What are your biggest restaurant complaints?

The BBQ Pit
421

[QUOTE=CaveMike]
It must have been a store-policy then where I lived. I remember it was always frustrating to order there because there were six hungry people in my family. By the 3rd or 4th person, you could see the fear in the cashier’s eyes as he realized that he couldn’t remember the whole order and all of the new items were making him forget the old items. And after the first few times, we tried to warn the cashiers, ‘You may want to write this one down.’. ‘No sorry, we’re not allowed to.’

Still, it wasn’t as bad as the time at Portillos when the manager came out and handed my Dad the to-go bag and with a sneer informed us, ‘Here, I made this especially for you…’
[/QUOTE]

Ours was a family of seven.
Somebody from the family ordered it all.
8 ketchup only hamburgers.
2 plain hamburgers.
1 Fish sandwich.
5 small fries.
4 small colas
2 large mountain dew.
1 large cola.

We actually got the correct order 80% of the time, doing it this way, as opposed to
having each person add to the order which almost always was wrong in the end.

422

[QUOTE=ivylass]
That’s exactly my point. I accept the responsibility to tell the server to stop filling my children’s drinks with soda. But I’ve had servers see an empty glass and refill it automatically without asking. Now granted, my kids are teenagers, so maybe the server doesn’t feel the need to check with dear ol’ Mom and Dad. But I know as a server I never presumed the parents wanted the kid loaded up with soda. I always asked.
[/QUOTE]

I am going to have to go with the restaurants on this one. I think its pretty odd that you won’t let your teenagers have refills of soda. After all, you are eating out, which is supposed to be a treat. But whatever; it’s your kids and you can do as you like. But to expect the server to know that they shouldn’t refill your teenagers glasses with soda? Or that they should ask YOU first? Nope. That’s not their job. Their job is to make sure glasses never go empty. That’s what I expect, and pretty much every other restaurant patron expects. If you don’t want your kids to have more than one glass of soda, then it is your responsibility to inform the server when you order the drinks. But I most definitely want my server refilling every glass at the table without asking. If I have to ask, or have to even think about it, then they are not doing their job properly.

423

[QUOTE=TripleTee]
I am going to have to go with the restaurants on this one. I think its pretty odd that you won’t let your teenagers have refills of soda. After all, you are eating out, which is supposed to be a treat. But whatever; it’s your kids and you can do as you like.
[/QUOTE]

I reckon their goal is to make some sort of attempt to keep their kids from joining the steadily increasing ranks of the grossly obese by filling up on 500+ calories of what’s in effect sugar water. YMMV.

424

One of my biggest restaurant complaints is the teeny-tiny cup of syrup they bring with your waffle or stack of pancakes.

425

[QUOTE=Una Persson]
I reckon their goal is to make some sort of attempt to keep their kids from joining the steadily increasing ranks of the grossly obese by filling up on 500+ calories of what’s in effect sugar water. YMMV.
[/QUOTE]

Not every kid who drinks soda is going to join the ranks of the grossly obese. I drank soda every time we ate out; my glass was refilled repeatedly. I am not obese by any stretch of the imagination. The problem today is most kids live a sedentary lifestyle. They play video games instead of riding their bikes or some other outdoor activity. They also do not eat regular balanced meals. They eat boxed food or some other prepared meal. My mother cooked for us every single day. So eating out was the exception and not the rule. We did not drink bunches of soda at home. But on that rare occasion when we ate out? By all means drink all you like! It was a treat. We knew it and that’s part of what made the whole experience so special.

If the poster I was responding to is eating out 2-3 times a week, then I understand the rationale behind only allowing their children one caloric beverage. However, that does not change my viewpoint. I expect a server to know to fill any empty glass on the table. I do not want to ever have to ask to have my glass refilled. They do not need my permission, either. The obligation is on the customer to request something if it is abnormal, and it is abnormal to not want your glass refilled when you are eating out.

426

[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip]
Ah— well, I suspect that was just a cultural disconnect. The Thai are very superstitious by nature, and consider it unlucky to present any item or gift to someone who has not requested it three times. Don’t take offense, and also be careful not to ask a fourth time; the number four is considered very unlucky because of its phonetic similarity to a Thai word that is difficult to translate literally, but roughly means “flatulence causing sudden release of liquid stool,” which (unsurprisingly) is also traditionally considered to be unlucky. A fourth request for water will likely result in your being brought a glass of nam pla, which shares some characteristics of potable water, but which many Westerners find challenging to drink in large quantities, as the odor alone is known to induce vomiting.

