remember really what any of us ordered with one exception--whatever my dad ordered came with eggs (any style) with it and he ordered them over easy. The waitress left and about two minutes later (it was probably less than that), she came back with the eggs, which looked like they had been sitting out for a long time, and were cold. The eggs went uneaten and were sent back because they were cold. Time passed. More time passed.

20-30 minutes after we ordered, we flagged down the waitress and asked when we would be getting our food. She said that orders were taking a bit longer than usual because on of the cooks called in sick, leaving them with 2 cooks. I'd like to point out that there were about 15 people in the entire restaurant, all of whom already had food, including another family that had come a little before this point and got their food about 5 minutes later.

More time passed and the waitress brought our bill. We pointed out that we hadn't gotten our food and she was astounded. We had now been waiting for at least 45 minutes and were incredibly hungry. She gave the same line about being one cook short and when we pointed out that another family had just come in about 15 minutes earlier and had already been served, she said that she'd see what was going on. 10 minutes later, she hadn't come back and we left.

[Joe Bacon]

43. My distasteful encounter with SUPERSTAR "X"

TRUE STORY!

Cassell's Burger's is the best place to get a hamburger in Los Angeles. They're only open 6 hours Mon-Sat, and a lot of celebrities like to go there. Once a big limo pulled up and out came Robert Duvall and his wife. Really nice people! When he finished he insisted on talking to the guys frying the burgers and he thanked them, he couldn't praise them enough. He walked back into the limo with his wife and drove off. Awfully nice people! Mr Duvall is Mr. Class...

Now on to Mr. ASS...

And then there is ANOTHER celebrity WHO WILL GO NAMELESS who came into the shop, laid down three minutes of instructions to the guy frying the burgers. This POMPOUS ASS took one bite out of the burger, said it was unacceptable and demanded another one explicitly made to order. of course this FLATULENT FOOL was making a complete asshole of himself. Didn't matter. He takes a bite out of Burger #2 and once again chews out the cook. So they made him burger #3, once again one bite and he whined and whined and wouldn't stop. He threw a big temper tantrum and then stomped out of the place like a spoiled child. He STIFFED them too. What a fool!

[Rabrrrrrr]

49. Oh, come on - you gotta let us know who it is!

[terrya]

54. The nameless celebrity....was he a cast member on "Friends"?

This sounds just like something Matt LeBlanc would do. Asshole.

[Joe Bacon]

75. No

Nope but another cast member ate there a lot and he was a nice guy!

[Initech]

44. Went to a Mexican restaurant in old town San Diego.

Worst ever. It used to be really good. I had the carnitas plate. First time out it was cold. Sent it back. Then it came back and the carnitas were rock hard. On top of that, the waiter wasn't around.

[China_cat]

47. RAP christmas carols

played at about a 13 on a 1-10 loudness scale.

We left before we even got seated. I still won't go back.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

48. Had to switch tables

a couple was seated in the next booth when our order was just arriving. The woman's perfume was so heavy, we had to get the waitress to move us and our dinner to another table. The waitress did it quickly, and didn't ask "why" until we were moved. She got a good tip.

Massive amounts of perfume just give me a headache.

[Rabrrrrrr]

50. I've had to move because of overperfumed assholes and shitbags, too.

x(

[TheCentepedeShoes]

52. At the Colonnade in Tampa

I was about halfway through my salad when a fly landed and got stuck in the bleu cheese dressing. I set the salad aside and when the waiter brought our dinners and asked if I was finished with my salad I just pointed to the struggling insect. He asked if I wanted another one (salad, not fly) but I said no, I was finihsed. We ate our dinners and shared a piece of coconut cream pie for dessert. When the waiter brought the bill my dinner was free. Hubby said that was nice. I said I should have ordered the lobster.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

53. Not about me but something

I witnessed at La Fonda in Santa Fe several years ago.
We were at a table for two on one side of this fountain, another couple was on the other side. Behind us and across from them was a round table with about 8 people. Someone took out a camera and started taking pictures. Flash, flash, flash... on and on. The guy at the other table started getting pissed, threw down his napkin, which landed in the fountain, and stalked out of the dining room. A couple of minutes later he came back with one of those disposable cameras they sell in the lobby store. He went around the other table snapping pictures. Flash, flash, flash...then puts the camera down and said "Here, is that enough?" or something like that. At the time (1998) I thought the pissed off guy looked familiar. I thought for a few minutes, then I asked hubby if it was Ted Olsen. He said who's Ted Olsen and I said some goverment guy. The woman with him had long black hair, and even if it was Barbara in a wig she couldn't hide that rabbity face of hers.

[XNASA]

56. Casa Bonita in Denver is the worst restaurant I've ever been to.

It was filthy, crowded, over-priced, dingy, and smelly. And the food was worse.

