PrintCalling for pizza?
So, on this week's American version of Kitchen Nightmares, there was a restaurant that was so behind that a customer actually called for a pizza delivery, while sitting at his table. I have personally never done this, but have been tempted. So I want to know, have you done something like that? Or have you waited so long for a bill that you finally just left without paying? I admit, back in college, I did that once...and still feel guilty. But, i couldn't wait over an hour for them to decide to bring us the bill. We were the only ones in the place, after all!
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8 Comments:
We have done all kinds of things to show our neglect by waitstaff/kitchen.
I once got up and got my own iced tea. We have; left after waiting 45 mins after our orders were put in and had not even got a salad, went to the hostess stand and asked for the check there after waiting an hour for it, called for the chef when our food came back the second time wrong (he gave me a certificate for a free meal and I never went back not even when it was free), once walked by the kitchen to go to the ladies room and saw the horror movie of roaches and garbage and just up and left, sent someone to the bar to order food there and then bring it back to the table (for some reason the bar had food up quicker), waited so long once for our food that when the kitchen helper delivered the wrong food to our table we just ate it and did not even complain, were served the salad twice once and we were so hungry we ate it twice.
I never walked out on a check without "trying" to pay for it first. If I cannot hunt down someone to pay hostess station, manager, another waitperson after a reasonable amount of time sometimes we leave cash on the table and sometimes (if we are not using cash) we do not. I always feel about that but my time is valuable too. If you are so ignored it is probably best to leave before you order food because it doesn't get any better it just gets worse.
JerzeeTomato at 1:46PM on 11/30/07
I saw that episode - he really turned the place around. Do you think that woman who complained about the food is a chronic complainer/getting free food, or was she treated unfairly? Even another customer yelled at her! Shocking.
Do you know of Zabar's (or was/is it Zaberer's?) - Jersey shore. 20+ years ago. Grandparents, two sets of parents and lots of little kids, all dressed up, waiting in line for so long, that we had too much time invested to leave. Kept thinking we'd get in any minute. This was for some special occasion or other and the restaurant was famous. SIX HOURS until we got a table and the place was gye=nor=mous. Food also took forever and it was mediocre at best. Learned a good lesson that day and have never waited more than 30 minutes for a table. Expect drink orders within a few, food orders a few more. If more than 45 minutes with no food and no excuse, I complain and decide whether to stay or leave. I'd never eat food and not pay for it. I am a generous tipper and pleasant to wait staff 99% of the time. Usually, if they mess up, they'll admit they just started.
PerkyMac at 3:14PM on 11/30/07
Wow! I have never done something like this, but I didn't see that episode and I'm very intrigued!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 6:33PM on 11/30/07
It was at a little 24 hour Korean restaurant in Chicago where the service was getting worse and worse each time we went -- typically in Korean places, you're offered side dishes right away, and especially if you order alcohol -- so, after 30 minutes and after the waitress rolled her eyes at us for asking for our beer for the second time... we walked...
plasticspoontraveller.com
plasticspoontraveller at 7:34PM on 11/30/07
I've never bolted without paying- couldn't live with myself. I usually track someone down but I find it amazing that sometimes you have to BEG to pay for your meal!
There was one time we ordered and received our drinks but the server never came back to take our food orders. I refused to wait any longer or flag down a server to take our orders so we left a couple bucks for our drinks (non-alcholic) and left. This was at a national chain (rhymes with Shmennigan's) and we've experienced poor service at more than one location so I've basically given up on that restaurant in our area. Not worth the hassle.
A couple weeks ago I was in a so-so bar with co-workers. It was well after lunch time and I was starved. Nothing sounded good, unfortunately, so I ordered nachos to split with a co-worker. There might have been 20 people in the joint and most of them were at the bar. No one at a table was eating or ordering food besides us so I figured our food would be up in no time. 2 of us ordered nachos and 1 person ordered a burger/fries. I think it took 45 minutes to arrive. I was getting seriously pissed so I finally yelled something like "There's no one here! Why is taking so long to get OUR FOOD!" About that time the server came through the kitchen door, which was conveniently right behind our table. I'm not sure if she heard me and remembered our food or if it was a coincidence. To top it all the nachos were barely warm which told me they'd been ready for some time, and they pretty much sucked! I didn't bother to complain- I knew it wouldn't do any good.
AuntJone at 2:17PM on 12/03/07
I did that at a bar once...I felt bad but I waited 15 minutes and my bill was too big to just leave (I think it was a 50 for a $6 beer.) So I just left a big tip on my next drink when I actually got change and figured it would even itself out.
Annmarie at 12:41AM on 12/04/07
Whoa, whoa, whoa... PerkyMac -- you waited six hours for a table? You truly have the patience of a saint. That's nuts!
The most I've ever waited is twenty minutes. That's the beauty of living in a restaurant-centric city like Houston. There's always something equally delicious right up the road if you don't want to wait, and most restaurants have learned this little lesson pretty quickly (i.e., they don't leave customers waiting).
sheeats at 5:12PM on 12/05/07
Wow, I never did this because of poor service but I did call in a take-out order to a different pizzeria while sitting in a booth of a different pizzeria after being served a very bad pizza!
jonfoxx at 5:59PM on 12/05/07