Good luck and bon appétit!
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Aren’t you forgetting that its an old Thai custom that if you wish to be served quickly you MUST stand on one leg and pat your head six times while humming the Thai national anthem.
Though I expect that theres very few people who didn’t already know that.

427

Why can’t McDonald’s get my coffee order straight? Small coffee, milk on the side, Splenda on the side. At least 90% of the time they screw up one or more parts of it. Today I threw them a curve: Small DECAF coffee, milk on the side, Splenda on the side. The guy puts something - maybe Splenda, maybe something else, into a cup. I remind him that I wanted it on the side. He starts over. Takes the pot of regular coffee and starts pouring. I tell him to just forget about it. No apologies from him as I walk out.

428

Someone please tell me what was the first restaurant in the United States to list prices in their menu as “12.5” or “17.6”, so I can dropkick the head of their owner.

429

[QUOTE=elmwood]
Someone please tell me what was the first restaurant in the United States to list prices in their menu as “12.5” or “17.6”, so I can dropkick the head of their owner.
[/QUOTE]

Stand in line, Dude, stand in line.

430

[QUOTE=elmwood]
Someone please tell me what was the first restaurant in the United States to list prices in their menu as “12.5” or “17.6”, so I can dropkick the head of their owner.
[/QUOTE]

Where the heck did you see that?

431

Hey, a great new T-shirt that goes well with this thread!

432

BW3 charging for Ranch dressing that accompanies their wings.

433

[QUOTE=Phase42]
Where the heck did you see that?
[/QUOTE]

You see it all over. It appears, at least to me, to be coming more and more common.

ETA - and it’s stupid.

434

[QUOTE=elmwood]
Someone please tell me what was the first restaurant in the United States to list prices in their menu as “12.5” or “17.6”, so I can dropkick the head of their owner.
[/QUOTE]

There is a restaurant/pub here that lists prices as 7 1/2, 8 3/4, 2 1/4, etc. I think that’s even more annoying, and given the horrible lack of math skills the average person has, maybe even confusing.

435

[QUOTE=Yag Rannavach]
That’s a total IOD…you should have bailed right there.
[/QUOTE]
What’s an IOD?

436

Idiot on duty? Just a WAG.

437

Let’s see. Let me count the ways.

Six of us for dinner. The waiter showed up and started taking orders pretty much randomly, not going around the table in any sort of logical order. He started with me. My order started with “To drink, I’ll have…” Nope, he never did the pre-order drinks. Just “What can I get for you?” In fact, he only ended up asking half of us if we wanted anything to drink. As it turned out, only two of us did. I got mine just fine. The other person asked for a Coke. Did she get it? Nope, but a ginger ale was delivered to a completely different guest (or is that quest?) who didn’t order a drink at all. It took a good long while to get it sorted out.

He was also really haphazard in who he asked wanted rice.

Another quest, er, guest, was suffering from the sniffles, and asked the waiter for some paper napkins. Three times. It took about 30 minutes for that to happen.

A good while later, my food arrived. OK, it wasn’t actually my food. I think it belonged to a different table. I guess it was just a preview. “Here’s what you should have ordered.” On retrospect, I should have taken it. I was so hungry at that point I would have eaten anything.

A little while later, I actually got what I asked for. I think. Two of us ordered something different, but similar. Fish for both of us. We had to ask which dish he was setting in front of me. He didn’t know. He had to go back to the kitchen to ask exactly what it was he was serving.

In fact there was confusion about where all five dishes were to go. For instance, one guest ordered drunken noodles. I can’t quite remember what the waiter called it, but I think it came out “goat horn banana swamp.”

Yes, I said five dishes. Six quests, er, guests. One guy went unserved. It took a good long while to even find the waiter to let him know there was a problem. Most of us were finished eating before this guy even got his meal.

We asked for two separate checks. Guess what we got?

There was much more that I can’t even remember. It was a flurry of incompetence. It was rather impressive I must say.

The waiter has a promising future in filing. Except I doubt his ability to alphabetize.

438

(misplaced OP for new thread)

439

[QUOTE=Phase42]
Hey, a great new T-shirt that goes well with this thread!
[/QUOTE]

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that the shirt sizes go up to 5X?! That’s a damned big shirt…