Ten things you hate about dining out..?

Question

I'll start:
1.lousy service .
2.waiters that tell you their name...should i scream it if I want something? how bout you just watch me a little or stop by once in a while ..
3.servers who sit down at your table and tell you how tough their day was....yeah I can relate..
4.Managers who when you do complain about the food or service ,don't believe you or act like you're a nut because everyone else loves our food ...OK I was just testing you ...really it's great...I was just bored...
5.Bad food....almost everywhere..!! seems like everyone has the same menu and same bad food ..l
6.waitresses who tell you a hard luck story...My car just broke down...(so please tip me well) i love guilt..
7.sticky table followed by the waitress saying it wasn't...but she;s gonna be a dear and get that for ya....Again why call someone a liar?? here lady sticky wanna feel..
8.Tipping at a buffet....have we stooped this low??
9.Overpriced food...I buy food I know the prices ..
10.all the above ....

ok heres number ten...
#10 - People who talk on their phones.Turn your damn nextel phone off and stop being so damn rude...Anyone who decides to answer or call someone while I'm eating with them will see me get up and leave them the check...hopefully they drove... this should have been listed as #1..

11. Barmaid pours two drinks and picks up the glasses by putting her two fingers inside the glasses and shoves them in front of me with one hand...cool trick ...When i asked her to make me another because of what she just did ...she look at me like i didn't do that, but poured another one quickly and DID IT AGAIN...I just walked away shaking my head....

All these things and more are the bad about dining out....
The good are
wonderful servers..
wonderful food...
sweet and caring people we enjoy being with...
having fun...
finding a great place...
trying something new...

Answer 1

Seems like you should find a better restaurant or eat home more. I agree with most, however. If my brother-in law eats at a place where the server introduces her/himself by name, he introduces himself and everyone else at the table, which usually irritates the server. Then he uses the server's name as many times as possible while there. I know they are forced to give their names and be chatty,,but it's still fun. Maybe next time we will track down the manager and be overly chatty with him/her.

Answer 2

Man! You are eating at the wrong restaurants!!
OK, here's my list:

1. Lack of available parking (food is excellent in the SF Bay Area, but the parking options really suck!)
2. Being on a wait list
3. Tipping at buffets (I have to agree there -what's up with that?)
4. Being ignored when ordering only appetizers or something small (they think the tip won't be as big, so why bother?)
5. Being ignored when I dine alone (same reason as above).
6. One of my favorite restaurants closing down (Blue Nile in Berkeley) and no good Ethiopian food to be found now.
7. Corking fees! ( $10 to cork a bottle that I brought in? It was a small half size bottle and only cost me $10 to begin with!!)
8. "We just ran out of...." But... is just what I wanted!! They're a restaurant, can't they keep their stuff in stock?
9. Other customers who are rude.
10. Those stupid birthday songs! How many people can be born on the same day all eating at the restaurant where I want to eat in peace!

Answer 3

Oh, my pet peeve in restaurants - whether fancy or plain, good food or bad, is when the servers dont acknowledge that you are at the table for 20 minutes. I dont care how busy a place is, can't they just say, "Hi, it's swamped, give me a few minutes and I'll be right over"? That's closely followed by servers who don't check to see how you're doing 10 or 15 minutes into the meal (you know, when you need a water refill, etc). Good question, and great venting. :-)

Answer 4

1) takes forever to get a table
2) takes forever to get a waiter
3) you order something that's not what you thought it was going to be
4)the waiter keeps coming back to refill your glass, and you feel obliged to drink it all, and then they come back again.
5)you eat until you feel too fat to talk.
6) you don't want to pay the bill, but you feel obliged to argue over who pays it anyway.
7)you are told (by a family member)that it's only polite to tip the waiter/waitress even though you thought they gave awful service
8) you suddenly realize the nutrition facts of the meal you just ate.
9) you remember that you're on a diet
10) you go home and find out that there is another restaurant that offers the same food for a lower price.

Answer 5

1. unfriendly wait-people, 2 slow service, 3. bad-behavior in children that are dining 4, parents that do nothing to correct it5, not getting what I ordered,6 incorrect bill 7 lousy tasting food 8 place is dirty looking 9 tables too close together and 10 overpriced and extremely small portions

Answer 6

Okay, I'm a server and alot of these answers are so good for me to read because it reminds me to be a better server. But I have one thing to tell all of you. I work at Red Lobster and the very first thing we are trained in is the 'Guest Connection". We have to chat, we have to try to get some kind of personal information about why you are at Red Lobster. If a manager walks by and doesn't hear us making the "Guest Connection", we get written up. If we consistently don't do this little chat thing we get fired. Yes it is very true. We also have to tell you our names and make a service promise (I promise to take wonderful care of you tonight). So cut your servers a little slack, we have to tell you our names, it's that way in all restaurants and really, what harm do those few words really do to your evening?

Answer 7

I agree with most of the things on your list, but I do think you need to change your dining locations if all of these things are occuring at the same place. I do have to disagree with #8, I understand that a server is not bringing your meal, but is he/she not filling your drink, cleaning up your dirty dishes, getting you extra napkins, ketchup, cleaing up after your children etc.? And don't we all know that when you go out to dine that the price of food is going to be higher than what you pay at the local grocery? Maybe you should cook more at home and eat out less, it sounds like you are unhappy with your dining experiences.

Answer 8

Lets see.
1) Service any where outside of Asia is horrid.
2) People on their phones.
3) Kids
That's about it.

Answer 9

1. Crappy service
2. Waitiers that take forever to get there
3. Way out of price items
4.Dirty restuarants
5. People smoking around you
6. Loud crowds
7. Cold food
8. Restuarants that are to small and you have to fight your way in
9. Having to tip everyone? Even the person who just seated them
10. Did I mention the price

Answer 10

People who enter an establishment and recognize friends that are sitting right next to us. These people stand around having a long winded conversation (loud and obnoxious) making it hard to focus on anything other than what they are talking about (and usually it's not anything interesting either).