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Hey Pandas, What’s Your Worst Restaurant Experience As A Customer Or Employee? (Closed)
Tell me about either a rude customer, terrible food poisoning, or anything bad that’s happened to you in a restaurant, we want to know!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My husband and I, along with another couple drove about 20 miles out of town to go to this little restaurant we heard about. Once there we all ordered filet mignon as that was the house specialty that we came for. We drank some wine and chatted while waiting for our entrées, and waited and waited. Finally we call the server over to find out what's taking so long, she goes in the kitchen and brings out these charred hockey pucks that vaguely resemble filets that would take a chainsaw to cut. We of course object to them and the waitress takes our plates back to the kitchen and starts screaming at the cook and then we hear pans being thrown around and crashing noises. We're all staring at each other in shock. After another time of waiting we get passable steaks and decide to just eat them rather than listen to WW3 in the kitchen again. Dude must have been drunk or maybe the dishwasher was cooking that night. Whoever was in the kitchen went home with a black eye and several contusions.
Final score:
20points
#2
Trying to eat in a restaurant with obnoxiously loud music. We had to shout to each other and the waiter to be understood and there were no spots with less volume. No, the volume could not be lowered because 'some people like it'.
Final score:
19points
#3
Waiting tables while working on my graduate degree in Special Education. Older couple (to me, as a young 20 ish) comes in, start talking to each other. I come over do my waitress thing. Lady orders, turn to man, ask him what he wants, he starts making weird motions with his hands, like someone trying to mimic sign language. I start talking to him in my rudimentary sign skills. Thr lady starts laughing a little and says something like"John, just tell the girl what you want to eat." Then says to me that he doesn't like to talk to people so pretends to be Deaf (??!!!!). I tersly explain why I know some ASL. Lady looks a bit embarrassed, man just looks at the table. People PLEASE don't pretend to have a communication impairment if you don't. How rude.this was over 22 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.
Final score:
17points
#4
Maybe when I tried soft shell crab for the first time and found out I was allergic. I was so sad, because it tasted really good :)
Final score:
16points
#5
As an employee: Watching a girl who was just served a delicious baguette actively bite all the nails off her left hand, spit them out then put them in the sandwich in a really weird, methodical and utterly creepy way.
As a customer: Witnessing a full-on domestic argument between wife (front of house) and husband (obviously very henpecked chef) in a restaurant in Bruges. Eventually the domestic degenerated into a really one-sided fight with the wife basically pummelling the husband in the chest and stomach while he just stood there motionless and expressionless and took it. Restaurant was still there the next time we went a few years later too!
Final score:
12points
#6
I worked for a guy who owned a sandwich shop in a resort town in Alaksa. The guy was stingy, mean, and a martinet. Watched every employee like a hawk looking for prey. Everything had to be done precisely as he wanted it. Alaska is kind of fast and free with restaurant regulations so he grew a garden in the summer (out behind the shop) with no fence around it, raised chickens for the eggs (also served omelets for breakfast), and insisted we have ALL scraps and unfinished food for the chickens. Buckets upon buckets of garbage every day. He fired people working for him on the smallest of infractions. My day came because I gave an extra large omelet to a regular customer we all loved. When the customer found out (not from me) he read the guy the riot act in front of a full shop of tourists and went down the hill to the owner's competition. I went to work there, too. As Oscar Wilde once said, "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
Final score:
12points
#7
I worked as a server for years. (I have dozens of stories, as I know EVERY server does) One of the worst was when I was working at one of the few nicer places in town. (We offered Kobe beef, if that gives you an idea) It was Valentine's day. We closed at 11, and a couple came in at 10:40. No one else wanted to stay, so I took the table. (I looked forward to the extra tip) From the beginning, the man refused to even look at me and the woman did all the ordering. She spoke very condescendingly to me the entire time. They of course did the entire works. Wine, appetizer, entree and dessert. They were there until after midnight. When I collected the book after they left, I found a single dollar bill as my tip.
Final score:
11points
#8
Being sabotaged by a coworker who would constantly cause health hazards and they refused to fire or do anything about. She did anything you could think of. She dipped her ungloved finger into cheese dip and ate it, then did it again. She refused to do anything if it were just me and her working. She wouldn't cook, didn't clean, and would constantly leave early. The last straw for me was when she came into work with PINK EYE and didn't tell anyone for an entire hour while she scratched her face and served people. This was at a fast food taco place that had hundreds of people a day!
