I don’t disagree. I can’t imagine having a hissyfit over a piece of garlic bread, when it’s not as though I’m being forced to actually eat it.
What I can imagine having a hissyfit over though, is having my server treat me like “queen cuntrag” because I had the unmitgated gall to expect my meal to be as I ordered it.
Someone beat me to it, but it bears repeating that no, the alcohol isn’t removed by heating. I started a thread on this a while back. (Note that even “non-alcoholic” beer and wine is .5% alcohol.) I have no problem with a restaurant cooking with wine or beer–as long as it’s in the description of the dish. For those I may be eating with, however, it can be an issue. I ate at a restaurant recently where it turned out that even the entrees that did not list alcohol were made with alcohol. There was not one entree on the menu made without alcohol. Had I known that from the menu, we could have saved everyone the hassle and waste of time by going elsewhere.
Why on earth would my server even know that I was displeased that a piece of garlic bread came with my order when I didn’t ask for it? If they make such a trifling mistake, how does it make the universe a better place for me to tell them, much less tell them in a sarcastic, contemptuous manner?
If I’m terribly allergic to garlic bread, I can say, “Actually, I can’t eat things that have touched garlic bread. Could you take this back and get me a fresh plate, please?” This inconveniences the server for their mistake without turning it into an ugly confrontation that’ll result in their thinking I’m queen cuntrag.
Daniel
Got to call BS on this one. Years back, I went on a very low fat diet for weight loss. I did not eat very much red meat, and no hamburger at all, for over a year. Once I had reached my weight loss goal I decided one day that I wanted a hamburger - I knew I couldn’t have them every day but once in a great while would be ok.
I got very sick from that hamburger. If your body is not used to processing animal fats they can make you very ill. And I wanted the meat!
Have you actually been diagnosed by a physician with an actual medical condition, or do you know of one that fits the criteria above? My sister eats meat occasionally, but can also psychologically make herself sick if she gets stuck in a feedback loop of focusing on the meat. I’ve seen it, in all its glory. Sometimes all it takes is for one, single person at the table to say “Is that cooked?” and she’ll turn literally green at the gills.
We are but slaves of our minds. Just sayin’.
Me too.
I mean, I’m the kind of guy who can eat just about anything, though these days I have to be careful of what I eat.
My ex, however, has some severe food allergies. Coconut, in any form, and canned tomatoes are a huge problem. Had some server or cook put canned tomatoes in her food because “what she doesn’t know wont hurt her”, she would have known immediately, and there would have been a huge issue.
But it never became an issue. We asked right up front if a certain dish had canned tomatoes, and firmly but pleasantly stated that it was an allergy thing. The servers were always cooperative, we always had excellent meals, and the servers always got great tips.
Doubly true if it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet…
This is only true if you are dining in a large group. If it is just you or you and one other they will, without fail, wait until you have just taken a large bite of food and then they will walk up and ask the question.
I think there are two classes. One for groups, one for single diners.
No kidding. I ordered a sandwich without onions on it, I saw the server taking extra time writing down my order so I figured that was a “no onions” notation, and it arrived with onions. I was picking them off my sandwich but my husband said I should let the waiter know because maybe there was an issue with the kitchen that they should know about, so I did very politely, and he fell over himself apologizing. I told him I knew he wrote it down, and that we just wanted to be sure there weren’t any communications problems with the kitchen.
The “omg I knew it” I-didn’t-want-garlic-bread customer was a huge bitch, nay, a queen cuntrag, for how she handled the situation.
I know somebody who has a similar allergy - saw her not long ago with a bright red rash, thanks to such an incident the previous day.
By the way…‘Queen Cuntrag’…tribute band name?
Thing is, my ex would not have gotten to the point of a rash. You couldn’t stealth food her. She’d know, from the first bite, before even swallowing, that she was eating bad mojo.
But like I said, it almost never came up. Being clear yet friendly with servers goes a long way.
I’m not calling it an “actual medical condition” - I can eat hamburger now with no problems. But after a year with very little fat intake - never more than 20g a day and usually much less - my digestive system just wasn’t used to handling it anymore.
I don’t understand - really really don’t understand - why a small minority of people must concern themselves with so much with what others eat. I don’t like oysters. I don’t eat them. End of discussion. I don’t have an allergy, I simply do not like the flavor. I don’t care how they are cooked, or if “everyone loves my oysters”. No, I will not try just one bite. I do not like them, Sam I Am.
