How did you handle bad restaurant service? - Page 8

siberian khatru · 10-19-2005, 09:03 AM

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.)

**cdcox** · 10-19-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Okay, here's another question. What do you do when you go to a "fast casual" restaurant like Chipotle's or Boston Market or something, and pay by credit card? They've always got that line for a tip, and I feel guilty if I write in a zero, but at the same time I'm not getting any service. I'm just picking up my food to go and I'm even pouring my own drink. I hate that. Half the time I'll put down a zero and feel guilty, and half the time I'll put down a dollar and be ticked off about it.

Same actions here, completely different emotions. I alternately give them the buck and think "what the heck it's only a buck" or write the zero and get mad for them trying to intimeidate me out of a tip. I don't even know my rationale for doing one over the other. IMO counter service should not warrent a tip.

Hammock Parties · 10-19-2005, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZepSinger

I got a waitress fired from Godfather's Pizza a few years ago. Believe me, she deserved it.

Details!

**cdcox** · 10-19-2005, 11:17 PM

On the other side of the coin, a few years back I had a business trip in NYC and took the family (wife and daughter) along. The whole trip was so painfully expensive I hate to think about it.

But there was one evening -- check that one moment -- that made it all worth while. I took them out to a really nice resturant (I think the check for the 3 of us came to like $400). We were seated on the second floor and I asked the waiter where the restroom was. No big deal right? Wrong.

"Come with me, sir," he said as I followed him over to the rail, near the stairs. He clasped his hands behind his back and paused. The two of us stood there, and surveyed the scene below. Now I understood. We wer two men, standing there. The fact that this was a resturant where he was the waiter and I was the customer buying a meal I could scarcely afford was irrelevant. For that brief moment, were were two lords looking over our stables of thoroughbreds. Winemakers surveying our vinyards. Robberbarrens, perched over our minions slaving away in our factory. He breathed in deeply. I did the same. This was a moment to savor. Then he broadly jestured with an open palm toward the men's room, where powerful, land-owning men like us go to releive ourselves.

One of the best pisses I ever took in my life.

The whole meal was like that. That dude was a master.

onescrewleftuntwisted · 10-19-2005, 11:58 PM

simple,

i just stand up on the table pull down my pants piss a big circle around the table and then shit right in the middle of the table.

when the police come in i just say, "the waiter was pissy and the food tasted like shit"

10-19-2005, 09:03 AM
siberian khatru 21st Century Schizoid Fan Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: The Gates of Delirium Casino cash: $-1215050	How did you handle bad restaurant service? 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.)
Posts: 71,880

10-19-2005, 11:17 PM	#108
cdcox www.nfl-forecast.com Join Date: Sep 2000 Casino cash: $-488231	On the other side of the coin, a few years back I had a business trip in NYC and took the family (wife and daughter) along. The whole trip was so painfully expensive I hate to think about it. But there was one evening -- check that one moment -- that made it all worth while. I took them out to a really nice resturant (I think the check for the 3 of us came to like $400). We were seated on the second floor and I asked the waiter where the restroom was. No big deal right? Wrong. "Come with me, sir," he said as I followed him over to the rail, near the stairs. He clasped his hands behind his back and paused. The two of us stood there, and surveyed the scene below. Now I understood. We wer two men, standing there. The fact that this was a resturant where he was the waiter and I was the customer buying a meal I could scarcely afford was irrelevant. For that brief moment, were were two lords looking over our stables of thoroughbreds. Winemakers surveying our vinyards. Robberbarrens, perched over our minions slaving away in our factory. He breathed in deeply. I did the same. This was a moment to savor. Then he broadly jestured with an open palm toward the men's room, where powerful, land-owning men like us go to releive ourselves. One of the best pisses I ever took in my life. The whole meal was like that. That dude was a master.
Posts: 46,032

10-19-2005, 11:58 PM	#109
onescrewleftuntwisted if only i had a hammer Join Date: May 2005 Location: your momma didn't say Casino cash: $10004900	simple, i just stand up on the table pull down my pants piss a big circle around the table and then shit right in the middle of the table. when the police come in i just say, "the waiter was pissy and the food tasted like shit"
Posts: 1,090