This really isn’t the same as running out of stuff. Machines break. And very few restaurants are going to have backups.
Ours does this REGULARLY during the dinner rush.
I ran out of salt at home a while ago and kept coming home from the grocery store without remembering to get any, because, you know, who ever runs out of salt?
Wow. So, whom does one call when the police are rioting in the streets? 
There’s an awesome This American Life story about a Subway sandwich place in Seattle that had been cut off from the coporate office (the owners had had some feud with the Subway company and for some reason had just left the country) and this young girl became the manager and tried to run it. She paid employees cash out of the till each day but I forgot how she paid bills like rent and utilities. They bought seemingly everything from the grocery store once the supply trucks stopped coming. If memory serves it was able to stay open for a few months before the Subway company stepped in and finally closed it.
I think your mistake was going to Old Orleans in the first place. Culinary delights are not many to be found in (central) Oxford, alas. sigh
Prime rib is all cooked as the entire section, the ends are well done and as you move to the center it gets rarer.
Was Jack Nicholson around?
I went to this restaurant, and ordered Prime Rib medium, but they said they were out of Medium. Does anyone know why that could happen? Maybe it has to do with how Prime Rib is cooked? I’m dying to know!
See post #12
If you’ve never worked in a restaurant you’d be surprised how much sales are influenced by nonhuman agencies, particularly the weather. Years ago when I worked for Wendy’s, you just learned that on chilly days, people would order potatoes and chicken; on hot days, burgers and salads.
Knowing that isn’t always sufficient to plan ahead for stocking supplies. You could have a run of bad weather and suddenly your supplies are looking mighty thin.
Add to that the razor-thin margin on which many restaurants operate — you can’t order in extra lettuce, extra meat, extra tomatoes, extra cheese, extra whatever, without consideration for its shelf life, because you certainly don’t want to spend your food budget on stuff that’s gonna spoil.
There’s no excuse for running out of sugar packets, cups, napkins, or other non-perishable dry goods, though.
If only they had some sort of machine that could wash them.
Even if the machine is broken, there’s always the good old manual option. Or the Manuel option, as it is in many restaurants.
Seriously, though, I would rage at a restaurant that tried to pass off dirty plates or silverware on me. Almost any food gaffe can be forgiven or worked out, but woe betide the poor bastard who puts a greasy knife or crusty fork in front of me.
Dude! I love that place! Half a chicken, with black beans and fried plantains.
I still haven’t figured out why a Cuban restaurant would be named after the palace of Louis XIV. 
In some states it’s illegal for one retail liquor outlet to buy liquor from another retail liquor outfit. They must order from a wholesaler that only sells to retail outlets.
Once, after a night of drinking, some buddies and I went to a large, pancake-style all night restaurant for some grub. I ordered, I dunno, a burger or something only to be told that the grill was broken. Okaay, I thougt. How about chicken fingers? Oh, the fryer is down for cleaning, is it? What DO you have?
Salad and ice cream.
How can I be the first?
Oddly enough the Wiki for previously referenced Cheese Shop Sketch mentions that this Weird Al lyric was inspired by the sketch. I personally don’t see the connection: we’ve all been somewhere where they seemed to be out of something.
And anyway, Albuquerque woulda been better if Al had shot the guy in the head.
My aunt, uncle, and their two kids once drove from Cleveland to Cincinnati to visit a relative. They got to the hotel just as the restaurant was about to close for the evening, and were informed that the only dinner option available was prime rib. Apparently the hotel had hosted a catered affair, and there were a bunch of meals left over from that, so the kitchen staff had decided to knock off early and tell the waitresses to push the prime rib, as any unsold entrees would have to be thrown out. When the food came, it wasn’t even hot – my aunt and uncle guessed that the plates had sat around for about three hours by the time they were served.
Yep, they are the awesome. Great food, lots of it, not expensive and they make great mojitos. 
We should totally go sometime.