Worst restaurant experiences you have had

[CL82]

There are some great authentic Spanish /Portuguesee restaurants in that area.. Casa Vasca & The Spanish Taverns.

Agreed. My favorite is Fornos. Iberia and Don Pepe are good as well. This particular restaurant, if I recall correctly, was over by Santa Lucia. To no ones surprise I’ve never gone back. But, I do enjoy the ironbound restaurants quite a bit and went there often pre-COVID.

 

[CL82]

Toenail in my iced tea from Cafe La France on South Main Street in downtown Providence. I still get chills thinking about it.

Also, not a restaurant experience, but I have a distinct recollection of pouring myself a bowl of cereal in college, eating a spoonful, and then watching in horror as the milk turned orange from the remnants of whatever one of my roommates had had for dinner the night before mixed with the milk.

There was an Afghan he restaurant that I used to like. One day in the parking lot I see two members of the staff on the back stoop one guy is pouring hydrogen peroxide on his foot which is fizzing like someone dropped a Mentos in Diet Coke. I turned around I walked back to my car and I’ve never been back again. Just too nasty an image.

 

[Improviser]

There are some great authentic Spanish /Portuguesee restaurants in that area.. Casa Vasca & The Spanish Taverns.

I ate at the Spanish Tavern once, and it was great as was its atmosphere.

 

[Improviser]

One time I went to a lobster shack everyone here was raving about and I ordered a lobster roll.

It was just lobster, butter and a roll. It was as if a toddler had made it.

Had one recently at a seafood restaurant on the shore overlooking the water. Been going there for years but they recently renovated and opened under new mgt. We got to our table and there were ants crawling on the table, so we moved tables and the next table was fine. Okay, we’re outside and things happen.

The waiter was by far the worst I’ve ever had. Took him 40 min to take our order (by this time we ordered apps along with our dinner bc we obv had enough time to look at the new menu). 20 min later he comes back with the wrong beer, and wine for my wife who doesn’t drink and never asked for wine. He was holding 3 or 4 electronic ordering devices and obv screwed it up. Long story short we finally get our food (which came with the appetizers, he was confused obv from when we ordered our apps then said we’ll just order dinner also since we knew what we wanted). The food was bland, didn’t send it back bc by this point it’s been over 2 hrs. Finally got my correct beer (had to ask busboy). We finish eating and ask for bill, he tells us the total off his electric device thingy and we say we want to see it to make sure it’s correct. He then rolls his eyes and shows us on the electric thing. Somehow it was right. Give him my card, he comes back with somebody else’s card! Thank God the couple who had my card didn’t leave and after a few minutes it was sorted out (Had to make sure I didn’t pay their bill bc they were a fam of 4 and it was just 2 of us). Left him a 10% tip, and got the hell out of there. Never again, sad bc we’ve been going to this place for years under the old mgt.

A cook once told me a saying, "A cook is as good as his last meal."

 

[Rocktheworld]

There was an Afghan he restaurant that I used to like. One day in the parking lot I see two members of the staff on the back stoop one guy is pouring hydrogen peroxide on his foot which is fizzing like someone dropped a Mentos in Diet Coke. I turned around I walked back to my car and I’ve never been back again. Just too nasty an image.

Well-described. I can see the entire scene perfectly

and you know dude was touching that foot throughout the day

 

[8893]

One time I went to a lobster shack everyone here was raving about and I ordered a lobster roll.

It was just lobster, butter and a roll. It was as if a toddler had made it.

A discriminating toddler tho.

 

[arch]

It was just lobster, butter and a roll. It was as if a toddler had made it.

Sounds like heaven to me. Except the “toddler” part.

 

[Devland]

Yuck! Here’s How Many Insects You’re Eating Every Year

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you've been munching on insect legs and heads for a long, long time.

www.thehealthy.com

 

[Conndog]

Wife and I both had food poisoning from Chinese place in California near Stanford, which had good reviews- but we were there just before it closed & ordered take-out. She says they were upset at not being able to close just yet, and they must have put something in our order that made us sick. We both ended up vomiting at some point during the night and it took 3-4 days at least until I felt normal.

 

[Deepster]

I waitered at Uncle Joe's Place on the Berlin Tpke, next to Bowl-o-Rama. Someone once alerted the staff there was a small green snake in the lettuce on the salad bar. Sure enough, there it was.