[BreweryYardRat]

57. Either the pube in my tuna steak sandwich at a Chili's or the 30-minute wait at a local place.

And when I say 30-minute wait, I mean 30 minutes with no drinks, no service, no nothing. Hostess seated us (me and my dad) and every member of the waitstaff promptly ignored us, even when we had servers two tables away. I'd come across a sharp piece of bone in my soup the last time I was there, so that was the last straw. We haven't been back there since.

[suninvited]

58. At a Chili's restaraunt in Pensacola

I was having dinner with a gentleman (and I use the word loosely) when he called the waitress over and asked if we could change tables. She agreed and didnt question why and was very nice about it.

I was confused as I didnt see anything wrong with the table we had, all he would tell me was that he didnt like the view. Finally, because I just cant let things go that I dont understand, I got up and sat in the chair where he was seated to see what he saw that was so bad. From his chair I could see that he was looking straight at an interracial couple enjoying their own dinner. They were a very attractive couple, and were obviously having a very good time talking and laughing with each other. But, I understood immediately why this man wanted to change seats.

Even worse, after dinner, the man I was with (we had dated about six months) asked me to marry him. I didnt even hesitate when I told him no, even though I knew that life with him would be very comfortable financially. I told him that I couldnt ever see me waking up to a man every day who could be bothered by the 'view' of an interracial couple eating their dinner and minding their own business.

It got a little ugly after that.

[MorningGlow]

59. Oh gods, dozens, and it started early

When I was 10, my aunt and uncle took me to Disneyworld. This was when there was only the Magic Kingdom and three hotels (LOOOOOONG time ago, no?) The trip was the yearly convention for my uncle's insurance company, so it was a big crowd. The first night, some of the other convention-goers said we all just HAD to go to this great seafood restaurant (the first Red Lobster!) so we piled into somebody's rental car and set out from the wilds of the Disney property to find it.

We got there fairly late and then had to wait for a table because there were about eight or 10 of us; by the time we were seated I was exhausted and just wanted to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Plus I didn't like seafood at the time, so I ordered the kid's fried chicken meal. Came with a baked potato. I took a forkful of the potato first. Something hard...I fished it out of my mouth--it was somebody's FINGERNAIL. A white crescent, obviously bitten off by someone who chewed his/her nails. I suspect the potato was recycled from someone else's plate. The manager acted all apologetic, comped my meal, and asked if I wanted to order something else, but I said NO. Didn't eat anything that night. What a grand first day on my trip of a lifetime!

More recently...Ruby Tuesday is always good for a few horror stories. My favorite was a few years ago, when I was pregnant, I asked for the turkey sandwich. It arrived with half a jar of mayo on it, bread cold, two pieces of deli turkey folded over, and the top half of the bread mashed down and sliding off like somebody had stepped on the sandwich before plopping it on the plate. Not a good sight for a person in my condition; I could've ralphed. The waitress came over to see how we were doing, and when I pointed it out, she said, "Gee, that doesn't look too good, huh?" NO offer to get me a new meal, no comp. I didn't eat that one either. And Ruby Tuesday is PERMANENTLY on my shit list.

Most recent: Applebee's. I ordered the "chicken fried chicken", which was fine, until I went to shift the chicken cutlet off the mashed potatoes and discovered a dark brown lump, about 2 inches long, hiding under the chicken. I had no idea what it was, and I picked it apart trying to figure it out--I came to the conclusion that it was a lump of congealed grease. I think. At least that waiter was sufficiently horrified and comped my meal and our dessert.

Eating out...what a crapshoot.

[Javaman]

60. You want restaurant stories? check out this link. :)

http://www.stainedapron.com/

[av8rdave]

61. Just last year

copilot and I were having lunch at the Vieu Fort Airport in St Lucia. We ordered chicken roti, which is sort of a stew (meat/potatos) wrapped in a tortilla-like piece of bread. On about the second bite, I ran into something hard. It was a small bone, which I put on the edge of the plate. The copilot also got a mouthful of bone shortly after. A few bites later, I again ran into something hard....it was a piece of beak. When the copilot pulled a claw out of his mouth, we both decided we'd had enough roti.

I think they just pulled the feathers off and tossed the whole bird in!

[hyphenate]

62. I think the two times, in different restaurants,

where I saw cockroaches passing by me in plain sight. I never went to either of them again.

There were also two different times in two different restaurants where there was aan intolerable wait. One time, there were a few of us, and we got to talking, and it was almost an hour before we realized we hadn't seen a waitress. Then it took forever to get our meal and we were in the restaurant (a Denny's, mind you) for upwards of three hours.

