I never have. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t, I just never have.
I would never even consider sending a burger back. Honestly, I consider it a bonus if any burger I order arrives at the temp I ordered it. It doesn’t happen that often! Plus, it’s a burger, not fine dining. I’m over it already.
One of my mother-in-law’s favorite things to do is order steak at a chain restaurant and then complain about it to the waitstaff when it arrives. I love her but Jesus Christ. Do you really expect the high school kid in back to nail your definition of medium-well? It’s not going to happen, Mom. You need to temper your expectations or stick to the never-ending pasta bowl.
If I’m at a high-end steak house, I will order my steak rare. I emphasize to the server that no matter how rare it is, I won’t send it back. I advise the server that I enjoy steak tartare. But, I say, if it’s not rare, but medium rare, or cooked more, then I will send it back.
I sent back food only once. I had ordered a salad and asked them to go very easy on the dressing. The salad they brought me was not only swimming in dressing, but it was obvious it had sat in the dressing for a long time, like maybe an hour. I’m suspicious that they had served it to someone else, it was sent back, and sat in the kitchen for awhile. I sent it back and asked for one with dressing on the side. The waiter complied, but he was surly.
Therefore, when I got the check, I left a meager tip. When we got the credit card statement in the mail (this was 20 years or so ago), the $2 I left had been changed to $12. Crappy restaurant; I’m glad they went out of business shortly thereafter.
I do, all the time. For example, I will (occasionally) get a plain baked sweet potato as a side dish. If I get a potato with butter and/or other toppings, that sucker will go back, waste or not. I’m not especially picky, so if I get a medium-rare steak instead of a rare, I’ll eat it and call it a day. I’m also not rude or mean.
That said, we’ve all eaten with someone who orders a sandwich like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. (No, not that scene. All the others, though. :D) Everything has to be just so or the meal is ruined. I used to go out with a group of friends on Friday nights. We would go to the same diner every week, and the servers knew us and we knew them. Anyway, there was a newcomer to the group who ordered her meal just like that, and when it wasn’t exactly as she wanted, threw it back at the server. The manager of the diner asked her to leave and we never saw her again. She gave off a lot of “not right in the head” vibes, though.
Pretty much the only way I’ll eat a burger that’s bigger than a 1/4 pound (1/4 pounders and thinner are difficult to get rarer than medium because of their thinness.) Many of my friends are the same–it’s not exactly an uncommon way to order a burger. (Here’s a Serious Eats poll. Just over a quarter of the respondents like their burger medium rare or rare. A majority like it medium or rarer.) Never had an issue. I won’t send it back if it’s overcooked, but I always tell the server “if you have to err, err on the side of rare” when I order a medium rare burger and almost always get what I want. Some of my friends do send it back if it’s overdone, and they’ve never had an issue with it getting remade.
“Extremely” risky is a rather fuzzy description. Given the number of people who enjoy rare burgers on a regular basis without falling ill, I’d say the probability of infection is extremely low.
OTOH, if your particular burger happens to be carrying E. coli O157:H7, you can die.
Only once that I can think of and it only really half-counts. My entree came out covered in some Cajun spices and was near inedible to me. When the server came around, I asked to see the menu again just to see if I missed it in the menu description. Turns out I messed up my own order (I was between two items and asked for the wrong one) and the server insisted on taking it back and bringing me the other dish. I was already using a Groupon and felt sort of apologetic about the whole ordeal although no one in the restaurant seemed to mind. Left a nice tip, anyway.
Beyond that I can almost always eat something and, if it’s poorly cooked, it’s just a matter of not returning any time soon.
Once, at a chain burger place, I sucked up a shard of glass through my straw and needed a new drink. Does that count? Luckily, I felt it and didn’t swallow it or get cut. I assume a glass broke in the dishwasher or something and a piece made its way into my glass. Management was very apologetic and comped our meal. I wasn’t looking for anything out of it, just a “Hey, you might wanna know…” sort of thing.
