# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/101 "2015-10-01T20:12:08Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Right, cause people should have to work as late as you want to stay there. Two drinks, an appetizer, soup, salad, main course, dessert and coffee, even if it takes to midnight. > > I’m a store cashier, and people will get on line two minutes before closing, and then have to decide what they want of the items in their cart, and go back for “one more thing” coming back ten minutes later with five items, and don’t see what’s wrong with that. Nah. One soda, no apps, no soup, no salad, no dessert. As I said we were just finishing up at 10pm, so were weren’t campers. I am a very polite person and I would never have gone, in if we weren’t told it was no problem. I could not have enjoyed my meal if I thought we were putting someone out. And only a complete jerk would sit there until midnight. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/102 "2015-10-01T20:13:28Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Many moons ago, I worked as a server in a restaurant, and we would “marry” the old ketchup bottles to make full ones. Some of that ketchup was so old the bottles exploded. > > That’s why I don’t put ketchup on my fries. :eek: Oh god I remember that from my serving days. Never use ketchup in a restaurant from a bottle. Also, think twice about salad dressing. Same concept as ketchup. “Married” over and over and over… ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/103 "2015-10-01T20:16:28Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Nope. When I waited tables there were a couple of regulars who would always show up 5-10 minutes before we closed, leisurely eat dinner, order dessert and coffee, and sit there chatting in the empty restaurant for as long as they felt like it. I (or whoever the closing waiter was) had to hold my breath for the last half hour praying those fuckers didn’t walk in the door. Ever seen _Scanners_? Yeah, you know the scene I mean. If I’d had that ability. Preferably while they were still in the parking lot so I wouldn’t have to clean it up. That’s just completely rude. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/104 "2015-10-01T20:19:03Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I was recently reminded of a family memory when I saw that our Friendly’s has shut down. \ > > My father is very frugal and when I was growing up, we rarely went out to eat. Also, he was very moody and could turn pissy on a dime. We went to Friendly’s and it was busy (and my father hates to wait) and once we were seated we had a harried and perhaps new waitress. I’m not sure we had even ordered yet when here she comes back to our table with a bright pink shake “WHO’S GOT THE FRIBBLE?!” The brght pink and the silly name contrasted nicely with the dark cloud emanating from Pop. > > One of my father’s skills was looking at you like you were a piece of shit who can’t do anything right, and he leveled that at her. And then to hear someone pissed and grouchy having to say such a cartoony word: “No one. No one has the Fribble” became something of a catchphrase. You could call this anecdote “The Trouble With Fribbles” [/Star Trek] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/105 "2015-10-01T20:19:14Z")
See, the managers won’t say anything because the customer is always right, and the server won’t say anything for fear of it affecting the tip. Hence the heavy “hints” of cleaning near the offending party, maybe call outs to someone to take out the garbage, etc. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/106 "2015-10-01T20:29:16Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > Nope. If they expected everyone to be out by 10pm, they would never have told us it was okay to come in at 930pm. I think what happened was they saw a chance to have an early night and wanted to push it just a little bit. > > We still went back to the place many times after that, because the food was so good. They’re closed up now. When I worked in restaurants, the management wanted us ready to walk out the door thirty minutes to an hour (depending on the restaurant) after closing. Every minute after we were officially closed, I made less money per hour as a server because I wasn’t making enough tips to bring that time up to minimum wage. Employees who are in a position where tips supplement their wages earn a pittance of an hourly wage. Only if your receipts are under a dollar value where 8% would bring you up to the federal minimum for the pay period (and the particulars may have changed since I was in the business) does your employer have to make up the difference. If you keep your server, bartender or busperson much past closing, they are losing money unless you tip extravagently. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/107 "2015-10-01T20:32:56Z")
