The Real Buffalo Joe Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 What horror stories do you have with a bad dining experience? Also, would be interested to hear stories from former waitstaff, bartenders, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I was waiting at this “elitist” tennis club in Martha’s Vineyard. I waited on all kinds of celebrities...Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Henry Kissinger, Liza Minnelli, Harvey Weinstein (lots of stories about Harv) to name a few.... All of the wait staff would draw straws to see who got to wait on old lady Singer. Her family invented the Singer sewing machine. She was such a B word, and was a really crappy tipper for a multi-billionaire. Anyway, I was forced to wait on her during a lunch shift. She had 7 or 8 old bags with her. The group had just finished their soup/salad course, and their entrees were coming out, so I began to clear their plates. There was one woman who had like 2 spoonfuls if chowder left in her cup. When I reached for the first salad plate, old lady Singer grabbed me by my wrist and screamed in my face “Don’t you dare touch a plate on my table until everyone is finished!!” I wanted to crawl under the table... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teef Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 applebees. that's all that needs to be said. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbillievable Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I was a bus boy at a restaurant. A rat fell from the ceiling onto a customer's table. It made the news. I knew it would happen eventually because part of my job was to set out traps every night. They never closed for a single day and passed the health inspection shortly after the incident. The restaurant stayed open for 5 more years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasons1992 Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 45 minutes ago, teef said: applebees. that's all that needs to be said. That's you indeed............ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 I'm a very picky eater, and I don't eat cheese. There was a restaurant in the same plaza that I worked in, that had a really good hamburger. $5 for a huge burger, and ***** ton of fries. So I order my hamburger with no cheese. It comes out with cheese. I'm not mad, it happens. I politely tell her that I wanted it without cheese. She brings it back, and about five minutes later brings a burger out to me. Of course the first thing I do is take off the bun to check. No cheese. So I start eating, and it tastes funny. Look under the bun, they just scraped some of the cheese off and brought it back to me with the patty faced down. Now, I'm mad. Not only do they not apologize, the cook comes out from the back, and brags about how he did a good job getting most of the cheese off. Walked out refusing to pay. Now, if I came to someones house and they did that, I probably wouldn't be upset. But if I'm paying money for a burger, I expect it cooked exactly as I ordered. I'm not allergic, but if I was, they could have had a huge lawsuit on their hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionallyUnstable Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 3 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: I was waiting at this “elitist” tennis club in Martha’s Vineyard. I waited on all kinds of celebrities...Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Henry Kissinger, Liza Minnelli, Harvey Weinstein (lots of stories about Harv) to name a few.... All of the wait staff would draw straws to see who got to wait on old lady Singer. Her family invented the Singer sewing machine. She was such a B word, and was a really crappy tipper for a multi-billionaire. Anyway, I was forced to wait on her during a lunch shift. She had 7 or 8 old bags with her. The group had just finished their soup/salad course, and their entrees were coming out, so I began to clear their plates. There was one woman who had like 2 spoonfuls if chowder left in her cup. When I reached for the first salad plate, old lady Singer grabbed me by my wrist and screamed in my face “Don’t you dare touch a plate on my table until everyone is finished!!” I wanted to crawl under the table... Now i’m just pissed off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 5 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said: I'm a very picky eater, and I don't eat cheese. There was a restaurant in the same plaza that I worked in, that had a really good hamburger. $5 for a huge burger, and ***** ton of fries. So I order my hamburger with no cheese. It comes out with cheese. I'm not mad, it happens. I politely tell her that I wanted it without cheese. She brings it back, and about five minutes later brings a burger out to me. Of course the first thing I do is take off the bun to check. No cheese. So I start eating, and it tastes funny. Look under the bun, they just scraped some of the cheese off and brought it back to me with the patty faced down. Now, I'm mad. Not only do they not apologize, the cook comes out from the back, and brags about how he did a good job getting most of the cheese off. Walked out refusing to pay. Now, if I came to someones house and they did that, I probably wouldn't be upset. But if I'm paying money for a burger, I expect it cooked exactly as I ordered. I'm not allergic, but if I was, they could have had a huge lawsuit on their hands. It’s pretty shocking you’d receive service that bad at a strip mall $5 burger joint! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 A new Mexican place opened on Hilton Head decades ago. We went there with a group of 8-10 to check it out. I had a burrito or something, but found a toothpick INSIDE the food that was broken in half which got wedged in my throat, like a V. I choked and gagged and panicked for a good while before getting it out and realizing my life in this world would not end that day. The manager came by to check on us and we told her of the crisis. She said ‘oh, it was the chicken, we put a toothpick in to indicate the chicken”. NOT bent in half INSIDE the food you.......unpleasant words may have followed. I think she got the job because she was kinda hot. No points that day for hotness. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepthefaith Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 (edited) My daughter while a student at the University of Kentucky was a waitress at a local restaurant. During the off-season the entire basketball team came in for a meal along with 3-4 older university staff. My daughter is a huge fan of the team and even attended the final 4 in New Orleans when they won the national championship. She waited the table of about 15 mostly by herself in a semi-private area of the restaurant. She gave them the best service possible and all went well. They then asked for almost all separate checks. She made it happen and then....you guessed it.... $0 tip from any except for the "adult" check. Edited January 29, 2019 by keepthefaith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepthefaith Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 This was hilarious when it happened. We the family were in the car running late to a weekend outing. We decided make a quick stop at a Burger King drive through as we ran out of the house mostly skipping breakfast for a variety of reasons. Kids were all 13 and under I think. It was approximately 11:00 AM. We all knew what we wanted for breakfast but when we began to order we were informed that it was now 11:01 and they were no longer serving breakfast. Not being able to quickly switch gears and order lunch, I decided to pull through and park and order inside so we didn't hold up those behind us. We all went inside, looked at the menu and ordered. The order was for a variety of food. After standing and watching the staff it was clear that there were some newbies in the kitchen and the "Manager" was really struggling with a full drive through and a number of inside customers. Long story short, after about 15 minutes of waiting and inquiring we still didn't have our order and the burger cook obviously spoke about zero english. He was piling whooper patties onto the flame broiled conveyor belt at a frantic pace while the "manager" was trying to communicate that other items needed to be cooked. This cook continued to smile and nod and crank out whopper patties. When the manager offered us a few bags of whoppers we agreed and left with literally a dozen or more of them. We had enough leftover to offer to the rest of the group upon arrival at our destination. You had to be there. It was hysterical watching the action behind the counter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextmanup Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 8 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: I was waiting at this “elitist” tennis club in Martha’s Vineyard. I waited on all kinds of celebrities...Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Henry Kissinger, Liza Minnelli, Harvey Weinstein (lots of stories about Harv) to name a few.... All of the wait staff would draw straws to see who got to wait on old lady Singer. Her family invented the Singer sewing machine. She was such a B word, and was a really crappy tipper for a multi-billionaire. Anyway, I was forced to wait on her during a lunch shift. She had 7 or 8 old bags with her. The group had just finished their soup/salad course, and their entrees were coming out, so I began to clear their plates. There was one woman who had like 2 spoonfuls if chowder left in her cup. When I reached for the first salad plate, old lady Singer grabbed me by my wrist and screamed in my face “Don’t you dare touch a plate on my table until everyone is finished!!” I wanted to crawl under the table... You mentioned lots of stories about Harvey Weinstein. Watcha got for us? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbillievable Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said: I'm a very picky eater, and I don't eat cheese. There was a restaurant in the same plaza that I worked in, that had a really good hamburger. $5 for a huge burger, and ***** ton of fries. So I order my hamburger with no cheese. It comes out with cheese. I'm not mad, it happens. I politely tell her that I wanted it without cheese. She brings it back, and about five minutes later brings a burger out to me. Of course the first thing I do is take off the bun to check. No cheese. So I start eating, and it tastes funny. Look under the bun, they just scraped some of the cheese off and brought it back to me with the patty faced down. Now, I'm mad. Not only do they not apologize, the cook comes out from the back, and brags about how he did a good job getting most of the cheese off. Walked out refusing to pay. Now, if I came to someones house and they did that, I probably wouldn't be upset. But if I'm paying money for a burger, I expect it cooked exactly as I ordered. I'm not allergic, but if I was, they could have had a huge lawsuit on their hands. Had a similar complaint with a hotel restaurant, room service. Hard to complain too much, because it was a different country. Got back late and ordered salad for a friend. She's allergic to wheat, so the