Weird. Am I the only person to send food back because it’s overdone? I like my steaks and prime rib to be medium to medium rare, I order medium rare, and occasionally what comes out is well done. Which I send back because as far as I’m concerned, well-done means it’s lost all its flavour and is chewy, to boot.
I prefer my steak medium, but I can enjoy a steak anywhere between medium-rare and medium-well. So, when I’m at a restaurant, I’ll order it “medium,” and I’ll be happy if it’s close to that. So, I’ve rarely had to send a steak back, with the following exception.
There was a chain steak restaurant which my wife and I used to frequent (Lone Star), and we always had a good experience there. About a decade ago, we went there for dinner, and when our entrees came out, the server asked us to cut into the steaks, to make sure that they were how we wanted them. My steak was well-done, and when I pointed this out to the server, she apologized, said that they would make me a new steak immediately, and took the overdone steak away.
I picked at my side dishes while my wife ate her steak; it took at least 15 minutes for them to bring me a new steak (which tells me that, rather than “expedite” the rework on my order, they put my steak at the back of the line). The manager finally brought it out, I cut into it…and it was barely cooked, even beyond “rare.” I said, “I’m sorry, but this is still not right,” they apologized profusely, and took it away again. Another five-plus minutes passed, before the same steak came back out, a little closer to medium-rare (but still quite rare). I ate it (because I was tired of waiting at that point), but it wasn’t how I wanted it.
We were willing to chalk it up to a bad night in the kitchen, and a month or two later, we came back to the restaurant…and I had the exact same thing occur. First steak was well done, second steak took forever to come out, and it was super-rare. We never went back to the place after that, and a few years later, the location closed; I suspected that the location’s manager or franchisee drove it into the ground.
I like my steak on the medium-rare side of rare, or totally raw as tartare. But I only eat steak at 1) a very high-end steakhouse that knows me, like Delmonico or CUT, or 2) grilled myself on my grill. I haven’t had to send a piece of meat back in decades.
In any case, I’m sure the only cook who would give me any shit about it would be in Instance #2.
I don’t think I’ve ever sent a steak back, but, after one bad experience, I always say something like “on the rare side of medium rare” to make sure it doesn’t get overdone. Nothing wrong with sending a steak back to be heated up a little more, but I’d feel a little guilty sending back an overdone steak. For me, getting medium when I wanted medium rare is already a disappointment, but rare on a medium rare is perfectly fine.
I’m actually not all that likely to get steaks badly overdone – it’s more a problem with hamburgers (I don’t mind thin burgers being cooked well – that I prefer, but once you get to 1/3 pound and up pub sized burgers, I need that meat to be medium rare in there to enjoy it.) I’ve never sent one back, but I’ve had a friend send back his well done burger when he ordered medium rare (and it wasn’t even close to being medium rare – it was brown/gray all the way through.) I personally would just eat it with a bit of disappointment, but he did get a nice medium-rare burger on the second try.
See, this is why I don’t order pub burgers much. I loathe underdone burgers. If the patty is so thick that there are doneness levels, I don’t want it unless it is gray through and through. I might allow a little pale pink in the middle, but the rest of the burger better make it worth it. With ground/chopped meat it’s either raw or cooked, dammit!
I always order my steaks rare. If they come out that way, great! If not, then at least they tend not to be too overcooked.
I wouldn’t know, as I always order something in the very rare to medium rare spectrum, depending on the place and the cut and my mood. I have never had a steak served to me that was too underdone for my tastes, but it’s fairly common for me to be served an overdone steak. And that’s the only reason I’ve ever sent a steak back.
(I rarely order steak at restaurants, but have returned over-cooked steaks a couple of times, despite that. So I think it’s a fairly common problem.)
Sure, I prefer that one medium rare, but if it comes out well-done cardboard, I cover it in egg yolk and choke it down. But it my order was “steak” I want to be able to enjoy the steak part of the meal.
Nope.
I agree with those who noted that if you return a steak you will wait a LONG time. Once, I had the second one come back over-cooked, too. And I didn’t have time to return it again. I did complain, and I think they knocked a couple bucks off the bill. We were traveling, but if it were a local place I would surely not have returned.
I want my steak rare and order it rare which means it should be red inside. If it comes back overcooked, it depends on where I’m at. If it’s a cheap joint, I’ll eat it as long as there’s pink inside (I’ve refused steaks that were just grey inside). If it’s an expensive place that should know better, I’ll send it back if there’s no red inside.
Very rarely have I sent one back. But it has happened. I’ve never gotten a burnt steak (i.e. past well done), so I’ve never sent it back for being overdone.
It helps that I never buy the fanciest steaks. It’s all from those chains like the OP mentioned. There’s not some great quality to be lost. To me, the big difference is the way they season them.
Rarely, unless rare. 
One of my favourite Kanins:
Trying to find link about Carl Sagan’s legendary tendency to terrorize waiters if his steak wasn’t right.
Nope, I will do that. I order Medium Rare. I will accept Medium or rare. But not Well.
Now if it is just a cheap breakfast steak, I probably wont send it back.
Pretty much the same. I’ve been known to eat the medium well, especially if it’s a good steak or prime rib and still fairly tender, but well-done is right out.
I tell them I want it still mooing, if it’s brown inside nope not eating it. Like Chefguy, if I’m pay restaurant prices for steak I want it cooked right (or not cooked as the case may be)
I ordered a “tagliata” at an Italian restaurant, not knowing what to expect. It had a nice char and was purple inside. A bit disconcerting with the first bite, but I grew to appreciate it. The next time I tried it there, they overcooked it a tad relative to what I was expecting and the server was willing to take it back, but it was good enough at the time (sometimes who I am dining with makes a difference in how I behave in a restaurant).
I’ve a friend who used to tell the servers to tell the cooks to “scare it with a match.” I’ve seen her eat raw hamburger straight from the package.
“I’ve seen her eat raw hamburger straight from the package.”
Must be immune to E. coli 0157:H7. Or nuts.
Or from Wisconsin. We eat cannibal sandwiches all the time.
Anyway, my wife sometimes drives me nuts in a restaurant. If her steak isn’t just so, if there aren’t enough almond slivers in the green beans, if her wine is 2 degrees too warm or too cold, back it goes.
Like some of you here she must like eating other peoples spit.
I order steaks rare, and will accept medium rare. I once got the wrong steak. I’d ordered rare and got well done, a table adjacent had ordered well done and gotten rare. We had each already touched/cut into our steaks.
For me it was the last straw. Our appetizers took forever and were cold when served. I did not want to wait for another steak. My drinks and meal were comped. Never returned to the place.
Beef Tartare is wonderful, especially in Italy.
When I was in high school, my mom would take my sisters to dance class twice a week and she would leave me something to cook, often a steak.
I didn’t cook the steak, just let it warm up a bit…
Never had a gastro-intestinal upset from any of these meals.
Raw hamburger, unless it was extra lean, doesn’t appeal to me.
I don’t send food back. I heard a story from a guy who worked at The Embers involving an angry cook and retrieving the steak with a mop from under the freezer.