# Sent a Steak Back to Kitchen and Got Same Steak in Return **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [September 19, 2024, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456 "2024-09-19T03:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/121 "2024-09-21T20:56:18Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I mean there was a New Yorker who said you could only get NY style pizza in NY, until I took him to a place in Hollywood. Which place? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/122 "2024-09-21T21:01:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The reference in the graphic to “mommy” probably has some validity. My mother, who was actually a good cook when it came to traditional foods that she knew how to prepare well, always served me steak well done. This was because she had an irrational fear of cooties of some kind and believed that only incinerating the steak would kill them off. It wasn’t until I moved out on my own and bought my first barbecue that I realized that steak was actually tasty. I’m sure she wasn’t the only “mommy” who did that, and some of us probably harbour some resentment about the steaks of our childhood. Yes. This. Steak served by my mom was always grey inside. The consistency of wet sawdust and, basically, tasteless. I thought steak was just something I didn’t like. Until I was in my teens with my own money, I didn’t know how good steak could be. If people want to eat it welldone, fine. I won’t. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/123 "2024-09-21T21:09:17Z")
One situation where I can imagine well-done may taste better is with cheap cuts of meat. A cheap cut may not have much flavor and may be tough. If you cook it on the rare end of the scale, it may not have the flavor and tenderness of a good cut. I could see cheaper cuts tasting better if they’re more in the well-done range. You’d get more of that char flavor. That might be the best you can do with a cheap cut. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/124 "2024-09-21T21:16:05Z")
Eh, if it’s cheap and tough I’d turn it into a stew of some kind. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/125 "2024-09-22T00:10:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Wait, why would you send any of those steaks back? I do not understand? He didn’t specify but I had the impression that the waiter cut them all, realized that at least 50% of them were wrong and spirited them away for fixing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/126 "2024-09-22T00:55:40Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Which place? It was a by the slice place on Hollywood blvd. > [@Jophiel](#): > > He didn’t specify but I had the impression that the waiter cut them all, realized that at least 50% of them were wrong and spirited them away for fixing. Yeah, but the difference between Medium Rare and Medium is small, and reasonable to overlook. Not to mention, a debate could be had. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/127 "2024-09-22T01:11:19Z")
Someone bought my wife’s aunt Omaha steaks for Christmas. She didn’t know what to do with them, boiled them, and complained they were tough and chewy. We tended to overcook steaks growing up because we didn’t cook them often enough to get good at it. For some reason nobody thought about a thermometer to check the meat while grilling. It is interesting to see how food preferences have changed over the year due to availability and other factors. When I was a kid, mom used to cook corn tortillas in about 1/8th an inch of oil. At some point as an adult, I realized the tortilla had enough oil in it and just threw it on the pan to heat it up and my taco experience was much improved. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/128 "2024-09-22T01:25:41Z")
You conveniently forgot to quote yourself with > Maybe another reason is that some individuals who think they like a steak well done then try to compensate for the dryness and tastelessness… People who like the flavor of well-done meat don’t need you scolding them for eating what _you_ perceive as tastelessness. The poor fools, they only _think_ they like their meat well done. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/129 "2024-09-22T02:21:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I do not think I have ever had waitstaff do that. This was something I picked up from one of my first restaurant jobs that stuck with me. It always felt like a more efficient way to take care of customers who ordered specific temps, and I trained new hires the same way. > [@DrDeth](#): > > You know other than jokes about hawaiian style, I dont get any of that. I mean there was a New Yorker who said you could only get NY style pizza in NY, until I took him to a place in Hollywood. He said it was really close, made him homesick. BUT he wasnt claim NY style pizza is the greatest the one the only, he was just saying that style didnt work outside NY. NJ born and raised, so I make it a point to hunt down pizza and bagels whenever I move to a new city. There aren’t as many places to choose from, but I’ve always been able to find at least one or two spots with solid NY style pies in major cities. I usually ask servers and bartenders for recommendations when I’m new in town. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/130 "2024-09-22T02:39:37Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > People who like the flavor of well-done meat don’t need you scolding them for eating what _you_ perceive as tastelessness. The poor fools, they only _think_ they like their meat well done. I assume from this abundant flow of snark that you prefer your steak well done. Fine with me, it affects me not at all. I won’t scold! 😃 What I was trying to explain is that many of us, due to childhood experience, know what overdone steak tastes like and have been delighted to discover that a good cut of steak is actually beautifully tender and flavourful when not incinerated. Several posters here appear to have had that same childhood experience and agree with that. It’s probable that well-done meats were more common in the 50s and 60s for various reasons, whether those reasons were real or imagined. There are also **[abundant examples](https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/)** of the fact that many foods from that era were pretty horrible and are best forgotten. It’s a wonder we survived them. And as someone else also said, cheaper cuts can benefit from thorough cooking, and there’s no better example of that than a pot roast – quickly seared and then cooked for hours in a flavourful broth, and delicious! It’s fine cuts of beef like rib steak on the grill that I find perplexing anyone would want overdone to grayness, and then trying to rehydrate it with ketchup. But to each their own. We all get perplexed about things in this world. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/131 "2024-09-22T02:56:33Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > What I was trying to explain is that many of us, due to childhood experience, know what overdone steak tastes like and have been delighted to discover that a good cut of steak is actually beautifully tender and flavourful when not incinerated. There you go again. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I assume from this abundant flow of snark that you prefer your steak well done. Au contraire. I love rare beef. But a lot of people just don’t like the taste of blood or fat. To think that one way is objectively superior is nonsense. Rare may be more tender, but the flavor is different, not better. It’s like telling someone they’re wrong for liking orange sherbet instead of Haagen-Dazs. One of our gourmets here loves the taste of rare chicken. Do you? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/132 "2024-09-22T03:13:17Z")
Crap, I just realized what a hijack this has likely been. Sorry. ETA: although the original premise has long since been answered. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/133 "2024-09-22T04:02:25Z")
Deleted - **needscoffee** is right about this being a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/134 "2024-09-22T05:19:46Z")
> [@Frosted\_Glass](#): > > NJ born and raised, so I make it a point to hunt down pizza and bagels whenever I move to a new city. T Sure, you like that style, I get it. I mean I am a California native, and I am picky about Mexican food. But do you claim any other pizza is garbage? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/135 "2024-09-22T15:13:24Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Wait, why would you send any of those steaks back? I do not understand? > > He didn’t specify but I had the impression that the waiter cut them all, realized that at least 50% of them were wrong and spirited them away for fixing. Exactly not. IMO. Seems clear to me at least from the narrative that the waiter cut into the four steaks, saw that two were wrong or never noticed, but (and this is the key) departed the table immediately without asking _before_ the people with the mis-cooked steaks could even ask for a re-do. So they ate their mis-cooked steaks, suffering in silence. The waiter eventually returned much later to check on them but by then it was far too late. When that happens to me I just stand up and follow the server until I catch them or the manager on the way to the kitchen. Aside: FYI the poster of that story, @Die_Capacitrix, is self-identified as female. With a female-gendered Dopername even. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/136 "2024-09-22T15:16:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Exactly not. IMO. I could see your reading. Anyway, the question was why would anyone return a (slightly) improperly cooked steak, not the sequence of events with the server. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/137 "2024-09-22T15:23:23Z")
Everybody has their own tolerance band. Who are we to say how mis-cooked those folks felt about it. Also depends if this was Golden Corral or some fancy-schmancy $80/plate place. In my own case, from canonical medium rare it can go a long way rarer, but very little towards medium before I’m not happy. At a cheap place or where I expect the meat to be a thin cut I’ll ask for rare, knowing the odds are it’ll come out on the overdone side of MR, but still barely within my tolerance band. At a fancy place, or with a thick steak, that’s where I’ll order MR and be highly confident it’ll be that done at most, rather than at least. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/138 "2024-09-22T15:33:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Everybody has their own tolerance band. Who are we to say how mis-cooked those folks felt about it. Not me, which is partially why I was suggesting that the customers weren’t in the wrong. Albeit by potentially misreading what happened. As I said earlier upthread: For the cost of eating out these days, there should be no shame in pointing out when the restaurant fails to deliver the option you selected. You should also be polite and honest about it, of course. No finishing a meal and demanding it for free or calling the server a moron or other typical customer horror stories. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/139 "2024-09-22T15:35:37Z")
Agree completely. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456/140 "2024-09-22T15:40:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Seems clear to me at least from the narrative that the waiter cut into the four steaks, saw that two were wrong or never noticed, but (and this is the key) departed the table immediately without asking _before_ the people with the mis-cooked steaks could even ask for a re-do. So they ate their mis-cooked steaks, suffering in silence. We each cut into our own steaks. The waiter left before we even saw the inside. We noticed that all four were the same, even though two should have been cooked a bit longer. Because we wanted the steaks cooked more, we did not start eating them. When the water guy came around, we informed him that the steaks were wrong, and then we got a reaction. The steaks were then whisked off for additional cooking. When the steaks came back, in the hands of the maitre d’, we also mentioned that we had not received the sides we had ordered. So we got our sides a bit later. I didn’t think of getting up - I should have. I’m not used to that level of incompetence. At no time did any of us (customers) misbehave. I expect that none of the other customers in the restaurant even noticed there was an issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sent-a-steak-back-to-kitchen-and-got-same-steak-in-return/1007456.md?page=8)