This topic contains 8 replies, has 0 voices, and was last updated by 
ces1948 10 years, 7 months ago.
Sorry about replying to my own post. Is there an appropriate time to pull the plug on what you consider a bad meal and leave declining any offers of replacement dishes etc. About a third of the way through the above mentioned meal I felt like calling the waiter over, telling him we did not like the food, offer to pay for the drinks and leave. But I did not do that as I generally try to avoid confrontation. So we suffered though.
Tonight we went to a terrible Mexican restaurant. Decor was nice but food was just bland and everything from the rice to the beans to the chips was simply awful. The salsa was OK and so was the fountain drinks. Wasted $35 on a crappy meal. Should have stayed home and cooked a burger. We don’t have the money to eat out that much these days and I just hate it we I feel we wasted it.
The mexican place we went to met some of the criteria of Russ’s post except there were Hispanics eating there. The waitstaff and the owner/manager were also Hispanic. There were only about 6 combo dishes. The margaritas were as big as your head but we didn’t have any because we were afraid they would have a price tag to match the size. Unfortunately the reviews around were a couple on trip advisor which I take with a grain of salt
We tried a local rural-cafe a couple of weeks ago, on fish-fry night. The Fried Green Tomatoes were outstanding, However the fried fish tasted as if it was cooked in “old Oil” that was saved to be used for fish (as opposed to the fries and other deep-fried stuff). Overall we rated the meal a 3 on a 10 scale due to the bad entree. We know now not to do the fish fry at that cafe. Yeah it cost us some bucks, that could have been better spent, but it also taught us a lession as well.
We are not nearly as willing to ‘experience’ a ‘first-time’ restaurant without having info from someone or some review that we have some confidence in, as we might have done a few years back. Budget limitations certainly have contributed to that change in our willingness to ‘experiment’ with dining out.
Russ, I’ve always called that type of place a TV Dinner place.
If the food is prepared correctly but you just dont like the taste I think you got to pay or order something else. On the other hand if the preparation is flawed (overcooked, stale, etc) you have grounds for no payment. If you go to one of these formula Mexican places as I call them you get what you pay for CRAP!. Telltale signs are:
The Speedy Gonzalez Special
50 or more combo meals
Arm Length Glove to carry the oven hot plates.
No Hispanics actually eating in the place.
Margaritas as big as your head
Taco Meat is cold in the center
etc….Feel free to add.
These are places where everything comes from a American Mexican Restaurant Kit every one is the same except the name. Alot of Oriental Food is the same thing. I refer to these as Bucket Places. 1 scoop from Bucket one, two scoops from bucket 4 and a 1/2 scoop from bucket five make combo 13. The minute you walk in you should know and turn around and run like Speedy Gonzalez…Russ
I have little money to waste just as you mentioned, so I only go places that are highly recommended. If the place doesn’t come up to expectations I have someplace, or somebody, to complain to. I find that i am eating at home more and more, sometimes the food here isn’t that good either so I give the chef hell.
That’s a tough one. I personally have never done that–just suffered through what I thought was an unsalvageable meal never to darken the place’s door again. It probably totally depends on how the proprietor would react as to when or whether you could do that. I’m really sorry that happened to you.
I hate to waste money
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.