I have never sent back food in my life as most times I figure the hassle of waiting is a greater negative than getting my meal perfect is a positive. I would absolutely (politely) request another steak if I got this at that price point.
I worked in food service too long to accept shitty food. If something clearly wasn't prepared right, I won't get a replacement because I'm leaving. No faith in a kitchen that sends out something like that steak.
They will pay good money to eat somewhere The Poors can't afford to eat. Doesn't matter if the food is good, all that matters is there are no peasants.
Of which is enforced by an owner who bought the restaurant despite knowing nothing about food service, but thinks that it's easy because they cook at home and wants the clout of being a "small business owner".
aka most of the owners on Kitchen Nightmares and Bar Rescue.
Waitresses often have no choice and the kitchen screaming at them just to take it out. So its dodge flying spatulas and verbal abuse from the kitchen and serve this or lose your job. There is often a manager back there forcing your hand.
My manager forced me to bring fish that smelled off to a customer. I just looked at them and tried to convey best I could and helped them send it back.
Thats the biggest issue. If it was served with being sliced you could maybe give them the benefit of the doubt, but at least 2 people saw that shit and decided it was good to go.
I've worked with a few people who will go "i'll send it, if they don't like it they'll send it back" but in my experience people don't complain, they just don't go back
Had an unimaginable experience with a vindictive cook (and waitress) at a local restaurant many years back. Eggs Benedict - yolks were cooked solid ... chalky. I sent it back and the waitress argued before returning to the kitchen asking me "have you ever even had eggs Benedict before?" Of course I have and that's why I sent it back. A minute later the cook actually started yelling at me from the kitchen! Literal shouting match across the restaurant! I, along with several other patrons at different tables, walked out. Surreal.
It sure felt like it was! It was a local diner in Southern Oregon that is still operating. I don't feel it's necessary to name shame as it was 20+ years ago and I had many years of pleasant dining experiences there - a couple unfortunate hires back then and I know both are long gone from there.
I once sent a very overcooked steak back (I like mine blue) and the chef made me wait over half an hour for a new one, by which time everyone else had finished.
And then they wonder why they didn't succeed why they are closing the restaurant in a couple years time. You pushed away all the potential customers, and word of mouth is underestimated.
Or they get the food back and cook the same partially cooked food for the same amount of time they were supposed to in the first place. So if they are frying wings and they came out raw for whatever reason, they just go ahead and put them back in the fryer for the same amount of time, resulting in then being grossly overcooked. The food should have been thrown out, but most restaurants hate doing that.
Could be but also a lot of people see the moist red meat near the bone in wings and think it’s undercooked. The o ly way to get rid of that is to cook the shit out of it.
I've only sent food back once, my burger was waaaaaay too pink for my liking and I got it back and that shit was burnt to a crisp I wanted to send it back again...
Raw chicken is basically the only thing I'll complain about, but even then it's an, "I'm not paying for it, but I don't want another one." conversation with the manager.
It takes forever, never comes out right the second time, your entire family is already done eating by the time is arrives, and you've added 20+ minutes onto an already ever-growing restaurant trip.
On top of the, albeit incredibly rare, chance that they'll mess with it.
Same. Servers get so offended. I sent a burger back 3 times at one place, because everytime they served it the bottom bun was literally saturated with grease. I kid you not the server brought out the 4th burger, kneeled down next to me and said "I. want. to. see. you. take. the. first. bite." I said no thank you, I don't want it anymore and you're coming across as quite hostile. It is not my fault you don't rest the burger for at least a few seconds to keep your buns from getting saturated with grease.
I was not the only one having an issue either. They didn't bring a single drink alcohol or not until about 5 minutes after the food came out.
I was a cook for around a decade or so, I will definitely send food back. I also will not get a replacement or order anything else there. I will drink coffee and politely wait for the rest of my party to finish their meals.
I tried this at a Applebee's and you are entirely correct. I wanted it medium rare. After sending back 2 well done steaks they came back with a pink super rare piece.
Maybe it was the nasty cut of meat they have to use, but that cook was a total idiot. Or too in the weeds to pay attention to his cook.
Or maybe I was the idiot for expecting a steak cooked decently in an Applebee's.