I'm happy to say that the manager got fired shortly after I quit. The kitchen was also disgusting. I will never eat there or anywhere like there. I can't even LOOK at enchiladas now.
Final score:
10points
#9
So my sister and her friend took me out to eat for my 18th birthday. Unbeknownst to me, my sister had asked the waitress if they did that thing where people came out and sang happy birthday and left the poor birthday person all embarrassed and awkward.id never had that before and she thought it would be hilarious. Waitress said no and my sister said "oh bummer... Oh well." And left it at that. She hadn't been rude. She hadn't insisted on it or anything. She was just curious if they did cause she thought it'd be fun.
Waitress seemed to take this personally for whatever reason.
She took our orders, brought us our food, and as she put my plate down she announced to the restaurant "IF I COULD HAVE EVERYONES ATTENTION PLEASE! So apparently this girl right here wants special treatment for being born. So Id like to say on behalf of everyone here, happy birthday. Everyone acknowledge the birthday girl. She needs it."
I was utterly embarrassed in the absolutely worst way possible. It's one thing to embarrass in good fun. But this was rude and sarcastic and really really hurtful, especially considering I myself hadn't said a word to her. Not to mention this was the first time I'd gotten to do something fun with my sister in a long time. My sister was livid. She talked to the manager and we ended up getting our meal for free so that was something at least.
Final score:
10points
#10
I spent three weeks in a hospital and needed a minor heart surgery, because the waitress "forgot" to write down that the tea I ordered was supposed to be decaf. Despite the fact I said that three times. And, when asked after she brought it to the table, she confirmed that yes, this is definitely the special decaf tea only this one restaurant in the area has.
I'm deadly sensitive to caffeine.
Final score:
9points
#11
This was eons ago, but a friend and I were eating, and drinking of course, in a beer garden in Munich. It was relatively early and other than 2 very drunk Norwegian backpackers, or table was empty. I saw someone sitting by himself, and I thought he was US military, so I invited him to join us. So, the 5 of us are close to a couple of full tables, long picnic tables that easily seated 30 people. I had just picked up my beer mug and mentioned that it could be used as a weapon. Not a minute later, a fight broke out, and one guy hit another bald guy with a mug. Split his head wide open like a ripe watermelon. Blood streaming down his face. The 5 of us just looked at each other, and without a word being spoken, we slid to the far end of the table. The fight continued, but not for long. The waitresses took over, called the police, an ambulance, and kicked the others in their group out. We chatted for a while, helped the backpackers, who, after putting on their packs on, fell onto their backs. We all laughed and helped them up, as they were like turtles on their backs. Took them to their hostel, and the young soldier walked us to our hotel in the Red Light district. Never felt safer.
Final score:
9points
#12
Oh, so many to count. I waited tables for 10 years and saw so much s**t during this time. I think the worst was when I first started working at a particular chain restaurant and was told this group of 6 women had requested me. I realized I had been tricked by a coworker because I knew I had never laid eyes on any of the customers. The women ran me ragged back and forth, and I
couldn’t even give my other tables good service. Their bill was close to $100 but I can’t remember because they all paid separately. They left me a wadded up $1.00 and pennies for my tip. (Btw, because this certain group was terrible to all of us, my manager called their corporate office and had them banned from the restaurant.)
Final score:
8points
#13
The entire restaurant was filthy, the food was either cool when it should have been hot, warm when it should have been cold, the utensils, crockery and glassware were covered in fingerprints, and the staff spent half the time either gossiping or on their phones.
Final score:
7points
#14
At some point, all three of our children worked at the same restaurant. Two in the kitchen and one as waitress/barmaid. We go in and asked if we could have one of N's table. Yep. She comes to our table, smiles sweetly and say "Iced tea and diet Pepsi, right?" Before departing, she asks if we're eating "the usual". Correct. The floor manager was at another table and heard her. Comes to see us when she comes back with our drinks and says it's always nice to have recurring customers and have a server that remembers what you like. We all start laughing and tell him, this is our daughter, and G & P are brothers and her brothers too. He didn't know (they have different surnames). Going there was the only time when we could be served by all our children. Later on, G went with this floor manager to open up a new restaurant, brought his wife with him (who was already a server/barmaid), and became the kitchen manager then the floor manager. He went back to being a kitchen manager because too many people were trying to get their food for free for some reasons or another and he'd tell them there was nothing wrong with the food. He got fed-up. P became a Chef where he could do his own recipes and tweak the existing ones to his heart content.
