# Are You "High Maintenance" in Restaurants? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690 "2010-04-20T00:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/21 "2010-04-20T01:53:32Z")
I can be. When I order my egg sandwich as an egg fried well done with bacon and cheddar cheese, the egg really does have to be well done (if it runs yellow, it goes back) and the cheese really does have to be cheddar, not American. (Tell me if you don’t have cheddar and maybe I’ll want swiss) And there might be an onion cheeseburger on the menu and also chili on the menu, and some kind of wrap with jalapeño peppers. I’ll be the guy who wants an onion _CHILI_ cheeseburger with jalapeños, and hold the hamburger roll, just put it in one of those plastic takeout trays. Does that count as high-maintenance? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/22 "2010-04-20T02:03:26Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever sent food back to a kitchen and I rarely ask for anything special so I’m going to go with low maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/23 "2010-04-20T02:11:28Z")
Usually low maintenance. Next time I have an Egg Benedict though I’m going to ask for the hollandaise to be served in a jug. Last time I had it the eggs were nearly drowned in it. & if I’m going to work, I’ll ask for the onions to be left off my sub or burger. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/24 "2010-04-20T02:15:01Z")
Is the food rotten? Is it something totally unlike what I ordered? Then I’ll send it back. But if you just give me one wrong topping on the pizza, then I’ll eat it and smile, and I stupidly feel guilty about reminding them to bring me things that they’ve obviously forgotten I ordered. My mother is very high-maintenance, to the degree that we won’t go to restaurants with her that we think we might want to return to. She’ll ask them to create entirely new dishes out of the ingredients that show up on the menu, and get all up in their grill if they refuse to do so. Eesh. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/25 "2010-04-20T02:23:33Z")
Low. I am probably uncomplaining to a fault. Even when the restaurant screws up my order I’ll usually eat it, unless it’s completely inedible. The most I ever ask for is no tomatoes in my burger (I hate raw tomatoes). The other night we had dinner at a five star hotel - amazing buffet with all sorts of delicacies, but the guy at the table next to us demanded a cheeseburger (something not even on the menu). Huh. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/26 "2010-04-20T02:25:27Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > No, but my Mom is. She is so embarrassing! She once sent back a steak twice because it was too rare. The last time she took us out the waitress asked if anyone wanted dessert and she said tersely, Were ALL having dessert. It is the way she speaks down to wait staff that I find offensive. My son and I cringe a lot. She also likes to order for my son who is 26 if he does not get the most expensive thing on the menu. My Mom is a nice person but not in restaurants. I don’t get this. What makes an ordinarily nice person turn into a jerk in a resturant? I’ve always thought you can tell the true nature of a person by how they treat people that wait on them, but I’m sure this isn’t always the case. I believe you that your mom is a nice person, have you ever asked her why she acts that way to waitstaff? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/27 "2010-04-20T02:27:58Z")
I"m going to say medium maintenance, but it really depends where I’m eating. If I go to a vegan or vegetarian restaurant I can always find something on the menu that I will like just as it is presented. However, if I go to a non-veggie/vegan restaurant, such as a steak-house, I have a helluva time finding something to order that isn’t a plate of carrots, so yah, then I tend to be sort of a pain in the ass. I’m always apologetic to waitstaff though. And before anyone says it, I don’t choose these restaurants, particularly not steak-houses; however, if the Mr. and I dine out with his parents that’s where we go. Even on my birthday. Yes, I’m still a tad bitter. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/28 "2010-04-20T02:28:17Z")
Ultra low maintenance. I’ve been served totally different meals than what I ordered and just ate it because I’m not picky and didn’t want to wait any longer. I don’t remember ever sending anything back. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/29 "2010-04-20T02:36:59Z")
Pretty low-maintenance here. If the menu states that a hamburger comes with onions, I might ask them to hold the onions. But that’s about it. Unless what I ordered is way off what is served (for example, the steak I ordered mysteriously becomes chicken), I’ll be happy with it. I did run into a few problems some years ago when I was driving a truck. Breakfasts on truck stop menus invariably included eggs–which I cannot eat. I never liked asking them to hold the eggs, because then the price never changed; I was paying for eggs anyway. Sometimes, the menu had a BLT on it, which was fine by me; but (here’s my one high-maintenance item) if a BLT wasn’t on the menu, I’d ask if they could make me one anyway. Usually, they could. On the rare occasions when they couldn’t or wouldn’t, I simply made do with toast, coffee, and juice. No big deal. No, I never had to order a chicken salad sandwich, hold the chicken, hold the salad, hold the mayo… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/30 "2010-04-20T02:56:04Z")
I am, but I usually tell my server that I am. I also used to wait tables so I know it’s a tough job. So I try to be nice. I tip well, as long as you get it right. Hell, the last bar I went to the guy totally screwed up my order and I still tipped 20%. I figured it was the bar’s fault and not his, so why take it out of his pocket? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/31 "2010-04-20T03:05:11Z")
