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Most Horrifying Dining Experience

This article reminded me of a time I went to a buffet-style restaurant (formerly a smorgasbord), and, upon taking a serving of bread pudding, I found a fried frog leg in it. Turns out it had been bought by a family that eventually turned it into a Chinese fusion all-you-can-eat. I saw the frog legs at the hot food bar where the rest of the fried items were, but seeing it at the desert bar in the bread pudding...just gross. What are some of your stories?

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by Anonymousreply 374November 26, 2021 2:36 AM

Frozen cricket in a peanut butter chocolate ice cream cone when I was a kid. Roach on the table at a TGI Friday’s, also when I was a kid. Countless hairs in food at various places. I once worked one shift as a teenager at a Tex Mex restaurant called On the Border and the trainer showed me how to “reuse” the salsa by dumping leftover salsa from used tables into the salsa vat.

by Anonymousreply 1October 1, 2021 6:55 PM

once I ate dinner.

by Anonymousreply 2October 1, 2021 6:58 PM

Pancakes with bits of eggshell in them.

by Anonymousreply 3October 1, 2021 7:01 PM

Applebee's is shit

by Anonymousreply 4October 1, 2021 7:06 PM

This happened over 50 years ago & has remained part of the family lore. Our dinner server, Becky Johnson, announced it was her first day on the job, so we wanted to be patient. Among the first things amiss was when she brought my soup without the broth. Then she spilled a drink on my father. Then we waited for our entrees. And waited. When we could no long wait, we reminded young Becky that we had not gotten our orders, yet. With that, she covered her mouth in horror, saying, “What have I done with your order?!” We never saw her again, as we were told she quit on the spot.

by Anonymousreply 5October 1, 2021 7:08 PM

Church's Chicken

My grandmother took me there for takeout for some reason. The lady at the cash register had a throat and chest covered in Vicks and was coughing in the most disgusting way. I went to the use the restroom and someone had vomited from the sink to the middle of the bathroom. I screamed (I was 5), and my grandmother grabbed my hand and whipped us both out of there.

by Anonymousreply 6October 1, 2021 7:08 PM

Nothing too bad, luckily, but I did have the wateriest, blandest and hardest pasta all'arrabbiata in a Harvester once. It was like they'd just dipped the uncooked pasta in warm tomato water and served it up - I hardly touched it and the waitress didn't bat an eyelid at the nearly full bowl. Probably not the first time that dish had been rejected!

by Anonymousreply 7October 1, 2021 7:13 PM

Chewing on what I thought was a big raisin in a breakfast muffin. I said to my friend, "God, this raisin is like rubber." After more futile chewing, I finally gave up, took it out of my mouth, and discovered that the "raisin" was a used band-aid.

by Anonymousreply 8October 1, 2021 7:14 PM

R8, that is fucking disgusting.

by Anonymousreply 9October 1, 2021 7:17 PM

Just some raw chicken in the rattlesnake pasta at Pizzeria Uno…got a free meal.

by Anonymousreply 10October 1, 2021 7:20 PM

It was the first Christmas after my mom died. I had traveled and was at a friend's house for Christmas dinner. Friend was in a bad mood. For dinner, we had frozen lasagne (heated-up). My friend's sister brought over a salad and some bagged (store-bought) croutons. Frankly, I would have had a better Christmas dinner at home, by myself.

by Anonymousreply 11October 1, 2021 7:24 PM

Watching many elderly men and women in wheelchairs and on oxygen eating at IHOP in Florida

by Anonymousreply 12October 1, 2021 7:26 PM

Not that it always makes a difference, but we try to stick to local or at least regional restaurants who have fear for their reputation. Everything at chain restaurants is made in a factory and frozen or just heated up anyway. No one cares if you dont come back at chain restaurants, there's always plenty more schmucks behind you.

by Anonymousreply 13October 1, 2021 7:29 PM

It involved the chef coming out and declaring “It said ‘veal’ on the box.”

by Anonymousreply 14October 1, 2021 7:35 PM

Pizza made with American cheese.

by Anonymousreply 15October 1, 2021 7:46 PM

Found broken glass in an egg roll at some Chinese place in Phoenix. Showed it to the manager, who did nothing.

I got out of there fast.

by Anonymousreply 16October 1, 2021 8:02 PM

None. 😭

by Anonymousreply 17October 1, 2021 8:05 PM

The stories in the link are LAME EST. The internet is chock full of SHIT. And you guys eat it up.

by Anonymousreply 18October 1, 2021 8:10 PM

In 1974 I found a curly hair in a McDonald hamburger. Have not eaten there since

by Anonymousreply 19October 1, 2021 8:12 PM

R11, that belongs on the "Most Depressing Dining Experience" thread.

But it sounds really funny: out comes the announcement about frozen lasagna. And then sis shows up with salad in a bag.

Merry Christmas!

by Anonymousreply 20October 1, 2021 8:13 PM

I haven’t eaten since 1973.

by Anonymousreply 21October 1, 2021 8:15 PM

A Spanish restaurant where the mole was made with milk chocolate.

by Anonymousreply 22October 1, 2021 8:38 PM

An Italian restaurant on or near Bleeker Street. The waiter brought the bread basket and there was a roach crawling around on a piece. We called the waiter over and he brought the maitre 'd. All he did was get us another basket of bread and offer us each a free drink. I was skeeved out.

by Anonymousreply 23October 1, 2021 8:50 PM

In college, I went to a Mexican restaurant with a few friends, one of whom was closeted. (He has since come out but back then he pretended he was straight. Purses literally flew out of his mouth when he spoke.)

He tried to constantly pretend he was from a wealthy family to blend in with the upper crust students. He wore a cashmere sweater to the restaurant.

When the waiter spills salsa on his sweater, my closeted friend stands up and puts on such a dramatic condemnation act. It was embarrassing and hilarious. He thought he was being a dominant, commanding male. Instead, he came across as a nelly queen screaming in a squeaky voice. I still laugh at that moment.

by Anonymousreply 24October 1, 2021 8:55 PM

A live roach in a salad at a famous sports personality’s restaurant. The waiter just blew it off.

by Anonymousreply 25October 1, 2021 9:03 PM

Something similar happened to me, R24. I was the newbie at a large office. There was a guy (attorney) who had been there for about ten years and he had somehow gotten a reputation as a straight guy who had a girlfriend and who gave great parties, etc. A bunch of us were in a restaurant, including Mr. Straight. Mr. Straight got distressed about something and went on a little rant and I realized right then and there he was gay.

by Anonymousreply 26October 1, 2021 9:09 PM

I ate a hotel restaurant with my family as a kid and bit into a french fry that was partly frozen, which was shocking and revolting.

As incredible as french fries are and a staple of my current diet, it did put me off eating them for a COUPLE YEARS, and I had to slowly wean myself back to them.

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by Anonymousreply 27October 1, 2021 9:15 PM

I was at Chili’s and they were serving from the right and removing plates from the left!

by Anonymousreply 28October 1, 2021 9:18 PM

I was banned from the Hometown Buffet

by Anonymousreply 29October 1, 2021 9:21 PM

We used to go to this Chinese buffet in Essex Junction VT. The food was just OK -- my partner loved the mushrooms in sauce, so that's why we went.

We're at the buffet getting food when a woman leaves her plate on the buffet with her kid, and goes into the women's room. We hear her throwing up. I mean -- disgusting. She comes out of the rest room with vomit on her housedress and some on her chin. Takes the plate and starts piling on snow crab legs.

I lost my appetite. We haven't been back.

by Anonymousreply 30October 1, 2021 9:22 PM

I used to eat at one restaurant about once a week and would only get the salad bar. The last time i went a roach was crawling around on it, i never went back.

When i was in night school sometimes on our break we would go to the taco truck across the street. I got a tostada and took a bite and a long black hair was in it.

Went to Red Robin once and had to use the restroom while there. There were a couple of roaches crawling around. Last time i ate there.

One time my friends and i were eating at a Perkins and my friend found a bone in her blueberry muffin.

by Anonymousreply 31October 1, 2021 9:26 PM

R27 a partly frozen french fry is hardly horrifying.

by Anonymousreply 32October 1, 2021 9:27 PM

[quote] my friend found a bone in her blueberry muffin.

Fish, chicken wing, human femur?

What size bone are we talking here?

by Anonymousreply 33October 1, 2021 9:28 PM

R33 I should have specified, but it was most likely a chicken bone. It was a couple of inches

by Anonymousreply 34October 1, 2021 9:32 PM

^^^the mental picture of a human leg bone sticking out of a muffin is kind of funny.

by Anonymousreply 35October 1, 2021 9:43 PM

Red Robin. My mom picked up the ketchup and opened the lid. Ants came POURING out of the bottle.

I have never been back - PTSD…

by Anonymousreply 36October 1, 2021 9:43 PM

Was at a sushi bar where the sushi chef making rolls was visibly sick, sniffling and sneezing. I’m sure Applebee’s has flu-ridden cooks all the time but at least they’re not visible to patrons!

by Anonymousreply 37October 1, 2021 9:46 PM

"Purses literally flew out of his mouth when he spoke."

Oh, dear!

by Anonymousreply 38October 1, 2021 9:55 PM

Decades ago in central Georgia, I got some fast food at a taco place. Got home, took a bite, felt something hard in my mouth (no, not that), so I then spit out what was a piece of a sharp metal (a sawtooth blade). Apparently, the meat delivered there was cut with a saw blade that had pieces break off into the meat.

I went back to the fast food joint and showed them the metal blade bits (more than one in my food); they gave me my money back and some free, and metal-free, food. Later, a corporate lawyer called me, obviously concerned that I would sue; but I wasn't hurt, so I let them off the hook.

by Anonymousreply 39October 1, 2021 10:02 PM

Found a long black hair in my omelet at IHOP, they made no apology and offered nothing to offset the matter. They then demanded I pay for the full meal because I had taken several bites of the omelet before the hair revealed itself. I refused and had ugly confrontation with nasty husband/wife franchise owners who told me to never come back.

About six months later said nasty husband/wife bought the house directly across the street from me and proceeded to be equally awful neighbors who were hated by everyone on the street.

by Anonymousreply 40October 1, 2021 10:04 PM

Anything 'local' in Cape Verde.

My most recent delight was Conch (sea slug) stew. It was like foul tasting rubber bands in gelatinous tomato sauce.