Final score:
7points
#16
as a waitress: the chef was ill, so the boss, a decorated chef himself, took the shift at noon, when mostly office people with scarce time for dining were guests. after about an half hour the orders piled up and waiting time expanded and expanded - he was a hilarious cook, but muuuuch too slow for rush hour. try explaining to all those guests ...
Final score:
6points
#17
Hard to pick a "worst", but one that was pretty bad was the time the table next to us had their kid watching some movie on his tablet at FULL volume. I finally requested that they have him turn it down, and they did... somewhat. It became pretty infuriating, and we just finally ended up leaving.
Final score:
6points
#18
We preordered to make sure there was no garlic, onion or lactose in out pizza and when we got there it was drenched in garlic oil and we couldn’t get a refund so me and my mum just ate it and suffered the consequences
Final score:
4points
#19
As a customer. My DH and I were trying restaurants in town with a book of coupons we had. Each week we'd try one. Bar, diner, brand restaurant, and finally a Chinese buffet. The waitress - there's only one - took forever to take our drink order, to bring it back to the table, to get our food order (at the bar too), food was cold when put on table when it was supposed to be hot, etc. Finally we couldn't even find her when the time came to pay so we went to the cashier instead and paid with $0.01 tip - so she knew we didn't not forget to tip her. When we went into the buffet place, she came at our table after a very long while. We recognized her and told her we weren't ready to order anything, then my DH went to the bar and asked to speak with the manager. He explained what had happened to us all month and asked to be switched waitress. Best service all month, even if he was just picking up our plates and giving us refills on our drinks. I think my DH gave him like 30% tip, which is unheard of considering it's a buffet and you serve yourself. Let's just say she wasn't there the next time we went.
Final score:
4points
#20
Not a restaurant, but I think this will fit.
I am in the military. I was the duty officer one night, and did morning rounds (Between 04:00 and 06:00). Breakfast is served from 06:30, and my last stop for rounds was at the mess kitchen. I find the duty chef frying eggs, with oil, stark-naked.
Wrote him up, he got charged and sentence was dismissal.
But what I still wonder about is that he didn't wear an apron, and how many micro burns did he experience from splattering oil?
And where....?
Final score:
4points
#21
The Denny’s in my town wasn’t known for being the cleanest. I once observed them walk the trash from the kitchen through the middle of a full dining room. Not exactly up to health codes. But I really liked their pancakes so I went back a few times. Until the day I told the waitress there was a fly in my glass of water and she replied “Oh him? He won’t hurt you - he’s dead”. Not surprised that they were shut down shortly after.
Final score:
4points
#22
I ordered a Pizza to go at a Pizza Hut. I ordered it with anchovies. When I stopped by the pick up the pizza the cook came running out of the kitchen, her eyes blazing with anger, menacingly thrashing about a commercial-grade spatula. She screamed at me at the top of her lungs "Are you the one that ordered stinky fish? How DARE you order stinky fish!!! Get OUT OF MY RESTURANT AND NEVER COME BACK!!!" She almost sliced me. I ran out of there, scared out of my wits.
I called Pizza Hut to complain. Corporates replied in a letter "Some people just can't take a joke."
Final score:
4points
#23
Frank Tatano. Frank is an a**hole. Frank believes because he's worked at Giant Eagle longer that immediately gives him superiority. Frank spends most of his time either doing what he wants or bulls****ing with customers. Frank doesn't do what the managers tell him to. Frank gets mad if he doesn't get what he wants. Frank is a useless employee. Don't be like Frank.
Final score:
4points
#24
As a former employee, I had a lot of trouble trying to quit my job. My boss was pregnant aka very hormonal and made the leaving process a complete hell for me.
Final score:
3points
#25
Stopped at well known pancake place while on a family road trip. I observed a waitress in the r
Final score:
3points
#26
When I was 3-to-5 years old in the mid-aughties, I threw up at a pizza place. On the table. My parents learned that day: if I say I'm full, I'M FULL.
Final score:
3points
#27
I was waitressing in college and accidentally spilled an entire tray of drinks onto this poor Boy Scout's back. He was with a bunch of his friends at a table, having come from an outing, all in uniform...
