Pretty low. If drinks are 2-for-1 and I have something on the rocks, I ask if they can hold off on the second for a while so it doesn’t become watered down while I am on the first. I am medium maintenance on where we sit, though. Don’t want the one table stuck as an after-thought in the hallway, don’t want the table under the AC vent that is blowing frigid air down on my steak. I have also been known to ask very nicely if they can turn the AC to a warmer temp (other diners, huddled and shivering in their jackets, thank me–the wait staff is hot since they are running around, but why is the thermostat set for them while the customers freeze?).
Honest question: May I ask why you don’t eat pork? I’ve read this a few times on the internet, and I’ve never quite understood it. The only thing I can think of to explain it is that there is some subdivision of Judaism that advocates for “reasonable effort” kosher-keeping, but I’m not aware of which group that would be.
Is my guess correct?
I do send back wrong orders; and make a quiet fuss when my orders are forgotten.
The most demanding request I made is to minimum wages cashiers at KFC - “Can I have a three pieces chicken meal - two spicy, one original. Cheese fries instead of mash potatoes, and may I have Mountain Dew instead of coke?”
I checked “virtually every time”. I’m not a total PITA, but I do like peppers and onions in my home fries, and so forth. I’m generally adding something, which usually costs a little extra, not completely changing the recipe.
My grandmother, on the other hand, is a real piece of work. She’s a chronic dieter/health freak who asks about virtually every dish on the menu in terms of what’s in it, how it’s prepared, and so forth, then she asks for all kinds of substitutions, some reasonable, some not, and she’ll send it back if it’s not to her specifications. I went out with her once, and the server ended up asking the manager to wait on us because she was being so difficult. She’s not rude or nasty, she’s just very, very demanding of the server’s and kitchen’s time. In fact, there are a relatively small number of restaurants she’ll patronize because they know her and her quirks. (In her defense, she knows she’s being difficult and she does tip very well. She’s just very, very picky in terms of what she’ll eat.)
In my defense, it is mainly to not use mushrooms/drench it in mushroom gravy or to put the salad dressing or sauce on the side.
I am one of those wierdos that actually likes rather plain steamed veggies =) and am unfortunately allergic to shrooms. If it is a tossed salad I will also ask to eliminate bell peppers.
Though I will ask for certain ‘home cooking’ dishes in a chinese place we go to because they make it off menu for other people too [stirfried duck hearts num!]
I always had dreamed of eating at the Moosewood, and I am not even a vegetarian, and I got taken there for my birthday a couple years ago [and there were a couple of people in the party who whinged about no meat …:eek:]
next year, demand to be taken to your local moosewood goal.
I used to work with a guy that refused to eat pork that was neither Jewish nor Muslim. He simply felt that pigs were dirty animals and not suitable for eating.
He obviously does not understand how filthy chickens actually are.
I also asked my “I don’t eat pork” question on another board, and apparently they took my question poorly. I want to clarify that I know Jews and Muslims don’t eat pork, but I didn’t know that there were sizable groups of Jews who simply “don’t eat pork”, but have no problem eating from a kitchen where bacon is being put on everything, and not keeping strictly “separate pans” kosher. I certainly didn’t mean any offense by it, it was an honest question asked out of naivete.
Ignorance fought.
Almost all the time, but a lot of the things I ask for are standard at this point, such as dressing on the side or cream cheese (for a bagel) on the side. I very rarely ask for an item to be literally prepared differently, and I only ever do that at a place where 1) I know his high end enough to respect and not blink my request or 2) that I frequent enough to know it won’t be a problem. An example of the second would be requesting my buckwheat pancakes have a few chocolate chips in them 
The only times I’ll send something back is if it’s horribly burnt (only happened once IIRC) and if it’s got olives on it (when I’ve specifically requested them not to be). Olives are the only food that makes my stomach churn; everything else I’ll let slide. But will make a note of it when I’m tipping, obviously. I have had waiters/waitresses put down my food and say “dammit, they put the olives on. Back it goes”. In that case, they get a much bigger tip for being on the ball.
