Restaurants you've just given up on... by Wishimay

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Restaurants you've just given up on...

POSTED BY: WISHIMAY
UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 02:12
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 6:27 PM

I was wondering if everyone else was having as bad a time at restaurants as we have...

1. I'll refrain from saying the name of the first one out of respect for the manager who tried and actually seemed apologetic...(but it had a color in the title)

Took my kid out for seafood, in reward for getting "good citizen" the other night... The waitress forgot silverware, straws, didn't know what kind of tea they had, my salad was a bowl of dressing with some lettuce thrown in for color, my seafood alfredo was severely watery cold glop, I was picking crabs shells outta my teeth every other bite, and the drinks were never refilled. The manager came over and I did my best ta lie, as there are starving kids who would kill to have eaten my dinner, but just couldn't...I was...nauseous.

2. Rhymes with Penny's... We used to have the best one ever... Food was hot and perfect and good service every time- then they went and changed the menu and most of the staff quit. The last time we went the waiter was nonexistant for an HOUR then only brought out half the order which was stone cold and never got the rest... 3 other tables got up and left without paying... Complained and recieved gift card which we promtly gave away...

3. The worst one ever was a Steak N Shake. We were asked to pay right after ordering because other customers had snuck out with out paying, waited an hour and a half for food, filled our own drinks, got our own silverware, condiments, and were insulted by the management when we tried to complain...After we had all worked a double shift...that was... fun.

The only place I have never had a really bad time was Olive Garden...

So, personal observations and experiences?

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 6:40 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Applebee's. We used to go once in a while, until a few years ago. I had actually thought about getting fish, which I rarely do unless I'm actually at the ocean, because I like my fish FRESH. But anyway, I'd looked over the menu, and the only fish on it was one salmon dish, so I took a pass and decided I'd better order something else. Fortunately for us, we never got the chance.

Not two minutes later, I saw a waiter carrying a plate with a big silver cover on it; he took it to a table almost on the other side of the restaurant and made a show of taking the cover off the plate, and almost immediately after that we were hit with a stench that was almost indescribable. It smelled like they had gone out to the lake, found a weeks-old dead carp, scraped it off the floor of a boat, dragged it behind their car all the way back to the restaurant, slapped it whole and uncooked on a plate, and presented it as the Catch of the Day. This was a smell with a physical presence; it was a fist to the nose. We both nearly gagged.

My wife and I were so gobsmacked that all we could really do was laugh, and it only got worse when nobody else seemed to have much reaction at all, as though this was the way fish was supposed to smell. And then we saw the guy eating the fish, and we just lost it. We both bolted for the door (don't worry, we hadn't even gotten drinks at that point), howling with laughter, and have never set foot in Applebee's again.

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 8:21 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I have found that most of my bad experiences have been situational rather than institutional.

In other words, a specific crew or management has ruined a specific place for their specific tenure. Other places with other crews, or the same place with a different crew, produces an entirely different product.

I've never found a chain where every store conformed to some hideous standard of service. Each time I think I've found a name worthy of writing off entirely, I find another link in the chain that does things much differently (and better.)

Perhaps I am too forgiving.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 8:22 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Lets see...

Okay, first off - depending on the time of day, and the place in question, WHAT I am going to order is about sure as the sunrise, either a specific set of breakfast items (depends on the place) or ye olde standard issue cheeseburger and fries.
But I ALWAYS look at the menu - occasionally getting mocked for that by wait staff who know me well with snarks like "And what do YOU need a menu for?"

I've thrown in the towel on a couple local places for much the same reason y'all do - change of ownership/management, and the quality and service drops like a thrown brick, yeah.

But really, it kinda takes WORK to screw up a cheeseburger.
S'funny though, the A&W in the food court of twelve oaks mall still managed it - among the events of todays wild adventure (which I will detail in it's own thread, stay tuned, especially YOU Mikey) was a stop at the jeweler there to have my ex's new husbands wedding ring re-sized, and it was crushingly hot (for me) and involved long drives and being inside of cars left to bake on the lot, and I was tired and hungry, so a cheezeburger, fries and an A&W root beer sounded like a plan.