Burgers and pizza are amazingly popular with ex pat's and tourists. Especially the one's who visit regularly.

by Anonymousreply 41October 1, 2021 10:07 PM

[R10] bet u also got free vomiting and the squirts

by Anonymousreply 42October 1, 2021 10:45 PM

Gee R31, you eat in some swell places.

by Anonymousreply 43October 1, 2021 10:57 PM

"I ate a hotel restaurant"

Chrissy?

by Anonymousreply 44October 1, 2021 10:58 PM

I was sold a hair with a cinnamon babka around it. The bitch at the counter coughed on my replacement babka and then said “can I get ya a nice box of scram!”

by Anonymousreply 45October 1, 2021 10:59 PM

I was given eggs over easy with a long black hair embedded in them at a restaurant in the same building as The New Yorker Hotel. The sweet waitress rolled her eyes and sighed when I pointed it out. She took the eggs and returned in 30 seconds with a new plate of eggs . I could still see the line in the eggs from where they had pulled out the hair. Mmmmm mmmm.

by Anonymousreply 46October 1, 2021 11:06 PM

R11 - that is EXACTLY what I did a year after my partner died. I was in Toronto on a project and was invited to a colleague's house. Actually, her poor, downtrodden Greek husband invited me. She was such a terror every other time I saw her that I said, forget it and made myself a nice dinner, chatted with my folks and sister on the phone, watched a bit of TV and had a nice, expensive Merlot. Later, I found out the night had turned into a huge fight between his wife and mother-in-law. While Christmas should be a family time, I was happy to have mine on the phone and a peaceful and cozy evening at home.

by Anonymousreply 47October 1, 2021 11:12 PM

R1 - when I was in my MBA program and working during the day, I would leave my desk to go get take-out Persian or Thai. Every single time I came back from my drive, my secretary would inevitably shed a hair I found on my desk...every.single.day.

by Anonymousreply 48October 1, 2021 11:15 PM

R28 - sorry, didn't understand that. Can you explain?

by Anonymousreply 49October 1, 2021 11:19 PM

I condole you, R27.

— Darfur Orphan

by Anonymousreply 50October 1, 2021 11:24 PM

I once went to a gala at a dry cleaners and honestly I’ve never much such horrifying people in my whole life!

by Anonymousreply 51October 1, 2021 11:25 PM

I was posted to China and was at a state banquet in Beijing in the late 90s. I had an interpreter next to me who asked how I was enjoying my meal. I generally quite liked it, but wasn’t familiar with one of the dishes, and enquired what it was. Dog penis (of course…how silly of me to not have recognized it). I ate it, as you do, it it remains one of the more horrifying things I’ve choked down but pretended to love.

by Anonymousreply 52October 1, 2021 11:36 PM

In CT, tasting a spoonful of Turkey soup to discover that the Turkey was rough chopped sandwich meat, rancid, pale gray and green.

Later, in bed, semi-conscious, my mouth began watering and I felt like I couldn’t get any oxygen from the air. I barely made it to the toilet. Explosive diarrhea and violent nausea. First, the soup. Then, bright yellow green bile; Then an hour more of dry heaves (like a fireplace bellows) that were so forceful I sprained the accessory muscles between my ribs, and broke several blood vessels in my eyes. That’s what food poisoning is like, a very violent expulsion of toxins. The next day I felt like I had been hit by a car. It hurt to breathe and my voice sounded like The Exorcist. Bad scene all around.

by Anonymousreply 53October 1, 2021 11:38 PM

In Naples Florida at an expensive Italian Restaurant, a side dish of sautéed dark greens looked nice swirled around whole bleached almonds. Except the almonds were cloves of raw garlic. I bit into one and didn’t want to spit it out in front of our host. So I chewed once or twice, then swallowed the chunks, and exhaled a whiff of pungent sulfurous garlic breathe, that stayed for a few days. That night my bedroom filled with stench of garlic, even though I brushed, flossed and rinsed with several types of mouthwash. Garlic always bothers me, but raw garlic, just warmed in the sauté pan, basically ruined my inside for a few days. I know people love it, but I just can’t have it. I get garlic flashbacks to that night in Naples. Blech.

by Anonymousreply 54October 1, 2021 11:48 PM

[quote]A live roach in a salad at a famous sports personality’s restaurant. The waiter just blew it off.

Miss Gurl obviously watched [italic]Victor/Victoria.[/italic]

by Anonymousreply 55October 1, 2021 11:48 PM

R54 I've eaten variations of sautéed spinach/greens with garlic all over Italy, usually as part of a mixed contorni. Sometimes with dried fruit or pine nuts depending on the region.

The spinach/greens is always overcooked and the garlic either raw or burnt, I love almost all authentic Italian food except that.

by Anonymousreply 56October 2, 2021 12:04 AM

Saving this thread. It will really help to keep me on my diet. I don’t ever want to dine out again after reading these posts.

by Anonymousreply 57October 2, 2021 12:11 AM

R47, just to add on to my depressing Christmas dinner story (post-death of mom). That same friend had taken home all the leftovers from the office Christmas party. When I said I was hungry for a snack, Friend pointed to the refrigerator full of office party leftovers. We had known each other for decades and I had never seen this fucking stingy and grudging side of Friend. We lost touch with each other after that Christmas. It was that horrible.

by Anonymousreply 58October 2, 2021 12:11 AM

R53, that sounds absolutely horrific! Must've taken ages to recover from. I wouldn't be surprised if you never ate turkey soup again!

by Anonymousreply 59October 2, 2021 12:34 AM

I was visiting St. Pete Fl and ate at this so called famous restaurant called Kissin Cousins . My friend and I ordered biscuits and gravy and as we were tucking in he gets this ghastly look on his face ,jumps up and runs to the bathroom while heaving. I look at his plate,and sitting on the edge was a giant booger. There was no mistaking what it was . I almost threw up myself. I immediately made quite a scene . This was pre cell phone days or Id have taken a picture and sued their asses blind. The manager was quite the dick about it ( I always swore it was because we were obviously gay) but I promise you half the people in that crowded place looked queasy as we stormed out. As for finding a hair in my food,that doesnt bother me at all. Ive worked in too many places and shit happens. I just pick it out and eat on. Now if I find a few,thats a deal breaker. I wasnt able to eat biscuits and gravy again for years.

by Anonymousreply 60October 2, 2021 12:42 AM

Damn r60. I’ve eaten there. 🤮🤮🤮

by Anonymousreply 61October 2, 2021 12:47 AM

R61 Booger Eater !

by Anonymousreply 62October 2, 2021 12:51 AM

Um...

by Anonymousreply 63October 2, 2021 12:59 AM

Burnt champagne in Denver.

by Anonymousreply 64October 2, 2021 1:02 AM

My boyfriend got a piece of glass in his tiramisu, which ended up in his mouth.

My most "horrifying" dining experience was awful for most of the patrons, but I actually enjoyed it.

When I was a college student in Boston in the 90s, we ended up after the clubs at this ratchet pizza place in Kenmore square that was always a SCENE when the clubs shut down. Then, Lansdown street had a mix of gay and straight clubs, so it was a cast of thousands. It was a greek pizza place, and the woman working the register was always rocking a microphone at the front to announce orders to the kitchen:

FRIED MUSHROOOMS. Pepparoni SLIIIIIICE!!!

Me and my buddies were in a booth and in a booth over some white chic and some black chic got into a huge, bitchslap kinda fight. Everyone started getting out of their way, even leaving the pizzeria - except for me and my friend. Our eyes light up as we had the best booth seat to view the fight, as their booth was just across from ours. At one point the black chic punch slapped the white chic so hard the white chic's earring flew off and landed on our table. My friend grabbed it and said "I'm keeping this! Souvenir!" He still had it as of a few years ago.

Our friends were like 'were you too wasted to realize what was going on? why didn't you get out of the way?"

Idiots. Like I was going to leave front row seats to that show!

by Anonymousreply 65October 2, 2021 1:02 AM

[quote] Everything at chain restaurants is made in a factory and frozen or just heated up anyway.

à la The Cheesecake Factory, R13?

An obvious offender with its endless menu (and the "dining" experience).

by Anonymousreply 66October 2, 2021 1:08 AM

I was served ladyfingers that were.

by Anonymousreply 67October 2, 2021 1:09 AM

R65 Sounds like 2am in an average British curry house (Indian Restaurant).

Kebab shops can be even more fun at about 3am.

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by Anonymousreply 68October 2, 2021 1:30 AM

Hey r67 I found the end of a thumb in my chili at Wendy’s in St Louis

by Anonymousreply 69October 2, 2021 1:43 AM

I like my Ponderosa. You take that back, OP!

by Anonymousreply 70October 2, 2021 1:44 AM

My grandfather liked Old Country Buffet. While we were there an obviously very ill kid threw up right next to our table. His family paid no attention. I was grossed out. My grandfather kept on eating and bitched at me for being so horrified.

by Anonymousreply 71October 2, 2021 2:01 AM

Also, r71 again…

I ate a McDonalds hamburger on a road trip that left me so horribly sick I had to be hospitalized.

To make matters worse, I was in college and told to follow up with the school nurse. Her office was over the campus Taco Bell Express.

Absolutely nauseating.

by Anonymousreply 72October 2, 2021 2:07 AM

My sister puked on the food bar at Ponderosa in Springfield IL in 1985.

by Anonymousreply 73October 2, 2021 2:11 AM

Went to the omelette bar at a popular brunch spot in Laguna. The Mexican chef preparing my omelette was very sweaty and kept wiping at his head with his arm.

Got back to my table to dig in only to find the thickest, wiriest, shiniest piece of hair in my eggs. I cannot properly describe how big it was. Like a worm. Something about the heft of the shiny hair mixed with wet egg just set me off. I am almost gagging as I write this.

They comped my meal, and on the way out we could see the cook was still working the line but now had a very tall hat on.

by Anonymousreply 74October 2, 2021 3:36 AM

Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet showdown between high school football players and large fat woman. All fighting over the fresh pizza the workers were attempting to put on the buffet. The woman was so angry at being shoved aside by the high school boys and missing out on pizza, she started to take slices of pizza straight off the boys' plates, instead of off the buffet.

by Anonymousreply 75October 2, 2021 3:47 AM

I was at a Sizzler in Kansas City, MO in about 1982, heading toward the Salad Bar and just as I picked up my salad bowl and got in line the elderly man ahead of me in line suddenly became incontinent

by Anonymousreply 76October 2, 2021 3:53 AM

Gee, you're so predictable, R43

by Anonymousreply 77October 2, 2021 3:54 AM

Eating at Itchy’s is a life-changing experience

by Anonymousreply 78October 2, 2021 4:09 AM

Greek diner on 8th Avenue in the early 1980’s. Husband and (presumably) wife, rip-roaring drunk, in the midst of a heated disagreement. As the heaping plate of french fries arrive at our table, wife projectile vomits all over husband. Another night of magic in Hell’s Kitchen.

by Anonymousreply 79October 2, 2021 4:15 AM

At a mediocre Italian joint in Biloxi, Mississippi (but I repeat myself), my fettuccine arrived in a bowl. When I put in my fork and tried to twirl the noodles, the entire thing was glued together.

I used the fork to lift out the pasta, which kept the shape of the bowl, and waved it toward the nearest server.

by Anonymousreply 80October 2, 2021 4:20 AM

Zia Angela's bouffant caught fire as she leaned into a candle while reaching for the cannoli. Too much Aqua Net.