Unrelated to the thread, the dishwashing sink backed up one night. The sink was maybe half full with sludge. The liquid was pinkish gray. All sorts of stuff floating in there. Corn. Fat from prime rib. Lettuce. Fries. The head cook said if we took a collection, he'd drink a pint of the liquid if the pot was high enough. I think it was about 120.00 and he chugged a pint glass full.....then promptly hurled for 20 minutes out behind the dumpster.

 

[Northbound]

Sushi place on the UES in the late 1990’s rst ran out of the kitchen and against the wall and i lifted my feet and it ran under me.

Had a roach crawl out of the bread at Les Halles

 

[Doheny]

Two experiences stand out:

The first was at Katz's Deli in NYC. My ex found a large spider in one of her blitzes. When we showed it to the waiter, he accused us of planting it. The place is known for surely waiters, but this was over the top, and I went ballistic.

And we stopped at a Mexican joint in Groton to get a quick bite before a movie. The waiter brought menus and chips and salsa. We chatted for a while and then realized it was quite a while and the waiter hadn't returned. When I enquired, I was told he had left on his dinner break.

 

[Dove]

Two experiences stand out:

The first was at Katz's Deli in NYC. My ex found a large spider in one of her blitzes. When we showed it to the waiter, he accused us of planting it. The place is known for surely waiters, but this was over the top, and I went ballistic.

And we stopped at a Mexican joint in Groton to get a quick bite before a movie. The waiter brought menus and chips and salsa. We chatted for a while and then realized it was quite a while and the waiter hadn't returned. When I enquired, I was told he had left on his dinner break.

No no no no. What happened after you went ballistic?

 

[UCLJ0211]

There was an Afghan he restaurant that I used to like. One day in the parking lot I see two members of the staff on the back stoop one guy is pouring hydrogen peroxide on his foot which is fizzing like someone dropped a Mentos in Diet Coke. I turned around I walked back to my car and I’ve never been back again. Just too nasty an image.

Too bad you left. Maybe he would have foot the bill.

 

[Doheny]

After a little profanity and a threat to call the cops (by both the waiter and me)
we end up settling for a replacement dish.

 

[TheChamps990411]

This could include not only food quality, but slow and rude waitstaff, items on the plate or in the food or in the sauce that were unexpected and unwelcome, being insulted or having an argument with the manager, or being charged for an item you did not order and the restaurant's refusal to deduct it from the bill.

Maybe there are more.

And, if you or a family member experienced any of the above, how did you respond?

Went to a Dennys about 15 years ago. Food was absolutely atrocious! Have never been back.

 

[CL82]

Too bad you left. Maybe he would have foot the bill.

Who knows he might’ve been good company? He seemed effervescent.

 

[glastonbury50]

When I was 10 my parents took me and my brother out one morning to get bagels. I crunched down on something hard when i bit into mine. When i pulled the wad out of my mouth to see what it was, it turned out to be a tooth. I then yelled out "There's a tooth in my bagel," to which the rest of my family replied by spitting out their mouthfuls. Turns out it was one of my baby teeth. Never felt it come out.

 

[nomar]

We found a dead cockroach in our takeout Chinese from Zhang's in Madison several years ago. When my wife called the restaurant to tell them, the woman who answered just nonchalantly asked for the name that was on the order and said she would refund us for the whole order. It sounded like it was a regular part of her job.

Needless to say, we've never been back.

About a decade ago I got brunch at a place called Bondi Road (it was an Australian place) with my now-wife, my cousin and one of his friends. Halfway through the meal, a cockroach fell from the ceiling (!) and landed on the friend. We told the Aussie waiter what happened, and he just kind of shrugged and remarked that there was construction going on in the building. We were all outraged until we asked for the check and the waiter just laughed and said, “There’s no charge, mate, a cockroach fell on you!” Totally disarming.

Place didn’t last long. Who says, “I’m in the mood for Australian”?

 

[SugarHillGang]

Fresh Salt in Old Saybrook. We went to dinner with a $150 gift card that had been sitting on our bureau for probably 2 years. The waitress took a while before coming over and explaining that she was unable to except the gift card since it was used previously and had a $0 balance. We explained nicely that there must have been a mistake and asked her to try the card again. Same result.

I then asked to speak to the Manager who traced the date of when the gift card was “used”. It was a date when our family was in Florida. He said “are you saying that you are going to refuse to pay this bill”? Normally non-confrontational, I said yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. I thought he was going to call the police, which at that point, I would have welcomed.

The manager was extremely rude. Reluctantly, they honored the gift card, all the while thinking we were trying to pull a fast one. The next day I called the property manager and left a message about our experience. We ended up talking the next day. A month or so went by and the property manager called me back. He got to the bottom of it. Come to find out, one of their (now ex) employees got a listing of the gift cards that were bought and weren’t cashed in within a reasonable timeframe and ended up tricking the system by cashing it in himself. An inside job.

