# Has a bad experience stopped you from eating at a certain restaurant ever again? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343 "2012-07-15T21:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/61 "2012-07-20T22:59:51Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Not in the middle of a game session with 6-7 other people over at my house. Obviously it’s your money and your choice, but for anything over 5 bucks or so, if I was within a 5 minute trip to a restaurant, store, or another business establishment that has ripped me off, I would damn sure go back and call them on it, demanding (politely but firmly) to have them make it right via refund or replacement, preferably both… Again, if it’s something that only cost a dollar or two, or the place is 50 miles away, I would either just let it slide or call them up and try to have them give me credit on a future visit, but for me, a place only 4 blocks away (especially one that I patronized regularly) that took me for something to the tune of $20 (or more) would be getting a quick, businesslike visit from me, resulting in a full refund, company or no. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/62 "2012-07-21T00:19:22Z")
The _City Cafe_ here in my little Southern [del]hellhole[/del] hometown. Serious food poisoning, that required hospitalization. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/63 "2012-07-23T13:01:59Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > This girl had on some plastic gloves for food service use … usually a good sign. However, she clearly thought she was wearing them to protect her precious hands from the grime of her job, and not to protect my food from that grime. I hate that. > [@StusBlues](#): > > In pouring said room temperature syrup, I noticed that the pancakes themselves had been served on a plate almost exactly the same diameter as the pancakes themselves, giving my syrup nowhere to run but onto the table. Ate at IHOP yesterday, and noticed the same thing. Okay, the plate was slightly bigger, but not by much. > [@limegreen](#): > > Another vote for Outback. I’ve been there twice, and although the food was not bad, everything was seasoned with pepper. Lots of pepper. I have some intestinal issues, and try to avoid spicy food. But Caesar salad should not be covered in pepper. Yes, I noticed that about Outback. They put pepper in their ranch dressing, pepper in their Caesar salad. Can I get a salad without pepper? No. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/64 "2012-07-23T15:34:12Z")
I went for breakfast once at a restaurant that I hadn’t been to for many years. I’m vegetarian, mentioned it to the server, yet found a big chunk of bacon in my homefries. I guess the bacon and homefries are cooked on the same grill with no cleaning in-between. Not going back. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/65 "2012-07-23T17:45:59Z")
[Yes.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613720) ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/66 "2012-07-23T18:40:35Z")
I remembered another one. I was at a local Thai place with some co-workers, and I had a fierce craving for duck with gingery sauce on top of salad. They served exactly that. Frabjous day! I ordered it. I’d scarfed down about 2/3s of it before I found, underneath it all… a used bandaid. Curled up, obviously come off of someone’s finger. We all got our meals comped. Haven’t been back since. Refused to meet my (now husband) there for a first date. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/67 "2012-07-23T18:43:53Z")
There’s a very popular steakhouse in this town called the Texas Cattle Company. I know why it’s popular as their steaks are pretty good, but their service is just fucking horrible. I was at a birthday party there with a group of friends. We arrived at about 7, got our table at 7:30 and order. The food doesn’t get there until almost TEN O’CLOCK, and when it does…lo and behold, they forgot my order. Didn’t just leave it in the kitchen, they forgot to put it in. So, it’s 10PM and they haven’t even started on my steak yet. They half-heartedly offered to make me the steak, but I declined. The salad and bread was probably healthier anyway. So, I don’t go back there until several years later when one of my wife’s relatives wants to go there for their birthday (it’s popular with birthday people because you get a free small steak on your birthday). I go with them, against my better judgement. We get there a bit before 7, don’t get seated until an HOUR later, and the food doesn’t come out till ten. Again. At least this time they didn’t forget my order. I haven’t been back since. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/68 "2012-07-23T19:35:11Z")
My two are purely service-related: I got the munchies after 10:00 one weeknight a couple years ago, so I drove the couple blocks to the Jack in the Box (my favorite fast food spot, and I’m still a regular there). However, since all of my previous visits had been in the afternoon I’d never paid attention to what time they closed, and unfortunately they had closed a few minutes before I got there. Oh well, I’ll hit McDonald’s. Let’s just say that, having almost three decades of foodservice experience, I couldn’t think of any conceivable reason why it should have taken 20 minutes to get a Quarter-Pounder with Cheese. I’ve refused to patronize the place since. The other was at a local bar. Apparently I, being in my 40s, didn’t fit the desired demographic of this place. Because I sat down at the bar with my money in hand, and despite the place being dead slow, I sat there for 15 minutes without anybody so much as acknowledging my presence. The _owner herself_ was standing 20 feet away chatting with a handful of young hipsters, and occasionally glanced in my direction, but never asked if I wanted anything or even said a word to me. I put my money away and left, and didn’t go back. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/69 "2012-07-23T20:30:18Z")
