A great meal at a restaurant is pure joy. It is an orchestrated performance. I am amazed at the amount of hard work and attention to detail involved to ensure that a dining experience goes smoothly.
In reviewing restaurants I try to cut some slack because I know it's very hard to control every detail. Sometimes when things go wrong, it's not even the restaurant's fault. It just takes so little to throw the whole thing off. That said I do have a list of pet peeves when it comes to restaurant dining. These are some irritating trends and practices that restaurants actually can have some control over.
Here are my restaurant pet peeves:
- A well done steak or burger when it was ordered "rare"
Wobbly tables
Bread cut only halfway, instead of into slices
Charging $25 for a main dish and then $5 for a side of vegetables
Over salted or not properly seasoned food
Bad attitude at the host station
$10 cocktails
Servers who interrupt conversation at the table
Tea bags served with water that is not boiling hot
Having to ask for water more than twice
Tables that are way too close to each other
When the server doesn't know who ordered what
$9 desserts
Not getting the right utensils, don't make me ask for a soup spoon
Too many specials being mentioned to possibly remember them
$5 for an individual pot of tea
Lighting so dim that you need a flashlight to read the menu
Dishes being cleared before everyone has finished eating
300%+ markup on wine
Incorrect descriptions of menu items
Super loud Mariachi bands
Hot food served cold and vice versa
600%+ markup on bottled water
Enormously large desserts
Ok, that's my list! Have I missed anything? Am I out of line on any of these? If so, let me know. For a list of what a certain waiter hates about diners, check out this post at Waiter Rant. Next week I promise a list of things that I truly appreciate.