Final score:
3points
#28
I was meeting my mom for some shopping and lunch, along with 2 of my children. We went to a family friendly restaurant, so they say. We received our orders, I took the bun off of my cheeseburger to put mustard on it, there were pubic hairs in the melted cheese! I was so disgusted! My mom flagged down the manager, I was too busy gagging & running to the bathroom to get sick. My mom told me as soon as he saw it he turned bright red with anger and ran back to the kitchen. We could hear him yelling at the two employees working back there. He came back and profusely apologized, offering to pay for our lunch and replace mine, no way in hell! We left and never went back, the restaurant is no longer in this area. I don't know what happened to the employees but at least 3 other families walked out with us. Just plain disgusting!
Final score:
3points
#29
The time My daughter and I were on a cross country road trip and had breakfast at an I-Hop/Denny's in Evanston, WY and someone in the restaurant had an RFI card reader on them and scanned the entire restaurant for everyone's CC info. I eventually got all my money back, Just really frustrating being on vacation and having to deal with it at the same time.
Final score:
3points
#30
was visiting america and went to a restaraunt in nashville. it was the worst food i have ever had the displeasure to see. the fries and burger were thrown in a bowl that obviously hadn't been cleaned from the previous customer, and there was water leaking from something on the plate. i refused to eat it and refused to pay cos it wasn't fit for animals. this place was near across the street from the nascar cafe in the touristy area
Final score:
3points
#31
I think the worst restaurant experience is when I fell off, backwards from my high chair at The Pancake House back in the 80s when they just had the booster seat things.
Everything else is either just a miscommunication or dealing with an employee having a bad day.
Although there was the one time at Montana's where I was waiting for my baby back ribs. A fire started in the kitchen but it must have been handled right away despite the burning smell. No fire alarm went off. But I was already waiting an hour. My ribs must have been what caught fire because they were served burned. We laughed about it and I didn't ask to be comped as I like a good BBQ. On that same visit I was asked for ID for a Shirley Temple and then asked how to make it. That part is not meant as a bad experience. Just a notable one I laughed about.
But even that wasn't as bad as the time my daughter found a short and curly baked into the crust her dessert pizza she almost ate. We were both disgusted and disturbed the waitress got snippety and annoyed with us about it. Like, she just expected us to eat it. (Oh god, I think I'm gonna puke again thinking about it.)
And that wasn't even as bad as the very hairy sub sandwich I had at a Subway. Loooonng strands, not 1, not 2 but many, all in the bread and inside the toppings. Girl with very looooong hair loosely tied swooshing it around as she went from back counter to front counter. She didn't like she pointing out her lack of hair net to her manager. I threw up again, too and didn't eat anything.
Other than that, when we go to restaurants we anticipate what interesting things may happen.
Final score:
3points
#32
I want to KFC once and they had no gravy. No gravy. NO GRAVY!
I cam away with some coleslaw. Who one Earth goes to KFC and comes away with coleslaw?
People got to KFC for the gravy. That is what KFC is for. They can run out of literally anything else and be fine. But if you KFC has not got gravy? Seriously, walk away.
Final score:
2points
#33
It was my first trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I forget the name of the quaint little restaurant on the square. But this drunk obnoxious woman was talking loudly with a trash mouth. She said," I have more class in my little f**king finger."Ya da, ya da. I don't know why management put up with this, totally ruined my dinner. So I said loud enough for her to hear and with a " try me stare " looking dead at her. " Gee, I thought we left all the rednecks in Alabama" she turned and left. Management apologized to us. I told them not to worry about it. I fixed it.
Final score:
2points
#35
Went to a nice, fairly upscale restaurant with my wife, and part way through our meal, we were greatly disturbed by a racket coming from a nearby table. Apparently a father thought it was fun to have his toddler sit on his lap and play "drums" with the utensils and dinner plates -- all while squealing at the top of its lungs. This went on for many minutes before we flagged down our waitress and complained. She said it was staff policy not to discipline unruly children or comment on their behavior to the parents. I wanted to punch the idiot father, but decided to leave without confrontation (and never return).
