# Incredibly bad and weird experiences at restaurants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 30, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040 "2015-09-30T14:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/321 "2015-10-06T19:48:27Z")
> [@yawuntz](#): > > Nothing earth-shaking, but it was pretty funny at the time. I’m drinking, my friend is not drinking (much) just driving. We stop at a restaurant, grab a booth and order. I ask my friend, “whaddya havin’, beer, wine?” He says no, he doesn’t need anything, he’s driving, etc. Ok so I get up and go to the can, come back and sit in the wrong booth. Guy there’s got a bottle of wine in front of him. I grab the bottle and hold it up and say, “What the fuck’s this? I thought you weren’t drinkin’!” Then I look at the dude, I’ve never seen him before in my life, and my friend is killing himself laughing in the next booth. I’ll never forget the poor guy whose wine I grabbed…he had this totally _guilty_, caught-in-the-act look on his face. Oh my god, this made me laugh so hard. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/322 "2015-10-06T19:56:57Z")
> [@yawuntz](#): > > Nothing earth-shaking, but it was pretty funny at the time. I’m drinking, my friend is not drinking (much) just driving. We stop at a restaurant, grab a booth and order. I ask my friend, “whaddya havin’, beer, wine?” He says no, he doesn’t need anything, he’s driving, etc. Ok so I get up and go to the can, come back and sit in the wrong booth. Guy there’s got a bottle of wine in front of him. I grab the bottle and hold it up and say, “What the fuck’s this? I thought you weren’t drinkin’!” Then I look at the dude, I’ve never seen him before in my life, and my friend is killing himself laughing in the next booth. I’ll never forget the poor guy whose wine I grabbed…he had this totally _guilty_, caught-in-the-act look on his face. This was a good one. I remember a milder incident that happened to my brother-in-law. He had paid the check, and tossed down the little black book they always give you with the check. But the table and the book was just the right amount of slipperiness, and the book slid right off the table, onto the floor…right to the waitress’ feet. It looked so condescending and stuck-up on the part of my brother-in-law and he couldn’t even really explain himself. I mean, he apologized but the waitress was still all :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/323 "2015-10-06T20:10:15Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Speaking of Denny’s, don’t ever, ever, ever go into the one you first reach in Santa Cruz, coming in from Highway 17. > > We stopped there once, like every famished family who’s been on that slow, hilly road too long, and discovered it’s a total hellhole. The manager at the time was a fat, redfaced asshole of about 30 who apparently had the whole staff terrified for their lives. We were seated and the very young waitress kept whispering, “Sorry!” as she rushed past us, trying to service about fifteen tables. She got yelled at by FatRedBoy every time she came near the kitchen. After about forty minutes, still with nothing but water on the table and two hungry kids (not to mention hungry mom and dad) FRB yelled at her from nearby. I turned and in a very clear voice said something like, “You know, she’s running her ass off here, and I think that if you yell at her one more time I am going to find a way to make you regret it.” > > FRB went _ballistic_. Screaming, raging, literally stomping at me. Three or four tables of people scuttled out, probably without paying. I scooped up my toddler daughter and headed out, probably as close to something leading to cops, handcuffs and headlines as I’ve ever been in my life, and stormed out. The closer on the door was shot, so when I shoved it open, it slammed hard against the (long glass) front of the building and made this tremendous, glassy-toned gunshot sound. > > FRB followed me out, volume turned up and pitched about an octave higher, still screaming and raging about what he’d do to me if I broke his restaurant. **ducati**! ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/324 "2015-10-06T20:11:58Z")
My son used to work at the overnight shift at Steak 'n Shake. Oh, the stories he could tell… Like the woman who wandered in, drunk with her boyfriend, and sat down right next to the table where her ex-husband and his girlfriend were. The brawl spilled out into the parking lot. Cops were called. Or the guy who promised my son a $100 tip so he could throw pancakes at the wall to see if they’d stick. (He followed through with his promise. Drunk people apparently can tip quite well.) Or the drunk party who was hassling my son, only to be surprised when the cop sitting at a corner booth tapped his shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/325 "2015-10-06T20:26:16Z")