Needless to say, we haven’t been back.

 

[Dove]

Fresh Salt in Old Saybrook. We went to dinner with a $150 gift card that had been sitting on our bureau for probably 2 years. The waitress took a while before coming over and explaining that she was unable to except the gift card since it was used previously and had a $0 balance. We explained nicely that there must have been a mistake and asked her to try the card again. Same result.

I then asked to speak to the Manager who traced the date of when the gift card was “used”. It was a date when our family was in Florida. He said “are you saying that you are going to refuse to pay this bill”? Normally non-confrontational, I said yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. I thought he was going to call the police, which at that point, I would have welcomed.

The manager was extremely rude. Reluctantly, they honored the gift card, all the while thinking we were trying to pull a fast one. The next day I called the property manager and left a message about our experience. We ended up talking the next day. A month or so went by and the property manager called me back. He got to the bottom of it. Come to find out, one of their (now ex) employees got a listing of the gift cards that were bought and weren’t cashed in within a reasonable timeframe and ended up tricking the system by cashing it in himself. An inside job.

Needless to say, we haven’t been back.

Wow.

 

[Travelman6]

I am pretty easy going with eating out.

Just take orders in a timely fashion and bring the check in a decent amount of time. I don't like being bothered every 5 minutes with a "How's it going", just seems so fake. Take my order, bring check quickly and I can leave a good tip, that is it. Simple.

My worst exp. was just someone who took forever to bring the menu, take the order, and literally threw the dishes down on the table, rolled her eyes when I said there was an incorrect dish and reluctantly brought it back and took forever to bring the check. My pet peeve is when everyone's dishes come at different times and/or the appetizer comes at the same time as the main course. Not the waiter's fault, I don't think, but just added to the annoying experience. Nothing too bad for me as I tend to be very polite with restaurant workers.

 

[UConnMike04]

This is going to upset a lot of people here...freshmen year, first time having DP Dough. There was a tooth in it. Never again. Brought it back, they did offer me another one but I just took the refund. To this day anytime someone talks about how much they loved that place it makes me sick.

 

[bristol rises]

I witnessed my father-in-law take a bite out of his steak at Cinzano's (Fairfield) and chip his tooth on metal. The owners were really good about it and they (or insurance) took care of all dental bills.

 

[TXHuskyFan]

I once found a chewed on cap of a blue bic ballpoint pen in a soft chicken taco at Taco Cabana. Eh, it's Taco Cabana so I did nothing about it, but did not finish lunch.

When I was younger, I looked really young and pretty much every time I went to a decent restaurant I had the worst service. I figured the staff looked at me and figured no "no way that kid will tip well" which was quite the opposite and put me in a position where if I got bad service and did not tip well they would think they were right. I almost always overtip, especially if it a place I frequent. So anyway, I was about 22 or 23 and eating a small, decent seafood place in a CT shore town. I was by no means a regular, but would do about 3-4 dinners there a year for special occasions, dates, whatever. One time, we got the worst service ever. Just terrible, things like never got bread or our salads, waitress never came by and asked if we needed new drinks, when they brought our meals and we mentioned the salads, she ended up bringing them after we were half way into our meals and squeezed them onto the table, which was the last time we saw her until she brought the check. Ended up finishing the meal without drinks, they never cleared our plates, asked if we wanted coffee or dessert, nothing. Just brought the check after we had sat there with dirty plates in front of us for 30 minutes. I could not not let this one go. No way I was dropping my customary 25% on the bottom line for that service, so I give about 10% and ask to see the manager when we are retrieving our coats from the coat check. Manager comes over and I explain everything (way more than I have explained here since it was more than 25 years ago and some of the details escape me) and why I did not give a large tip and that I was extremely disappointed in the service that was so poor. So the manager just says, "she was probably just having a bad day, it can happen to anyone." So I explain that she did not seem to be having a bad day for the other tables that actually ended up having dessert, and the manager just said "oh well, we hope you will give us another chance." Well, I hold a grudge and would never go back there ever again. Fast forward about a year or two and I am at a friend's house a few blocks from the restaurant. I know the family is friends with the owner and he happens to be at their house, so I tell him I had enjoyed his restaurant for years, food was always great, but the last time I was there, the service was so bad and what the manager said, and that I did not think I'd ever go back. He just says, "well, sorry to hear that". Place burned down a few years ago and I am not sure if it reopened, but I never went back.