Well, I guess you know why the bar was dead slow. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/70 "2012-07-23T20:57:24Z")
Does Chick-Fil-A count? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/71 "2012-07-23T20:58:28Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Well, I guess you know why the bar was dead slow. It’s closed now 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/72 "2012-07-23T21:00:54Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I would have given it right back to them if I thought to look in the box when I picked it up, but I took it home and decided I was done with them. I will give credit to the Pizza Hut here in town because they actually open the box and ask you if it looks all right before they charge you and let you take it. They suck at keeping their buffet full at lunch hour though. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/73 "2012-07-23T21:05:23Z")
I used to order take out from a local Chinese place…the food was always good. Then one day I looked at my soup-there was a dead yellowjacket wasp floating on the surface. Never went back. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/74 "2012-07-23T21:11:20Z")
Prior to my giving up on Friendly’s, way back in the early 90’s, I was served a burger with a bee. I went to take the tomato out, and the bee flopped out onto my plate, stunned but still moving. I figure, bees aren’t exactly roaches, so I cut them some slack once they comped the meal. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/75 "2012-07-24T04:11:02Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > Another vote for Outback. I’ve been there twice, and although the food was not bad, everything was seasoned with pepper. Lots of pepper. I have some intestinal issues, and try to avoid spicy food. But Caesar salad should not be covered in pepper. Even my husband, who likes spicy food, was taken aback by the amount of pepper in his food. Their “lightly seasoned” ribeye was practically inedible. No more. Haven’t been to Outback in over a decade. I gave them a few chances. I stopped because they put absolutely NO seasoning on my steak. And their idea of what medium rare is supposed to be is absolutely ridiculous. (Way too rare) Also, recycled bread. 'nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/76 "2012-07-24T04:22:08Z")
I have a friend with either extremely bad luck at restaurants… or extremely thin skin. And, thanks to his zero-tolerance policy, he’s now down to three places he can grab a bite to eat in our town. I may be too prone to give a place a second chance, but at least I have more choices when I go out. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2012, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/77 "2012-07-24T11:03:28Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I went for breakfast once at a restaurant that I hadn’t been to for many years. I’m vegetarian, mentioned it to the server, yet found a big chunk of bacon in my homefries. I guess the bacon and homefries are cooked on the same grill with no cleaning in-between. Not going back. IANAV, but I’m kinda surprised by this. Seriously? You expected them to scour the grill? (Might just be me, but I don’t think hey did much wrong here) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/78 "2012-07-24T11:24:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > IANAV, but I’m kinda surprised by this. Seriously? You expected them to scour the grill? > > (Might just be me, but I don’t think hey did much wrong here) They could have been bothered to scrape any food left lying on the grill to the side/off so it didn’t cook in with the next batch of food. Who wants overcooked bits of the previous dish cooked in with their food? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/79 "2012-07-24T12:07:49Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > They could have been bothered to scrape any food left lying on the grill to the side/off so it didn’t cook in with the next batch of food. Who wants overcooked bits of the previous dish cooked in with their food? OK. YMMV, but I thought that was part of the appeal to diner home fries. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343/80 "2012-07-24T14:53:31Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > They could have been bothered to scrape any food left lying on the grill to the side/off so it didn’t cook in with the next batch of food. Who wants overcooked bits of the previous dish cooked in with their food? And once again, some people don’t realize that, no matter what the sign out front says, restaurant cooking is _not_ “home cooking”. While the above quote is entirely correct (and I do agree with it), the simple fact is that a restaurant _is not cooking one dish at a time_. Unless you are the only customer in the restaurant, there are going to be other, _different_, orders sharing the grill with yours, and accidents happen. The appropriate action when something like this happens is to summon your server, explain the problem, and ask for a replacement. If the restaurant refuses to replace the food, or if this happens over and over, _then_ it’s reasonable to say “I’m not coming back here”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-bad-experience-stopped-you-from-eating-at-a-certain-restaurant-ever-again/628343.md?page=5)