# Do you send food back? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509 "2016-08-12T00:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/21 "2016-08-12T07:25:20Z")
Only once. Cook had slipped with the olive oil bottle and the dish was covered in half an inch of olive oil. The waiter agreed with me. Still, it took them so long to remake it that my date was ruined. It’s not a date when dinner lasts twice as long and my dinner arrived only after my date had finished his food. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/22 "2016-08-12T07:35:49Z")
Not normally. I typically just don’t go back. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/23 "2016-08-12T09:10:52Z")
Absolutely I’ll send food back. Especially when I order my steak rare and receive it well done. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/24 "2016-08-12T11:24:40Z")
I’ve never sent anything back. We eat out a couple times a week, mostly “nicer” type places. If I’m not happy with the meal we just don’t go back. There are always new places we’d like to try, so we just find somewhere else to put into our rotation. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/25 "2016-08-12T11:56:21Z")
I can only remember doing it once (that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened more often). It was a chain restaurant my husband favors and I ordered a bowl of chili. It arrived warm on the outside and ice cold in the middle. I sent it back. It took them until my husband was finished to warm it up. Our next visit I ordered a bowl of chowder which was nice and hot but had the plastic insert from a jug of milk floating in it. I didn’t send that back (although I did point it out to the waiter) because I was nearly finished when I discovered it. My husband eats there now when I’m not with him. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/26 "2016-08-12T12:11:32Z")
Mrs. J. and I seldom encounter beef that is requested to be medium well and comes back semi-raw and oozing blood and serum. A polite request for longer cooking works nicely. And no one to my knowledge has tampered with my food or [spiked my drink](http://www.grubstreet.com/2016/08/subway-worker-allegedly-spiked-cops-drink-with-narcotics.html). ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/27 "2016-08-12T12:20:04Z")
Depending on what the waitress wrote/entered into the system, it’s very possible the cook interpreted it the same way you’d cook a black and blue steak. I’d definitely think that if you were talking steak and not hamburger. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/28 "2016-08-12T12:46:07Z")
Never sent anything back, but one time a waitress took a plate away from me with out asking. I ordered red beans and rice. The menu did not indicate that the dish would be topped with chives. I fucking hate chives! Anyway, the waitress saw me trying to rake all the chives off with my fork. That’s when she grabbed my plate and said: “Nope! We don’t do the here.” About two minutes later she came back with a plate sans the chives. She got a very nice tip that day. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/29 "2016-08-12T13:05:05Z")
Like **Trinopus** , I just don’t have many problems with food! However, I have worked in food service, and never saw anyone who had a problem with fixing an incorrect order, _especially_ if the customer was civil about it. > [@russian\_heel](#): > > As for angry cooks, at another restaurant my wife was served a buffalo chicken patty sandwich with MOLD on the bread. She sent it back, and the cook stormed out of the restaurant. After he came back mp;;;;;[pkky wife refused any more food because she didn’t want him spitting in our food. Okay, now that dude was just crazy. Your wife was right. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/30 "2016-08-12T13:11:14Z")
Not often, but I have sent stuff back. I asked for my steak rare. I like it very rare, but this steak came seared on both sides but still cold (and raw) in the middle. So I asked for a little more time on the grill for it. Just the other night, out for dinner and a pitcher of beer with my honey and I ordered a burger with fries. The burger was fine, but the fries were cold - like they’d been out of the deep fryer for a good long time cold. So I sent them back. The server was, to me, surprisingly unconcerned about it, and just brought me a new plate of fries. If I’m paying for a meal, and this place is not cheap, I expect it to be edible. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/31 "2016-08-12T13:16:49Z")
Sure I’ll send it back. But it has to be really wrong. A steak leaning towards medium instead of medium rare I’ll eat. Hot wings that are pink and cold inside, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/32 "2016-08-12T13:27:10Z")
I would rather take one bite and be forced to spit it out, paying whilst leaving hungry, than actually ask someone to take it back. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/33 "2016-08-12T13:36:12Z")
Rarely, but I’ve sent back an overcooked steak once at “The Keg” (Ontario mid-/high-end chain). Like **WhyNot** , I want my steak to moo, and The Keg isn’t cheap. The manager actually offered to comp the steak (having replaced the overcooked one). I refused but suggested that since it was my birthday, a much cheaper dessert might be acceptable. I wouldn’t even have asked for that, but the manager was just so, so insistent on comping the steak. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/34 "2016-08-12T13:46:57Z")
I can’t recall ever sending anything back. In fact I only started eating meat medium rare by not sending back a steak I had ordered as medium. I was in a hurry and thought, “How bad can it be?” I never ordered medium again. Twice I have been out in large work groups for lunch and have received a meal that I didn’t order. It’s only one meal so I just ate what they had mistakenly prepared for me. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/35 "2016-08-12T13:52:48Z")
I regret not sending back food from a local cafe/restaurant that I suspected earlier of using leftovers from previous customers to make “new” meals. My suspicion started when I bit a lemon wedge from my glass of coke and realized it was soaked in alcohol (gin probably). Afterwards there was no doubt in my mind once I bit into a sandwich and felt in my mouth what turned out to be a used (_dirty_), broken toothpick amongst the tomato slices. I was in the company of friends and coworkers and felt like it wasn’t the place to start drama. I did, however, give some harsh words to the waiter afterwards one on one (although I directed my comments to the “chef”)… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/36 "2016-08-12T14:18:20Z")
When I went to Denver a couple of years ago, I was, um, ‘having fun’ and decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant. Ordered the Chicken Tikki Masala. It came to my table and parts of it were still frozen. :eek: Yeah, of course I sent it back. Probably the only time I’ve done that in the last 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/37 "2016-08-12T14:28:08Z")
I don’t recall ever sending something back, but not out of fear the cooks will retaliate. I would if necessary. The most common screwup is putting mayo or ketchup on my cheeseburger despite very clear requests to the contrary. I just scrape it off the bun, but I’m not happy about it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/38 "2016-08-12T14:54:15Z")
Almost never. But I have for other people. My mom likes things well done. If they come too rare, I’ll send it back to just get done a bit more. It’s not a big deal and I can’t imagine any cook retaliating. He just sticks it on the grill or under the salamander or whatever for a bit and replates it. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/39 "2016-08-12T15:00:14Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Went out to eat tonight. Ordered a burger. Like always, I order it plain, no cheese and to burn the burger. As almost always the waitress then asks “Well done?” and I say “Yes Burn it”. Of course it comes back bright red inside. I then cancel my order and go to Burger King. I never send food back to be redone. I’ve talked to too many people who were in the business who’ve told me that the cooks don’t like it when food comes back, no matter the reason, and either spit on it or worse. So my questions are do you feel safe sending food back and if you’ve been in the food service business, how often does “soiling” the food happen? I worked as a waiter for a number of years and never witnessed food being tampered with. Besides, your situation was unlikely to even make anyone angry. Undercooked is easily fixable. Just throw it back on the grill for a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509/40 "2016-08-12T15:06:49Z")
In my experience, the sort of thing that brought out rage among kitchen staff was coming in 5 minutes before closing and ordering well-done steaks. But they still wouldn’t tamper with your food. Just curse. BTW…why is this in the Pit? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-send-food-back/762509.md?page=3)