Back in my McDonalds’ days I mostly worked late shift because it was slow and easy and I could be lazy. We’d get the drunks and “others”, who were on something, but for the most part it was quiet. One night a lady, who was an other, came in and ordered a strawberry milkshake. The shift manager lady took her order and made the shake. I was off in the dining area moping up because we were close to closing. I had my back to the counter and I’m not really paying attention but then I hear other lady yell, “I said I wanted strawberry bitch!” I turn around and all I see is the milkshake flying threw the air and it hits shift manager lady right in the chest. Other lady storms out. Manager lady is standing there with the most confused look on her face and shake splattered on her chest and running down her shirt. One of the funniest things I ever saw. I never laughed so hard. Dish washer dude comes out from the back and rounds the corner and asks what happened. Manager lady turns to face him still with the confused look on her face and he lost it too. Then manager lady starts laughing and through her laughing she says, “But it was strawberry.” Then all three of us lost it even harder. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/326 "2015-10-06T20:44:38Z")
Oh! I remember another one. We went to a diner and were seated. All around us were couples. Then a reaaally old couple got seated across from us - I mean like 80+. The woman was berating her husband. I didn’t listen at first, then I had no choice as she was loud. She was berating him about him letting his blood sugar get too low! As soon as they were seated she got up and grabbed the waitress’ arm and demanded that her husband be brought a bowl of low-fat Jello RIGHT NOW because his blood sugar was low and he never paid attention and he didn’t carry any snacks… So this poor waitress had to drop everything she was doing - including taking our orders - and run off and get this poor old henpecked guy his stupid Jello. She brings it back, puts it down, and the poor guy starts eating it. But it’s not over yet! The old lady gets up and waddles around the restaurant, and, I shit you not, apologizes to every other table in the restaurant EXCEPT for us. Did I mention we were the only non-whites in the entire restaurant? She literally apologized to the table on one side of us, waddled past us, and then apologized to the table on the other side. Like we weren’t human or something. Each time it was a long-winded spiel about her husband’s blood sugar. Meanwhile the husband is eating his Jello like it’s his only joy in the world, which it probably was. We’d ordered and eventually we got our food and he was still savoring that freakin Jello, which by the way was all he ate. 1. Carry some fucking snacks for him. 2. Stop expecting the world to revolve around your racist ass. 3. He’s 80 years old! Let him live a little! Let him eat something good! I guess we should have been offended at her clear and obvious racism but the whole thing was so surreal we were snorting with laughter and trying to hide it. Imagine the most whiny old lady voice ever…“my husband gets low blood sugar and he can’t control it and he needs his low fat jello…” ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/327 "2015-10-06T20:46:36Z")
Buca di Beppo, Indianapolis My friend runs a company that sets up at a booth at one of the cities largest conventions. Set up is couple day process and makes for some long days. Part of the company tradition was to have a staff dinner at Bucu di Beppo. This is on a Wednesday before the convention opens, so it’s busier than a normal Wednesday but nowhere near as busy as it will be the next 4 days will be. The party size is normally 8-15 people. We were hesitant about scheduling Buca again because the prior year we’d found the service to be sub par. It’d been a tradition for sever years, so we decided to give them another chance. At noon we made a reservation for a party of 10 at 8pm. We arrived 15 minutes before and were seated at 8pm. about 8:10 we are settled in and wondering where our waiter is. 8:15 waitress finally came by and took our drink orders. She did not seem friendly and came off as irritated. 8:25 we have our drinks and are ready to order both appetizers and the meals 8:50 we get our appetizers fried mozzarella and Mozzarella Caprese. When she was dropping the plates I could smell the fried mozzarella was burnt. At this point no one at the table has received a refill on their drink. She basically throws the plates on the table and disappears without saying anything too us. The mozzarella was definitely overcooked but we were starving by that point so that was the least of our concerns. Our biggest concern was we had no freaking silverware. We manage to eat the fried mozzarella without utensils but the caprese was a bit more challenging, so one of our people goes over to the bussing station and asks a buss boy if he could grab us some silverware. The waitress comes storming out a few minutes later and throws a pile of forks on the table and says ‘you could have asked me!’ and storms off before our shocked table gets a word in. We still didn’t have any knives but we’re adults and managed to cut up the tomatoes with the edge of the forks(two less forks than there were people btw). 