To tell or not to tell...
Last night I had dinner at Tom Colicchio's Craft in LA for food week. Overall it was good, but... my scallops has more than a few grains of sand in them. When the waiter came around to ask if everything was OK, I didn't say anything. I can't figure out if I didn't want to be a pain, or if I was intimidated. Anyone else had a similar experience at a well regarded restaurant, and what did you do?
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19 Comments:
I recently went to a highly acclaimed restaurant here in Atlanta called Veni Vidi Vici and I was really disappointed with the Risotto Frutti di Mare that I ordered; it was so heavy-handed with saffron that it was inedible. I picked out the seafood and choked it down, but left almost the entire plate of risotto because I just couldn't eat it. I kept thinking, "Did the Chef really mean for it to taste this way?" and I felt like to send it back to the kitchen would make me look silly -- so I didn't. But I thought better of it later on when I was writing my review for Open Table...I just wish I had had the guts to let the Chef know (in a nice way) that I didn't like the dish while I was at the establishment -- especially since I spent good money on it and was left unsatisfied. I would have much preferred the lovely scallops with polenta and braised fennel which my husband ordered.
juliebugsmama at 2:00PM on 10/05/09
the owner of a restaurant once told me, if you don't tell us what's wrong, you're not giving us the opportunity to fix it.
grit in the food is definitely something that the kitchen should be made aware of, so that they can prevent other marred dishes from going out.
cybercita at 2:17PM on 10/05/09
I would tell. You don't have to be rude, just politely state your issue with the food. I've found that you get better results if you don't seem to be looking for a free meal or discount, just that you sincerely want them to know about the one particular issue.
Editmom at 2:31PM on 10/05/09
I would politely point out that there was still sand on the scallops. It would give them a heads-up on the situation. It's not like you were saying that the entree was crap. But you did pay good money for this and if the chef came out yelling at you (which has happened to a friend of mine), then the restaurant is not a place that you'll be going back to.
AnnieNT at 3:13PM on 10/05/09
Well I've told. Once I was at this supposedly (insert air quotes) nice restaurant in Cape Cod and I got the shrimp and scallop scampi over linguine. Not only was it completely under-seasoned, with over cooked pasta, but the scallops were raw. Raw scallops have their place, but not in this dish. So, when the server returned checking in on the scampi I told her that it wasn't the best I'd had and that the scallops were basically raw. She just looked uncomfortable and said she'd take it back. I was kind of over the dish at that point but figured oh well. Well it came back, no joke, 2 minutes later (there's the problem) and it was cooked exactly the same. When she came back to ask me how it was, I told her it was exactly the same. I gave up at that point.
kmgagne at 3:51PM on 10/05/09
Any good restaurant wants to know, and how they respond will tell you a lot. If they do what kmgagne's restaurant did, you sure know not to go back there. Imagine yourself in the restaurateur's place.
lemonfair at 5:37PM on 10/05/09
It's better to just send it back, but I also rarely have the courage. I feel like I'm being confrontational.
The only time I've sent something back was recently when the steak I ordered medium well came out practically mooing. But I was just completely fed up by that point in the service, so many things had gone wrong. 20 minute waits between being seated and ordering drinks and ordering dinner, salad came out at the same time as our oysters, cherry stem lodged in the bottom of my water glass (didn't see it until the glass was almost empty) forgotten wine, the list goes on.
On the other hand, If you really hate it and don't eat much, sometimes the waitstaff will notice. I recently had salad of "spring vegetables" and "farm fresh chicken" at very reputable restaurant (actually been mentioned on this site) - the "spring" veggies were what seemed like canned beets, canned corn and lettuce and the chicken was not slices of breast meat, but dark meat - like whatever was leftover from when they made chicken for other dishes. I only had a few bites of it and when the waiter came by to take our plates, he asked if I wanted it wrapped up. I said no thanks and he asked if anything was wrong with it. I told him it just wasn't as fresh as I'd expected and I felt the dark meat was greasy. They took it off the bill. - but that doesn't give them a chance to correct it and you go home still hungry.
yayfood at 8:26PM on 10/05/09
i say the same as many of the above - if you don't tell them what's wrong they can't fix it. and let's face it, think of how many people walk away and never come back -- and then bad mouth the place. that can ruin a business in a small town. it's a blessing to be told the truth....i think it's honorable to mention if something is not as it should be. on the other hand, if it's one wrong thing after the next -- well, that's another story.
then the place just doesn't get it.
pooch at 10:24PM on 10/05/09
I was faced with a similar choice this weekend, when we were both served barely warm food. I said nothing and only ate a small portion. I'm still pissed at myself for not speaking up.
syd888 at 12:13PM on 10/06/09
I went to Minetta Tavern and while the veal sausage was incredibly delicious, the sauce on top of it was really too salty for the average person. I like my food salty, but it was excessive - I still ate most of it, but at the end of the meal I let the waitress know. Looking back, I wish I had sent it back. Instead, I told the waitress that I wasn't looking to be compensated but that she should let them know about the problem. She took me up on the "no compensation", ha!
mookie at 5:21PM on 10/06/09
I agree. Its not really fair to not enjoy your meal but be too shy to mention it, then go online and criticise it afterwards.
jennywenny at 6:26PM on 10/06/09
I think i've only ever sent back one entree. it was at a place in Boston called The Alchemist- a bar and casual dining type of place. The spaghetti bolognese was wildly over-salted. I was very nice, explained that i "never do this" (actually true in this case), but that it was way too salty. the waitress brought it to the kitchen and then came back and said "i apologize, the chef tasted the sauce and you were completely right... would you like another order or something else from the menu? anything you want is fine".
obviously over-salting is a little easier to judge than over-saffron-ing but still, i think any restaurant appreciates being made aware of any potential problems.
mr guy at 7:16PM on 10/06/09
Generally, I am a coward. But if I think there are good vibes between us and the waitress than I pull all 4' 11' tall in my chair and state my concern. That may be about 5 or 6 times in my life.
