Because it’s super awkward and it doesn’t matter.
So you basically eat whatever is put in front of you, no matter how bad it is?
In this case, what happens to the food?
I’m assuming that you don’t eat it and they take it away.
I’m interpreting “sent back” as you saying that you don’t send it back AND ask for replacement food.
I just eat it.
It’s likely an overreaction to being raised by Karens. Shit like “Cobb Salad light on the avocado, extra tomatoes, half-dressed with a side of almonds. Is your bread gluten free? Also my Diet Coke is flat, can you please bring another one?” Terrible tippers, too, of course.
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It’s pretty ridiculous to eat poorly prepared food and have it struck off the bill.
If the food is bad enough to strike off the bill, it should mean that it wasn’t good enough to eat.
And yeah, I never ask for a new dish if the first one is cooked poorly. Who knows what those cooks will end up doing to it?
I have never asked for it to be taken off the bill. Servers have done it anyway.
Same for me. I grew up with people who would make a giant scene of the slightest wrong. It’s mortifying.
(The caveat to this all was if my grandpa was taking us out. No matter how bad the service was or how bad things went his min tip was 25%. Dude barely passed high school, joined the army, then spent the next 40 years working his way up from literally sweeping floors to executive at the same place but knew his roots).
Now that we only do takeout- a couple weeks ago I ordered a chicken parm grinder and got a meatball parm from a place we frequent a couple times a month. I just assumed the person who got my chicken parm enjoyed it like I did the meatball.
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I have received food so bad I did decline to eat it and just asked for something else. I think this has happened twice and the servers apologized and I just tried to be really nice about and say no big deal, it wasn’t what I was expecting and sorry for the inconvenience but I’d really like something else.
We’ve had a LOT of take-out orders screwed up during COVID. Always seems to be something missing although it’s usually relatively minor e.g. salsas that come on the side of a burrito (you can eat the burrito without it just fine but of course the salsas would elevate it to another level). One time I picked up lunch for work and they completely forgot my sandwich (might’ve been pre-COVID now that I think about it). Honestly have a hard time remembering the last time I had an order legitimately screwed up at a restaurant.
Do you even mention the problem at some point, or do you eat it without complaint and it only gets taken off the check if the server happens to notice the problem?
I’m mostly the same. I’ll normally just eat it, but I’ve got my limits.
I’ve occasionally gotten the wrong order entirely (e.g. I order a burger and get a chicken sandwich) and I’ll mention that and get it corrected. Otherwise, I just go with it, which is > 95% of the time.
I guess one thing I will do consistently is request a correction if I get a regular coke instead of a diet.
Huge turn-off for dating at a restaurant is anybody sending back food for petty reasons.
For me to ask to have a meal struck off the bill, it has to be inedible. I think I’ve done that twice in my life.
Same. I’ll internalize my feelings at the time and make a joke about it later on twitter or something if I really need to vent, but I’m never, ever ever sending food back. I die of secondhand embarrassment if someone I’m with does it.
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Pretty much the same as me, with the exception of a way overdone steak, or the rare instance meat hasn’t been cooked through. If something is wrong with the order, it’s almost never big enough of a deal to send it back. If the food sucks I don’t go back. I’ve seen enough complaints lodged by my coupon toting Mom to overcorrect in the opposite direction.
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I assume you guys are using sending food back as in telling the waitress to take it back and give you something else rather than just asking the waitress to take your plate away, right?
I’ll send back cold soup. Actually just sent back french onion soup a couple of days ago because the cheese wasn’t even browned, which is ridiculous. It wasn’t even fully melted. Just asked them to put it under the broiler so the cheese melts and gets browned.
I think most people are using it this way, but not all. It kinds of makes the discussion a little difficult to follow.
This is EXACTLY why I just suck it up and eat it. All the past trauma of hearing my mother complain means I never want anyone to think I’m anything like that. I’ve also worked in restaurants and I know how much of a disruption it can be, so unless it’s unsanitary or unhealthy, I’m not saying anything.
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My parents weren’t big complainers. But they did fight a lot before they got divorced. I think that’s where my huge aversion to awkward situations comes from - it’s that tension - are they going to start yelling at each other or not? Once the yelling starts it’s almost a relief. The tension is the worst.
I can’t stand any TV show or IRL when someone is put on the spot. Like Ali G. Or even if it’s fictional stuff like Curb. I respect the hell out of it. Can’t watch it.
Somehow though if I am forced to watch it, the second time is fine. That’s why I think it’s that tension of what’s about to happen. Once I know what happens the tension is gone.
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