I think there are very few people in the world who are going to go out of the way to make life more difficult for themselves by claiming they can’t eat something for no reason. Parents or teachers who won’t recognize that some kids really DO have a peanut allergy have made children sick by insisting they “try just one bite”.
Even ethical vegetarians can be in this situation. If they are totally unused to eating meat and someone sneaks it into something, it can make them ill - not deathly ill, but a good case of diarrhea can make you wish you were dead.
Yes, some people are just picky eaters. During hockey season I have dinner once a week with a woman who is one of the most incredibly picky eaters I have ever seen. She claims to be allergic to everything; I’m not sure why she even bothers to eat out at all. I don’t know if she is truly allergic or not, but I would never test it by sneaking something into her food. That is just wrong.
If someone asks for the ingredients in a dish, what is the problem with telling them? If they are allergic, it could make them ill. If they are not allergic but simply don’t like the ingredient, they are not going to like the dish. Why try to trick someone?
I am not a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination. As a child/teenager on my grandparents farm I participated in the process of turning pig into pork and still ate pork. I wanted that hamburger! It tasted heavenly! I simply was not used to so much fat and my body rebelled.
I think she realised, but was trying to be polite by eating anyway. Not surprising, as she is only ten.
I dunno; I get pretty pissy with myself when I serve myself something I didn’t want…
You’d be surprised how your tolerance levels for unbelievable incompetence go up when you live in a city that has restaurants/fast food joints closed occasionally due to staff shortages - we’ve seen a Burger King closed on a Saturday afternoon, for example. It takes A LOT of incompetence to get our attention these days - they pretty much have to spit in our food in front of us before we’ll stop going to a particular place, because they’re all the same here. We just reflect the service/food quality in the tip - we’re routinely tipping around 10% or less these days. (It’s not the server’s fault that they are short-staffed, but it’s not ours, either.)
My concern is limited to the scientific aspects and with respect to what you posted on this message board. If you don’t want to be asked about it, then don’t post about it. I do not judge you, nor impose to say what your root cause of distress is, I merely wanted to know what it was. I do a lot of research on the side on diet and food-related issues.
General restaurant complaints:
a) HUUUUGE portion sizes. American is the fattest nation in the world. Serving a 6,000 calorie meal isn’t helping. Pare it back, folks.
b) Waiters who don’t know their own menus/drink selection. Know what side dishes or salad dressings a customer can choose from. Know what beers are on tap and what beers are in bottles.
c) Waitresses who call me “Hon.” Exception: If you’re older than me, you get a free pass. If you’re 20, the appropriate address for a customer is “Ma’am” or “Sir.”
That comment wasn’t directed at you, dear! I was talking about the type of people would would put meat in the food of a vegetarian, or insist that someone “try just one bite” of something. I look at it this way - I don’t like oysters. That just leaves more oysters for the people who like them!
Reminds me of some of the most terrible service I recall ever receiving. I tend to be very oblivious of (I prefer to say patient with) bad service, and this is one of the few times I realized I was actually being snubbed.
Thirsty after a library interlude, I went into a restaurant and ordered a strawberry milkshake while I studied the article I needed for my assignment. The milkshake took like twenty minutes to come. This was not a rush – the restaurant had maybe four other parties in it. I finally got my milkshake. I drank it. By the time I was able to catch the waitress’s attention, I had long since moved on to the other articles in the book out of sheer boredom. When she did arrive, I ordered a Pepsi, which then took another twenty minutes to get there. By the time I finally received my Pepsi, received the cheque, and paid, I had finished the book (Strong Opinions by Vladimir Nabokov – I still remember it) and was livid. I asked to see the manager; the waitress walked to the back of the restaurant and said, “Hey, Frank! Some guy wants to see you.”
This was in 2005, and I haven’t been back to that restaurant (Dunn’s, on Metcalfe by the Sun Life Building) since. I may be oblivious/patient, but I can hold a grudge.
That was my pet peeve as a waitress! I always called my customers “sir” or “ma’am” - do not call me “hon” or “darlin’”.
I would have to be homeless and starving before I would work as a waitress again.
Thank you for explaining; I just didn’t want you to think I was criticizing you, or prying too much. :o