9:25 We still hadn’t received refills on drinks. We’d consumed most our ice and were rather thirsty and a bit upset. One of our people goes to the hostess and asks if they can tell our waitress we need her to come by. Afterwords our waitress came into the room again and delivered the bill to the neighboring table, multiple people at our table said ‘excuse me’ to get her attention. She ignored us and left again. She came back and collected the check from that table, again ignoring our cries for attention. 9:45 I’d finally had enough and went to track down the manager. As we are walking back to the table I’m explaining the cliffs notes of the situation, we basically stopped within view of the table, not close enough for the table to hear our conversation but they could see it. The manager I shit you not said ‘I’ll take care of you, I’ll comp the appetizers’ My response being ‘Well I’d hope so, it be ridiculous if you made us pay for burnt appetizers we had to struggle to eat because your restaurant couldn’t even provide silverware but the issue here is service can you do anything to diffuse this situation, clearly our waitress isn’t working out for us perhaps you could assign someone else to the table?’ He said ‘Well it’s her table, I’ll see if I can get someone to help her out’ My body language, I guess showing absolute awe this guy was running the restaurant when clearly he couldn’t manage a McDonalds, triggered my party to get up to leave. I’m still dedicated to resolving this but they’d had enough, at this point our meals start coming out of the kitchen, the manager trying not to make a scene is trying to direct that staff back into the kitchen but failing, he managed to instead direct them to an empty table. So here the guy is with a party of ten getting up to leave his restaurant with hundred of dollars in food already prepared, to me the only correct answer would be ‘sit down, I’ll take care of this, I’ll comp the entire meal and get someone else to help you’ He instead asked 'if he can get our contact information so he can forward the issue to his boss who will call and ‘take care of us’. My friend and I went back with him to his office and he took her contact info. It’s been months and she hasn’t heard from Buca at all. So 10 people 2 hours, no refills on drinks and some burnt food. The group of us starving standing on the sidewalk at 10PM on a Wednesday, thanks Buca de Beppo. ‘well now that everything is closed what the fuck are we supposed to do’ ‘Never go there again…’ Thankfully PF Changs was close by and open till 11. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/328 "2015-10-06T21:14:52Z")
[Adventures with Mac and Cheese](https://youtu.be/ovD178AhhSc) ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/329 "2015-10-06T21:27:06Z")
If they’d already prepared your food, and you were really hungry, why not stay and eat it? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/330 "2015-10-06T21:29:46Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Back in my McDonalds’ days I mostly worked late shift because it was slow and easy and I could be lazy. We’d get the drunks and “others”, who were on something, but for the most part it was quiet. > > One night a lady, who was an other, came in and ordered a strawberry milkshake. The shift manager lady took her order and made the shake. I was off in the dining area moping up because we were close to closing. I had my back to the counter and I’m not really paying attention but then I hear other lady yell, “I said I wanted strawberry bitch!” I turn around and all I see is the milkshake flying threw the air and it hits shift manager lady right in the chest. Other lady storms out. Manager lady is standing there with the most confused look on her face and shake splattered on her chest and running down her shirt. One of the funniest things I ever saw. I never laughed so hard. > > Dish washer dude comes out from the back and rounds the corner and asks what happened. Manager lady turns to face him still with the confused look on her face and he lost it too. Then manager lady starts laughing and through her laughing she says, “But it was strawberry.” Then all three of us lost it even harder. Heh, this “other” lady must have been the wife of the dude I wrote about upthread … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/331 "2015-10-06T21:38:11Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > I’ve done that. > Except, it was a lump of butter, it hit (and stuck on) the ceiling rather than the wall, and it was at a black tie event at an incredibly fancy hotel. It kept us amused at the table for a little while (it was otherwise a really dull award ceremony - the sort of event that can only be survived with copious quantities of wine). > I can’t even blame it on my wild and reckless youth - this was about six months ago. For all I know, the butter’s still there. 😃 Lol, we used to do this in college. The dining hall was a very formal room, with a high ceiling, so it was a challenge to get the butter up there at all, let alone get it to stick. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/332 "2015-10-06T21:46:44Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > If they’d already prepared your food, and you were really hungry, why not stay and eat it? Because the service sucked and they didn’t want to spend their money there. That’s too bad…the few times I’ve eaten at Buca have been wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/333 "2015-10-06T23:16:28Z")
