# Anyone Else Have This Happen in a Restaurant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869 "2011-08-24T04:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/41 "2011-08-25T05:08:01Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It’s a sign of the difference between a high-end restaurant and the bargain joints. > > A bargain joint will only cook medium or well-done. A high-end restaurant will not cook any further than medium, a la [this menu](http://raystheclassics.com/Images/Dinner%20Menu%203-15-11.pdf) from a premium steak restaurant near me. hm, yet they list “corn-fed” as a positive thing? ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/42 "2011-08-25T15:48:58Z")
> [@ecseas](#): > > A lot of restaurants will not let you have doggy bags these days either, for the same reason. ☹ They say " For you safety" but they really mean " We don’t want any reason to be sued. I can’t believe that this is true in more that 1 in 1000 places, if that. You paid for it, it’s yours to do with what you want; How can they possibly prevent you from taking something you purchased from them? (I suppose they can refuse to give you a container to put it in, but what about someone who had a baggie with them? Would they physically restrain you?) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/43 "2011-08-25T18:25:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve seen more and more places now say that if you order well done, you get a steak, and have little recourse if it’s not perfect by your standards. Several restaurants now force you to eat a piece as soon as the server lays the steak down, so you have to make any claim about doneness made right then and there. Management gets involved here too. Losing a steak is a bad thing profit percentage wise, and even dollar amount wise.[URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=14180662](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=14180662)”] I’ve had servers ask me to cut the steak as soon as I get it, to check the doneness. This just checks the color of the steak, but since I’ll eat a steak that’s cooked anywhere between rare and medium, with a preference for medium rare, I’m usually good with it. In the places where the server takes the order and someone else delivers it, usually the server will come by pretty quickly to make sure that the diner got the right order, and to make sure that everything looks good. This is a pretty good policy, I think. Now, sometimes I haven’t tasted everything on my plate yet, especially if I’m still eating my salad, but I’m a slow eater. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/44 "2011-08-25T18:45:41Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > The cattle are butchered on site? Cows in the kitchen? > > How long before it becomes _de riguer_ to take the steer into the dining room to show it to you before killing it, like it was a lobster or a trout for truite au bleu? Or a Dish of the Day? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/45 "2011-08-25T21:08:46Z")
My father had a somewhat obsessive fear of undercooked meat, and he would order a steak or chop with “absolutely no pink.” I saw many times where the server informed him the restaurant wouldn’t take responsibility for well done meat. He never had to sign a freakin’ release, though. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/46 "2011-08-25T21:20:22Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > hm, yet they list “corn-fed” as a positive thing? What does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/47 "2011-08-25T21:22:00Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > What does this mean? Corn-fed is soooo low class. Grass-fed is what’s happenin’ now. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/48 "2011-08-25T21:22:36Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > That is, in fact, the restaurant in question. I’m not sure what your idea of blech might be, but their grilled items, ergo: steaks, pork chops, liver and onions, are to my taste, quite nice. They have good cream soups as well. And I love the hunk of garlic bread that comes with everything. > > I stay away from their chicken fried steak, and their malibu chicken though, and their spaghetti makes Chef Boyardi cry. > > Great, now they’ll probably see this and sue ME. I’m mostly thinking of the soggy grayish vegetables they serve on the side. The entrees themselves usually are decent enough, and I do like their soup. But their pancakes? In Heaven, I’m pretty sure angels use them as pillows. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/49 "2011-08-25T21:30:07Z")
The better meat is grain-fed or free-range. Corn-fed usually means an animal that’s been raised entirely in a small stall, and never got any exercise. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/50 "2011-08-25T21:33:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The better meat is grain-fed or free-range. Corn-fed usually means an animal that’s been raised entirely in a small stall, and never got any exercise. Did you mean the better meat is “grass-fed”? Because corn is in fact grain. And having grown up on a beef farm where cattle were fed corn but were not caged, I don’t think this matches all reality, but maybe I am behind the times. Anyhow, in my experience, grass fed is not better. But thanks for clarifying what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/51 "2011-08-25T21:54:21Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I’m mostly thinking of the soggy grayish vegetables they serve on the side. Yep, those are uniformly awful. I still eat them, because I paid for them, and I can use the veggies in my meat-heavy diet, no matter how soggy and repulsive. Maybe the vegetable cook is a nostalgic English person? \ ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/52 "2011-08-25T23:03:18Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Did you mean the better meat is “grass-fed”? Because corn is in fact grain. And having grown up on a beef farm where cattle were fed corn but were not caged, I don’t think this matches all reality, but maybe I am behind the times. Anyhow, in my experience, grass fed is not better. But thanks for clarifying what you meant. cattle are ruminants, they’re _supposed_ to eat grass. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/53 "2011-08-25T23:39:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The better meat is grain-fed or free-range. Corn-fed usually means an animal that’s been raised entirely in a small stall, and never got any exercise. No it doesn’t. Corn-fed means that the cow lived the vast majority of its life in a pasture, but spent a few weeks prior to slaughter in a feed lot being fattened on corn (which is a grain, by the way). Almost all cattle is raised in a pasture. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/54 "2011-08-25T23:40:05Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > cattle are ruminants, they’re _supposed_ to eat grass. Which is why they all do. ---
**Author:** ![jrtexgunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/edb3f5/32.png) [@jrtexgunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrtexgunner)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/55 "2011-08-26T04:08:24Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Which is why they all do. Not mine. Fields down here are dust, and with the cost of hay, it would be cheaper to feed them steak.😃 Just funnin’ We go to Saltgrass a lot, and they serve the best steaks I’ve eaten- and I eat at a lot of high end places since it’s company paid. They’ll cook it any way you want it, as will every other place I’ve been to. I prefer medium-rare. And I’m all for “to each his own”, but who in hell eats a steak “Blue Rare”. I see that at a lot of places nowadays. -JR ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/56 "2011-08-26T05:31:47Z")
Back to the OP, Good steakhouses will still (and will always) cook your steak the way you want it. Cheap places - I wouldn’t blame them if they took a “well-done ONLY” policy; the cheap suppliers and short-order cooks don’t exactly make you confident that you won’t poison some poor bastard once a year. I was at a nice place in Vegas about a year ago, I order my steak medium-rare. I get served a well-done. The martinis (I was two deep at this point) were good, so at I didn’t make a stink, I just politely asked the waitress to send it back. Chef and Manager were at my table within 5 minutes, apologizing profusely. I told them - “hey, your service has been great so far. Send me another round (Sapphire, up, olive) and get me the right steak, and we’re cool.” The replacement steak was fantastic. Pink, dripping, and wonderful. Plus on the bill they comped our table my steak and my drinks. Waitress got a better than usual tip (I added all my comped drinks to the tip) and we’re all happy. Good places are still good. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/57 "2011-08-26T13:02:27Z")
It is mostly the other way-restaurants won’t want to burn a staek-if you want it “well done”-they will refuse responsibility for the cremation that often ensues. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/58 "2011-08-26T15:27:28Z")
> [@drbhoneydew](#): > > Me neither. All the nasty bacterial action on steaks is on the meat surface, hence the issues with ground meat - there’s a lot of surface. Not exactly true. A lot of steaks and other whole cuts are needle tenderized nowadays, which causes surface contaminants to be introduced into the deeper parts of the meat. People get sick from eating rare steak because of this. So there is logic behind the restuarant’s waiver. Not that this means I think its a reasonable practice. The public just needs to be educated so they know the truth about what they’re eating. Same with fried eggs. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/59 "2011-08-26T16:54:49Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > My band played a show in SE Indiana a few years ago, and we were told that state law prohibited anything under “medium”. We had all asked for medium rare. He decided to do us a favor and make them as requested. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. We told the crowd as much. From what we were told it was VERY fresh beef, and was ground that day. Perfect burger. > > Steaks are a different matter entirely though. A steak cooked to “well” cannot be uncooked, and is wasted entirely if the customer thinks it is too “well”. Undercooked steaks can be adjusted to some degree though. > > As far as the extremes go, people that like their steak still mooing are generally regarded as being more barbarian, the cut matters very little when the meat is still quite raw. Those that like well done steaks are also regarded as lacking in taste, as the flavor has been mostly cooked out of the meat, and again, the cut matters very little. > > I’ve seen more and more places now say that if you order well done, you get a steak, and have little recourse if it’s not perfect by your standards. Several restaurants now force you to eat a piece as soon as the server lays the steak down, so you have to make any claim about doneness made right then and there. Management gets involved here too. Losing a steak is a bad thing profit percentage wise, and even dollar amount wise. Where in SE Indiana? That’s where I live. What band? What restaurant told you that load of hooey? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869/60 "2011-08-26T16:56:25Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Did you mean the better meat is “grass-fed”? Because corn is in fact grain. And having grown up on a beef farm where cattle were fed corn but were not caged, I don’t think this matches all reality, but maybe I am behind the times. Anyhow, in my experience, grass fed is not better. But thanks for clarifying what you meant. You are correct. Cows that aren’t in stalls and that get feed corn still eat plenty of grass anyway! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-this-happen-in-a-restaurant/593869.md?page=4)