Final score:
2points
#36
in Steak N Shake as a customer. Ants along chair rail heading to the salad station
Final score:
2points
#37
This sounds like a sad situation, but it wasn't, at all. During Thanksgiving week of 2015, my 15 y/o daughter and I were staying in a family shelter in Seattle, Washington. She, luckily, was still at school as it was the Wednesday right before Thanksgiving. During the day, we had to leave the shelter, kids to school, and the moms to wherever we wanted or needed to go. I, being disabled and waiting to get on disability, went downtown to the single ladies' day shelter, where services were offered for job searching, house or apartment hunting, medical help if you were sick, and two meals a day, breakfast and lunch, served at 8 am and 12 noon, respectively. So that day, for lunch, a special holiday meal was served. Not turkey, but a chicken leg with the thigh attached, and of course mashed potatoes, gravy etc., which I ate. By 3 pm that day, I pretty much knew something was wrong, and that I was no doubt "in for it". The nausea continued to get worse, and by bedtime at 9 pm, I was so sick. Sicker than I ever remember being. Emesis from both ends, and afterwards, laying back down, if I even moved, I'd be sick again. Next day, thank God, we all got to stay in at our family shelter. The women who were our caregivers, counselors, and activity planners had planned a mandatory field trip for the moms and kids.So I'm laying dead on the couch in the living room, completely spent, like a wet sponge. The ladies told me that either I could go on the field trip, or, if I wanted, they would call an aide car and I could go to the hospital. I knew the worst of my illness was over, and I didn't want to drag my daughter with me to a hospital, as the shelter rules were that except for school days, and kids only field trips, we moms and kids had to be together all the time. There was even a rule that the kids couldn't be farther away than eight feet from their moms, although staff looked the other way when it came to teenagers, probably knowing that one of us was bound to be strangled if we didn't get out of each other's space once in a while. So I'm laying there thinking 'How the heck am I gonna be able to get myself up, dressed and able to walk' (it was a walking trip), 'and not be sick, or worse, faint dead away in the middle of a Seattle city street?' Well, thank goodness for the "bad weather fairy", because just then, the skies opened up and released buckets of water, and a thunderstorm too, unless I just hallucinated one in my haze of discomfort and exhaustion. The two women who were to be our chaperones on the trip that day looked at me, huddled in a blanket on the couch, (we didn't have bedrooms, just hospital mattresses positioned on the floor each night, with heavy rubber type curtains for privacy, and the mattresses had to be picked up and put away each morning), looked outside at the terrible weather, and made the wise, one-time-decision to cancel the field trip that day. The weird thing was, nobody else from our shelter got sick, and none of the single ladies seemed to have been similarly afflicted either. It's just like me to have gotten the one, not fully cooked piece of chicken. I still believe absolutely that I got food poisoning from that poultry dinner. Ever since then, I can hardly stand to prep and cut up raw chicken. My mom had always told me about the dangers of raw and not fully cooked chicken, but after that meal at the shelter, I now do everything but shower after prepping raw chicken, including changing my clothes, scouring the knives and cutting board, and if I did have time, I probably would shower. So that's my catered meal horror story.
Thanks for reading.
Final score:
2points
#38
In Essen, Germany I got kicked from a restaurant because I needed too long to read the menu. It had 8 A4 pages. What If I'd be 70? Now my money went to their concurrence.
Final score:
2points
#39
When I was 10, My parents took my brother and I out to dinner to celebrate his 6th birthday. We had him pick his favorite restaurant, which, at the time, was California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). This had been his favorite restaurant for a few years at that point. Anyway, we went to the restaurant, and there's a 15 minute wait for a table. We weren't too hungry at that point, so 15 minutes wasn't too bad. 30 minutes in, and we were getting pretty hungry. People who came in after us were getting tables. Finally, about 45 minutes in, we get a table. At CPK, you normally get some free bread to tide you over until your food comes. We didn't get any bread that day. It took about 15 minutes for someone to come and take our orders. We ordered a few appetizers, and some pizzas. 20 minutes passed, and my parents' appetizers came out. 10 more minutes and my brother's pizza came, he had fallen asleep waiting for it, so when he woke up, he was really happy. another 15 minutes and my parents' pizza came. I was just sitting there, hungry and eating some of the appetizers, waiting for my pizza and soup. IT TOOK 30 MINUTES FOR THEM TO BRING ME MY PIZZA. My entire family was done eating at this point, and I was really starving. I finished my pizza, and my soup only came out once we were about to leave. The icing on the cake was, my food was cold when I got it, meaning it was just sitting there the whole time.
This whole thing was way before the specific location became super short staffed, and other locations had great service, so I honestly don't know what the problem was that night.
