you step into the restaurant and immediately slide on the layer of grease that’s on the floor…
Waitstaff that fails to acknowledge art of our party but acknowledges others. Sometimes I ask a question and they turn to my husband to give the answer. Overly familiar waitstaff and especially ones that joke about the price of the meal.
Hot food served cold, dirty dishes.
pugluvr? Did you wander into Looongbar again?
oldscratch: So THAT’S where you tend bar! Where’d you get that bra-strapped hussy of a hostess? And fer God’s sake try a different brand of urinal cakes – those vanilla/pine ones are making my eyes water. Strawberry-pineapple-guava-avocado margaritas, anyone?
Just kidding. I’ve not been to that bar, although I’d like to go. I’ve just been to Jack’s at Fisherman’s Wharf, so far (beer fan).
I think it’s gone outa business
“Remember Mark Miller? The man who was supposed to show San Francisco what good food was when he opened the short-lived Loongbar? [at delfina]…First, he photographed every dish (looking for inspiration, maybe?), preventing the food runner from putting cheese on the pasta until he had snapped a photo. Harry then overheard him complain that the wines on the wine list were all too young, although he did manage to suffer through two bottles. The final insult came when he discovered the restaurant doesn’t take American Express. He threw a hissy fit and harangued everyone within earshot, going on and on about what terrible businesspeople proprietors Craig and Annie Stoll are, then informed the server that he was going to “take it out of your tip.” He left her a miserly 10 percent. …”
Actually happened:
Watch as the cook drops a cut of Gyros on the floor and sneaks it back up onto the grill for reheating. I instantly turned on my heel and walked out never to return.
Sit at your favorite Sushi bar (that you have gone to for years) for 45 minutes and being served two portions. Watch a Japanese couple that arrived after you get better AND faster service. Needless to say I crumpled a twenty and threw it on my plate and have never been back. To this day I regret not having the presence of mind to tear the twenty dollar bill into tiny bits and leave it at my place.
Pugluvr, please check in at this thread.
[/shameless hijack]
I don’t like restaurants that reek of smoke, grease and pine oil. I don’t like menus that describe menu items as “a shrimp boat load of deep fried seafood”, “Paul Bunyon burger”, “a country size stack of flapjacks”. I don’t like a waitperson that attempts a faux accent, you aren’t french, italian, spanish or mexican, don’t insult my intelligence by trying to talk like you are from there.
This reminds me of a time when I went to Lucques, and had a very lovely dinner. In fact everything was perfect, and we had a fantastic, professional waiter. We sat enjoying our Calvados and we heard the waiter (not ours) at the table next to us speaking to his customers in a French accent, even though I had heard him earlier that evening speaking in his regular accent to other customers. When he picked up their check, he snipped (as only a pretenious, effeminate L.A. actor/waiter can) “Merci. Bonsoir”. Even though it was funny, it was also slightly disconcerting–we were obviously lucky to get a great waiter in the first place.
To this day, my BF & I still tell each other Merci. Bonsoir when we’re ending a snippy conversation–and we end up in giggles.
In regards to the OP, rudeness will always be my number one put-off. I am one of those that is more than happy to talk to managers when I get bad service–on top of that, I usually will never return to the place.
Frankly, I don’t mind if the members of the waitstaff sit down to take my order, so long as it’s a casual place and said waitrons are young, perky and female.
hope this doesn’t offend anybody, but…
i’m Chinese and if i enter a Chinese (or any other Asian restaurant for that manner) restaurant and the only people there are white folks (especially those of the yuppie persuasion–souless ghouls know nothing about food), that always makes me pause. cause i live near Oakland Chinatown and if there are no Asian folks eating there, it usually seems as if the food has been watered down for “American” tastes–more meat, less complex spice combinations ('mericans seem to like salty and sweet, mostly). and the worst part is that it’s usually more expensive, to boot.
anybody else think sweet and sour pork is disgusting?
Actually, I think twice if I don’t see any Asian people on the staff in a Chinese restaurant – ever since the time it happened in a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint in Hibbing, Minnesota, where the white folks served us saltine crackers with the egg drop soup. :eek:
This is not a cut on Hibbing, by the way; on the same trip, we also ate at another Chinese restaurant that appeared to be run by a Chinese family, and the food there was very good.
