Bad restaurant experiences

So I went to a restaurant today and had a really good time. The food was great and the waitress was nice. So i put a nice tip on the table in cash, and went up front to pay the bill on my card. I filled my paper out and drew a line threw the area for the tip and started to walk away when the waitress who had waited our table says to me "Did you want to leave a tip on your card?" When I told her no, she just gave me this mouth gaping dirty look to which I replied "Your going to feel like a real butt head when you find your tip on the table."
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anyone else had a bad restaurant?

1st of all, she cant ask for you to tip her..... I know someone who got fired in NYC for asking the dude for his tip and the guy said: its my money I tip if I want to, and talked to his manager and got him fired......
Ive been bartending for years and Ive learn to don't even mention the tip.... most of the times is on the table, and more than once Ive had the person coming back and tiping extremely good and apologizing for no tipping the last time.....

I've twice had a waitress come by (two different pubs) and ask if we'd like another round, we said not yet, and they brough us the bill. WTF?

I've also had someone try and make a risotto out of wild rice. When I sent that back, I orderd the salmon which they rushed so it was burnt all to heck. Finally they stole a gnocchi from another table.

Someone trying to pass off sliced garlic for roasted garlic.

Servers ignoring me, me having to flag them down for even a water refill etc.

I tip for the service I receive.

I would have demanded to speak to the manager then taken her tip away. How rude!

I don't think I've ever had a really bad restaurant experience. I eat at cheap places, fast food, Denny's, IHOP. Applebee's is expensive dineout to me. So I don't really expect stellar service.

There was this one time, though, at a pizza shop, where the three people in front of me and myself cleared out one of the pizza's they'd put out. (It was like a line where you picked what pizza you wanted and they gave you a slice) I noticed the entire kitchen staff snickering and laughing and pointing at us and the food.

I dropped my pizza back on the plate and left. I don't know if they did anything to it, but I was happier eating at Wendy's that day.

My husband and I somehow put off "Give us bad service" vibes even though we're great tippers. (My husband often overtips even when the service is crap-- maybe that's the vibe.)

I think the worst we ever had was at the Union Oyster House when the waitress ignored us because one person at our table already had a drink from the bar so "I assumed you were already served." She didn't know the menu, insisted several items weren't on it that were, then failed to bring my husband's dish out after being reminded four times that he'd ordered something in addition to his appetizer. Then she charged him for the dish she never brought and when asked to correct it, said "Well, I'll just have to double charge you and we'll get the rest back on your card sometime."

Suuuuuuuuuuucked. There's a restaurant resting on its reputation and doing jack squat to uphold it.

A close second is the TGI Friday's waiter (back when I was in college) who kept touching me on the shoulders when he approached the table, and who, when alerted to a hair in someone's salad, bugled it out at the top of his lungs, grossing out all the other diners in earshot.

I tip as a rule, but go extra for excellent service/mom and pop places. Dining experiences vary, but the most memorably bad was getting raw chicken when I was 7 months pregnant. Turned out ok but that could have gone pretty down hill.

the waitress who had waited our table says to me "Did you want to leave a tip on your card?" When I told her no, she just gave me this mouth gaping dirty look to which I replied "Your going to feel like a real butt head when you find your tip on the table."

I wish I had been there to see the look on her face when you said that. She should have apologized to you, at the very least.

I have had less than stellar servers but food would be my major complaint. I recently went to an well known, city cafe for dinner with relatives and the food was near tasteless! And this is such a popular place. Don't get it....unless its the beer that brings them in. I don't drink beer;

I'm an old lady and don't get out to dinner much anymore. When I did I always tipped more than the going rate as in my younger days, I was a waitress for a short period of time. Just long enough to understand how important tips are to service people.

Problem is; the last 20 years or so (and it continues to get worse), many wait staff feel entitled to a tip even if they have an attitude and their attentiveness was poor. This thread is just one example... the waitress asking for "her" tip.

I guess people quit tipping before the meal because after they had already tipped, the wait staff could do whatever they wanted.

TIPS= To Insure Prompt Service

I've had two experiences that were awful.

One, my hubby (then boyfriend) and I went out to dinner, and the waitress came over every two minutes. She completely smothered us! I couldn't say more than four sentences to him before she'd come back. We got so frustrated we went out for dessert later just so we could actually talk.

Two: My mother and I went to dinner and everything seemed to be going well. The waitress who was maybe 35 came up and said "What can I get you kids" I just looked at her with my mouth gaped. I was 18, my mom was easily 10 years her senior. It was so disrespectful. She referred to us as kids and kiddos like all night. I would have understood if she was like 80 years old or we were younger, but come on.