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by Anonymousreply 81October 2, 2021 4:40 AM

Take the Cannoli. Leave the Aqua Net.

by Anonymousreply 82October 2, 2021 4:48 AM

R65

White chic

Black chic

by Anonymousreply 83October 2, 2021 5:56 AM

I was working at a Wendy's in St. Louis in high school, and there was this electric chopping thing that made the burger meat into chili meat, I got distracted, and accidentally chopped the end of my thumb off and had to be taken to the ER. I always wondered what happened to that piece of thumb.

by Anonymousreply 84October 2, 2021 2:45 PM

It was a long time ago, in Amsterdam. I went to an historic 'brown cafe' in the centre, at least 400 years old. I ordered some soup and when it arrived, I saw there were cockroaches in it. I fled in horror. I should have called the health department.

by Anonymousreply 85October 2, 2021 2:49 PM

At le Restaurant de l'Hôtel de ville de Crissier the so-called Swiss Saffron was Kashmiri.

by Anonymousreply 86October 2, 2021 3:03 PM

What is a brown cafe?

by Anonymousreply 87October 2, 2021 5:14 PM

Dining?

by Anonymousreply 88October 2, 2021 5:19 PM

[quote] What is a brown cafe?

Erna’s favorite place to eat

by Anonymousreply 89October 2, 2021 6:14 PM

I literally laughed out loud at r24. That’s hilarious.

by Anonymousreply 90October 2, 2021 8:19 PM

A live worm wigging around in my salad. When I brought it to the attention of the waitress she said all she could do is offer me a scoop of ice cream. She didnt offer to take it off the bill. She didnt see what the big deal was about.

by Anonymousreply 91October 2, 2021 8:29 PM

I had a small slug in my salad once. I was at my then-BF's family's house (sister's house). I was comfortable around the sister and I pointed out the slug. She said: "You know it's really organic!" (the lettuce). Then, she complimented me on not making a scene. Did I finish the salad? No.

I ended up breaking up with the BF. He was an asshole. His family and friends never held it against me and were kind to me after the break-up.

by Anonymousreply 92October 2, 2021 8:34 PM

Giiiirl, I used to be like a fuckin pig at the trough at the Ponderosa buffet.

by Anonymousreply 93October 2, 2021 9:02 PM

Not a dining experience, but close enough. Kroger. I had just picked up a few things, paid at the self checkout, and proceeded to the men's room for a pee. As soon as I walked through the door, some hefty guy flew out the only stall right past me and out the door. I only saw the side of his head and hair color and his print shirt. I smelled it immediately. The door to the stall was ajar so I peeked in to see sickly, runny shit on the floor and on the toilet seat, itself, with this giant wad of shitty toilet paper on the seat as well, half hanging in the toilet and half hanging over the side. It was disgusting! I put the handles of my bag in my teeth, peed, rinsed my hands and used the paper towel to open the door. I'm on my way out the store when I spot him, and there's no mistaking it. It's him.....standing at the end of a grocery aisle bagging groceries! He was an employee.

by Anonymousreply 94October 2, 2021 9:47 PM

Do you know Shitty Little Anne, r94?

by Anonymousreply 95October 2, 2021 10:34 PM

A cockroach in my salad.

by Anonymousreply 96October 2, 2021 11:00 PM

Il Fornaio in Manhattan Beach. We were seated by the hostess for a late lunch, one of only 4-5 occupied tables. Many unbussed tables around. Ordered drinks and chatted. Somebody sets down a breadbasket. I reach for a puffy breadstick and, as I’m starting to tear off an end, my husband said to put it down. He saw the guy pick the breadbasket up from one of the unbussed tables behind me. I put it back. My husband told the waiter that we’d like a fresh breadbasket, noting that he saw the helper take it off another table and bring it to ours.

She apologized, took our orders, and left with the breadbasket. A couple minutes later, she sat a “fresh” breadbasket on our table. I reached for a breadstick to pull out the same one I’d ripped partially in half. We got up and walked out. Nobody said anything to us as we left.

by Anonymousreply 97October 2, 2021 11:13 PM

In my late teens, the family went to a semi-fancy restaurant and I ordered onion soup, which I had had recently and liked. After eating the melted cheese top, I got to the actual soup. It tasted fine but as I'm putting the spoon to my mouth halfway through, I glance at the soup and see lots of little specks. My brain froze because they really looked like hundreds of those annoying fruit flies you get in the summer. I stopped to really examine it but to this day I could not truly say if they were bugs or just bits of the cooked onion and herbs.

To this day, 30 years later, I still wonder if the kitchen was one of those health department nightmares and someone left the soup out and it got infested.

by Anonymousreply 98October 2, 2021 11:41 PM

No, dear god no! I will refuse to read this thread. Give me strength.

by Anonymousreply 99October 2, 2021 11:56 PM

Compared to most of the stories here, this one is pretty minor. Picked up a cranberry muffin for breakfast and when I took it out of the bag at my desk, there was one darker than cranberry spot on top. It was a big fly that had been baked right into the muffin. As I gagged in disgust, my alky creep trying-to-be-funny coworker said, "just eat it - it's protein". I ignored that freak.

by Anonymousreply 100October 3, 2021 12:02 AM

[quote] A couple minutes later, she sat a “fresh” breadbasket on our table. I reached for a breadstick to pull out the same one I’d ripped partially in half.

She wanted you to know it was her.

by Anonymousreply 101October 3, 2021 12:02 AM

Not "dining" as such, but I went to a favorite lunch place for a sandwich. It was a roll up and about a third of the way through I bit down on something so hard it gave me an instant headache. I used my tongue to isolate it and spit out the rest of the mouthful into a napkin. It was so hard that for a second I thought a molar had come out. I spit it into my palm and it was a piece of glass, with a little spike on one side and a ridged bottom (like you see on pickle jars). I brought it back and showed the very nice owner and all he said was, "What do you know about that?" I could just never go back -- accidents happen and I wasn't looking for anything, but his nonchalant attitude was off-putting. (Nor am I paranoid enough, as some were, to think that "there's no such thing as an accident.")

It's about 8-10 years later and I really do think I have a mild PTSD about it. I will flinch and cringe when the unwelcome thought pops into my head about what could have happened if I actually swallowed it. Maybe not dead, but the potential for a miserable existence is not that far-fetched.

by Anonymousreply 102October 3, 2021 12:05 AM

IMO, a lot of restaurants re-use the bread in those baskets. Whether they put it on another customer's table or make bread pudding / bread crumbs, it get reused.

by Anonymousreply 103October 3, 2021 12:06 AM

Many years ago I went to a Chinese restaurant and shortly after we were seated the biggest fucking cockroach I have ever seen in my life crawled across the table. We all promptly got up and left, thankful we hadn't eaten anything yet.

by Anonymousreply 104October 3, 2021 12:29 AM

Went to a local sandwich place where you could see them making your sandwich behind the counter. The guy making mine sneezed into his gloved hand and then went back to finishing my sandwich. So nice of him to cover his mouth but I made him wash his hands and start a new one. Makes you wonder about all the stuff you don’t see before you get your food

by Anonymousreply 105October 3, 2021 12:32 AM

[quote]white chic and some black chic

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 106October 3, 2021 12:32 AM

Loved a local Chinese place, got to know the owner family, and one day saw them buying fish out of a car trunk behind the restaurant.

by Anonymousreply 107October 3, 2021 12:33 AM

[quote]A couple minutes later, she sat a “fresh” breadbasket on our table.

The basket was fresh. It was the bread they recycled.

by Anonymousreply 108October 3, 2021 12:34 AM

Another fucking clickbait thread from grandma.

by Anonymousreply 109October 3, 2021 12:38 AM

[quote] Loved a local Chinese place, got to know the owner family, and one day saw them buying fish out of a car trunk behind the restaurant.

I used to live in a fishing community and this was kind of normal. People who had regular jobs would, also, go out fishing then sell to neighbors, coworkers, etc. It was actually a reliable way to get fresh fish. Fish would be in a cooler, of course.

by Anonymousreply 110October 3, 2021 12:39 AM

The OP's "Most Horrifying Dining Experience" leaves the crickets of Gloria Upson in Auntie Name:

[quote]Bunny Bixler and I were in the semi-finals - the very semi-finals, mind you - of the ping-pong tournament at the club and this ghastly thing happened. We were both playing way over our heads and the score was 29-28. And we had this really terrific volley and I stepped back to get this really terrific shot. And I stepped on the ping-pong ball! I just squashed it to bits. And then Bunny and I ran to the closet of the game room to get another ping-pong ball and the closet was locked! Imagine? We had to call the whole thing off. Well, it was ghastly. Well, it was just ghastly.

by Anonymousreply 111October 3, 2021 12:42 AM

I went to a Chinese takeaway and I ordered some chicken lo mein. When the counter lady called out the order to the cook, she said "MEOW MEOW LO MEIN!"

by Anonymousreply 112October 3, 2021 12:55 AM

[quote]Auntie Name:

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 113October 3, 2021 1:11 AM

I was at a friend's bar in Malta when she was taking sandwich orders and saw a huge cockroach running towards her, I jumped up stood on it and walked away towards the bar (pretty normal in The Med).

After 2/3 minutes talking to the barman I noticed that the wall behind him was moving, it was only my 2nd drink.. Then suddenly hundreds of cockroaches were streaming down every wall of the bar.

Turned out that that apartment block above had been over-run and had fumigators in, nobody had told my friend.

She had the problem sorted but the clean up took weeks.

by Anonymousreply 114October 3, 2021 1:14 AM

[quote] Loved a local Chinese place, got to know the owner family, and one day saw them buying fish out of a car trunk behind the restaurant.

[quote] I used to live in a fishing community and this was kind of normal. People who had regular jobs would, also, go out fishing then sell to neighbors, coworkers, etc. It was actually a reliable way to get fresh fish. Fish would be in a cooler, of course.

In my neighborhood in Miami in the mid-80s, people would buy fresh fish out of a truck, too--everyone said it was the best fish in town. (Think ice cream truck, but a bit bigger.) The truck had a usual spot on the side of a street and during certain hours of the weekend, would put out a sign listing prices and what he had. (All fresh and on ice, of course.)

by Anonymousreply 115October 3, 2021 1:37 AM

Some of the best fish you'll get is some roadside stand in a fishing area.

by Anonymousreply 116October 3, 2021 2:28 AM

I got a hamburger at the little restaurant at my university student center. I took a bit and taste something funny and the entire bottom bun was covered in mold. I took it back and they made me a new one. Not that big a deal, really.

by Anonymousreply 117October 3, 2021 2:39 AM

"I took a bit and taste something funny" - I assure you I'm not drunk or Southern.

by Anonymousreply 118October 3, 2021 2:45 AM

Those two dudes f******! RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY SALAD!! 🥗

by Anonymousreply 119October 3, 2021 2:53 AM

Yeah, the fish-out-of-a-car-trunk thing is probably rather a sign that they're getting good, fresh ingredients.

by Anonymousreply 120October 3, 2021 2:56 AM

Horrifying...