And they STILL borked it up, overcooked fries, puny drink size and while the burger itself was actually pretty good despite it all, bread ain't supposed to be CHEWY, leastways not hamburger buns - ain't hoity-toity mall food court places SUPPOSED to be better overall quality ?
*shrug*

Damn I miss Corn Dog 7 - I wish to hell we had those up here.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 8:29 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

We had a Ruby Tuesday's at the local mall that did a damn fine burger, but sadly they closed.

The local Red Robin closed, too. It seemed for a while all my favorite burger joints were dropping like flies. I suspect it's the economy.

But Lenny's is still open, and they do a fine job. You just can't sit down and eat there comfortably. Gotta take it with you.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:12 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

I'm pretty flexible, I love eating out. But at the Chinese resturant up the street the older woman who is one of the owners is soooooooo rude to me, I love the squid but don't like going there because of her, and since she's part of the owning family she's usually there. I try to stay unseen so she won't come over and talk to me. I keep hoping she'll retire. But other than that I don't have too many resturant complaints. Although I don't like Denny's food very much and avoid it a lot, haven't been in forever, maybe I should give them another chance.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:27 AM

WISHIMAY

Ohh, I forgot the IHOP run by a middle eastern man (not that I care who runs things, it's just so you get the idea) That has all the delicasy and tact of grease monkey and bull rider and all they play is really bad 70's and 80's music...

I half expect him to say in a thick accent "Refill of COKE??! NO, you get dirty water in dirty glass and you be THANKFULL!"

I'd be funny if it weren't so unnerving...

Oh, and one of the best meals I've ever had was at a Ruby Tuesdays while on a field trip in High School...Sadly, I've never been able to re-create the experience...

Have any of you married people noticed that your wives get bad food or service when you both eat out?? When I was down south I noticed a pattern of single women being really rude to married women when we ate out, and I have had a couple others tell me that too... Here I don't get rude women, they usually just screw up the food, while my husbands order is perfect evry time
(could have something to do with him having an air about him of something akin to "angry gorilla", or I could just be incredibly unlucky with food service, I dunno...

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:37 AM

CAVETROLL

In general I'd rather eat at a mom and pop than a chain restaurant. I was in Alexandria, VA last Friday and asked the dealer I had just bought a used car at where I could find something to eat. They mentioned all the chain restaurants on the main street we were on. I pulled out my phone, fired up Yelp and looked for 4 and 5 star restaurants, ignoring the chains. Found a place called Mama's Kitchen that was just off the main drag, about 5 minutes away. Had an excellent gyro platter and my friend had seafood marinara. Very happy.

Restaurants I've given up on? Any chain, except ones with the bar set very low. Like the Waffle House. Which has a bad reputation, mostly from the after hours crowd. I've never had bad food there. Just middle of the road.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:47 AM

WISHIMAY

I wish we had decent independant restaurants here! Well, we have a couple pizza, ethnic, and potato places, but no real independant sit down places... Just buffets and to-go... The few we had have been wiped out in the last decade. People aren't making as much money in food service now with costs going through the roof, and it seems Americans just don't want to mess with pinching pennies...

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:57 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Applebee's. We used to go once in a while, until a few years ago. I had actually thought about getting fish, which I rarely do unless I'm actually at the ocean, because I like my fish FRESH. But anyway, I'd looked over the menu, and the only fish on it was one salmon dish, so I took a pass and decided I'd better order something else. Fortunately for us, we never got the chance.

Not two minutes later, I saw a waiter carrying a plate with a big silver cover on it; he took it to a table almost on the other side of the restaurant and made a show of taking the cover off the plate, and almost immediately after that we were hit with a stench that was almost indescribable. It smelled like they had gone out to the lake, found a weeks-old dead carp, scraped it off the floor of a boat, dragged it behind their car all the way back to the restaurant, slapped it whole and uncooked on a plate, and presented it as the Catch of the Day. This was a smell with a physical presence; it was a fist to the nose. We both nearly gagged.

My wife and I were so gobsmacked that all we could really do was laugh, and it only got worse when nobody else seemed to have much reaction at all, as though this was the way fish was supposed to smell. And then we saw the guy eating the fish, and we just lost it. We both bolted for the door (don't worry, we hadn't even gotten drinks at that point), howling with laughter, and have never set foot in Applebee's again.