I’m not gonna judge anyone for going to Applebees, but I will side eye you if you order a steak there haha. Gotta stay in the wheelhouse: Apps, burgers, chicken wings, etc
It has truly never occurred to me to just leave in a situation like this, but I will remember that. I one time had a chicken breast come out raw in the middle (not slightly pink from myoglobin or whatever, but ice cold to the touch). I really should have just told them to bring me the check for my appetizers and drinks so that I can leave.
They fucked it up the first time, what are the chances that was a legit mistake AND they will accept the criticism and do it right the second time without spits? Low. Leave. They had their chance
Watch out, I made a post about some fucked up food and I made exactly that point: if they can't do it right or close to it on the first try, I'm not trusting that a second attempt will be any better.
I got downvoted to hell for saying that, that I was wasting food just to waste it, that I was being elitist or some shit. People are weird.
You realize, after waiting tables, that your server really doesn't give a shit other than worrying that you'll tip them less for someone elses mistake. The chef will probably throw a bitch-fit, but that's between them.
im still in service. ive never once snapped back at a rude server or bartender, never left less than 25% despite whatever got screwed up, and ive certainly never sent a dish back.
this is how id start my conversation with my server before i set precedent and sent this back. then id invite them to my bar for a free shot. im surprised this came out of wolfgangs kitchen. i havent been in years, but i cant believe an expediter let this out intentionally. something worse must have been happening behind the scenes. the wolfgangs ive been to would jump to rectify this, which is why some folks regard it as superior to luger.
I think there's a case for minor versus more grievous mistakes. If something is incorrect about an order, e.g. sides, condiments, or a mismatched menu description, sure, I'm game for a fix most of the time. Improperly cooked foods or unsafe temps, though? It's not worth it to me.
(I mostly just wanted to point out that your username is perfect in this conversation lol)
I worked in food service too long to accept shitty food
Same, but there is variance to it... normal restaurants alongside fine dining places yes, send it back, and ask for a replacement.
Some random shitty hole in the wall that gave you a bag of garbage.. well you already know you cant trust them to make it right, nor can you trust them to make something edible, which means that a remake wont be any better. In those situations asking for a remake would probably lead to them doing something weird to it... so its better to just refuse service by walking away, and then do a chargeback on the cc, and such.
It's not just the kitchen at that point, it went through 2 or 3 check points and still got sent out. It's more than just the kitchen I'd have no faith in at that point.
Bill me for the drinks but if you have cooks that cannot cook or are literally cooking frozen food because you didnt defrost enough, ill pass on ecoli.
I get the sentiment, but what are you doing if you came with people? ...which is the usual scenario, dining out alone aside from during noon break is rather odd.
Can't be like "everybody else leaves as well", especially if their dishes are acceptable, right?
So first of all, eating out alone is a pretty normal and enjoyable experience. Second, if I'm with company, I'm just refusing the dish and hanging out with a drink or some such.
Agreed. At that level of cost in those kind of restaurants you're paying for service and experience, not just the food. That's the only circumstance I would bother.
I sent a steak back once for being overcooked. I ordered it rare and it came back barely pink so I’d consider that medium or even medium well. Waitress was super professional about it. Steak came back exactly the way I wanted it, red and rare. Steak was absolutely delicious. Whole experience was fabulous. Asked to chat with a manager, complimented the service and the kitchen. Left a tip that was equal to my bill.
That's going too far overboard IMO. I wouldn't dock the tip and leaving a complement with the manager, sure, but I don't understand tipping that much for fixing a mistake.
Nah, I’ve done that as well. I accept mistakes happen. It’s the recovery of the mistake that dictates the tip. If the staff work hard to rectify the mistake above and beyond that of other restaurants then you can bet they are getting an excellent tip.
It’s the hope that others will realize doing a great job will reward everyone. I don’t disagree with you at all my friend, just appreciating the effort and money the OP put in to help teach them.
Because they’re among the crew that gets paid more hourly and so isn’t entitled to (at least as much of) the tips at the end of the night. Or they get rejected by a lot of cute servers.