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by Anonymousreply 121October 3, 2021 3:16 AM

At a diner, there was a persistent sound of violent squeaking. One of the workers was hunting for the source and found it: a mouse glue trap. Three mice were caught on it: 2 on either end and 1 in the middle. The 1 in the middle was hollowed out and looked as if it had been eaten by the other 2 mice. The other 2 mice were furiously trying to attack each other but couldn’t reach because they were stuck to the glue trap.

by Anonymousreply 122October 3, 2021 3:18 AM

An inch worn in my green salad at a fancy French restaurant in Chicago.

I got a glass of free brandy.

by Anonymousreply 123October 3, 2021 3:18 AM

Should have been tequila...

by Anonymousreply 124October 3, 2021 3:20 AM

frog leg in pudding?

We charge extra for that!

by Anonymousreply 125October 3, 2021 3:22 AM

Lol well here goes!

So I meet this guy online who asks me to his house for dinner. He tells me he’s not much of a cook, but he seemed hot!

You can guess what happened next! The appetizer is twenty sleeping pills and a bottle of cough syrup. Normally I prefer a small salad. But whatever! Now here’s the weird thing: I lost my mind a little and I asked the guy to bite my dick off. Well that didn’t work, and he used a knife to cut off my dick.

You can guess what happened next! That’s right, I tried to eat my severed dick raw. As it turned out, a raw severed dick is hard to eat. It gets kind of chewy and all. So the guy was nice enough to fry my cock down with salt, pepper, wine, garlic and my body fat.

You can guess what happened next! He burned it!! So he just chopped my dick up and gave it to his dog.

You can guess what happened next! He runs me a bath, and I sit and soak while he reads Star Trek books. I’m going in and out of consciousness when the guy just stabs me in the throat and hangs my body on a meat hook! Then he dismembers my dickless corpse and ate me over the next few months lol!

It really was just not a good dinner date!

by Anonymousreply 126October 3, 2021 3:37 AM

There's a girl in my soup!

by Anonymousreply 127October 3, 2021 3:51 AM

When Hillary did the exorcism to the kids in the basement. All I wanted was pizza.

by Anonymousreply 128October 3, 2021 4:07 AM

I went to a Sichuan restaurant with a friend. We ordered our food and then the waitress went to the back to enter the order or whatever. After a few minutes the waitress came out and told me after I ordered something that I wouldn't be able to handle it essentially (I'm white) and then suggested that I order something else that was closer to Chinese American food and my friend (Asian, not Chinese) fucking LOST it. Stormed out of the restaurant and slammed the door so hard everyone on the restaurant turned their head toward the entrance then all started staring at me. He slammed it so hard I was surprised that the glass didn't shatter. I was mortified. I was so embarrassed and pissed off at the restaurant basically telling me that I wasn't allowed to order the dish I just got up, apologized to the staff... well I just looked at them and said "sorry" and then I left. I will never support that business again.

by Anonymousreply 129October 3, 2021 4:34 AM

Sichuan food is pretty spicy, R129. I can handle pretty hot and spicy food. I've been to restaurants (e.g., Thai, Korean) where, when we order, they interrogate you to figure out if you can really handle the spice level. My guess is that they don't want people returning food as inedible, too spicy, etc. Your friend sounds a little dramatic.

by Anonymousreply 130October 3, 2021 4:51 AM

R129 I’ve had people in Indian and Asian restaurants tell me things like that. I don’t take offense I figure they’re experienced dealing with asshole customers who thought they could handle it and take it out on them. Most white people don’t grow up eating spicy food so I’m not offended. My mom wouldn’t even cook with cilantro.

by Anonymousreply 131October 3, 2021 4:57 AM

This one time we were at Locke-Ober for a bite after The Game and we decided to splurge on a bottle of Corton-Charlemagne. I felt it was corked, and my companions agreed so we summoned the sommelier who took one sip and declared it “delicious.” Can you imagine? Not surprised the place closed down soon after.

by Anonymousreply 132October 3, 2021 5:39 AM

At an Indian restaurant with my chili-head (white) ex the waiter was very insistent that he would find the vindaloo too hot. Ex was equally insistent he would not. It turned into a bit of an embarrassing stand off but after about 10 minutes of polite but increasingly clench-teethed back and forth the waiter gave in and took the order. The ex, to his credit, got more than halfway through before he went beet red and began visibly sweating and panting. The waiter had the character not to rub his face in it.

I've found Indian restaurants in Canada pretty conservative when it comes to heat levels and white people. My tolerance is about a white person medium-high and I have to ask for it extra spicy to get it just right. Indian restaurants in the UK trust white people more.

by Anonymousreply 133October 3, 2021 7:48 AM

If you're ever in Sycamore, IL do not eat at Sorrento's Ranch. They give everyone a nice bread basket with crackers and a side dish with one scoop of butter and one scoop of cheese. The unused butter and cheese (in which people frequently double dipped) were re-used for other customers. You scraped it all back into a container and they mixed it back up and served it again. Over and over again, the same butter and cheese. Rinse and repeat, Who knows how many germs were recycled over and over again. Nasty people.

by Anonymousreply 134October 3, 2021 8:52 AM

[quote]my grandmother grabbed my hand and whipped us both out of there

Your grandmother sounds like a kinky bitch.

by Anonymousreply 135October 3, 2021 8:54 AM

[quote]Your friend sounds a little dramatic.

A little?

by Anonymousreply 136October 3, 2021 8:56 AM

I worked at an amusement part where the funnel cake stand had to be temporarily shut down because two young lads working there were having sex in the little kitchen where they made the cakes.

by Anonymousreply 137October 3, 2021 9:00 AM

^very considerate

by Anonymousreply 138October 3, 2021 9:03 AM

My partner and I had lunch at a Polish restaurant. We ordered salads and entrees. The waitress (/ owner) scowled after my partner ordered and told him “salad? No. For you, I’ll bring the soup special”. The soup was some kind of Polish meatball thing. It was delicious. I think she thought my partner was Polish.

by Anonymousreply 139October 3, 2021 10:47 AM

Frogs legs are delicious, OP. It all depends on the sauce they are served in, of course. A delicate garlic butter is my absolute favourite.

by Anonymousreply 140October 3, 2021 10:51 AM

We went to a Red Lobster years and years ago and ordered a shrimp cocktail, which our waitress gave to the table next to us, who were done eating and just looked it with question marks in their eyes. When she finally came out we asked if we could get our shrimp cocktail and she yelled, "OH MY GOD SOMEONE STOLE YOUR SHRIMP COCKTAIL!" and the whole restaurant stared at us.

by Anonymousreply 141October 3, 2021 11:27 AM

Friends, the Chinese restaurant in question was entirely landlocked. There was nothing “freshly caught,” “same day,” or “local” about that trunk show.

by Anonymousreply 142October 3, 2021 1:04 PM

A tale of two sandwiches: First up, a honey mustard chicken sandwich that was not cooked thoroughly, which I didn't notice. Queasy for a few hours and then in the bathroom on my knees for 20 minutes. Full body contractions to the extent that I was sore down to my testicles.

Second, "cute little sandwich shop" opens in town so I stop in. Sandwich tasted OK, but obviously someone didn't wash their hands. About 3:00 in the afternoon I begin a solid 12 hours in and out of the bathroom, alternately sitting down or bending over. Husband (an RN) diagnoses the norovirus. By the time I'm done getting rid of every morsel of food and drop of liquid in my body, I've lost 8 pounds. I text work at 3:00 in the morning to tell them I'll be out that day, fell asleep, and woke up 12 hours later from the most restful sleep I've ever had.

My sister owned a restaurant and the safe food handling classes she had to take were intense and she learned a lot. Most interesting is that there really isn't such a thing as a "stomach bug" -- it's most likely food being mishandled or unsafely prepared.

by Anonymousreply 143October 3, 2021 1:15 PM

My worst food poisoning ever was from a macaroni salad from a Wal-Mart deli in Galveston. What the hell can someone do to a macaroni salad that would make a person so sick they couldn't get out of bed for 3 days? I never even saw the beach that vacation. Of course, this happened because my mother was a cheap skate who made us buy food at Wal-Mart while on vacation.

by Anonymousreply 144October 3, 2021 1:23 PM

Eww, R1. Always wondered what restaurants did with left over stuff. Now I know. I have no doubt my uneaten bread goes into another person's basket too. Any servers/ex-servers care to elaborate?

by Anonymousreply 145October 3, 2021 1:24 PM

Vindaloo is disgusting.

by Anonymousreply 146October 3, 2021 1:46 PM

R142, was there no local source of freshwater fish in the area? Or could they have been selling frozen squid, tuna, etc.? I remember a van that would show up in an Ithaca, NY parking lot selling frozen fish and seafood (not just stuff out of Cayuga) and it was very popular and respected.

by Anonymousreply 147October 3, 2021 1:54 PM

Your big problem was dining out in Sycamore, IL. Go to Wendy’s instead.

by Anonymousreply 148October 3, 2021 2:01 PM

It was at The Copper Monkey in New Orleans. The cook was shot by his girlfriend. He ran from the kitchen and through the dining area. blood gushing. A new and very young waitress screamed and threw a stack of menus in the air. I was sitting at the bar and heard Lance the bartender say, "Well, that was different". Lance cut off the stereo and turned on the TV and said, "Let's see how Dallas did". He then started opening beers and pouring shots and said "Drinks on the house!" Only in New Orleans....

by Anonymousreply 149October 3, 2021 2:04 PM

I never eat at buffets. I was in Vegas with a blowhard, cheap-as-fuck Scottish boss at the time and he wanted to stop at a gross-looking buffet for a quick lunch. I told him I don't eat at buffets, briefly explaining the food hygiene issues that preclude me from doing so. He looked at me like I was some kind of a fucking weirdo but was likely more pissed that he now had to spring for lunch at a decent place that cost more.

When we got back from Vegas he fired me shortly thereafter, and to this day I believe it was because he felt belittled by my buffet poo-pooing. I hope he gets eviscerating food poisoning, fucking cheap asshole.

by Anonymousreply 150October 3, 2021 2:23 PM

I was 14 or 15 when we took a family trip to California. We stopped in Monterey overnight on the way to San Francisco and I had fish and chips at the restaurant. I was up the next morning at like 3 puking my guts out and kept puking all morning. I was ok when we hit the road to head up to SF but my family was worried they'd have to take me to the emergency room. We got to SF and were at a gas station when it hit again and I just sat in the side door frame of the Ford van puking up bile next to the pumps while my asshole dad is yelling at me about not making it to the bathroom. I slept that entire day in the hotel room while my family went sightseeing. I was fine the next day. My dad, however remained an asshole until the day he died.

by Anonymousreply 151October 3, 2021 2:57 PM

Ted Turner’s restaurant right before they closed. They ran out of onion rings! And the soda was flat. Most of the food arrived lukewarm. Two weeks later, they closed.

by Anonymousreply 152October 3, 2021 3:00 PM

I swear I typed this here yesterday. I must have added it to a different thread, though.

My mother went to a Waffle House restaurant. After having trouble pouring syrup from the stainless steel syrup container, she opened it up and found cigarette butts floating inside. I've never been to a Waffle House since. I wasn't too crazy about it before that, either.