No, although I am not a picky eater and I tend to avoid the dishes that have things I don’t like so that I don’t have to specialize my order. If you just order straight off the menu, they almost never screw it up.
I went to Chilis, ordered my ribeye medium rare, and what came back was liek this, but also grey an unappetizing. I said “This isnt medium rare” and the waitress took one look and said "Yes, the cook must have forgotten it, I’ll bring you another. "
I am not super picky, if I order a steak medium rare and it’s medium, well OK. But this was well done.
I order cheeseburger, no onion, and if there’s onion but it can easily be picked off, not problem.
But if it’s really bad, yes.
So dont be picky, but dont let them ruin your meal either.
It’s been a while since I’ve had to send food back. I’m pretty picky and there is no way I’m eating, much less paying for, something I don’t like. If I need to ask for more than one modification in the preparation I’ll just order something else. But if I ask for “no cheese” and it it arrives avec fromage it’s going back. I’m never rude about it -not because I’m afraid they’ll do something to it but because there’s no reason to be a jerk- but I don’t think it’s the least bit unreasonable to expect to get what I requested. I think the last thing I sent back was bowl of spaghetti that had cheese sprinkled on it. The menu didn’t say it came that way and to me , putting cheese on it is personal preference that one does at the table if so desired, not the default. The time before that it was pancake that came with butter on top. On that one I just took the top one off and set it to the side. When the waitress came by she saw it and brought me a fresh order. She got an excellent tip.
If the food is close enough to what I wanted I’ll stick with it. I’m not going to send back a steak I ordered medium rare because it came medium.
I have no issues sending back something clearly wrong and giving the restaurant a chance to make it right.
I do not much like the gun shy responce many managers have developed which is to automatically reduce the bill. I just want what I ordered I’m not looking for a discount. If you can correct the issue in a timely manner Im happy to pay for it. I really don’t like people who complain with the goal of recieving discounts, so if a manager discounts my bill I feel I’m being catagorized with ‘those people’
This is why I won’t complain about something dreadfully wrong unless already paid for, and would never send anything back. It feels embarrassing. I can’t say that’s a logical response, but that’s the was it is. Nobody wants to be seen as the complainer.
I did, just last night. I was at a counter service restaurant (Zoes Kitchen, for those who know it) with my wife. The wait for our food was very long - not just us though, everyone was having to wait. We ate then I went back to the counter to get a to-go order for my daughter. Another long wait and then when I checked the order it was completely wrong. I took it back to the counter, explained the issue and sat down to wait again. The manager went to the register, typed something in then came over to me with a $15 gift card. It was completely unsolicited and more than covered the to-go order cost. Yeah, we’ll go back. Every establishment has bad days, it’s how they handle it that counts for me.
Did you know that Cheesecake factory has you wait on purpose? It’s a marketing tool, the owner said long lines make his restaurants look desirable and exclusive. :mad:
I once sent a dish back at a very nice restaurant in Ojai. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, I just happened not to like it. I was actually embarrassed to tell them, but my sister told the waiter and they made me something else and were very kind about it.
My brother-in-law (husband of that sister) worked for a good restaurant for years, and he said that there’d be no spitting or whatever in someone’s food, even if they were rude. They were used to it. What they were more concerned about was someone sending back the food after eating most of it. That’s the real reason why they’d ask customers if they were enjoying their meal.
I had not heard that, but it would not surprise me. Waffle House is just the opposite, keeping it’s restaurants cold in order to increase table turnover (or so I’ve heard). In the case I mentioned before, though, it was clearly a problem in the kitchen. Order taking and seating were fast, the food ( a couple of salads) took 20 minutes to come out.
Luckily, I felt it and didn’t swallow it or get cut. I assume a glass broke in the dishwasher or something and a piece made its way into my glass. Management was very apologetic and comped our meal. I wasn’t looking for anything out of it, just a “Hey, you might wanna know…” sort of thing.