The last time I sent food back (due to steak being terribly overcooked,) the server was perfectly pleasant about it, but she seriously dropped the ball: All I needed was a re-cooked steak. She could have left my bread and sweet potato. That way, my husband could have eaten his food without feeling rude (since I had something to eat.) Instead, he waited for me to have my own food, and his grew cold while I waited. (And really, it should have only taken about 2 minutes to bring me a new steak: 30 seconds for each transit to/from the kitchen, and a minute on the grill. I really mean “rare” when I say “rare.”) Serving tables requires a tiny bit of common sense!
Yes, but only because I’m trying to lose weight. I try to be as accurate as possible about calorie counting, so I will ask for no sauce, dressing on the side, items to be grilled instead of fried, etc.
Missed the edit:
I am this way too - who wants to sit by the heater or the a/c unit, or right next to the damn kitchen? There’s this one great restaurant that the SO and I celebrated at when we got job offers on the same day last month. It was nice and warm - maybe 70 out, and we sat at the back of the tiny restaurant, but still within “blowing” distance of the opening and closing door. Within minutes it was obvious that this it is a place we’ll never go to when it’s cold or raining etc outside, because they don’t have a tiny walkway or vestibule - 40% of the tables are within “blowing” distance, and at a place that requires a reservation at least 3 days in advance, there’s too great of a chance you’ll be at an unlucky table.
I’m not one to make a lot of substitutions, but I’m not afraid to voice my displeasure at something gone wrong. It’s not like I send things back per se, but if the server/manager offers to replace or comp it, I’ll take advantage of it. On the other hand, I tip well on the high side, starting at 20% of the full value of my meal. If they go out of their way to accommodate me, I’ll happily add more to the tip.
Once I got a pair of thick pork chops that were REALLY tough. They were still moist inside, so they weren’t overcooked, but they were very hard to chew. I mentioned it to the server, and the manager came over and noted that the meat was pretty lean. They were in a bad position, as the only way to make it palatable would have been to serve it medium rare (and I’d be happy eating it that way), but most clients wouldn’t consider it. They comped it, but I was so impressed with how honest and accommodating they were that I tacked the whole price of the chops back onto the tip.
This was an upscale Italian place, so I didn’t feel horribly bad about it, but it’s not something I do everywhere.
I’m the same way. I don’t think of myself as a picky eater (I don’t think I have ever sent anything back to the kitchen), but I will occasionally order something that usually has meat without the meat and then verify it with the waiter, and when I go for Thai food, I’ll ask for my food to be cooked without the fish oil traditionally used.
I don’t think I am high-maintenance…
I will ask for my salad dressing on the side, and ask for salad in place of French Fries.
I have only ever sent one plate back… it was stone-cold!
Just to note, you might have confused or will confuse more than one or two waiters or waitresses with this request as I know of no traditional “fish oil” used in Thai cooking. They do however use a lot of fish sauce also called nam pla in Thai, which is what I’m sure you mean. But chances are that you are confusing some hosts unnecessarily where there might already be an inherent language barrier. And I might also suggest that because of your misunderstood request, that you might have gotten the fish sauce in your dish anyways and actually liked it, as it is delicious and has a decidedly non-fishy taste as a component in a stirfry/noodles/curry etc.
It is not.
I started with veal, then proceeded to lamb, and am now not eating pork. Beef is next–I’ve almost achieved that.
The true reason is that pigs are intelligent animals and are terrified and suffer before they are killed for food. I don’t want any part of that.
And just to make it clear, my reasons for not eating pork have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with loving animals and not wanting to be part of their suffering. Period.
If only there were a sanctimonious smiley…
Okay, I deserved that. After I posted it I thought “Does that sound sanctimonious?” and then got distracted because I was at work, so . . . the bottom line is, I can’t stand to think of an animal suffering. 