Worst experience you've ever had eating out?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Esperahol • Oct 9, 2012.

  1. Esperahol

    EsperaholActive Member

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    Did you get food poisoning? Was the food uneatable? Did the servers make you see red? Were your fellow diners pigs that happened to walk upright? Really, just tell me your worst experience eating out and be sure to list the resturant and the location. I'm thinking of a road trip this Christmas (I have tired of my family) and I need to know where not to eat.
     
  2. Kam147

    Kam147Member

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    If I have the option, I always prefer to eat at small, non-franchised establishments. This can make a road trip a lot of fun, especially if your route brings you through small towns.

    The two best meals I have ever had were at out-of-the-way places. One is a steak house located about 20 miles from where I live. It is a nationally-known place, but you have to know where you are going to find it. The other is a small restaurant located on a corner in a residential area of New Orleans, Louisiana. It looks just like the houses that surround it, but the food is some of the best I have ever eaten.

    Strangely, my worst restaurant experience was at a small (now defunct) local place less than five minutes from my home. Not long before this place closed, my wife and I visited this establishment. I ordered four different menu items before I was finally told by our server that one of them was actually available, and as it turns out, that one item was disgusting and overpriced. Restaurants are a crap-shoot - you are going to find some really awful places, but you will also find some hidden treasures.
     
  3. tosaytheleast

    tosaytheleastActive Member

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    I have not experienced food poisoning but maybe the worst experience I had was that my noodle soup had a small fly floating on it. I was not really mad about it because I saw the fly right before I even took chopsticks. THe management of the restuarant is very calm and apologetic and I never argued because they replaced it right away.
     
  4. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    My whole family got food poisoning when they went out to eat at a local pizza joint. What made things worse was they brought home the leftovers and kept them in the fridge anyhow. When I came home from work later that evening, I didn't know about this and grabbed a couple slices of the pizza and had them as a late dinner. Then I hear them all fighting for the bathroom and it was ugly. Not long after I had it too, it was like Linda Blair from the Exorcist - I was practically projectile vomiting into any trashcan or container I could get a hold of.
     
  5. andrew320

    andrew320Active Member

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    One of the worst restaurant experiences occurred a few years ago when we found a garbage wrapper in the food and then we noticed other junk in the General Tao Chicken. The staff didn't care and suggested that we just take the garbage tie out and eat it. We didn't eat the food and we demanded the check and only comped about 10 percent of the bill. It was awful and we never returned. Pretty gross.
     
  6. mountainside

    mountainsideActive Member

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    The worst was eating some gravy that did not smell right, thinking there was nothing wrong with it, and getting terribly sick. Trust your nose. I'll never forget it.
     
  7. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    The absolute worst experience I had eating out was at a fish taco restaurant in Las Vegas. I ate lunch with my co-workers, but I was the only one to get sick. I threw up at work. It was embarrassing. I felt so sorry for the building janitor.
     
  8. Cyrup

    CyrupMember

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    It's hard for me to remember, but I have had plenty of times when I was little and over ate. I'm also Gluten intolerant, so sometimes I've been naive and eaten gluten, not expecting to get sick, and I have.

    For your road trip, I would suggest going to independent restaurants. Not commercially owned business that have huge chain stores all across the country (unless you prefer eating somewhere slightly cheaper like Mc Donalds).
    Generally, small business cafe's and restaurants have better quality food and service, and you're also supporting the locals.
     
  9. pilot2fly

    pilot2flyMember

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    One time we went to Applebee's and we will NEVER go there again. It was around 8:00 PM and they were not very busy. The waitress bought out our chips and dip, but when we finished the chips, she was nowhere to be found. The dip ended up getting cold and we tried talking to the manager. All college kids, including the manager. They didn't care at all for some reason. We left very unhappy.
     
  10. nash22

    nash22Active Member

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    I don't really eat out that much. But I had an experience with a waitress who is supposed to be there when ever we need here and she wasn't around. We needed help cleaning up my friend's drink. She surely came when it was about time for us to go and to collect her tip. We left her absolutely nothing, but some choice words of advice.
     
    #10Oct 10, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2012
  11. Esperahol

    EsperaholActive Member

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    I would like to thank you for the image not steampressed into my mind. I would also like to offer you my condolences because I have projectile vomited and it was both epic and indescribly awful. I mean it went straight across the room and when it hit the wall... I was cleaning for days. Pizza places are always a gamble because folks don't seem to consider it a real food and therefore don't do things like wash their hands or use proper refridgeration or not drop things on the floor but still cook them.
     
  12. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Well the "worst" incident that I have experienced so far would be my drinks ending up in the regular size when it was supposed to be upsized! I never bothered to complain though, since I already had a sip before I even noticed. This happened to me several times already.
     
  13. RomanAnthonysMama

    RomanAnthonysMamaMember

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    Well, the other day my dad and I went to Applebees, which I usually love, but the waitress was so rude and impersonal. She was kind of fast I guess, but lacked social skills and manners as well. She was just really rude. So then I found some hair in my mashed potatoes...Which was just lovely. Then I went to go pee, and the stall door was so heavy with no hinge, and it slammed on my finger and left a nice bruise. Not a good time. I wouldn't have tipped at all if I were my dad!
     
  14. BlackSolaris

    BlackSolarisActive Member

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    Someone dropped food on me, but that is because the waitress tripped over something and i saw she was more embarrassed than me, so i guess i can't really complain much.
    And they let me eat for free, so can't really complain.
     
  15. fishbowl

    fishbowlNew Member

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    I got sick eating from Wendy's once. I'd never had fast food burgers do wrong by me before, but I'll be damned if it wasn't Wendy's that caused an uproar in my stomach that day. I feel as though my meal was under-cooked. It's almost unfathomable to me, having eaten so often from famous chains. I haven't eaten from them since, even though I know they make burgers as decently as any other similar restaurant like Burger King. It's possible I just got very unlucky, but I don't want to take the chance again.
     
  16. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    The only bad experiences I've had were in fast food places a long time ago.. the very last time being a spider baked into my food. uuuuuuuugghhhhhh
     
  17. indigo

    indigoMember

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    I've always had terrible experiences with McDonalds' food and restaurants. The first time I went there I found a bunch of hairs in my big mac. Gross. I've ate in McDonald's restaurants where fights have broken out amongst the patrons. I've had customers cuss out the cashiers in front of me in line. It got to the point where I just gave up on all fast food with no exceptions. I hardly eat out anymore because you just can't trust the cleanliness of restaurants and their workers.
     
  18. vpresson

    vpressonWell-Known Member

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    I don't think I ever had a bad experience as far as food poisoning but I have had rude people that had horrible customer service.
     
  19. Bolt

    BoltWell-Known Member

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    i recently had one of the worst restaurant experiences in London. It was an American-style restaurant which sells ribs, burgers, lobster, steaks etc and it is usually very busy so I thought it must be good. The food was horrible, it was dry and I am sure it was mostly frozen food. I refused to pay for most of the food and I will definitely not be visiting again.
     
  20. jneanz

    jneanzActive Member

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    This was Red Robin where in the past 20+ years, I'd seen them undergo many changes, like when a magician would come to your table. Anyway, this time the server spoke almost no English and had bad communication skills. If he'd taken time to call back the order, everything may have been okay. He put his fingers on my straw (I was in the middle of drinking), got food orders wrong, and had a bad attitude.

    It took years before I returned and they did a 180 as far as food and service go.