THANK YOU, hapaXL, you made me remember one of my particular peeves. No offense at all – I know just what you mean. Although I’m not Asian, I was raised in a largely Asian neighborhood (Alhambra/Monterey Park area of Southern California), and I’m a big fan of real Chinese food, not the Americanized glop. If I go into a Chinese restaurant and see less than 1/4 Asian people, I have immediate misgivings. If, in addition, the menu is heavy with sweet & sour pork (barf), orange chicken (bleh), lemon beef (gag), etc., I just leave. I hate that sugary, syrupy stuff that most Americans think is Chinese food. Have you been down to Milpitas Square in Milpitas? Thank God for some of the real stuff at last.
While in the Army I served in Korea and learned how good real Korean food is, not the Americanized version. There used to be a little place in East Lansing Michigan that served Korean food, and most of the other customers seemed to be Korean, or Asian at least.
That said, one thing that has really turned me off in a restaurant is to go to the ladies room and see restaurant help there leaving WITHOUT washing their hands!!!
Good one, Lissa.
Not really characteristics, more like bad experiences…
Houston is quite dynamic (if you lived here 5 years ago and haven’t been back since, you don’t know your way around town), but we had for years a wall of Chinese restaurants marking the east end of downtown. I dined at one (Silver Dragon, IIRC) that had saloon doors to the kitchen. After we’d been served, we saw a new potato roll out the kitchen door. Followed soon thereafter by a rat. Mr. Rat guided his acquisition, sort of “hands” allowed soccer style, towards the front door of the restaurant and waited until new patrons arrived to exit with his prize. I didn’t finish my lunch.
A 7/24 IHOP that figured in many exchanges that affected my life yielded the following experience. My friend and I arrived ~3:00 AM to find ourselves the sole dining party. A waitress took our order (for a couple of omellettes) and disappeared. After ~30 minutes, during which we heard much screaming from the kitchen area, and then silence, the busboy appearedwith two eggs, sunny side up, and informed us that the cook and the waitress had both quit and he was outta there.
What to do?
We elected to call the cops to come secure the place.
When I go into a restaurant that’s got no class, looking like a school cafeteria and old faded papers tacked to the walls.
Usually someone in the group has said "This may look seedy, but it has the only authentic _______[insert nationality] food in town.
Every time I’ve been told that it was a lie, and the spoons were greasy and food was greasy as well.
Sweet and Sour ANYTHING is disgusting, hapaXL! Amen! (Are you Hawaiian, BTW?)
Another peeve–going to a “Chinese” restaurant, reading the menu, and realizing that half of the menu is SANDWICHES. (And not “Chinese” sandwiches, either–I’m talking grilled cheese and BLTs.) This actually happened to me twice, once in Oregon, and once in Salt Lake City, UT. Fortunately Salt Lake, at least, now has much better Chinese and other ethnic cuisine.
Blech! 
If it is smoke filled, I’ll leave.
Once, I saw a waitress [I SWEAR this is true and complained to the manager BEFORE we left] take a drink of what looked like tea that she was taking to a table. Any consumption by any waitstaff is reason to GO.
Too much noise, too loud music, or any screaming kids.
i would just like to commend all of you for your bravery, your intrepidness, your utter desperation for good food that would drive you to sample Chinese restaurants in Minnesota and Utah. i don’t think i could drum up the courage…
i think my favorite is orange chicken. it’s like a giant Chicken McNugget with syrup on it. horrible.
i’m sorry for the hijack but the thread was dead anyway. there are actually ways to know whether your restaurant is authentic or pandering to white folks. number one clue is the name. avoid any restaurant with these words in their name:
Panda
Great Wall
Confucius (or any other Chinese philosopher)
Dynasty
and many others i can’t think of right now. but the number one word to avoid is…
Express
you can’t do a Chinese buffet. Chinese food is designed to be cooked rapidly and served immediately. it is expressly not meant to sit under heat lamps for hours–save that concept for the smorgasbord unless you like wilted vegetables.
number two clue is the use of that horrible font from the 60s and/or 70s that is supposed to look like brush strokes. you know the one i’m talking about, right? always ends up looking like elongated triangles? if the restaurant’s sign is using that font, be on your toes.
AkashJ, i’m not Hawaiian, but i’m half-Chinese with 3 generations of family from Hawaii–raised in LA, myself. “hapa” is a common term on the West Coast for people who are half-Asian…