Once I ordered stuffed mushrooms and the bottoms were burnt to a crisp. I send them back and 10 minutes later the same mushrooms appeared. We ate everything else and when the bill came we asked for the manager. It was taken off the bill. I was afraid if I complained again they would spit in my food.
But everyone that says we should speak up is right. I need to have them along this Sat. when we are out for dinner.
janaatwg at 7:51PM on 10/06/09
Oh, do tell.
I've been on both sides of the table. On the business side, if there's an objective reason for sending something back, like half-raw scallops or undercooked chicken or grit in your leeks, the restaurant owner would much rather comp or at least fix your dinner than be served with a lawsuit because they made you sick. When health issues are involved, you definitely send back your plate and you do so emphatically but politely. The staff should be properly mortified and offer an apology, and you should be begged to give them a chance to fix their lack of attention to your dinner. There should be no questions asked and an no excuses given--there is no excuse.
If it's a subjective matter, such as the sauce that you think is overly salty or the pasta that you think is overcooked or the chicken that you think is too curried or the pad thai that you think needs more peanuts, you could ask your server nicely, without a trace of sarcasm, if the sauce was meant to be this salty, if the chef intended for the pasta to be mushy, if you could have another plate of curry with the sauce on the side, if you could have a few extra peanuts. If it's not worth it to you to make a fuss, you could mention your problem after you've paid the bill and left the tip, or you could write a note on the check or their copy of the credit card receipt. The staff should act like they care--if they don't seem to, you are free to tell your friends, who will tell their friends, and so on and so on until the establishment closes from lack of business.
(You would be surprised at the number of chefs, sous chefs, prep cooks and line cooks who have not tasted what they've made. The excuses for undercooking and overseasoning are idiotic: They don't like seafood; they thought the recipe said 1 Tbsp. instead of 1 tsp.; they lost track of the time it took to prepare the sauce, and your pasta has been sitting in hot water for that duration; or they did taste it, but their taste buds are fuzzy from too much vodka the night before. And keep in mind that your taste buds might be defective.)
On the customer side, if I get burned toast, it goes back. Period. I worked long and hard to make enough money to pay for that toast, and it better be made by someone who cares about my dining experience and the references I might make to friends, my taste buds, and my purse. I do not expect my entire meal to be compensated (which, in effect, is like the establishment paying you to dine there) but I do expect that it will be fixed, which it won't be if I don't speak up. Politely.
betteirene at 7:59PM on 10/06/09
If you decide to contact them I hope you get a better response than when I did when I contacted Todd English about a meal at his airport place. (Play cricket sounds...)
therealchiffonade at 8:00AM on 10/07/09
I'm definitely shy when it comes to this situation, but I would tell -- in a polite, non-confrontational manner, and if the issue was reasonably off-kilter. I have a coworker who I now refuse to go out with after hours because she cannot deliver her complaints about the meal in a respectful, mature tone... and trust me when I say it has happened multiple times, every time.
Alternatively, I regularly get my lunch from an award-winning bruncherie in Philly near my office. One of their items which I purchase regularly, their chicken caesar salad, had such bitter and wilted lettuce that I could barely choke down -- so the next day, I went and politely told them about the salad. I was incredibly appreciative that one of the chefs came out to explain (non-condescendingly) that the salad was made with wild romaine, which tasted more bitter than the regular romaine you'd purchase in the supermarket. Certainly, they also appreciated my feedback about the salad, and they offered to comp me on my next meal. :)
avaryne at 4:53PM on 10/07/09
Recently a friend and I had lunch at a pretty nice restaurant in Kennett Square (mushroom country) Pennsylvania; I had ordered the crab cake that came on an English muffin. I wasn't really interested in eating the muffin, but when I saw a tinge of blue/green and turned over half of it - moldy! I VERY politely told our waitress, they replated the rest of my lunch, which I enjoyed. They then comped me for my sandwich and offered us a free dessert. I didn't think a free dessert was necessary, but nice of them. Everything was handled in a civilized manner by all. However, if I ever go back there, I will check the underside of any bread for mold!
duncan1205 at 5:21PM on 10/07/09
I will definitely send things back if there's a major problem with the food. Now, if I order squid ink pasta and discover that I don't like squid ink pasta, that's my bad and I'll deal, but if my meat is over cooked or my pasta mushy or it's way too salty (and for a girl who loves salt, it takes a lot), I will, very nicely, send it back. If it's an actual problem, and not simply that you don't happen to like a dish, I find that most restaurants respond well. There are exceptions, certainly, and those are the restaurants I don't go back to.
chisai at 11:38AM on 10/13/09
If you don't like doing it in person, you can send a nice e-mail, if possible. We were being treated to dinner once, and the seafood dish didn't have half the things in it that it was supposed to. I didn't want to complain in front of our hosts, so the next day I wrote an e-mail to the restaurant. I received a prompt apology and a gift certificate for another visit.
aharste at 3:24PM on 10/20/09