only thing on the menu she could eat was a salad. Repeated NO CROUTONs twice. Arrived with croutons. In my Pajamas, I walk it out to the hotel restaurant and explain that I ordered no croutons, specifically said ALLERGIC. Sat with the hostess in my pajamas waiting for it back. 10mins later, got it back with the croutons removed. CRUMBS still on top of the salad. Called the restaurant Manager who brought over the cook who made the salad. Neither speak English. Hotel Manager comes over while I'm explaining my problem. I was gesturing through charades, by choking myself, that wheat will KILL my friend, While saying "Allergic." -FYI the Spanish word is Allergico". (sounds close, just add "o") 20mins later, I got a bowl of lettuce. Just Lettuce. Told the manager I wanted a refund and walked off with nothing. Did find a mango in my bag from earlier that morning.... My advice is to never go on a vacation with someone who has food allergies. Not worth the hassle. Edited January 29, 2019 by unbillievable 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Not much to tell, been fortunate, usually the behaviour of my dining companions is the problem, being picky or hostile to severs. the best is on four occasions where many came down with a reaction to the food, I was fine. On a Friday they served steak in the University commons dining room, people complained but I downed two of them and went home to my parents. When I got back to residence Sunday night it was a vomitorium with 40 of the 100 students admitted to emerg from the meal and almost everyone else puking all weekend. But I was fine. apparently it takes over a day for official food poisoning to kick in, so it wasn’t that, fortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryPinC Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 1 hour ago, row_33 said: Not much to tell, been fortunate, usually the behaviour of my dining companions is the problem, being picky or hostile to severs. the best is on four occasions where many came down with a reaction to the food, I was fine. On a Friday they served steak in the University commons dining room, people complained but I downed two of them and went home to my parents. When I got back to residence Sunday night it was a vomitorium with 40 of the 100 students admitted to emerg from the meal and almost everyone else puking all weekend. But I was fine. apparently it takes over a day for official food poisoning to kick in, so it wasn’t that, fortunately. ?? Usually it kicks in 3-8 hours afterward. That's what I found online and from eating too many free happy hour pizzas during college! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 (edited) 17 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: I was waiting at this “elitist” tennis club in Martha’s Vineyard. I waited on all kinds of celebrities...Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Henry Kissinger, Liza Minnelli, Harvey Weinstein (lots of stories about Harv) to name a few.... All of the wait staff would draw straws to see who got to wait on old lady Singer. Her family invented the Singer sewing machine. She was such a B word, and was a really crappy tipper for a multi-billionaire. Anyway, I was forced to wait on her during a lunch shift. She had 7 or 8 old bags with her. The group had just finished their soup/salad course, and their entrees were coming out, so I began to clear their plates. There was one woman who had like 2 spoonfuls if chowder left in her cup. When I reached for the first salad plate, old lady Singer grabbed me by my wrist and screamed in my face “Don’t you dare touch a plate on my table until everyone is finished!!” I wanted to crawl under the table... Let's hear the real reason you wanted to crawl under the table.? Edited January 29, 2019 by Greybeard 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 9 hours ago, Nextmanup said: You mentioned lots of stories about Harvey Weinstein. Watcha got for us? I won’t get into specifics, but most of the front of the house staff (except for me and one other dude who was manager) were pretty young ladies...most of them “imported” from Europe. Ol’ Harv made more than a few of them feel uncomfortable due to his sexual “advances.” His wife was a smoking hot blonde, BTW, but I don’t know if they’re still together. Another little one. We were all having staff lunch prior to service one day, and Harvey came into the clubhouse looking for a light for his cigar. One of the chefs quickly handed over a lighter and told Harv to keep it. Harvey yelled to the GM who was doing inventory at the bar “I’m going to leave this guy a tip at guest services. Make sure he gets all of it.” The chef went to guest services to find out that Harv left him $500. We went out to the bars on Harvey that night ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 4 hours ago, GaryPinC said: ?? Usually it kicks in 3-8 hours afterward. That's what I found online and from eating too many free happy hour pizzas during college! my restaurant owner friends assure me 24 hours for a lawsuit..... one should be grateful they barfed it up in 3 hours, if it settles into every cell of your body and then erupts you will never forget of course everyone calls it "food poisoning" just like everyone calls it "flu" when they don't have anything close to real influenza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 ??????????????????????? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 I ate at a fancy restaurant recently and when the bill came it said ‘No meadcoin’! I was furious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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