I once went inside a McDonalds to buy breakfast for my drive to work. While the lady behind the counter took my order, she was oblivious to the two teenaged girls shoving each other a few feet behind her. She noticed them when they started yelling at each other, and she broke up the fight. They went back to their jobs, huffing and puffing. When I got to the car, I unwrapped my breakfast sandwich and found a drop of red liquid on the scrambled egg hanging out of the bun. It looked like blood. I threw away the sandwich and left. I didn't have time to go back in because I didn't want to be late to work. Also, I didn't want to go back in that tense place.

by Anonymousreply 153October 3, 2021 3:07 PM

[quote]I worked at an amusement part where the funnel cake stand had to be temporarily shut down because two young lads working there were having sex in the little kitchen where they made the cakes.

So, it was closed for like 10 minutes?

by Anonymousreply 154October 3, 2021 3:20 PM

I always think of this.

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by Anonymousreply 155October 3, 2021 3:22 PM

I got an egg McMuffin with large pieces of crunchy eggshell in it.

That was decades ago, when I still ate crap. Looking back, it was a turning point.

by Anonymousreply 156October 3, 2021 3:41 PM

I'm reminded of a Princess Margaret story, where her staff went back and forth with the chef at a hotel where she would be attending some function, because she was such a picky bitch. They finally agreed on the menu, but on the evening of the event, she refused the dinner, and demanded only a sectioned orange. The chef and staff were enraged, so while she got her orange, the chef took each section and put it down his pants and thoroughly rubbed it in his sweaty, cheesy crotch.

by Anonymousreply 157October 3, 2021 4:46 PM

This didn’t happen to me but to several of my work colleagues. They were eating in a restaurant in French Guiana (all there on business) when a couple of guys with rifles came in and shot up the place, then robbed everyone. Crime actually isn’t that common in the town they were in; I think they caught the guys pretty quickly.

by Anonymousreply 158October 3, 2021 4:48 PM

A woman I knew told me that she was living in New York in the 40s when she was in her late 20s or so and pregnant. She was having dinner with friends at an Italian restaurant and she found half of a cockroach in her spaghetti that she'd eaten some of. She puked right there all over the table.

by Anonymousreply 159October 3, 2021 4:54 PM

r159, I'm ready to puke just from reading that.

by Anonymousreply 160October 3, 2021 4:58 PM

A dead fly cooked into the bread of my French toast.

by Anonymousreply 161October 3, 2021 5:04 PM

At an elegant restaurant in upstate New York, there were shards of broken glass in a salad I ordered. When I told the waiter, he just took it away and replaced it. Nothing more was said, no apology, no offer of a free meal. I was with my parents, celebrating something, so I didn't want to make a big deal. I just didn't leave a tip. But they insisted on leaving one.

Once in Grendel's Den in Cambridge MA I was sitting at a table very close to a brick wall and a roach crawled up the wall right next to me.

by Anonymousreply 162October 3, 2021 5:05 PM

Red Lobster with my mom. She had an inch worm crawling in her salad. The manager only offered to replace the salad. Never went back there.

At a small mom & pop cafe my chicken was raw in the middle.

by Anonymousreply 163October 3, 2021 5:08 PM

Whoever got this meal, if they were ever to find out.

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by Anonymousreply 164October 3, 2021 5:41 PM

I ate some Chinese food that gave me a hideous case of food poisoning. I was in the bathroom all night with a case of the screaming shits and it felt like razor blades were in my stomach. When I wasn't shitting my brains out on the toilet I was on the bathroom floor in a cold sweat and clutching my stomach, the pain was brutal. It was AWFUL, I have never felt so ill in my life. Around 7am, after being in the bathroom for hours and seriously debating whether or not I should call an ambulance, the pain suddenly stopped and the shits stopped about an hour later. I felt weak and dehydrated for the next 24 hours but then I was fine.

This happened many years ago, and to this day I can't even stand the smell of Chinese food.

by Anonymousreply 165October 3, 2021 6:19 PM

I wasn't there to witness this since I had to work, fortunately. A group of friends went to a local gastro pub for drinks and appetizers. A "bubbling hot" platter of nachos was brought out. Upon closer inspection, the nachos were teeming with whitish larvae. Apparently, the kitchen didn't have a screen door so workers would prop the door open for ventilation. Moths got in and laid eggs in an open bag of beans.

by Anonymousreply 166October 3, 2021 6:23 PM

[quote] My worst food poisoning ever was from a macaroni salad from a Wal-Mart deli in Galveston. What the hell can someone do to a macaroni salad that would make a person so sick they couldn't get out of bed for 3 days?

Probably the mayonnaise went bad. I also suspect that, if something's prepared off-site, the chain of refrigeration isn't always what it should be.

by Anonymousreply 167October 3, 2021 6:45 PM

[R52]: I wonder if that interpreter lied to you, just to watch you squirm.

Although, from what I’ve read of Chinese tastes, I’m not surprised.

by Anonymousreply 168October 3, 2021 6:47 PM

I was on the train going to start a new job in a new city and got a bacon sandwich from catering. The bacon was obviously undercooked and I got terrible food poisoning. Spent all the next day in a fairly squalid temporary rental with awful vomiting and diarrhoea and then had to go into work feeling wobbly and generally awful. But looking back on that job, that was actually the high point, it was all down hill from there.

by Anonymousreply 169October 3, 2021 6:54 PM

[quote] Eww, [R1]. Always wondered what restaurants did with left over stuff. Now I know. I have no doubt my uneaten bread goes into another person's basket too. Any servers/ex-servers care to elaborate?

Ex-server here. Yes, that stuff (bread) gets re-used at some restaurants. Another thing that happens, when you ask for a doggy bag (to take home your leftovers), the servers take it in the back and use their hands to put your food into the take-home container. For that reason, I ask for a container or a piece of foil and just wrap stuff up myself.

by Anonymousreply 170October 3, 2021 6:55 PM

[quote] Friends, the Chinese restaurant in question was entirely landlocked. There was nothing “freshly caught,” “same day,” or “local” about that trunk show.

OK, my next guess is that it was stolen frozen seafood. Believe it or not, this kind of theft does happen. There was a restaurant in my old town that served huge portions at good prices and the rumor was that they served stolen meats.

by Anonymousreply 171October 3, 2021 6:56 PM

A plastic glove in the big salad bowl at Olive Garden.

by Anonymousreply 172October 3, 2021 6:56 PM

My friends and I had lunch at a bar/restaurant in Boystown Chicago. We ate on the back patio. We kept hearing rustling in the plants bordering the patio fence and high pitched squeals. The server said “oh. don’t worry about that. It’s just rats fighting.” Throughout our meal they kept it up, occasionally chasing each other past our table. We weren’t afraid of rats, so it was more humorous than revolting or scary.

by Anonymousreply 173October 3, 2021 6:59 PM

Every restaurant has cockroaches, it's just a matter of how many. Does the restaurant get fumigated on regular basis, etc. Restaurants also have grease traps. Special crews of people should be coming in after hours and cleaning out the grease traps. If a restaurant is too cheap to pay for that service, I can imagine the accumulated grease being a magnet for roaches, rats, etc.

by Anonymousreply 174October 3, 2021 7:08 PM

R173 Love the reaction. Ho hum....free entertainment with dinner.

I went to boarding school from 5-12 grade; some "incidents":

-cigarette butt in my "stew"

-HALF a maggot in my rice (HALF)

-roaches, ants assorted creepy crawlies in various meals over 7 years.

I guess I am a bit immune to weird things in my food...I've learned to remove and eat around the atrocities.

by Anonymousreply 175October 3, 2021 7:53 PM

"I knew the rat was going to be injured because it hit like a Mack truck," she told NBC Los Angeles. "It was big."

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by Anonymousreply 176October 3, 2021 8:04 PM

I'm fortunate based on these experiences as the worst thing that happened to me (due to food) was eating a bad Caesar salad at the coffee shop in the Sands in Las Vegas (before they tore it down and built that Sheldon Adelson's Italian-inspired monstrocity) which gave me a mild case of food poisoning. I recovered within a day. Sure, you occasionally get a hair or something, but accidents happen and so long as everyone is polite and the staff try to make it right, no harm, no foul.

Now, as to horrifying dining experiences... I lived in "liberal" Boston in the 90s, where I met my husband. One of the things we bonded over early was being foodies. We'd try almost any restaurant, but grew tired of being seated at what we came to call "the gay table." The worst was going to one of Boston's newest, hottest spots, walking past half of the lovely and empty tables up front and being seated between the kitchen door and the restrooms. I asked the host if we could be seated at one of the many vacant tables up front and told they were all reserved. So, we sat down, ordered, and watched... and while people came in, as many left, and the number of vacant tables remained constant. When the server presented our bill, I grabbed it, wrote "gay table discount" and cut 50% off the bill, laid down the cash and we left. The owner came running after us, furious and threatening to call the police. I called her bluff and told her to ask for Officer (a made up name), my ex-boyfriend, who would be right over. She cursed at us and retreated.

Out in suburbia where we lived, we found a cute busy little family-owned breakfast place that served really good food, and became Saturday morning regulars. One day, we had waited for a table for a few minutes when a group of 4 — and older woman, a younger couple and a baby — came in and had not even put their name in on the waiting list when the hostess, the owners' daughter, came to take us to a table. The old woman pitched a fit and yelled, "you're going to take homos before a family?" loud enough to make everyone in the small place turn and look. The hostess winked at us and turned, apologized and said of course they'd seat them first. The old woman nodded and gave us that look of successful prejudice in action, and gloated. The hostess took them to a 2-top, and dragged an extra chair and the high chair from a nearby 4-top over, and seated them around the little tiny table. She then came and got us and put us at that 4-top in full view of the wretched old woman. Her kids were bright red with embarrassment at this point, which didn't stop her from causing a big scene and huffing out. The kids handed something to the hostess, apologized, and told her our breakfast was on them.

The funny thing is that Massachusetts was supposedly so liberal, first in the nation with gay marriage and all, but outside of similar and too numerous to list such experiences there, I've suffered discrimination in a restaurant only once in the 20+ years since leaving Boston.

by Anonymousreply 177October 3, 2021 8:07 PM

My dad when I complained there was a fly on my ice cream - "Don't worry, he won't eat much". Is that a dad joke told by every dad ever?

by Anonymousreply 178October 3, 2021 8:13 PM

When my ex-wife and I lived in Brooklyn Heights, we’d occasionally dine out at the Near Eastern restaurants over on Atlantic Ave. All of them pretty much served the same food. We enjoyed the hummus and I usually got kefta kebab.

One night, we had just seated ourselves and were about to order, when I noticed the glass sugar dispenser. It was fluted, with a conical metal screw top that had a circular hole in the center. I noticed a largish roach lying on the sugar inside. It was flat on its bag, legs in the air. Must have died from overeating, and couldn’t get out.

We showed the sugar to the waiter, who without much of a reaction, brought us another, and removed the one with the roach.