On a scale from 0 to 5, I’d say I’m a 1. There are a few things I really can’t stand (raw onions, bleu cheese) and I don’t think it’s any kind of big deal to ask that the sandwich I’m ordering be made without onions, for example. Some restaurants specify on their menus that any dish can be made to order, and in those cases, I have no qualms about taking them up on their offer – if I can get that dish with or without bleu cheese, I’m going to ask for without, thanks. I don’t think this is high maintenance, and I don’t think there’s any particular virtue in not distinguishing between foods you like and foods you don’t like. (I’ve lived with people like this – God forbid you like, say, broccoli and don’t like cauliflower, because then you’re a pampered spoiled fusspot. You should eat anything put in front of you and like it all equally! Pssht, whatever, dude. Sorry about your insensate palate.) My aunt A. is the ultimate in high maintenance, in my estimation – ever single time I’ve gone out to eat with her, she’s spent several minutes in conversation with the waiter picking over the dish she’s going to order, holding this, substituting that. She’s lucky if the dish she gets is _anything_ like what was advertised on the menu. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/32 "2010-04-20T03:06:47Z")
I’m very low maintenance unless it’s a set menu and there’s fish or seafood that I can’t eat because of allergies. I’ll ask for a substitution up to the chef, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/33 "2010-04-20T03:23:29Z")
Now that I’m on Weight Watchers, I’d say I’m about a 2. I have asked if the beer-battered fish tacos could be made grilled; if so, great, if not, I’ll have a backup choice. I have also asked if the side of fries or coleslaw could be changed to steamed broccoli (which was offered with a different entree), and the answer was a cheerful “Sure!” I also have no qualms about asking for no cheese, no onions, broiled without butter, etc. But I am always polite when I ask, and I try to limit my special requests to two or at most three simple substitutions/omissions per meal. And we always tip well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/34 "2010-04-20T03:40:17Z")
I’m pretty low maintenance. The other special request I can think of that I make on a regular basis is to ask them to leave the tomatoes out of my salad or sandwich. There’s only been one occasion when I sent a meal back. I had ordered a tuna steak. I hadn’t realized that tuna is not normally cooked through like salmon or trout or most other fish is; tuna is apparently supposed to be served rare like a beef steak. But I don’t like rare meat or fish - when the tuna arrived it was way undercooked as far as I’m concerned and I wouldn’t have been able to eat it. So I asked the waitress if I could send it back and have it “well done”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/35 "2010-04-20T03:44:31Z")
Almost never. I usually ask for sour cream with breakfast. I don’t think I’ve ever sent anything back unless it was totally the wrong order (ie., a Happy Meal instead of a house salad; if I got a Caesar salad, I’d probably just eat it). ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/36 "2010-04-20T03:51:53Z")
Pretty low maintenance. I order from the actual menu - I can always find something that I can eat, and while the SO is vegetarian, he’s UBER-low maintenance and has never not been able to find something to eat on a menu. Occasionally, I might ask for a sauce or dressing to be on the side, or an additional avocado slice on a sandwich or salad, but usually not. And I tip WELL, regardless of whether or not I or the SO has made a special request - I consider waiting tables a type of hell, and I know how hard most waitstaff work. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/37 "2010-04-20T03:52:07Z")
I’m just so glad to be out at a restaurant and not having to cook. I don’t think I’ve ever had a truly bad meal at a restaurant - bland, boring, not very good, yeah, but I never felt moved to send something back, and I’ve always found something edible on the dreariest bacon/cheddar/beef/salt menu. To show you how accommodating I am at a restaurant, they once brought me veal marsala instead of chicken marsala. I had taken a couple of bites, engaged in a deep conversation, and thought, hmm, chicken tastes odd. Waitress showed up at that moment and confessed they had given me veal instead of chicken. As I as a quarter of the way through and didn’t want to wait and wait for another meal, I finished the veal though my vegetarian college friends nearly swooned with horror. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/38 "2010-04-20T04:08:01Z")
I tend to want what I ordered, exactly like I ordered. But I’m always polite. No one has ever pointed out to me that I’m nitpicky. I’d say I’m average. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/39 "2010-04-20T04:39:52Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I can be. > > When I order my egg sandwich as an egg fried well done with bacon and cheddar cheese, the egg really does have to be well done (if it runs yellow, it goes back) and the cheese really does have to be cheddar, not American. (Tell me if you don’t have cheddar and maybe I’ll want swiss) > > And there might be an onion cheeseburger on the menu and also chili on the menu, and some kind of wrap with jalapeño peppers. I’ll be the guy who wants an onion _CHILI_ cheeseburger with jalapeños, and hold the hamburger roll, just put it in one of those plastic takeout trays. > > Does that count as high-maintenance? The only “special requests” I make on a regular basis are; leaving _raw_ onions off burgers or out of salads (often I don’t even do that, I’ll just pick them off), asking for a side of ranch dressing with fries, and subsituting something else for mashed potatoes. I’m not counting situtations where I get a choice of sides on the menu as special requests. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690/40 "2010-04-20T05:26:10Z")
Never, I even ask for my meat to be done “chef’s taste”. I did return a fish dish once because it was drier than my shoes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-high-maintenance-in-restaurants/536690.md?page=3)