I once thought that if each table came equipped with a call button (like on an airplane), it would resolve quite a few service problems.

My girlfriend and I go to Salem every year for Halloween and we make it a point to visit new restaurants in the area while we are there. I am a foodie and a chef and tend to love trying new things / seeing new ideas. I usually am never over critical unless someone swears theirs is the best, or I really psyche myself up for it.

I'll paste the reviews I left on the sites following the description of the 43 Church Burger, which was promoted on Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel. The other thing that was a huge issue was trying to find what was supposed to be a staple in Mass - New England Clam Chowder. I would go the entire day not eating in hopes of filling up on an amazing binge of the NE Clam Chowder, only to find it water, bland, scorched, or tasting nothing like clams. Spent over $60 on clam chowder that weekend, and the best one I had was at Chili's, possibly because it came from a can - so disappointing lol.

The 43 Church place has since closed - they had a burger that was described as grilled angus with thick cut peppercorn bacon topped with melted gorgonzola on a pretzel bun with side of shoe string potatoes. I ordered it medium rare and it came out charred black on the outside, and cooked to temperature in the middle. This wouldn't have been an issue except aside from the burger, everything else was lukewarm / cold at best and the burger was unseasoned (this baffles me). It would not have been an issue except the burger was $24!!!! They also did some weird attempt at a take on tuna tar tar, making it with sliced raw apples in it....which did not make sense / taste good at all lol.

Other place we went to had this AMAZING pumpkin seasonal beer that they would put this caramel / pumpkin glaze on the rim of the rim of the glass and dip it in pumpkin spice / brown sugar (AWESOME)

Downside was it took over 30 minutes before we even got a beer, waited 20 minutes to get menus, 15 for nachos that were cold, and had no cheese on them except on the top layer. I dealt with it, annoyed as I had been waiting so long already. Went to ask for another beer, because it was so good. But I then realized that they had stuck the check under the nachos so we were closed out already. I said screw it, paid the check, 10% and left.

I've had the occasional waiter or waitress who never comes by to refill drinks, have walked out of two different restaurants because no one came to wait on us for 5+ minutes after we were seated, and maybe once or twice had an order completely screwed up. I usually leave 15-20% on the taxed bill (so apparently higher than I should anyway) but I know I have at least once left zero tip. I don't remember exactly why it was so bad, but it takes a LOT to piss me off in a restaurant so it must have been pretty horrible. About six months ago my bf and I went to this kitbar that we really like (basically a bar that is also an open kitchen and the bartenders make your food), and about halfway through our appetizer we had the unpleasant experience of seeing a roach scuttle across the food prep counter two feet in front of us. We informed our bartender when he came back over, I ate about half of my dinner (only because it had been prepared in another area), and even though they comped us a round of drinks and our entrees (I tipped the kid very well also) I will never go back. It is unfortunate because they have delicious food and creative beverages, but even now the thought of eating there brings up the image of that roach running around and makes me gag a bit.

I will forgive service staff pretty much anything short of outright rudeness if I can see that the restaurant or the server is very busy. I bartended for years and I know what a tough job serving is (said from my cushy office job.) But if I count 6 tables occupied, 3 servers, and I have to watch you flirting with a hostess when I've had an empty drink for ten minutes...hell no. I never punish service staff for bad food either, or even wrong food (unless it's obviously visually wrong and the server brought it personally) unless the server doesn't try to make it right. I know how bad managers and stupid corporate policies and a bad kitchen can be, so I really try to only punish servers for stuff I know is within their power. A good attitude goes a long way with me.

I'm pickier with fine dining, but honestly, I very rarely get bad service anywhere because I try to treat people well, and servers usually try harder with nice tables.

I have had some deplorable food, but I think that's what I deserve for eating at crappy low to mid range chains. No real horror stories, though.

Our favourite restaurant, though, is a little neighbourhood sushi place where the service is slow, practically absent at times, and the food is great. We tip well anyway in exchange for the best table in the place and getting to skip the line when it's busy because they know and like us. Never having to wait and eating fantastic food is worth it.

**I DO THIS** for my In-Home Fine Dining events!

I have a remote doorbell button, and the chime part plugs in, in the kitchen. I put the remote under the host's plate, and tell him that "I want to give them their privacy" during the meal.

That's code for "i'm going to stay in the kitchen, and finish cooking or cleaning, until you call me, so I don't have to keep checking up on you every 5 minutes."

The first time they ring the doorbell, everything's silent, followed by a big laugh when they hear the DING... but after that, it's no big deal. EVERYONE says that they wish they did something like that in a restaurant!

I once thought that if each table came equipped with a call button (like on an airplane), it would resolve quite a few service problems.

Here in Japan most places have this.