At the other restaurant, our waitress left us when this huge group came in, and we ended up still waiting for her to come back to us almost an hour later. We felt that when that big group came in, she could have given the table to someone else instead of making us sit and stew for so long.

[MissMillie]

65. had tix to see Smother's Brothers... picked a restaurant one block away

and arrived at the restaurant 2 hours before the show.... and never got our entrees.

The took our orders right away, and then we waited, and waited and waited and waited. Asked 3 times about our food and was assured it was coming.

It's too bad really, the place smelled like a lot of good cooking was going on.

[GirlinContempt]

66. Can't say I've ever had anything really horrible happen.

Once I got food poisoning.... uhm.... for my friends birthday dinner this past year, it took a long time, and we all had out food, but she didn't We could see her food sitting waiting for the waitress to bring it to us. I just got up and brought it over myself. She was apologetic....

Yeah, nothing that bad.

[SacredCow]

67. Pre- Smoking ban in local restaurant....

I went to a moderately priced place for lunch with a couple of friends, and waited specifically to be seated in the non-smoking section. So we've just been served our drinks, when the guy at the next table (still in the non smoking section) lights up the stinkiest cigar I've EVER smelled. I don't actually mind the smell of a good cigar, but this one was awful, and we HAD waited for a non-smoking table. The dude aloofly ignored our requests for him to put it out, so off I go to the hostess desk to complain. "Oh, we can't tell him to stop smoking- he's a regular customer," she tells me. "OK, then- you just lost 3 customers, not to mention others who hear about this crap."

So off we went. One of my friends actually wrote a LTTE about it, and got a free lunch coupon from them over it but she wrote a few expletives on the coupon and mailed it back (love ya, darlin!). They went out of business about a year later- as I hear, the service never got any better.

[grace0418]

68. I'll even name the restaurant: Bite (in Chicago).

We had heard the place was good and wanted to check it out. It's a pretty small restaurant, and we visited on a cold, windy night. There were several open tables when we arrived but they were still very snooty about us not having reservations (it wasn't a Friday or Saturday night). As punishment, apparently, they sat us at a small table directly in line with the door, so we got blasted with frigid air every time it opened. When we asked to be moved to another table, they shot back that THOSE were RESERVED. We should've left at that point but we were stupid.

We ordered drinks, appetizers, and entrees. I even ordered the day's special, a risotto. The drinks and appetizers took over a half hour to come out, with no apology or explanation. I will admit the appetizers were tasty, but that seemed like a long time to wait. Well, it seemed like a long time until we spent another 45 minutes waiting for our entrees (not 45 minutes from the time we ordered, but 45 minutes from the time we finished our appetizers). We were starving, we were frozen stiff from sitting by the door (with our coats on), and we never even had our waitperson stop by and offer us any explanation, apology or even water in that time. We'd been there an hour and a half at this point with no entrees in sight. Let me reiterate that I ordered the daily special and my husband ordered something not very complicated. I make risotto from scratch and it takes 20-25 minutes, if it was the daily special surely it was already mostly prepared before I placed my order.

So we walked to the register and politely asked to pay for our drinks and appetizers so we could leave. At that point, our waitperson started SCREAMING AT US about HOW DARE WE LEAVE AFTER WE'VE PLACED AN ORDER. And I mean screaming. Everyone in the restaurant turned to look at us. I got pretty irate at this point. It didn't seem to matter to him that we'd waited for and hour and a half and no order was in sight. He made a huge show about dragging the chef out from the kitchen to "approve" us paying for just our appetizers and drinks. At this point, if the chef had balked, I would've walked out without paying for anything (and probably should have anyway). The chef just shrugged his shoulders and said "whatever" which made it even more bizarre. He didn't apologize, he didn't try to smooth anything over, he didn't comp our bill, he just shrugged his shoulders. Which after the lunacy we'd just endured from the waitperson, was a welcome relief even if it was the wrong way to do business. We paid cash for our bill (no tip, of course) and left with him muttering more shit at us as we left.

The restaurant is still in business, so either they've cleaned up their act or their customers enjoy being abused. But with so many excellent restaurants in Chicago, they'll never get another chance from me.


P.S. One last note, even after being there for an hour and a half, all those supposedly reserved tables were still unoccupied. If they had moved us to a warmer table, we might've stayed longer.

[Ikonoklast]

69. Got smacked by a fundie

Shoney's in Waynesboro, Virginia, right off the interstate. Sunday morning breakfast bar, and as usual busy with locals and travelers alike. I stop there for either breakfast or soup and salad when I'm making a delivery nearby.

Food is usually good, hot, and plentiful, but the problem wasn't with the food. Until it landed on my face.