Final score:
2points
#40
I worked (7) weeks (and NO this JOB NEVER went on my JOB RESUME😶ASSIGNED to the GRAVEYARD SHIFT (i.e. "DRUNK SHIFT"😶 UNFORTUNATELY the "COOK" was HIGH on whatever would KEEP him awake😶Once i picked up my order in right hand, opened swinging door with my left, and DISASTER HAPPENED ‼️ Order in my right hand SHIFTED, and went CRASHING to the floor! (I KNEW the TEMPERMENT of the COOK and i KNEW he HEARD the CRASH of the PLATE/FOOD CRASHING to the tiled floor😶I asked him NICELY, "Could you PLEASE make me ANOTHER ORDER"? "SURE, LOVE TOO!"and he threw the OLD ORDER AGAINST the tiled Kitchen WALLS! WORST REACTION from the CUSTOMER of HIS ORDER, "Are YOU OK?! I want to TALK to "him!"😶Again PSYCHO people working the Night Shift😶i quit after this👍
Final score:
1point
#41
Went to a Cajun restaurant with my family and was told that after ordering we had to pay for our food before getting it. I thought no big deal, until we realized we were the only guest that were required to do this. Its a place we had been to many times and have not been back since. Sucks though because they are the best one in the area.
Final score:
1point
#42
As a customer, this is the worst. Husband and I went out to eat, I went to restroom to wash my hands before dinner, and there was vomit in the toilet. We left.
Final score:
1point
#43
Went to a Friendly's with my family after church when Inwas 11 or so. By the time we got our food, another similar sized family came in, got their drinks, got their food, ate their food, got dessert, ate dessert, paid and left. They also gave me orange juice instead of orange soda.
Final score:
1point
#44
Every time I would go to this restaurant I would get at least two long strands of hair in my noodles. The dishes and forks would also always be dirty and were covered in whatever the person before you ate. I don't know why I went back expecting it to be better so many times, but I won't make the same mistake again.
Final score:
1point
#45
Worst as a worker: We went through a lot of robberies because of the area we were in. But one particular one had a pair of guys come in and tie us all up and put us in this tiny little office area. It was late but we were still open at the time and a bunch of people ran out, but some got caught up and had to stay. They locked all the doors one guy led us all, customer and us, to the back office which is this little tiny space. So there's like 8 people in this space and one guy is watching us with a gun and has our grill guy tie us with tip ties, while yelling at my manager to open the safe. The other guy was out front taking money out of the drawers. They realize that someone called the cops so they started panicking. The cops got there very fast, and they hadn't finished getting the money from the safe. Now this guy has a smaller gun, but the guy out front has a shotgun.
So we're all cramped in with zipties cutting into our wrists. The guy with us sees cop lights from the backdoor window and goes to look and make sure it's locked then comes back around the corner and his buddy had come walking down and didn't expect him, and shoots the guy in the head because he thought he was a cop coming in the back door. Brains and blood everywhere, right in front of us.
One of the customers was Portuguese and would not stop screaming and didn't speak english. To the point she was literally putting us in more danger because it was getting the guy-who is already tweaked out- crazy angry. She just wouldn't shut up. I understand she was upset but we all were. She was kind of ridiculous.
Meanwhile my manager, who finishes putting the money in the salad bag and is 23 years old and 7 months pregnant at the time, is trying to keep her calm. He finally gets pissed and grabs the screaming lady by the hair and has the manager put us in the freezer. We were in there for 2 hours because even after the guy left, the cops were told there were 2 guys and the other guy hadn't left, so they didn't know he was dead, and we didn't know the other guy had left. We were too scared to try the emergency release. Eventually we did because we were freezing.
We didn't know until then that he took the screaming lady and my manager out the door with a gun on them, cop cars everywhere, put them in his car and drove them on a freaking police chase for 5 hours and 3 states before he finally let them out. The cops didn't want to do anything that could endanger them so they basically just followed the guy until he finally stopped and gave up. It was crazy and it made national news.
Final score:
1point
#46
Back in the 80s, owned a small diner. Breakfast, lunch, burgers, etc. Had this one lady who came in once in awhile, at loose ends with life, sorta. (She may have been homeless, addict, dunno.) Anyway, one day she comes in and sits at the counter and asks for a glass of water while going through her purse/bag looking for something. A luger falls out and slides a little way down the counter. I asked her to leave and never come back, I did!
Final score:
1point
#47
Not me, but my mother went to Buffalo Wild Wings and the server charged her card $20 AFTER already receiving a $20 tip. Manager didn't do anything either, called it an "honest mistake". Needless to say, we don't go anymore.