> [@yawuntz](#): > > Love this thread. Reminds me of this place. Never went to it, just drove by. Forewarned is forearmed. 26 out of 26 people hated [This restaurant](http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154942-d762849-Reviews-Pacific_Breeze_Fishermans_Net-Tofino_Clayoquot_Sound_Vancouver_Island_British_Colu.html) in Tofino. This is the funniest series of bad reviews I’ve ever seen. It gets funnier every time I read it. Oh gods, that was funny. 😃 I was in Tofino, but missed seeing this place - if I go back, I’m almost tempted. Reminds me of the most hilariously bad short review I ever read - a hotel in New York. There were tons of long terrible reviews, but the one that got me was a one-sentencer: “There were bums defecating in the lobby”. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/108 "2015-10-01T20:38:23Z")
Bum-lookers! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/109 "2015-10-01T20:42:43Z")
> [@destineal](#): > > My sister and her husband went to a Shoney’s several years ago. My brother-in-law pointed out to the waitress that there was a piece of dried food on his fork. She took the fork, peered at it, scraped off the food with her thumbnail, and handed it back to him. That’s just gross. Here in the UK, [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdzqTGmEcZE) is how restaurants deal with dirty cutlery. 😃 > [@ivylass](#): > > Many moons ago, I worked as a server in a restaurant, and we would “marry” the old ketchup bottles to make full ones. Some of that ketchup was so old the bottles exploded. > > That’s why I don’t put ketchup on my fries. :eek: Yes, I can confirm this. I’ve worked in quite a few food places (including some fairly upmarket ones), and it’s quite common to top up condiments like that. However, I have never, ever seen anyone anywhere actually empty out a condiment bottle to clean it properly. A quick wipe around the top with a damp cloth is usually as good as it gets. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/110 "2015-10-01T21:26:36Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Oh god I remember that from my serving days. Never use ketchup in a restaurant from a bottle. Also, think twice about salad dressing. Same concept as ketchup. “Married” over and over and over… Ha, we had one of [these badboys](http://www.webstaurantstore.com/prince-castle-3-leg-ketchup-saver/62857.html), which somebody had named Oscar long before I started. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/111 "2015-10-01T22:14:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Just out of curiosity: how do you pronounce the highlighted word above? “cabinet” j/k, I’m a flatlander. “frap” ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/112 "2015-10-01T22:21:04Z")
A frappé (frah-pay) is a coffee drink. A frappe (frap) is a New England milkshake. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/113 "2015-10-01T22:26:43Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > SIL and I at an IHOP. Took them 40 minutes to bring a salad and sandwich (no cooking involved). We wanted to order dessert, but the server threw the bill on our table and left, without a mention of “Can I get you anything else?” > > I wrote in the comments section of the bill "The server was extremely slow and very rude "and put it back on the table while digging out cash. The server notices what I’ve written, reads it and says in a very loud voice “I think you are very rude and nasty to say that about me.” > > I spoke to the manager and got us a free meal and some coupons! I went out to dinner with friends one time and had a waiter who was OK but was kind of aggressive or skeevy in some way I can’t remember anymore. So I gave him medium marks on the comment card. And he came back and asking me in a not-so-vaguely threatening tone why I had only given him those marks! Um, Exhibit A right there! ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/114 "2015-10-01T23:03:58Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > A frappé (frah-pay) is a coffee drink. A frappe (frap) is a New England milkshake. In Canada we call them both frap, eh. ---
**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 1, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/115 "2015-10-01T23:11:44Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > In Canada we call them both frap, eh. So what’s the button on the blender, then? ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/116 "2015-10-01T23:17:45Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That’s pretty extreme, but truth is that men still pay and compute the tip, often while the Missus makes that inevitable last-minute run to the powder room. > > But in that vein, add in waitrons who are surly and nearly invisible during the whole meal, then suddenly all smiles and chatty fun when they bring the folder. Just how stupid do they think we are? Or the buffet “server” DH and I had one evening at a normally good Chinese buffet place near us. On this occasion, we had an abnormal amount of difficulty getting drink refills, plates piled up, etc. We even had trouble getting his attention to ask for the check. He did get QUITE attentive, as in hovering over my shoulder, while I was filling in the card slip. This got an already low tip (for poor service) reduced some more, for just plain being obnoxious. Don’t expect generosity from