Hey, it's your neighborhood-friendly husk poof. As an avid Yelper dude (amateur food critic/lover) and restaurant employee at stadiums all across California, I go around town when I can, trying out new places to eat and try new food. Only things I look for is how well the food is cooked, how good it tastes, how's the service, and how well the place is kept in order.

This brings up my question: What was your worst experience in a restaurant? It can be any type of restaurant (fast-food, diner, gourmet, Korean BBQ, etc.)

I'll share mine

I ordered some chicken dish from a generic Chinese place and got shrimp instead.

I once bought a container of honey chicken which came with complimentary shards of glass. My niece was one second away from eating it.

I paid way too much for a buffet where I couldn't find any staff for 15 minutes to pay (before eating, with maybe 2 other customers in the huge building), what little food there was was gross or burnt, the bakery-like items were displayed in plastic clamshell packaging, and for some reason they had eggplant parmesan displayed in the same cooler thingy next to the gelatin and pudding (which had ice at the bottom to keep it cold).

What's sad is it looked like they sunk a ton of money into the place. They had areas set off where people could reserve for huge parties.

ate a buffet at a casino called "terrible's". the buffet lived up to the name as everything tasted samey and the place smelled awful from ciggarete smoke

My group ate at an empty Chinese-style restaurant on a vacation. Everyone got food poisoning, should have seen it coming.

We went in. Two hours later, we left, not having received any food.

I've eaten bad food from restaurants. I've received bad service from restaurants.

I'm positive I've gotten food poisoning a few times as a child, but I can't remember any further details. Probably from the lemon chicken at the chinese buffet that everyone knew has had multiple health and safety violations (definitely rodents), yet my group of "responsible adults" would eat there weekly regardless. I often had the option of going, and I would for their company. I had a good idea of which buffet items were palatable enough and safe. Even so, as I grew older I started to value "having lunch with the adults" less and my own well-being a bit more (but not much), so my better sense eventually won out and I declined further attendance. So I guess I remember enough about that place, even if I can't single out one specific experience. We went there for years. That location got shut down.

My worst restaurant experience that I can specifically remember occurred at a pizza place that I am still loyal to. Basically, they forgot my order with me sitting there waiting for 50 minutes. They did not acknowledge that they forgot my order even though it was obvious; instead, they just asked me what it was again. Orders are supposed to be free after 20 minutes, but I didn't bother making a claim.

Why do I still order from them? (1) They make a pizza that I actually like, and they're consistent. (2) Theirs is the first pizza I've had in my life that isn't cold, hard, disgusting, or fucked in some other way after a few hours, which includes potential salvation from a microwave. Or rather, their pizza remains closest to how it was originally handed over to me after being reheated a few days later. (3) Their service has been excellent before and since.

Lance_Armstrong said:
I ordered some chicken dish from a generic Chinese place and got shrimp instead.

So you got the superior dish?

Went out the wrong door and triggered the fire alarm. Everyone was looking at me. This was when I was like 7 or 8.

When I was 12 I went to a Steak n Shake in St. Louis and got a sandwich with grilled chicken. The chicken was only about half-cooked, pink and cool in the middle. Honestly, after a 10-hour trip, I was so hungry I ate half of it anyway.

If it counts, a couple years ago at school my friend and I ordered a pizza. The pizza never came, but the driver insisted that he came by. The manager supposedly sent him out again, and still no delivery. We were waiting by the door the two hours this stupidity carried on. Sometime the following year they got all new staff and management so the place is run much better now.

Waitress full of herself, unfresh salad, coldish food, old food, food that probably came from the dumpster of the Wal-Mart literally across the street, the saddest, most pathetic ribs I've seen, etc

Went to a Denny's once and ordered a burger. Instead I got a pizza. I told the waiter and she told me to wait while she was talking to her mother on the phone. I got up and left. The manager let me leave without paying.

BlueDingo said:
I once bought a container of honey chicken which came with complimentary shards of glass. My niece was one second away from eating it.

damn...glad you stopped her in time.

first that comes to mind for me was when i ordered a eggnog milkshake from braums one time and it wasn't mixed properly. ugh, had to toss that mess.

i like eggnog and eggnog milkshakes but that stuff is no good if it's not mixed up right.

Every pizza hut to ever exist, in a nutshell.

memeboy said:
ate a buffet at a casino called "terrible's". the buffet lived up to the name as everything tasted samey and the place smelled awful from ciggarete smoke

Terrible's Rail City? I went there a few times when I was younger. Wasn't too bad, but my parents were both smokers, so it just smelled "eh" to me.

Never had one. I'm the least picky/agitated person you can find.

You undercook my food and I assume the chef made a human error; inform the person at the front and walk out.
If it takes forever, it's probably a busy night.

If I was brought the wrong order I'd still eat it, regardless. I give as little fucks as an Eminem song from 1999.

I actually worked at a Burger King here in Reno that had shitty employees (in hindsight, I was kind of one as well, partially because I was stuck behind a sink all day scrubbing both day shift's AND night shift's foodpans). Nobody would ever go out into the dining area and at least wipe the tables off. I was the only one to ever replace the soda syrups, and the only time the people I was working with actually cared about cleanliness is when corporate came down for inspections. Then they were down my throat because they thought that the guy with next to no training (mind you, I was there for almost 2 1/2 weeks) was to blame for their general lack of attention to cleanliness.

Needless to say, if you want a bite to eat if you ever come to Stead, NV, go to the Wendy's across the street. The employees may be rude at times, but at least the interior design doesn't look like it was created in the 1970s.

Well, my favorite local Asian buffet restaurant got shut down a few years back for not being too profitable, and I got fired from a local chicken place a few months back for not being able to do three conflicting jobs at once, do those count as a bad restaurant experience?

Waited and waited on our food as people who arrived nearly an hour after we did were served, despite us not ordering anything special. My brother was most disappointed because he'd put in a good word for the place and had been there a few times before. I gave them the benefit of the doubt but that was still pretty bad

About two and a half hours ago. Red Robins was rather... er really slow with me and my bud's foods, on more than one occasion (bottomless steak fries and bottomless cream sodas, for reference). We also discovered that the plate they handed to him was not cleaned thoroughly. And, to top it off, the wait for other peoples orders were abhorrently quicker. Also, but in a personal level, didn't meet my expectations for the amount of steak fries per basket, but that is from someone who LOVES fries and potato-based foods.

I once went to this new fast-food restaurant that had just opened across the street and placed a take-away order.

I went back home and there was no patty in my burger.

ONCE.

TheGreatWolfgang said:
I once went to this new fast-food restaurant that had just opened across the street and placed a take-away order.

I went back home and there was no patty in my burger.

ONCE.

lol well, it's not much of a burger if theres no burger.

I asked for a baked potato and they never baked it. They handed me a raw potato. They also charged the wrong amount. It was 299 dollars instead of cents.