Got seated, got a cup of coffee from the waitress, and proceeded to get some breakfast. They just brought out some nice looking waffles, got those with some real strawberries and whipped cream.

Just when I was about to sit in my booth, the two men sitting next to me bowed their heads to give thanks. No big problem until the one guy closed his eyes, and spread his arms out wide smacking the plate of waffles out of my hand and right into my face.

Poor guy was mortified. I was too shocked to do anything but stand there like a goof, with whipped cream and strawberries dripping off my mug.

We all had a laugh, no one got hurt, and he bought me my breakfast. He was waaaayyy more embarrassed than I was.

[Phillycat]

70. Silk City Diner in Philly, now closed thank goodness.

Saw a goodly-sized rat amble (not even run) by our table in plain view. Blergh.

[CottonBear]

71. A very rude Chinese waiter in Chinatown, NYC inadvertently spit in my soup while serving us.

:puke:
I was visiting my friend Ginger, who was living in Greenwich Village at the time. We decided to go to Chinatown for lunch. The restaurant was crowded and the waiter was rude.

It was like a Seinfeld episode: as if in slow motion, a blob of spit came out of his mouth and flew through the air and plopped into my soup.

My friend Ginger saw it too. :puke: We left after that.

[lightningandsnow]

72. Nail clippings on the floor.

At a semi-fancy French restaurant, nonetheless.

I was having Father's Day brunch with my family a few years ago, and one of us noticed something suspicious on the floor.

Nail clippings. Someone couldn't wait until they got home.

Gross.

[Burma Jones]

73. Two, at restaurants since closed, in Silver Spring, MD

The first was at a Korean BBQ place, about 1987, where we witnessed 3 rats eating raw beef ribs that had been left out on a counter for cooking at the table. When the waiter came to the platters of ribs, the rats scattered and the waiter either did ot see this or did not care. One of my table mates went over to the manager and told him. He quickly went to the waiter and had him bring un-gnawed upon ribs. We left without eating or paying.

The second was really strange. It was at an Indian place one of the co-workers chose for his birthday lunch. It was my first professional job out of college, and it was my first week. The Indian restaurant was run out of a person's house at the corner of Colesville Road and Spring Street - the area has long since been "improved". I think I remember the name of the place as Siddhartha. Anyway, we go into the dining room and there's a TV blasting some game show in an adjacent room and we are presented with menus. The Waiter brings us water and we order drinks and that went OK. We get our drinks (beer for me) and order our lunches. We all get what they called Mulligatawny soup, I distinctly remember, nearly 25 years later, the soup having corn and cut up Vienna sausages. At that point, a child started crying from the room with the game show and a woman started screaming at the kid in what I assume was Hindi and then you could hear her beating the kid until there was this eerie silence, except for the game show. The Waiter saw our discomfort and went to the woman and I think yelled at and smacked her. Then he brought out the entrees. He started spraying something from an atomizer on the food and I put my hand up and asked what he was spraying and he indignantly told me it was rosewater and sprayed my face with it. We did not finish eating, paid and left in a hurry. Later, the Birthday Boy went down to the office building's little convenience store and bought us each three York Peppermint Patties to get the taste out of our mouths.

I did not try Indian food again for about 5 years. When I did, it was at the Star of India restaurant in DC and it was very tasty........

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

74. pat buchanan was at the next table

i had my back to him and said to my gf that sounds like pat buchanan.

she said it was and not to start anything.

[Sweet Freedom]

76. Ewwwww.

I can't read anymore. Yuck. I've never had anything happen as awful as that, but my aunt did...

Years ago on vacation in NYC, when she was about 8 months pregnant, she ordered waffles for breakfast. The order took forever, so when she got them, she began devouring her meal. After a few bites, she (fortunately) noticed the giant cockroach she was about to stuff in her mouth. I guess it had fallen in the batter and been cooked in her meal. Between the roach and her pregnancy, she was a bit emotional about the situation. Gives me the willies just thinking about it.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

77. Ted's Montana Grill.

Tried it once, never went back. Asked for the salad without bacon, but it came out covered in it. Also, our appetizer never showed up, my husband's bison Delmonico looked like jerky, my salmon was lukewarm, and our bottle of wine tasted rancid. The server was a decent guy, and very attentive and sympathetic. The manager, on the other hand, never offered to do anything, until he saw us get up to walk out in disgust; he tried to give us a $20 gift card (woo-hoo! :eyes: ) to get us to come back, and we refused. After he engaged himself in a 4 minute argument with my husband (who had politely asked for the bill to be comped), he finally brought it down to just the wine, which he couldn't comp by law. The server got a $30 tip and our apologies. The manager got referred by us to his DM for being a complete jerk.

[democraticoverground]

78. Threw up on the waitress' tray

It was really embarassing.