customers you only care about when it’s time for that tip, dude. ---
**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 1, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/117 "2015-10-01T23:57:29Z")
I have 2… 1. Ages ago when Thai food was just becoming popular and available and I never had Thai a friend and I were driving around and spotted a place and decided to try it. I ordered beef with basil because, hey, I like beef and as an Italian I love basil so this is right in my wheelhouse! The waitress asks if I want it mild and I tell her spicy if fine. We then have a literally 5 minute conversation about Thai food and how if I’ve never had it I should go with mild. I finally convince her to put the order in for spicy and about 30 seconds later a very short, elderly, angry looking Thai man in a t-shirt and greasy apron comes out of the kitchen, waves a cleaver in my face and says “White boy, you DON"T want the hot!” I went with medium and it nearly blew a hole in the back of my head. 2. Heads up, this is crude and not likely to paint me in a very good light… I was tending bar back in my grad school days and one night I was closing up and there was a regular at one end of the bat and 2 ladies in their 40’s at the other end. The guy slides down and asks the ladies if they’d like a little toot of coke and they’re only to happy at the offer. A few hours later we all ended up at one of the ladies homes at like 4 AM reenacting every really bad porno orgy you’ve ever seen. The next day I remembered I had a date with a co-ed I had been seeing for about a month. I took her to the new steak place in town and I’ll give you thee guesses who the waitresses were. It was…awkward… ---
**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 2, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/118 "2015-10-02T00:40:27Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > 1. Ages ago when Thai food was just becoming popular and available and I never had Thai a friend and I were driving around and spotted a place and decided to try it. I ordered beef with basil because, hey, I like beef and as an Italian I love basil so this is right in my wheelhouse! The waitress asks if I want it mild and I tell her spicy if fine. We then have a literally 5 minute conversation about Thai food and how if I’ve never had it I should go with mild. I finally convince her to put the order in for spicy and about 30 seconds later a very short, elderly, angry looking Thai man in a t-shirt and greasy apron comes out of the kitchen, waves a cleaver in my face and says “White boy, you DON"T want the hot!” > I went with medium and it nearly blew a hole in the back of my head. Maybe ten years ago I went to a Thai/Viet/Chinese fusion place about once a week and settled on a chicken noodle dish that came as hot as you wanted. I kept upping the ante until my instructions to the (little tiny Vietnamese woman) chef, through the waitress, was “try to kill me.” She made several good goes at it, and it got to the point where I’d walk in and she’d stand on tiptoe to peer at me over the counter… and giggle. They went out of business before lethality was achieved. I miss that place. And that food. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/119 "2015-10-02T00:59:07Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I went out to dinner with friends one time and had a waiter who was OK but was kind of aggressive or skeevy in some way I can’t remember anymore. So I gave him medium marks on the comment card. And he came back and asking me in a not-so-vaguely threatening tone why I had only given him those marks! Um, Exhibit A right there! Heh. My Wife and a friend went out for dinner and drinks and pretty much every thing was wrong. Wrong dishes and drinks brought to the table, surly waitress, bad service. We usually tip 20%. Taking into account it’s not always the servers fault. We paid, left a 10% tip and left. The waitress chased us out the restaurant and down the street. “IF THE SERVICE WAS SO BAD WHY DON’T YOU TALK TO THE MANAGER!!!” We went back and did talk to the manager. Fine. You want us to come back and bitch? You got it. Another time, my wife ordered a VERY expensive margarita. Specific ingredients. My wife got the wrong drink, and tried to send it back. - Bartender, oh, that’s not how I make that one. - Wife, but this is what it says on the menu. These ingredients. Its says right here on the menu. - But that’s not how I make it. I make that drink this way. - But… I don’t like this… This is not the drink I ordered (it was WAY off). The guy argued about how to make the very specific margarita. It wasn’t close to what the menu said, but still he argued. It was surreal. Wife called the manager the next day. And please, when you order a $28 steak in a ‘steak house’ don’t cook it in a microwave. Grey inside and out. That’s another story though. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/120 "2015-10-02T01:09:53Z")
I refer you all to this [oldie but goodie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613720). 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040.md?page=7)