At least it died happy.

by Anonymousreply 179October 3, 2021 8:30 PM

[R104]: That cockroach was the waiter. Knowing Chinese restaurants, it was probably a member of the family.

by Anonymousreply 180October 3, 2021 9:08 PM

A hot dog on a Croatian car ferry sent me crawling to the toilet for 3 days. I thought I was going to die.

by Anonymousreply 181October 3, 2021 9:47 PM

[quote]I got an egg McMuffin with large pieces of crunchy eggshell in it. That was decades ago, when I still ate crap. Looking back, it was a turning point.

That was decades ago, when McMuffins were still made with actual eggs that come out of eggshells.

by Anonymousreply 182October 3, 2021 9:56 PM

I found a snail in my escargot.

Disgusting!

by Anonymousreply 183October 3, 2021 10:37 PM

For levity, this was my highest end “horrible” dining experience. We were in Venice for Christmas and I ordered the pansotti with turnip tops for dinner. What came out was mixed with broccoli rabe instead of turnip tops, which quickly developed into a horrible looking green sludge. The pasta was delicious, regardless of what was developing with the broccoli rabe, and I polished it off without complaint. However, the dish that went back to the kitchen was covered in what looked like industrial waste. We heard a yell from the kitchen, and the chef literally ran out to our table. I assured him it was nevertheless delicious, and he assured me it was mortifying and a horrible mistake. May we all dine so poorly.

by Anonymousreply 184October 4, 2021 12:07 AM

[quote] That was decades ago, when McMuffins were still made with actual eggs that come out of eggshells.

This happened to me two days ago at McDonalds'.

(Not the OP)

by Anonymousreply 185October 4, 2021 12:36 AM

McDonald's uses fresh eggs for McMuffins. They use liquid eggs for scrambles and the biscuits.

by Anonymousreply 186October 4, 2021 1:28 AM

Olive Garden in Westwood back in 1999. Not somewhere I would have chosen, but I was dating a younger guy and one of his friend's birthday rolled around. His group of friends chose the Olive Garden. Whatever.

I think there were six of us. The server brought two bowls of salad and breadsticks and we ordered. The salad bowls emptied quickly and she took them away to refill. When she brought them back, she had to tell one of the diners that they did not have whatever he ordered and he needed to choose something else. I filled up my salad plate and started eating. Then CRUNCH. I spit out a fingernail. Not human, but the kind girls used to glue on. I picked it up to show the waitress. Before I could say anything, she said something like, You put that in there. When I pointed to her left index finger, I said, No, I believe you broke this off when you set down the salad bowl. Her other fingers had matching fake nails.

I couldn't eat any more salad, but we got free desserts for the table out of it. I broke up with the guy I had been dating shortly thereafter. He bitched on the way back to my place that what I did had embarrassed him in front of his friends.

by Anonymousreply 187October 4, 2021 1:34 AM

Lesson: If you eat in trashy restaurants that have scum customers, the staff will assume you are scum and treat you accordingly.

by Anonymousreply 188October 4, 2021 5:48 PM

In Sorrento, Italy, at a nice hotel, one of my dinner companions was served a chicken breast that still had some feathers. Guess it was fresh.

by Anonymousreply 189October 5, 2021 3:12 AM

I was traveling with a colleague ( a Black woman) for work when we went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel.

As we waited for our table, two people came in and tried to hand their coats to my colleague as if she were the coat lady. When we were finally seated, we were placed all the way in the back in a tiny little space.

When I asked how she felt about it, my colleague said (in the positive way she spins everything so well), "I just assume the server wanted us to be able to have a private conversation."

by Anonymousreply 190October 5, 2021 2:53 PM

^where?

by Anonymousreply 191October 5, 2021 3:09 PM

As a kid I would always chew the ice when done with a drink. I forgot the restaurant, but one day my dad said WHAT'S THAT as I was chewing. Blood was oozing from my mouth. I swallowed what was in my mouth as my dad went through the ice in my glass. Turns out some of the ice was chunks and shards of broken glass. Went to the emergency room to have my stomach pumped. Don't remember what happened between my dad and the restaurant but there were lots of visits to his lawyer right after that.

by Anonymousreply 192October 5, 2021 3:17 PM

R191. Connecticut

by Anonymousreply 193October 5, 2021 3:19 PM

Re: R192's broken glass story. I've worked in several bars. In all of them, ice was transported from a huge ice maker to a bin closer to where the bartender makes the drinks. It's a hassle to do that. When a glass breaks in the area of the bartenders' work station, there's a groan, but you always empty that ice bin and start over. (Groan because you've got to empty that bin, wash it down, refill the bin, carry ice from the ice maker over to the bartender area, again.)

by Anonymousreply 194October 5, 2021 6:00 PM

I’ve just had my most horrifying dining experience in my own home: a Greggs’s steak bake, a beer and a donut.

by Anonymousreply 195October 5, 2021 6:06 PM

[quote] my buffet poo-pooing

Ha ha ha ha ha ha. .ha. . . ha. . . . . ha?

by Anonymousreply 196October 5, 2021 6:22 PM

R194 also, it's such a tough time to get your servers NOT to use a glass (glass) as an ice scoop, and use the goddamn metal one. This has happened to me several times in the restaurant biz. Same set up: ice hopper behind the counter, but ice had to be hauled up by the bucketful from the BASEMENT!

by Anonymousreply 197October 5, 2021 9:10 PM

I had started eating a meal salad at The Cheesecake Factory by the beach and I bit down on something hard, and immediately withdrew fork because I thought maybe I had bitten down on one of the tines by mistake. Nope. There were several chunks of GLASS in my salad. Probably at least 1cm wide. They were hidden under the leaves and dressing near the bottom of the bowl with the salad heaped on top; I'm sure something broke in the dish trays and they didn't notice. They were busy. I told the waitress. She had the manager come over and apologize. They took the salad. They did not offer to replace it. No one checked on us again and my friend continued to eat. An hour later, with no meal the bill came. The salad was still on the bill. I had to flag down the waitress and explain to her that I should not be charged since there was glass in my meal and no replacement given. Her response: "But my manager apologized and we're busy." I said, SO? This is your job to make it right. I could have gotten seriously injured and I just want that off my bill since I now have to find something else to eat elsewhere." The salad was begrudingly comped but nothing else. They got zero tip and left a note on the bill as to why.-There was no service. I wasn't rude or raising my voice.

This was before cell phone cameras; had it happened now they would be toast. Where's Jackie Chiles?

CHAIN RESTAURANTS SUCK!

-Had a roach in my steak at a Sizzler -Saw rats at the Mustache Cafe in Westwood inside the dining area -Have had numerous lipstick marks on supposedly clean glassware served to me

by Anonymousreply 198October 5, 2021 9:20 PM

I went to The Cheesecake Factory as I do many once or twice a year. But this time the menu had the calorie counts.

HOLY CRAP! Each meal was nearly 2000 calories. Ridiculous!

by Anonymousreply 199October 5, 2021 9:57 PM

The first time I went into and Applebees about 25 or so years ago in California, I pulled out my little red tray and there was a live cockroach scrambling around on it. I put it back, walked out and never returned to one ever again.

by Anonymousreply 200October 5, 2021 10:06 PM

These pig food chain restaurants you all eat at sound disgusting.

by Anonymousreply 201October 5, 2021 10:08 PM

^ is tired of government cheese

by Anonymousreply 202October 5, 2021 10:18 PM

^^I'm just amused at how many of you eat at these flyover shitboxes.

by Anonymousreply 203October 5, 2021 11:55 PM

that's where we met you, r203

by Anonymousreply 204October 6, 2021 12:00 AM

Cheesecake Factory - Hancock Building- Chicago- I was there around 2006 with two friends, one of them had been given several gift cards by his clients. I had a steak something with pasta, a cocktail, we split a bottle of wine, I had a glass of Sauternes and a slice of German Chocolate cheesecake. I got up to go to the bathroom and realized I wasn’t feeling so hot, but made it back to the table and we finished our meal. We no sooner exited the restaurant and hung a right when about 25 feet from the door in front of folks with window seats looking out over the plaza and tourists I vomited not once but twice. According to the friend who bought dinner those poor people looked horrified and at least two couples who were going to go into the restaurant chose to turn right around.

by Anonymousreply 205October 6, 2021 12:02 AM

Oh honey, R203, you’re still a piece of shit. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.

by Anonymousreply 206October 6, 2021 12:07 AM

R205, wine and chocolate cake? *shudder*.

by Anonymousreply 207October 6, 2021 12:17 AM

Burger King breakfast sandwich about 20 years ago. I ate it and immediately felt sick. Ran to the bathroom and the toilet was full of diarrhea and it wouldn’t flush. I had to sit and shit there was no stopping it. I couldn’t eat at a Burger King for at least 10 years. A couple of years ago I thought I’d buy Cinnabons that they recently added to the menu. Tasted like it was soaking in hamburger grease! Will never eat there again.

by Anonymousreply 208October 6, 2021 12:18 AM

r206 aren't you late for another pig slop trough at your local Cheesecake Factory?

by Anonymousreply 209October 6, 2021 12:20 AM

Honey. R209, I don’t eat at chain restaurants often. I also don’t think I’m better than other gays that do. I DO think I’m better than you though, sweetie. But, that doesn’t take much.

by Anonymousreply 210October 6, 2021 12:29 AM

[quote] I DO think I’m better than you though, sweetie.

Of course you do, dear. Bless your heart.

by Anonymousreply 211October 6, 2021 12:32 AM

You had to ask.

by Anonymousreply 212October 6, 2021 12:33 AM

I’m sorry R211. I know I’m better than you. 🙀

by Anonymousreply 213October 6, 2021 12:34 AM

One thing I've learned about DL is to NEVER insult the flyover pig trough restaurants Like Applebees and Cheesecake Factory etc. DLers who are addicted to that garbage food go apeshit and get really defensive when anyone snarks about those pig trough places.

by Anonymousreply 214October 6, 2021 12:37 AM

One of the hostesses at the Valle's Steakhouse my family and I frequented often when I was young, was an unstable young lady who apparently had a stress meltdown one evening while many of us patrons were there and she pulled down her pants and shat in the front lobby. When our waitress detoured the surrounding commotion to deliver us our hot fudge sundae desserts a few minutes later, they ended up seeming to us at that point less than palatable.

by Anonymousreply 215October 6, 2021 12:42 AM

[quote] [R205], wine and chocolate cake? *shudder*.