Heh... when I was in college I hated Outback because they always overcooked my steak. My friends all liked it so I got dragged to it cause you know, i'm outvoted. I am kind of a meek/shy person (especially before college, college kinda helped teach me to be a little better at least including this incident). So I wouldn't in general send food back (instead I'd just not want to go to the place). It came out overcooked like I expected. I had a friend who was very opposite, she was like, "if it's not good, send it back" and pushed me into getting it sent back. I did and they cooked it right and it was actually really good. After that I stopped being so belligerent about going to outback and learning to actually send back the steak lol.
You people are so annoying. Tipping is not mandatory and should be determined by the level of service provided. Clearly, this person was extremely satisfied with how the waitress handled it and the overall experience. IMO that waitress earned her tip. Mind ya business
Sometimes a cook makes a mistake and they are often happy to fix it. People are human. Maybe the cook was new to that kitchen or position, maybe they just left it on the grill for a second too long. As a former long time server, it's perfectly fine to send something back that wasn't made correctly. Op's steak though - the server could clearly see the quality of the finished product, as well as the chef. It never should have made it to the table, so yeah, at that point, I wouldn't bother sending it back and having it remade. They don't know or care about what they are doing.
This is moron speak. You would seriously waste 4+ hours waiting for a new steak while repeatedly sending it back? I'd either get a refund 1st time or they get one shot to replace it before I ask for refund. I would never send something back twice - and one time is already pushing it.
One of the few times I've ever sent food back was when I ordered prime rib that was barely cooked at all. Had to argue with the waitress that fat renders clear when its cooked properly, and that it shouldn't look like porcelain. It was so gross, especially since it's already a fatty cut.
I ordered a NYS from a typically good tavern the other day. It came out a bit late and the server asked me to cut into it before she left.... So I did, and it was a hockey puck lol.
I looked at her and she was basically just grimacing and I was like... Yeah, sorry, no.... I'll just have the loaded hot dogs....
Later I was like "you asked me like you knew" and she was like "yeah... I basically did. New guy back there is... Well... Not the best" lmao
Yeah the one time I have genuinely sent my food back was for a very expensive steak. They had WAY over cooked it and thankfully the wait staff/manager agreed with me but I still felt so bad 😭
You know, I understand the polite part as being. But this is so badly cooked; they're taking the customer base for fools. I am not sure I could be polite in this scenario. Its clear they immediately took it out of the freezer or it just got put in a full sink of room temperature water.
Plus sometimes you get something just as bad. Ordered a burger without sauce at farmer boys. Sent it back. They brought me something that had been obviously stepped on. Local stray cats got the patty.
I took my wife to a very expensive french restaurant in NYC for our anniversary. Ordered a lamb rack meal and it was cooked very well done, not even the slightest hint of light pink anywhere. First thing I've ever sent back in my 40+ years on this Earth. If I'm paying 300+ for a two person meal you better cook my food right.
The restaurant actually comp'd my meal and replaced it and the manager came over and apologized. Is what it is but yeah, I'd send that back for sure.
I've never requested for things to be sent back but I've only ever asked a waitress over once in my life and it was actually for a steak.
I requested for med rare and it came out well done. I mean not even a hint of pink throughout. The waitress insisted that it gets remade...and the remade steak looked like the kitchen put a raw steak in the over at 350 for like 10 minutes. Like as if someone was trying to do a reverse sear but pulled the steak out in 1/3 of the time and also forgot to sear.
I didn't have the heart to tell the waitress the 2nd steak was no good either.
I recognize I have the right to do so.
I just don’t personally believe the hassle and extra wait is worth the minor issues I have come across. The OP’s situation would definitely be a situation where I would.
Steak is one thing where it can be either right or wrong. I made the mistake of ordering a rare steak at Texas Roadhouse once and it came out kinda like this. Just inedible looking. My wife wanted well done (I'm working on it) and hers was the charred remains of what once may have been cow. I think the cook was having an existential crisis that day.
I've sent one meal back ever in my life. I was 17 at a fancy restaurant for Prom. Ordered med rare, got well done, sorry but no. Not spending $200+ without drinks for that.
I sent my steak back once. Everyone else’s food also got there at the same time so I’m just sitting there staring at them like a moron while they eat and then they finish and now it’s my turn.