Many years ago, we were at some diner type place in South Lake Tahoe for breakfast. The place was busy but not slammed. Instead of telling us what the day’s specials were, we got the 86 list. They were out of bacon but had sausage links. No biggie there. Having tea but not coffee was venturing into really dangerous territory, but tea has caffeine, right? Nobody could offer any explanation how they were somehow able to offer French toast while curiously unable to serve eggs or toast. The riddle is - what is French toast made of? Bread and eggs… ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/334 "2015-10-06T23:22:41Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The riddle is - what is French toast made of? Bread and eggs… In many restaurants, it’s made from gallon jugs of premixed “dip” (thank you, Sysco!) and that weird, extra-thick, extra-white “texas toast” bread. Neither of which would put a couple of over-easys and toast on your plate. But yeah, simply that they ran out of such basics is bad/odd/questionable. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/335 "2015-10-06T23:27:04Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > If they’d already prepared your food, and you were really hungry, why not stay and eat it? I would have stayed the rest of the party wasn’t having it. We’d been chewing on ice for 2 hours, just because they had food was no garauntee it was done right nor did we know if we’d have anything to wash it down with… Im undecided whether to boycott boca as a whole or just the one in Indianapolis. I do like Boca. Staff dinners will never happen at any location again they lost that companies money for good. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/336 "2015-10-06T23:50:15Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I am the OP of the thread. Do you have any interesting or weird restaurant stories to share? I can’t control your posting but I’d like to ask you to take your argument somewhere else, you’re messing up my thread. Please? I genuinely don’t care about fibs or lies or bad memories. I just want to hear fun stories. As you wish. Thank you for asking. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/337 "2015-10-07T00:10:46Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I must admit that when I was a projectionist I would do everything in my power to get people to leave at the end of the last show, especially if the credits lasted twenty minutes. > > I would start by turning on the house lights. Then I started jacking up the volume to painful levels. Finally, I would turn on the flood lights that the night crew used (those mercury vapor lights that take ten minutes to fully come on). > > I feel a small twinge of guilt at not letting folks enjoy the forty minutes of credits at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that was forty minutes earlier that I could leave. > > It seems that my slow servers are repaying me the karma I deserve from my movie stint 25 years ago. Grrr. My father and I were at a **matinee** and the young man working at the theater came by to ask us if we were waiting for a clip after the credits. No, we’re two of those weirdoes who actually watch the whole movie. Leave us alone!!! If you have to clean, do it but let us watch the movie! ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/338 "2015-10-07T01:20:01Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > I would have stayed the rest of the party wasn’t having it. We’d been chewing on ice for 2 hours, just because they had food was no garauntee it was done right nor did we know if we’d have anything to wash it down with… > > Im undecided whether to boycott boca as a whole or just the one in Indianapolis. I do like Boca. Staff dinners will never happen at any location again they lost that companies money for good. [St. Elmo](http://www.stelmos.com/) ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/339 "2015-10-07T01:25:37Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > [St. Elmo](http://www.stelmos.com/) I eat at St Elmo’s once each time I’m in Indy. They are a bit too expensive to be feeding several employees at. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/340 "2015-10-07T01:31:48Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > I eat at St Elmo’s once each time I’m in Indy. They are a bit too expensive to be feeding several employees at. Harry and Izzy’s is a little cheaper, no? More or less same menu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040.md?page=18)