Sauternes wine is a dessert wine.

by Anonymousreply 216October 6, 2021 12:46 AM

Bitch, R214, you weren’t insulting flyover restaurants. You were insulting the people that live in “ flyover” land. You enjoy your delusions that you’re better than everyone else, from your fabulous Connecticut enclave. Get real honey...you’re a narcissistic nut and ya need help. Sending flyoveristan prayers that you get it soon.

by Anonymousreply 217October 6, 2021 12:50 AM

I worked at a famous midtown steakhouse in NYC. Green and white on the exterior. Yeah, that one. Every Thursday night when we served a lobster and brought back the shells they were dumped in a large pot. When the customer finished his lobster we would clear the table and the leftover lobster meat and their shells would all go in the same big pot. When I asked one of the "chefs" why, he explained everything was used to make the lobster bisque the next day.

by Anonymousreply 218October 6, 2021 1:07 AM

What a tedious blowhard r217 is.

by Anonymousreply 219October 6, 2021 1:09 AM

r218 I never thought that place was very good, it was overrated.

by Anonymousreply 220October 6, 2021 1:10 AM

R206, you know, that's a mountain of food you described there. Maybe it was just too much.

by Anonymousreply 221October 6, 2021 1:11 AM

R205 here… Yes, it might have been a bit much. I forgot we also had bruschetta. While there is no defense I can proffer to absolve myself of what happened, I will say I was graduating from college that year and was feeling festive. It was a fun dinner with my friends!

by Anonymousreply 222October 6, 2021 1:20 AM

Hey R205, Yes, I was responding to you, not R206.

by Anonymousreply 223October 6, 2021 1:23 AM

There is a guy on Instagram and HI&RH clearly has a thing for IHOP restaurants, so go figure.

That kind of stuff always goes on 'Stories' and always comes off in a very short amount of time, sometimes in not that many minutes.

by Anonymousreply 224October 6, 2021 1:37 AM

Ihop used to be a damn good restaurant. That boat sailed about 20 years ago,like most chain restaurants quality. I loved me some chicken fried steak and eggs and pancakes with strawberry syrup !

by Anonymousreply 225October 6, 2021 2:05 AM

If you're not naive you know how it works:

Fresh hot chicken Monday. .

Chicken salad Tuesday.

Chicken curry Wednesday

If you're really stupid chicken curry soup Thursday (Mulligatawny).

by Anonymousreply 226October 6, 2021 2:21 AM

Rock City Road Woodstock NY circa 1971 cutworm squirming in organic salad at vegetarian restaurant, oh wow!....look at that, said spacey server. Bara de Navidad Jalisco Mexico circa 1986 eyeball swimming in sopa de mariscos (seafood soup). Berkley CA circa 2001 salad swimming in Salinas mud served by waitress with cramps at faux Italian trattoria, no offer to exchange for clean salad.

by Anonymousreply 227October 6, 2021 2:36 AM

R214 cries after his nightly Taco Bell binge

by Anonymousreply 228October 6, 2021 3:04 AM

[quote]I loved me some chicken fried steak and eggs and pancakes with strawberry syrup !

Jesus Christ.

by Anonymousreply 229October 6, 2021 3:40 AM

Actually r228, tonight was Boucherie in the West Village ;)

by Anonymousreply 230October 6, 2021 3:41 AM

My worst dining experience so far, was probably at a Holiday Inn in Pigeon Forge, TN. It was 2008 and Hurricane Gustav was coming - I was still freshly traumatized over Katrina, I had friends on the internet at 11 years old and the situation was 'supposed' to be dire. They served us free breakfast every morning, courtesy of the hotel undergoing renovations. The lobby was covered in drawn-on newspaper, it looked like something out of a 90s Nirvana music video.

Enter 'Louie's Grill'. It was a slightly converted conference room slightly off from where the pool was. Wreaked of chlorine, definitely not appetizing. CNN BLARING at top volume in there. The chef looked literally like Chef Boyardee, except he had no sense of cooking. They attempted to serve us omelets cooked on a broken hotplate, microwave bacon which we christened 'Facon' (which my mom thought had coined, we still laugh over it). Even the provided miniature breakfast cereals were stale. It was all terrible! Afterwards, an old-school New Orleanian was talking with my parents and in his thick, Ninth-Ward accent said out loud: "I'M NOT GONNA EAT THIS SHIT! IT'S SHIT!". My parents and I still have laughs about those days. Also, the old man went to breakfast right after that, at a semi-decent Shoneys or something. Good for him.

by Anonymousreply 231October 6, 2021 4:44 AM

Shoneys was acceptable.

by Anonymousreply 232October 6, 2021 11:46 AM

R232 Acceptable in the 80s means gross in the 20s. LOL

by Anonymousreply 233October 6, 2021 12:02 PM

Girls! Girls! You all type fat!

by Anonymousreply 234October 6, 2021 12:37 PM

Some snotty Seven Sisters gals came out to our Sheboygan Conservatory for a band festival and complained about our Booyah stew.

by Anonymousreply 235October 6, 2021 1:19 PM

Nothing too horrible but at Tupelo Honey in Asheville the waitress dumped a entire pitcher of orange juice on me. Nice and sticky. The bitch said nothing. I was as nice about it as possible until she returned with a pitcher of water instead of oh, some napkins or paper towels. She put her hand in the pitcher, cupped it and started flinging water on me "to help". It did not end well, manager was mortified. I paid too.

by Anonymousreply 236October 6, 2021 1:57 PM

My father was amazed by Shoney's. We traveled to a family reunion and stopped at one. He took one look around and said "Oh. This is why these places are so popular. They can just hose down the place after everyone leaves." He was a product of another time.

by Anonymousreply 237October 6, 2021 2:01 PM

One time I was at a 3-star Michelin restaurant, and they had a trainee assisting with dinner service. I was horrified when he poured the wine for my 2nd course in the same glass as the one I used for the first course, but I didn't want to embarrss him or get him fired (he appeared to be Middle Eastern or North African...figured he was a refugee who had been given a great opportunity).

by Anonymousreply 238October 6, 2021 2:01 PM

That was white of you.

by Anonymousreply 239October 6, 2021 2:47 PM

The Chinese restaurant in my small coastal town has been busted on camera a few times for taking food out of the dumpster from the Food Lion next door and bringing it directly into the back entrance of their restaurant. Not just produce- chicken too.

by Anonymousreply 240October 6, 2021 2:50 PM

r240 is a good example of why I never eat Chinese food.

by Anonymousreply 241October 6, 2021 3:36 PM

I remember in one of Jane & Michael Stern's books (or essays?) they mentioned going into an un-air-conditioned Chinese restaurant on a hot day and leaving when they glanced around and noticed that the front door was being propped open by an uncooked chicken.

by Anonymousreply 242October 6, 2021 4:02 PM

I gave up on Chinese food and shopping at Asian supermarkets way before the pandemic. Simply bad hygiene practices. Same with Filipino food. Don’t touch the stuff. Just like I don’t eat shit from food trucks or carts anymore either. Call me un-PC if you want to…

by Anonymousreply 243October 6, 2021 4:37 PM

Same r243. Flame me all you want, but the Chinese are filthy and live like pigs. Their lack of hygiene and sanitary practices are unbelievable.

by Anonymousreply 244October 6, 2021 6:03 PM

Had a friend years ago, loved Chinese food and ate it 2 or 3 times a week. Stopped suddenly, and when I finally noticed I asked why. He went to his favorite Chinese restaurant one night, and an employee was holding the kitchen door open for someone carrying a heavy box. He looked in and saw what he swore were 2 skinned cats or small dogs hanging on hooks over a sink.

by Anonymousreply 245October 6, 2021 6:08 PM

I myself love Japanese, Thai and Korean cuisine. And I think that they are more hygienic, especially in Japanese kitchens.

by Anonymousreply 246October 6, 2021 6:22 PM

R245 was this in Harbin?

by Anonymousreply 247October 6, 2021 6:38 PM

My local news does a restaurant report and I swear to god,99% of the time the ones that fail or get shut down are Chinese. I havent eaten Chinese food in years. I was enjoying Panda Express before their quality went into the toilet,but havent had them in years aither. not really Chinese I know,but ws pretty good at one time.

by Anonymousreply 248October 6, 2021 8:17 PM

Oof Chinese food has soooo much sodium in it. Haven’t eaten it in years

by Anonymousreply 249October 6, 2021 8:20 PM

Viva Zapata in Westport, CT is has been closed by the health authorities on and off for the last half century. I have a few minor horror stories from there, but nothing special, since I know better than to go unless friends make me, and it's too mediocre anyway to get agitated about.

by Anonymousreply 250October 6, 2021 8:24 PM

That guy on Instagram who is busy doing posing and has a couple of restaurants that are really expensive, refresh my memory, didn't he get closed down in a number of locations for having a dirty kitchen? Watching his videos, he's a mess.

by Anonymousreply 251October 6, 2021 9:10 PM

Horrifying? I'll give you horrifying! It actually DIDN'T taste like shit!

by Anonymousreply 252October 6, 2021 10:34 PM

London. Shop owned by some woman named Lovett. Found a fingernail in my meat pie.

by Anonymousreply 253October 7, 2021 12:00 AM

[quote]He looked in and saw what he swore were 2 skinned cats or small dogs hanging on hooks over a sink.

Your friend is an idiot.

by Anonymousreply 254October 7, 2021 12:39 AM

This insane family was so rude and nasty to me that I spilled a drink on the Dad, threw their entreés in the trash, and quit. It was my first day too.

by Anonymousreply 255October 7, 2021 12:46 AM

I had to choose from the Craft Services table once.

by Anonymousreply 256October 7, 2021 12:50 AM

[quote] Their lack of hygiene and sanitary practices are unbelievable.

Well, I think 2020-2021 has turned us all into beliebers.

by Anonymousreply 257October 7, 2021 1:16 AM

I wasn't going to complain about this, but since you brought up craft services. I was once served miniature-sized bread that did not match the size of the pressed meats. It was totally confusing.

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by Anonymousreply 258October 7, 2021 1:17 AM

At a taco shop in San Diego (which normally had good food) I was eating a chicken burrito and I bit down on something rock hard. I took it out and it was a chicken bone 2 inches long. I brought it up to the counter and showed it to the guy. He took it from me and said, "Yeah." He threw it in the trash and walked away. I felt weird after that and I didn't go back in that place again until about 3 years later. This wasn't a horrifying experience, but the guy's attitude made it worse.

by Anonymousreply 259October 7, 2021 2:22 AM

My horrifying experience was circa about 1985 or so and was actually at a Ponderosa with my family. Seated next to us was another family, composed of two young adult children and their parents. One of the children had a deformed arm, very tiny with a tiny hand, coming out of their shoulder. I glanced over, saw that arm, and instantly projectile vomited all over the table.

And no, I never told anyone what it was that made me sick. Even at 5 I sensed that would be cruel. It's weird too, because I understand what that was now, simply a deformity that some people have, but even now I can remember the feeling of pure horror when I saw it. I don't recall reacting badly to any other physical deformities as a child and wouldn't now. But that arm, I don't know man, it hit me the wrong way.

by Anonymousreply 260October 7, 2021 2:38 AM

Out team won the national college football championship and we were invited to the White House. We get there and they had 300 hamburgers from Wendy's and McDonald's. The fricken White House.

by Anonymousreply 261October 7, 2021 2:39 AM

Oh, R259?

