What are your WORST experiences with a restaurant with regards to food and service?

Question

Mine:

THE WORST

1992: Mother Bear's Pizza, Bloomington, IN. My partner and I were having lunch with my family before he and I flew back to Texas, so we decided to eat at Mother Bear's which I remembered as a GREAT pizza place when I attended IU.

We went in, ordered, and the waiter brought back food for everybody — except me. I asked why the delay, and he said my lunch was still being prepared. Everybody ate lunch — except me, and then the waiter brought back the bill (which included my lunch, which I never got). I asked him what happened, and he pointed to another person's plate and said that I had obviously eaten. I pointed out the plate belonged to another person and my order never came — at which time the waiter took out some change from his pocket and literally THREW it at me!

For awhile, I did customer service training for new telephone reps and used that example, citing the specific restaurant, as an example of GHASTLY customer service.

Answer 1

About two months ago, I went to a Chinese restaurant buffet.  I always get General Tso's chicken, but I will NEVER get it again.  While I was eating my chicken, I realized there was something crunchy in my mouth.  Like anything else I find strange or texture funny, I just swallow it and don't think about it.  Well, this thing in my mouth then poked my tongue and that was the end of that thought.  As I pulled it out of my mouth I almost puked all over.  There was definitely a piece of a chicken foot in my General Tso's chicken.  As an owner of four paraketes and having to clip their toenails, I knew a bird toenail as soon as I saw one.  As I finished gagging, I left without leaving a tip.

Answer 2

I worked in one. It lasted a total of almost 9 years. Every manager that I worked for there was worse than the one before. 365 days and not a vacation every year. Maybe two or three days vacation at that. I was expected to work every single holiday incluiding News Years Day just to scrub their toilets by hand.  With one manager, the paychecks would "bounce".  I could tell you alot more, but I won't. I'm getting sick of my stomach just thinking about it.  I work somewhere else now and I'm getting paid more than double and a half in one pay period than I did for that horrible mom & pop dive.  The last mamnager I worked for there had no culinary experience, no business school, just her mad attitude and her sexual behavior with the cook and customers.  I am so glad to be out of there. I didn't want my good name and reputation to be ruined by working there.

  I couldn't even trust the former manager and the mexican cook with my own young daughter.

  By the way, just so you know I'm telling the truth, this restaurant (more like a whorehouse) is going to be shown on Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Gordon Ramsey as one of the bad places he visits. It will air this fall.   I will not be in it, thank God, but those other horrible people will.  Of course, they will edit alot out of it.

Answer 3

After a long day of shopping me and my mom decided we'd like some chinese well it was a saturday night and most nice places were packed so we chose a little hole in the wall (first mistake) this was not buffet chinese this was entree only w/ rice. So we ordered both got some sort of chicken with rice and also ordered egg drop soup. The soup was hard, yes soup was hard the egg pieces were hard! The chicken smelled really bad and my mom had a piece and it was hard too like beef jerky, it was terrible. I braved the rice, i mean who can s***w up rice, well they did, it was completely over cooked and smelled like dirty feet. Before we got home we had to pull over on the side of the road to throw up, i had one spoon full of rice and like 4 cups of it came up, it was quite scary, both me and my mom had food poisioning and spent the next 36 hours curled up in our bathroom floors. I haven't eaten chinese since!

Answer 4

Haha, I love your stories!  It sucks when it happens to you (I have had more than my fair share of course) but it's fun to share with others.

We had a pretty crappy experience recently.  My husband and I went to see a movie at the Willowbrook Movie Tavern in Houston.  If you don't know what this is think regular movie setting with a small table in front of you and waiters walking around when you push the button on the table to order.  It was a Friday evening and it was obviously packed and our waitress came by to get our drink order when I pushed the button immediately, knowing it would take forever.  She took our order of 2 sodas, a Margarita, and an appetizer and left.  20 minutes later we saw her walking around with others' food and she asked "Did you order the blah blah blah".  I told her that indeed we had, about 20 minutes ago.  A few minutes later, we got the drinks and the appetizer and the frozen Margarita was melted to pure liquid and the nachos were soggy with cold meat. Go figure, it had been sitting out for 20 minutes!

Ok, so it was busy and we forgave her for it.  As my husband and I finished up our appetizer, I clicked the button to order the meal.  She came right away and I put in our order, one meal for me, one for him.  We got refills on our soda and she was off.  My meal came in about 10 minutes which was fine, however, the waiter had only my meal with him.  I asked about my husband's meal and he had no idea about it, he was just bringing out the food.  He clicked the button for our waitress to come by and she finally did 10 minutes later.  She didn't even apologize when I asked about my husband's meal.  Simply took the order as if it were the first time I'd said it.  We waited and waited and saw her passing out the bill to people around us after a while.  (The pass out the bill 30 minutes before the end of the movie to everyone.)  I asked where my husband's food was and she said "Oh, let me check on it" and didn't return until 10 minutes before the end.  She had the meal with her and I told her "No way, take it back I am not even going to bother with it now".  

How ridiculous...good thing my husband had had a big lunch (and part of my dinner!).

Answer 5

One time i found a hair in my french fries!

yuck. it wasnt my hair either, 'cause i dont have black hair!

Answer 6

I used work in restaurant service.  I always treat my customers with honesty- regardless whether I like them or not.  I always do it clean and good hygient. but sometimes greedy owner get stingy in some restaurants especially Asian restaurant their are SUPER DIRTY! Trust me. They love reused things. I got fired because I always throw things away, my best advice. any sauce or food....you can't finish please do something so they cannot reUSED them

That's why, I dont dine out much especially in Vietnamese/chinese restaurant.. I rather cooked at home. or order food where I can see them make it on the spot.

one time I had vietnamese noodle with my friend. I notice how they bused the tables the unused vegetables from all tables are keep together ......you guess it.

imagine if some one sneeze or spit or whichever...

totally my nightmare....I never want to go out and eat

Answer 7

We were vacationing in Georgia very tired and hungry. We stopped at a small diner.My Father ordered a chicken dinner.When they brought out the meal it looked very good.But when he cut into a piece of the chicken out fell a handful of stones they had breaded the chickens crough it was very disgusting seeing stones all over his plate.

Same vacation my poor Father ordered bacon and eggs for breakfast. It looked as if someone cleaned out their hair brush all over his eggs.Both times they were lucky my Dad was good natured.

Answer 8

can't think of a worst, but the best ever in Roatan Honduras on a Vacation what a lovely place and excellence service as no where else on earth.