# What's the Worst Thing You Ever Ate at a Restaurant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 3, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287 "2022-11-03T13:23:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/282 "2022-11-17T02:18:15Z")
I think they’re even advertising or hinting that it will be gone forever. That’s what I seem to remember at least a couple weeks ago. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/283 "2022-11-17T03:00:05Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Saag paneer doesn’t have to be made with spinach, FYI. My wife’s made it with various mixtures of spinach, collard greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens. Basically whatever’s ready to go in the garden. Mind blown! ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/284 "2022-11-17T03:11:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I had a McRib sandwich for the first and last time like a decade ago and was underwhelmed and since then was never tempted to try another. Someone tried to give me a free McRib one time, and I turned it down. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/285 "2022-11-17T03:17:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I think they’re even advertising or hinting that it will be gone forever. As they’ve done multiple times over the last several decades. > **[McRib | 2005–present](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McRib#2005%E2%80%93present)** > > On November 1, 2005, McDonald's issued a press release announcing that the McRib would be permanently removed from the menu following a "McRib Farewell Tour". McRib.com, a website registered to McDonald's, featured a petition to "Save the McRib", which was facetiously sponsored by the "Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America". On October 16, 2006, the "McRib Farewell Tour II" site appeared. > The McRib reappeared in the United States in October 2007, beginning a third "farewell tour". McDonald... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/286 "2022-11-17T03:20:53Z")
Ah ha. I don’t remember that, but it figures. I didn’t think they were serious about it, but I did find this year’s advertising, so I did remember correctly: [![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFj5i8eAEW767aiRvqkqW8_ySjTVczIRzl_gyxgyZiGyS3ysz6wMj5Tt9NQ6yt-YwmbZSe4g6RwmErPkceEwj5vWn0AqCQ5wz7E7IuHPJxDhOA33BMQirh3K6fBMc1TzLPus5SULOt3Qlfazv-STHDeoIKeD2uKZEJFDlaZFt9OwqNdJG8ZH5EzR8H/w400-h225/mcdonalds-mcrib-farewell-tour.jpg) ](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFj5i8eAEW767aiRvqkqW8_ySjTVczIRzl_gyxgyZiGyS3ysz6wMj5Tt9NQ6yt-YwmbZSe4g6RwmErPkceEwj5vWn0AqCQ5wz7E7IuHPJxDhOA33BMQirh3K6fBMc1TzLPus5SULOt3Qlfazv-STHDeoIKeD2uKZEJFDlaZFt9OwqNdJG8ZH5EzR8H/w400-h225/mcdonalds-mcrib-farewell-tour.jpg) According to your link, this would be Farewell Tour IV. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/287 "2022-11-17T03:27:14Z")
for @carnut’s reference, [this is the recipe](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/saag-paneer1-1927603) I’ve been using for saag paneer, but I use ghee instead of oil for all the cooking steps. Otherwise it works great. Now, as the Coneheads say, to consume mass quantities. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/288 "2022-11-17T05:24:36Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Today I fell for all the McRib hoopla. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I had a McRib sandwich for the first and last time like a decade ago and was underwhelmed and since then was never tempted to try another. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yep, exactly like me. I was tempted this year, but reminded myself that like the last five times I’ve had a McRib, I said to myself “I didn’t like it last year, why am I trying it again? I still don’t like it.” Hehehe, I actually like the McRib, but it’s kind of like screwing your ex-whatever. It’s pretty enjoyable while you’re doing it. It’s messy and kind of pleasurable and comfy. But as soon as you get done, you’re filled with ambiguous regret because you have no idea why you did it and what it was you found appealing about it. No, I never believe it’s going away forever. Heck, I still end up seeing my exes in social situations. The McRib is just your ex that just pops up out of nowhere. In regard to the thread, I honestly don’t know what the worst thing I’ve had at a restaurant was. From reading the stories here, I think I’ve been pretty lucky. The only thing I think I can really add is when I had buche tacos, I asked what they were made out of. The nice lady at the counter said “The pig has an organ that is like the gizzard, that’s what it’s made out of.” I know pigs have teeth, but I went and ordered it anyway. I had a roommate that made chitlins, after all. It won’t kill me. They were tasty, but that’s the softest meat filling I’ve ever had. Yeah, it’s stomach, really kinda good. If I’m not in the mood for something with some tooth to it, I’ll order them. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/289 "2022-11-17T12:27:24Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I bit into it and felt this weird texture, took the top bun off and it was a sheet of paper that apparently separated frozen patties. **The Palms** , in Simpson Bay, St Martin, is an upscale Caribbean-Canadian fusion restaurant popular with foodies. I once had an appetizer consisting of two bite-sized things each on its own little square. After eating the first one, I picked up the little square it had been on and ate that. I realized it was paper after swallowing it. We were both pretty buzzed. My gf told the owner what I’d done and we all laughed. A year later we were there again and the owner, after seating us, brought me a plate with two pieces of that paper. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/290 "2022-11-17T12:47:20Z")
