Hands down that honor goes to my local Friendly’s Restaurant. I had a Reuben Sandwich there last January. That night I found out what having food poisoning is all about!! Trust me, I haven’t been back since!

quote:

Originally posted by Route 11

What was the worst? And I’m not talking about fast food.

Lynne

Went to Juan’s (of Berkeley, an ostensibly Mexican restaurant – basically as a research matter) & here’s my 2 cents: on a scale of 1 [run for your life] to 10 [MY last meal on death row would be catered by this place], I’d give Juan’s a 3. And that’s only because the staff was so personable.

I made the mistake of ordering one of the nightly specials – ribs. I was fully anticipating Mexican-style braised ribs in a savory sauce – something that had been properly cooked for a long time. To my consternation and disappointment, I was brought a plate full of bbq-styled ribs, plainly boiled, and finished in a tinny-tasting sauce. (Now, when was last time any of you got a tinny barbecue sauce?). I ate ’em because I was hungry…and because I half hoped that there would be some smidgen of savory-tasting meat somewhere on them bones. The rice was decent, the beans like lead, and the salsa? Not exactly a character-filled concoction – sorta like salsa-flavored tomato sauce. This meal would have been sad even in some chain joint like Chevy’s or Carlos Murphy’s or any of those other franchises that are dream-based and not cuisine-based.

I looked at the other dishes being served up, and none of them captured my fancy – if I should ever go back, it would only be for research’s sake: just to verify that I didn’t get some statistical glitch of a meal, and perhaps find out that the other stuff is better than it looks.

Beware of the nostalgic longings of others,
Richard
Berkeley/SF, CA

At Pias’s in Racine, Wis. I had a terrible iceberg salad with like a gallon of crappy fake bleu cheese dressing for starters, and then the entree: 2 giant el cheapo chicken cordon bleu hunks, the pressed & formed kind of chicken with process cheese sauce and tough ham bits in side. They were burned on the bottom and impossible to slice into. They were served on a massive bed of white rice, and everything was covered with a funky yellow egg-lemon gravy. And it came with a plate of instant lumpy mashed potatoes and dark bown gravy on the side! Ew.

Thank goodness I can report that we didn’t have one bad meal this year and we ate our way through the better part of 18 states. We had great food at home, at friends’ homes, on the boat, in the camper and on the road! We didn’t eat the airline food [xx(] either.

Gotta go with a breakfast I ate at Steak & Shake. One of those egg combos with that nasty orange cheeze sauce on top. Still shudder everytime I think about it.

1- Plain Rubbery Hamsteak at the River City Diner in Richmond VA
2- Cold congealed Toasted Ravioli at Rigazzi’s in St. Louis

Can’t think of anything else.