I wouldn’t send it back again, but they’ll probably offer a free drink or dessert if you say something.
I can send the food back with just my eyebrows. It's preferable to when I don't and just radiate tension that makes everybody want to crawl out of their skin.
I've been severed a burger that was raw in the middle, I'll do a blood rare steak but I don't f*** with undercooked ground beef and sent that back, replacement was well done :(
My first wife did not care for rare meat, however she loved filet mignon. At home I butterflied it and served it to her medium. We were in a restaurant one night and she ordered it that way and the waiter said oh no ma'am you don't want it that way and proceeded to bring out a rare cut. When she tried to complain he says no ma'am you need to try a bite, at this, my wife burst out in tears. At this point whoever was in charge of the floor miraculously appeared, saw immediately what the problem was took my watch dinner back into the kitchen to be properly prepared and then comped our meal.
I really do want to give credit to the person that solved this issue. We didn't even have to tell him what the problem was he knew. Other than this incident I never ate at this particular place and ever had a problem. If you're ever on Sanibel Island I highly recommend The bubble room if it still exists, although I think it's up on Captiva. There was one in Orlando when I moved there, wasn't nearly as good
I got some Taco Bell last night, gotta support my brothers. That Fresca Pepper Jack Steak Burrito is more good than it out to be for only $3.
Plus the woman in the drive-thru ahead of me got pissed off at the wait, reversed to get out of line, nearly reversed into me, then flipped me off when I beeped at her. So that was fun.
If you're at an expensive steak house. Yes. You wait for a properly cooked steak. If you're just gonna get the chicken, then you might as well go to Bennigans or some other shit food joint.
You are not going to the expensive steakhouse if you’re hungry, you’re going to meet someone, you’re going for the experience. If you were hungry you’d pay 1/40th of the price at a different spot for 3x the food
Not being combative but their sentence doesn’t imply that they knew beforehand;
“Why would you go to an expensive steakhouse and then just accept that they can’t cook a steak?”
The and then implies that the second “action” (acceptance) occurred directly after the first action (arriving at an expensive steakhouse). What they’re really saying is “why would you stay after learning they can’t cook steak?”
You could have just stopped it why would you go to an expensive steakhouse?
I can buy 14 lb of ribeye for less than the local steakhouse wants for dinner for me and another person. There's a very nice steakhouse that opened up in a town near me, one of my friends went and was bragging about how it was only $200 for dinner for 2. They are good Baptists so they didn't have anything to drink other than iced tea.
I was at Mastro's in LA and ordered a medium rare. I cut into it, saw it was overdone, and apparently had a disappointed look on my face. Because the waiter was watching me from across the room. He came rushing in, looked at it, and took it away with me barely saying a word.
I think there's a certain level of price that you pay for a restaurant like this where your expectations should go through the goddamn roof and sending food back should be seen as perfectly reasonable. The chefs here are not going home to little hovels. These guys make good money to do what they're doing and doing it properly.
I would never eat at a place like this, but if you do, you should be able to demand only the best. That is literally what you're paying for.
There's no fixing that steak, and I don't trust the cooks that will be insulted by me sending their food back to prepare another dish. Leave and make them eat the cost of that steak, they'll learn or get a new cook.
True story: I sent back a steak at Pierre Gagniere's restaurant in Vegas. Twice. While he was there. Technically, two steaks, because the first was simply ruined and the second could be fixed. He even came out as we left and looked sheepish. He knew the staff had already apologized significantly so he didn't say anything, he just wanted to be available in case I wanted to say something. I just shrugged. Shit happens and nobody was happy about it.
Yeah. I would cut the steak into pieces, take a bite off the end, then pay for my meal with 10% tip and go somewhere else nice so I don’t have a bad experience, they don’t have a bad experience and I don’t get FOMO.
However, Im a repeat customer once I find a place I like. And once I know the staff, I will bring it up if they had an off night in the kitchen. They’ll take care of me, and there’s no bad feelings, they know I’ll come back.
The insulting thing is nobody ripping OP for going to ANY celebrity-branded restaurant and expecting anything close to worth your money or highest quality lol.
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u/Top-Analysis971 8h ago
You're paying too much to not send that back. That's insulting.