Final score:
1point
#48
This is about a really weird coincidence. My mom told me a story about the time when she and her then boyfriend, Frank, went out to dinner. This would have been in the early 60s. My mom and her boyfriend both came from Italian families. So they went to an Italian restaurant.They were seated, and mom said time passed, waiters would walk right by them as if they were invisible. No one took their order, or brought them water or appetizers. Her boyfriend kept trying to get someone's, anyone's attention, but it was really as if they were both not there. (At this time, I'm thinking, what? Were they both in another dimension, outside of space and time? [60s Twilight Zone show reference].) Eventually, they just got up and left. Fast forward to 1999, and I'm dating a man named Frank (he was Native American, not Italian, however.) We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in the next town south of mine. We were seated, and guess what? We were also totally ignored. Other tables waiting received garlic bread appetizers and drinks. Nothing for us. Other tables got drink refills, were served more garlic bread, even if they came in after us. I'm not one to give up. I had to practically jump in front of the waiter three times as he was delivering food and drinks to other patrons just to get bread brought to our table, and it was my boyfriend telling me to relax and don't make a scene. I was very angry, nothing like that had ever happened to me before, not on a date, and not with my family when I was young. It was after this date that my mom told me her story, so it wasn't a subconscious trick of the mind.
Final score:
1point
#49
This probably isn't like most of the responses you will get, but it did happen in a resturant and does involve sweet justice, well, diet justice.
My first job as a newly married woman was at a sit down resturant in a mall.
The assistant manager asked me to go on a date with him. When I told him no, because I'm married, he said he didn't care. He just kept asking. He was single. This was mid '80's when sexual harassment was tolerated.
My husband came in a few times a week to eat with me when I was on my break. (adorable newlyweds)
The jerk of a boss would make sure to serve us our meal and openly flirt with me, right in front of my husband. I told my hubby that he was not allowed to punch him in the nose.
When he finally got the message that I was never going to go out with him, he would bring in his dates and sit in my section to try and make me jealous.
Lots of different women.
They had no clue what an idiot he was.
I got so fed up with this.
But one night, busy Friday night, he came in with one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I'm talking drop dead, head turning beauty queen type.
So, as usual, he sat in my section.
I could tell that she was really into him, and didn't know that she was being used.
So, I took their orders and she ordered a large diet coke.
When I brought it to.their table I said, " Oh, Tim, ", (yes his real name), " she is so much prettier then the other girls you usually bring in.".
Well, she glared at him and he told her, "ummm ummm don't listen to her, there is no one but you".
She suddenly stood up, dumped her large drink on his head and stormed out. Just like in the movies.
He sat there stunned for a few minutes, looked around to see everyone staring at him, then yelled at me to clean up the mess I had made.
I couldn't stop laughing and , although it was a huge mess, I didn't mind cleaning it up.
He never brought a date in again and stopped asking me to go out with him.
Sweet diet justice.
Final score:
1point
#50
When I found a half-dead cockroach in my salad. (Before I took a bite. Lucky me).
Final score:
1point
#51
Was at an On the border Mexican restaurant with my boyfriend and 3 kids. My youngest (5yrs) order something off the kids meal with milk to drink. When they brought out our beverages I helped him with the straw and for some reason took a quick sip of his milk. I ended up with a mouthful of warm sour curdled milk (which I didn't see because it was in a kids cup with a lid) I was so grateful that we were in the outdoor seating area because I immediately vomited all over the ground. So glad it was me and not my son who took that drink.
Final score:
1point
#52
After grabbing a few things at a supermarket I queued at the Less Than 10 Items checkout. I had a loaf of bread, bottle of milk, block of cheese, pack of coffee, pot of yoghurt, juice, butter, block of chocolate and three avocados (it was a three for 5.00 deal). I assumed that the avocados would count as one item, but the checkout operator announced loudly "You have more than ten items!".
I explained how I had interpreted three for one price as counting as one and she spoke to me as if I was an imbecile. "One, two, three avocados: not one!". So I offered to go to another queue but she said that would hold people up even more, again, loud enough or the rest of the queue to hear.
I apologised profusely but throughout the entire transaction she lectured me and the rest of the queue on how selfish I was, thinking it was okay to exceed the item count limit and hold up other shoppers etc., etc., etc..
I felt like going other manager but figured she probably has to put up with far worse than that from grumpy customers so let it go. I hope she felt better after venting.
