How did you handle bad restaurant service?

[siberian khatru]

I came across this anecdote on a blog:

My senior year we had dinner at Ambrosia, a Very High End 4 star resturant on Balboa, near the bridge to Lido. Dressed to the 9's. The service was AWFUL. We were put right next to the kitchen door, which actually banged into my date's chair each time it opened. We didn't buy any wine (drinking age in CA was 21) but were charged $20 for it ANYWAY, because it was "policy."

After I paid the check I asked the waiter to bring over the captain and matre'de. I told them that for a meal like that (nearly $100 in pre-inflation money) I'd expect to leave a $20 tip. The service had been horrid and I would not leave a tip, but I didn't want them to believe it was because I was a cheap teenage that they could treat like crap. So I folded a $20 and put it in the ashtray and set it on fire.

I thought the matre'de was going to have a stroke. 6 months later they were closed.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/...ves/005618.php

I thought that was terrific.

Anybody else have a good story like that? (I don't.)