Corporate Fude - Danger!
I'm jealous as you're in one of thee greatest food towns in the US (loved Lambert's downtown, and the t-chef Paul's place) just your food truck scene alone rivals our entire output - hell, I even loved Taco Deli. Damn shame it's so far away from where we live!

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 6:27 AM

BYTEMITE

I don't really have a sense of taste or smell, so if food is bad I'm not going to find out for a couple hours.

I also have a very loose definition of what constitutes "food."

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 6:29 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Places I give up on tend to have more to do with food poisoning than service. For example, last year I had a very rude awakening to the fact that the turkey at Subway just kind of sits there all day with inadequate refrigeration, allowing things like E. coli to have a field day all over it. I have never, ever been so sick, and I can no longer stand even the idea of Subway. Bad service can be a temporary thing; waitstaff tends to come and go. Meat sitting out at near room-temperature? That's a forever thing. (At least until they overhaul their entire chain of restaurants, which seems doubtful.)
If the food is terrible the first time I go somewhere, I probably won't go back, but if some cook somewhere I like is just having a bad day, I'll generally give it another chance. If, however, I'm underwhelmed by the food a few times in a row, I certainly won't go out of my way to go somewhere. I can't really think of any examples of that right now.
Oh, I do generally avoid the big-name fast-food burger chains. Not a huge fan of any of them, mostly because the food tends to taste like greasy cardboard. (Wendy's is okay, I guess. Haven't been there in years, regardless.)

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 9:46 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I agree with Rose. If I have bad service, I mean really bad service (or food), I'll complain. Then go back ONCE; if nothing's changed, I just don't go back.

I've not gone to a fast-food or chain store in decades, except up until a couple of years ago, when too tired to deal with it I'd get a Big Mac to go once or twice a year, only because it's right across the road. But I wouldn't be caught dead in a Denny's, or KFC (we call it "Dirty Bird" because of the smell when we drive by), or any of those others.

The people who wait on you do tend to come and go. It's not a job most people stick with because it pays so little. If the manager can't clean up their acts, I want nothing to do with them.

The only restaurants we ever went to were individual ones, and if we didn't like the food, we didn't go back. Must be because of where we live or something, as I've rarely been treated badly at a restaurant. Of course, these days we rarely ever eat out, it's too expensive. Oh, we did go to Chevy's several times back 'when; invariably good food and service.

All in all, I'd far rather eat at home comfortably than go out anyway. Restaurants have never been my "thing". I enjoyed a little waffle house while I was in New Orleans, as it was right next to the motel, and I LOVED listening to the accents of the very friendly women behind the counter.

I've also never experienced food being any different whether Jim and I went together or I went alone...that's a weird one!

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:31 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

I too have never heard of things being different based on whether a woman was with her husband or not, maybe its a midwest thing?

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 1:43 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by CaveTroll:
Restaurants I've given up on? Any chain, except ones with the bar set very low. Like the Waffle House. Which has a bad reputation, mostly from the after hours crowd. I've never had bad food there. Just middle of the road.

I'm pretty much the same.

When Madame Geezer and I travel, we have decided to NEVER eat at a chain restaurant (Except 5 Guys, since we remember when there was only one). We generally ask folks at museums or historical sites we visit for recommendations, or just look for somewhere busy. It's hard to get the clerks at motels/hotels to suggest anything but chains.

We've had a couple of less than stellar meals, and sometimes problems like no bread with a bowl of mussels, but generally are well satisfied, and sometimes hit real gems in unlikely places.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:51 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Well, another bit of advice ?

Hit up a Trucker - they ALWAYS know where to find the best grub.

-F

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:06 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK

Hey Wish,

I LOVED McDonalds when I was a kid.

My old man could grill awesome burgers when I was 4 but I wouldn't eat them unless they came in a cardboard house and had a free toy.

These days, good luck serving REAL MEAT and having any leftovers if I'm invited to the party!

The last time I bought McDonalds was back in 2000 when they had hamburgers for 25cents and cheese for 35 cents. I bought 40 bucks worth of burgers, out of my own pocket, without talking to my boss about it for the guys and gals working the line.