Final score:
1point
#53
Many years ago we went to a very trendy restaurant in a well healed part of Melbouerne, Australia, Toorak for those who know. I t was my sister birthday, we were a group of 10. Her partner booked by phone with his full details etc.
Anywho, service was pathetic, it took over 40 minutes for our first order of drinks to arrive and we were there nearly 1 1/2 hours before meals started coming out. If it wasn't a special occasion I think most of us would've juxt left, but nobody wanted to spout bad feelings and vibes on my sister's night out.
Food was woeful, burned and cold chips for some, wilted lettuce and over ripe tomatoes. My poor sister ordered a chicken salad, all fancy looking with flower petals etc. She had 2 only tiny teaspoon size pieces of chicken in the whole salad. We complained, were told it would be replaced, nobody came back At All, she was left with no food and everybody dishing her bits off their plates to stop her starving while we all tried to eat our crappy meals before they got cold waiting for her replacement.
The best though, we got fed up and asked for the bill, it didn't come, we waited over 30 minutes.
Having more than enough of all the c**p we decided we were not paying, they could call the boyfriend and he would make it very clear why. We got up and 10 people filed very slowly out of the restaurant past wait staff, bar staff and cashier and nobody said a word to us.
Some of us felt guilty about this, so we decided to give them a final chance and loitered outside for over 10 minutes waiting to be chased down just to be fair. Someone finally came out and asked if we minded moving a little as we were blocking their entrance.
The boyfriend in the end said, if they called he would pay at least some of the cost to alleviate those of us still feeling guilty about walking out like that so we moved on.
Best part,NOBODY CALLED.
We wonder to this day, was this place a front for some nefarious drug ring? How could they seriously be that slack on that many levels for so many hours?
Final score:
1point
#54
I've got a couple experiences that were pretty bad.
I was a server at a popular restaurant and was lucky enough to work on my birthday. I was going to take the bus to work but my grandma decided she was going to take me to work so she did. About an hour afterwards I got a phone call that my grandma had been in a car accident on the way back from taking me to work. It wasn't a bad accident but she did get injured; had a bad cut on her forehead and suffered from dizzy spells for while afterwards.
Then there's the time my cousin died. He was in the army and for about a week, anytime I went to work there would be newspapers with big, front page articles about his death. I would burst into tears and just be useless for about an hour but thankfully everyone understood and they didn't bother me about it.
Final score:
1point
#55
So, me and the family went to our favorite restraunt.
My little sisters had to go to the bathroom, I took them while he parents got a table. We walk into the bathroom and around 3-4 women were smoking. Slowly backed out and went into the MENS room. While we were in there, actual men walked in! Thank goodness they left.
(and yes, we went back after that )
Final score:
1point
#56
You know, I already knew this. And, this is my second submission. But, this is how I see it, at least for me and my husband. We'd just as soon as eat at home. The food and service are way better. And, we do our dishes by hand. So go out ,what for, for someone to bus my table. I think not. Alright, this next sentence is totally for bragging rights. I am married to a man that could be/ would be/ should be a pit master. I mean it just doesn't get any better than that!
Final score:
0points
#57
As a teenager (~15) without a car and trying to go through the drive thru on a bicycle and being refused service. It was too late in our small town and everything else was closed, including the walk-in area. But, I had just got off work and couldn't eat THAT food anymore... Kinda messed up, thought it was back then, and still think it's discriminatory now. Not the last time I learned that ageism is a misnomer and is really only-for-older-people to benefit from. I guess at least I wasn't drafted without a beer, for a not-a-war. (?!?!) [I do recognize financial/legalized discrimination does not equal Ageism, but there is definitely a link there for a lot of situations younger people get wrung threw]
Final score:
0points
#58
Last time we were in Italy we went to small restaurant, which at first glance looked quite normal. Just after we sat, some commotion was heard in the kitchen area, some guy, (turned up to be the owner) was yelling at some poor girl. After couple of minutes of shouting the girl left with the owner running after her and calling her back. We were very uncomfortable, but to other people in restaurant it had to look quite normal, becuse not on of them was moved in any way. At exactly this time I realized we are only non-italians present. My thought was "Holy c**p, is this some kind of mafia house?". Our waiter turned to be an italian guy in his late 30s, looking like your stereotypical mafia enforcer. Lean and mean by the looks... Anyhow.... service was good, and food was even better, but other patrons staring at us with curiosity was little unnerving. I felt quite relieved when we paid and left.
Final score:
-1point
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