So, i should buy a McRib and carefully preserve it. My heirs will be able to cash in on it in several decades. PROFIT!!! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/291 "2022-11-17T13:58:27Z")
The McRib has had more Farewell Tours than the Rolling Stones. The last one I ate was at least 20 years ago. I feel no need to repeat the experience. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/292 "2022-11-17T16:26:54Z")
That’s so strange. Not that I’m disagreeing with you; restaurant soups are often lackluster at best, but becuase making good soup is quite easy relative to a lot of other sorts of dishes. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/293 "2022-11-17T16:33:49Z")
You know, the article that claims that they’re made of pork stomachs, tripe, and heart doesn’t _actually_ say that they’re made from that stuff. They just point out that it’s the brainchild of a food science professor and a Luxembourgian chef, and that the food science guy points out in some other article that you can take those sorts of meat items and make a “restructured meat product” from them. Then the author claims that the McRib is made from those things by assuming that because the food scientist says somewhere else that hearts, stomachs, and tripe _can_ be used to make those things, and that since the McRib is a restructured meat product, that they _are_ made from those things. It’s a lot of implication, but not a lot of direct evidence, if you ask me. [The Invention of the McRib and Why It Disappears from McDonald’s – Chicago Magazine](https://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/october-2011/the-invention-of-the-mcrib-and-why-it-disappears-from-mcdonalds/) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/294 "2022-11-17T16:57:00Z")
Hehe, I was actually meaning buche is pork stomach. Didn’t know the McRib was likely made from the same stuff! So maybe next time I want my McRib fix, I’ll just get buche tacos and put sub-standard barbecue sauce on them instead of hot sauce. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/295 "2022-11-17T17:10:14Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > So maybe next time I want my McRib fix, I’ll just get buche tacos and put sub-standard barbecue sauce on them instead of hot sauce. Reminding me of yet another way some restaurants consistently screw up food - BBQ joints, especially chains. Don’t get me wrong, there are a TON of good, local, or regional chains that make solid efforts in their prep or smoking, but a heck of a lot that seem to put all their emphasis on pulled pork which was obviously NOT slow smoked, and then covered up in sickeningly sweet sauce. If I’m walking into a BBQ joint, I do not want to be served Arby’s level food (shudder!). I’m especially giving Dickey’s BBQ the stink eye, as it always seems to be the worst, and it’s been catered in (which admittedly is going to further drop quality) to a few places while I was present. But my FiL loves it because it’s not spicy and dripping with enough sauce to cover up the lack of quality, so tastes differ. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/296 "2022-11-17T17:16:22Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Have to pay extra for eggroll or racoon unless you order their daily special. Not a super loaded plate. But it does feel you up.” Late to the party, but that’s probably supposed to be ‘crab rangoon.’ ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/297 "2022-11-17T17:18:49Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > Have to pay extra for eggroll or racoon unless you order their daily special. Not a super loaded plate. But it does feel you up.” > > Late to the party, but that’s probably supposed to be ‘crab rangoon.’ And if the plate does indeed ‘feel you up’ as part of the daily special you are in an entirely different kind of place than a family restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/298 "2022-11-17T18:32:51Z")
I made a ‘copycat McRib’ sandwich out of plain old ground pork, cooked like a burger, on a bun with pickles and BBQ sauce, and it was just delicious. I had a McRib and bit down on something small, chewy, and gristley - probably gristle - and never tried again. But the copycat version was A+. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/299 "2022-11-17T18:40:25Z")
While I’m here, let me complain about my decades long favorite fast food, BK Whoppers. My once a month treat, the thing I had last week tasted absolutely foul. It tasted like…some kind of cleaning spray? Very chemical-ly. I think I read they stopped cooking them on a grill, just heat up frozen chemical soaked gray patties now. The lettuce, tomato, and onion were surprisingly recognizable and decent, but the gray thing they were on top of tasted like utter crap. I was starved and still threw it out. That’s the end of BK for me, even their chik fil A imitation sandwich makes me queasy. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/300 "2022-11-17T19:00:36Z")
NYC, 1996, ordered nachos… what I received was so wretched I walked out. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287/301 "2022-11-17T19:29:37Z")
Many years ago, I got a basic cheeseburger at a fast food place. They had a special burger with barbecue sauce at the time. I didn’t order that one, but I did get barbecue sauce instead of ketchup on a burger that also had cheese and mustard. Blergh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-thing-you-ever-ate-at-a-restaurant/974287.md?page=16)