I don't know how many of them knew my name before that, but it was an amazing feeling to see that many thanks and that people there recognized my name (which isn't really Jack lol). I felt like Liz Lemon on that episode when she won the 1000k prize and opened a bar tab....

I rarely eat out anywhere these days, if ever, but if I'm desperate I'll go to Wendy's first, or BK second. There's no way I'm feeding my smoking, cancer candidate body willingly eat that McDonald's trash...

Your best bet is the local Greek restaurant. If they serve "Gyros", pronounced Yee-ros, you're probably good. It might be greasy going down, but it's actually real beef. The fast food "people" might start their stuff with real beef in mind, but after all the steps, you might as well be chewing on cancer.

I, for one, would rather have high cholesterol than cancer. Either "house" is going to make your cholesterol high if left unchecked.

AT LEAST THE MOM AND POP SHOPS KEEP THE FOOD REAL!!!!!!!!!!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:21 PM

WISHIMAY

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Your best bet is the local Greek restaurant. If they serve "Gyros", pronounced Yee-ros, you're probably good.

Different regions pronounce that differently...
We've got one of those in the mall, if you like to spend half an hour looking for a place to park a block away...They are good, but a meal there is 10 bucks a person, which is a wee bit much for a lunch, and they aren't exactly a large portion...

We had a fancy shmancy yogurt place open recently...It had 2 sizes- Huge and extra huge and charged by the weight... $7.60 for the huge halfway filled...Good, but not THAT good

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 4:35 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK

Well, not that I live there anymore now, but if you're ever in the Oak Forest area of IL, you've got to check out "Mickey's".

They Specialize in Gyros, but whenever me and my bros on the wrestling team in HS were feinding for some protien, it was the place to go.

Back then.... 99 cents for a HUGE double cheeseburger for a buck on Wednesday!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

EDITED TO ADD:

Mine was ALMOST always free, since 5 of us would bet who could pin their opponent the quickest :)

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 8:24 PM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Mmmmmm, gyros.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

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Thursday, March 22, 2012 9:26 PM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

There used to be a few very popular restaurants here started by one owner. He sold the location near me to a Korean guy. That Korean guy seemed to have zero idea about western food. After substituting the lowest possible quality food (can you say cardboard hamburgers? sure you can ...) the last couple of straws were -

he was using some kind of cheap oil that made everything - fish, French fries, hash browns, onion rings, eggs ... everything ... taste faintly of coconut, and not in a good way as everything was both greasy and lacking in flavor (save for that faint coconut)

the business dwindled to nothing b/c the food was so bad, and he was so angry about it he would sit in the restaurant, drunk, and glare at the few customers who were there.

I'd been going to that restaurant for years b/c at the other locally-owned restaurant, in a booth as far away from the kitchen as you could get, a cockroach was strolling along the table as casually as you please. (Well, that and there was this creepy guy who used to frequent the place who would invite himself to my table and tell me how rich he was and pester me FOR HOURS to marry him.)

Now after the Korean owner glaring at me incident I went back to the first one, found they had cleaned up their act, and the creepy guy was no longer there.

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Friday, March 23, 2012 2:12 AM

MAL4PREZ

I feel very fortunate that, since leaving the midwest, I have not been in a situation where fast food and the strip mall chains (Applebees, etc) are ever options I have to choose. So I don't - thank goodness! I do get an occasional craving for a McD's cheeseburger, but only on a road trip. I used to live on Taco Bell when I was a kid, but tried it a few years ago and it made me feel sick.

I will go to the occasional waffle house because I love eggs benedict, and they tend to do all right with that. Except one place in CT, where the Hollandaise was like gravy: full of flour and fat. It was disgusting.

When I eat out, it's local bars for wings (a work social thing) or Chinese, Indian, Japanese, or Korean. One thing I love about the city: there are so many options, and they're generally really good. Oh - and there is no awkwardness at all about a woman dining alone.

For bad dining stories: I ordered Apple pie ala mode at Denny's once, which to me means hot apple pie with cold ice cream on it. The waitress brought cold pie with ice cream. I asked her (nicely!) to heat up the pie. She kind of grunted, then went and put the got concoction in the microwave for like 15 seconds, then threw back on the table with another grunt. That's one of the few times I've ever left a very bad tip.

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

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