It was far from the "most horrifying dining experience," but once at a work lunch in a Mexican dive in Lower Downtown Denver before it was all crapped up as Little California Nowhere, we all had smothered pork burritos, which were delicious. But one woman noticed a cockroach on the table and became upset and called our waitress over.

"There's a cockroach on this table!!!" she yelled, as other people looked over at us.

The waitress did a grandly flourished flick of the roach and shot it across the room, and said in a perfect Mexican San Juan Mountains tone, "An' now they're ain't." The other diners applauded.

by Anonymousreply 262October 7, 2021 2:47 AM

A brown cafe is an historic cafe in Amsterdam where men in the 16th century would meet and smoke those long pipes. The ceilings were brown from all the residue from those pipes.

by Anonymousreply 263October 7, 2021 3:38 AM

You should have said something R238. That’s the only way they learn.

And maybe he would have gone nutso on your pompous ass and shoved a corkscrew into your jugular.

😁

by Anonymousreply 264October 7, 2021 3:42 AM

R263, thank you.

by Anonymousreply 265October 7, 2021 4:05 AM

R260 i remember seeing something like that at a carnival i went to as a child. This lady was walking past me and she just had short stumps and hands coming from her shoulders. It's seared in my memory because i had never seen a deformity either. I didn't puke though.

by Anonymousreply 266October 7, 2021 4:38 AM

A friend was eating in an atrium whose glass ceiling was constructed with that 1980s Space Frame reinforcement. Suddenly there was a THUNK and her metal table shook violently. She looked around and couldn't see the cause. Then she looked closer and there was a steel ball bearing embedded in the table top. It had fallen10 storeys.

Had a similar situation when dining a famous restaurant in the tropics that was set on a spectacuarl terrace lined with enormously tall spot palm trees. Like a scene from a movie, one of the palm trees dropped a frond in the middle of dinner and the glass table of the diners in front of us was literally cleved in two, and collapsed in on itself.

But possibly my worst dining experience - constantly repeated - was when Nouvelle Cuisine came in. When it first arrived it was super extreme: the main meal would be a wafer thin something decorated with a few springs of herb (they were the vegetables.) I was always going home after paying through the nose, and eating a bowl of cereal to fill up.

by Anonymousreply 267October 7, 2021 7:26 AM

Brunch at Woodys in the Philadelphia Gayborhood. Circa 2003. They had just changed restaurant staff. It was run by two lesbians who were seriously lacking in customer service skills. They were so rude about everything. As if they didn’t want to be there at all…glasses of water slammed on the table…eye rolling when I asked for bread or napkins. And it took forever for my order to arrive. There were maybe five or six customers there. So I just up and left before it got there. The waitress said, “you can’t leave, your food’s almost ready!”. “Watch me!”, I replied and I jetted. Never went back. I sent an email to the owner complaining about the poor service. Never heard back from anyone.

by Anonymousreply 268October 7, 2021 11:56 AM

Sounds like you saw a Thalidomide baby.

by Anonymousreply 269October 7, 2021 2:06 PM

r268, i was around then, wasn't the food like cafeteria style? why were you waiting at all? one of the only meals I recall eating there was while drunk and it was very school cafeteria-style turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes

by Anonymousreply 270October 7, 2021 2:15 PM

This thread inspired me to go to my city's Health Department website and read through this year's reported food service violations. Most closures have been due to lack of hot water, operating without a license to serve good, and violating COVID safety precautions. However, the grossest violations have been at...drumroll...Chinese restaurants! Rodent and rat infestations, inoperable refridgerators and freezers, unsanitary conditions...ugh. I will say when it comes to Chinese restaurants, it's worth considering location. An upscale place in an affluent area is probably going to be in better condition. Cheap dives in urban areas are naturally going to have pests, rodents and filthy conditions...so the owners and employees have to work harder to meet public health standards.

One funny thing I learned from the report I read: Apparently owners of Middle Eastern restaurants are the most likely to try and prevent health inspectors from performing their duties (which is grounds for shutting down a restaurant). Those were the only types of restaurants with that specific violation noted.

by Anonymousreply 271October 7, 2021 2:16 PM

Now I am wondering about the contents of all of those potstickers I’ve eaten in previous years. Especially during my pub crawling days when I’d eat them like candy after a night of drinking.

by Anonymousreply 272October 7, 2021 3:29 PM

I am the mascot of every taco shop!

by Anonymousreply 273October 7, 2021 5:39 PM

COVID years led to many people setting up commercial food operations in their home kitchens. Preparing meals that were sold. This fall Geneva Switzerland asked their health inspectors to put a close eye on these operations and discovered a public health catastrophe with most of these operators unlicensed and having little to no knowledge how to prepare food safely.

by Anonymousreply 274October 7, 2021 5:56 PM

That's interesting, R274. I'm the one who wrote about reading health inspection reports from my city's Health Department, and I didn't get why there were so many "operating without a license" violations.

by Anonymousreply 275October 7, 2021 6:37 PM

Was it the Bluebird Cafe R262 ? I ate there many times,and it was truly a dump but omg the food was beyond good !

by Anonymousreply 276October 7, 2021 7:37 PM

apparently these home operations were selling prepared meals through informal social networks. I don't know who would be so stupid to buy prepared meals "in the wild" like this, when all the supermarket have properly and safely prepared meals at reasonable prices. also many benevolent organizations were doing meal delivery to the old, unemployed and poor. Maybe the private "traiteurs" were seriously undercutting supermarket prices (high in switzerland) or offering more ethnic fare.

by Anonymousreply 277October 7, 2021 7:46 PM

A (Vietnamese) cab driver told me his wife made home made Vietnamese spring rolls and sold them to neighbours etc. They were close to me so I bought a bag and holy sweet fuckin shit they were the most delicious things ever so I kept buying them until the family moved to a different part of town. She was just making them out of her home kitchen, cash only, totally under the table. Hope I didn't eat anything weird but if i did it was tasty!

by Anonymousreply 278October 7, 2021 8:06 PM

I think I probably did R269. The timing (mid 80s) and location (Canada) were right. I remember looking this up when I later learned about the thalidomide scandal and realizing the person I saw was probably a victim. From Wikipedia:

[quote]The severity and location of the deformities depended on how many days into the pregnancy the mother was before beginning treatment; thalidomide taken on the 20th day of pregnancy caused central brain damage, day 21 would damage the eyes, day 22 the ears and face, day 24 the arms, and leg damage would occur if taken up to day 28. Thalidomide did not damage the fetus if taken after 42 days gestation.

Also, I didn't know it was down to a single person that thalidomide was never marketed in the US. Interesting. She received the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service for it.

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by Anonymousreply 279October 7, 2021 8:11 PM

We used to go to Ponderosa I loved their rolls

by Anonymousreply 280October 7, 2021 8:12 PM

The first time I ever ate at an Applebee's (in Ohio around '95) there was a huge roach in my salad. The waiter mumbled 'Again? Geez.' and took my salad away. Then the manager came over and offered another salad and a free dessert. I told them I didn't want anything out of their kitchen and they acted like I materialized from space. I mentioned to the manager that waiter said it happened before and the manager, without missing a beat, told me they were new and didn't know what they were talking about. I've never eaten at Applebee's again. Doesn't look like I'm missing anything.

by Anonymousreply 281October 7, 2021 8:13 PM

R260 of course that arm hit you the wrong way, but it couldn’t have hurt much.

by Anonymousreply 282October 7, 2021 8:29 PM

I left myself wide open to that, R282, and am only surprised it took so long.

by Anonymousreply 283October 7, 2021 9:01 PM

[quote] apparently these home operations were selling prepared meals through informal social networks. I don't know who would be so stupid to buy prepared meals "in the wild" like this

They sell thru GrubHub and similar apps.

If you order food on line, you’ve probably ordered from a “ghost kitchen”.

by Anonymousreply 284October 7, 2021 9:29 PM

Are these the lesbians, r268?

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by Anonymousreply 285October 7, 2021 11:15 PM

I ordered the cockroaches on my last trip to Pyongyang. While I was enjoying them, to my disgust a chicken ran through the dining room.

by Anonymousreply 286October 7, 2021 11:33 PM

That's nothing. I ordered creme bruleé once and they all acted like I caused a civil disturbance or something.

by Anonymousreply 287October 7, 2021 11:39 PM

[quote] I don't know who would be so stupid to buy prepared meals "in the wild" like this

This is how Paula Dean started. She would meals in her own kitchen and sell them (and deliver) to offices.

by Anonymousreply 288October 8, 2021 12:34 AM

This isn't uncommon if you are dining outside in Turkey.

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by Anonymousreply 289October 8, 2021 1:23 AM

Buying food that you are going to properly reheat from a 'home kitchen' is very safe.

I'd also imagine it'd be much fresher than supermarket food.

by Anonymousreply 290October 8, 2021 1:31 AM

[quote]Buying food that you are going to properly reheat from a 'home kitchen' is very safe.

Where else you gonna get great tamales other than from a Mexican family that makes them in their kitchen?

by Anonymousreply 291October 8, 2021 1:33 AM

[quote]Wreaked of chlorine...

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 292October 8, 2021 1:33 AM

I was in Vegas many years ago and went downtown. In the food court of one casino, they were selling one-dollar deep fried Twinkies. Of course, we were drunk and decided to get some. There were three of us. This place used a Fry Daddy or some other non commercial deep fryer to make them. Totally gross – a guy unwrapped a Twinkie, dipped it in a bowl of batter, then dropped it into the Fry Daddy. Flipped it over once, then used tongs to put it one a small paper plate.

My two buddies got theirs first and were enjoying them while the guy prepared mine. As I was mesmerized by the delicious sugar and fat bomb frying, something plopped from above right into the fryer. I have no idea what it was, but I craned my neck as far as I could over the counter to see what was up there, and it was the filthiest ceiling I have ever seen. There were what appeared to be moldy stalactites descending from it. The guy fished my deep fried Twinkie out of the fryer and handed the plate to me. There was something fused to one side of it. It went straight into the trash.

by Anonymousreply 293October 8, 2021 1:49 AM

My sister-in-law's brother's wife gave me a tamale to eat. It was fine, but after I finished it, she said, "I bought them from a guy on the street corner." Well, I didn't get sick anyway.

by Anonymousreply 294October 8, 2021 2:16 AM

If you've been in any catering establishment that's even close to industrial (school/works cafeteria) you'd never eat again.

I don't eat supermarket meals on that basis.

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by Anonymousreply 295October 8, 2021 2:24 AM

I worked at a restaurant for 3 years in high school. I only ate one meal there, and it was only to be nice because the boss's son made me a sandwich for my birthday. As someone who worked in the kitchen, smelling the grease trap and avoiding cockroaches, I'd always eat before going to work.

by Anonymousreply 296October 8, 2021 11:15 AM

I went to culinary school and we had a whole course on kitchen safety and sanitization, OSHA and breaking down a kitchen and cleaning it. Any good Chef would have a cleaning regimen with their kitchen staff.

by Anonymousreply 297October 8, 2021 12:47 PM

We had an investigative reporter named Herb Denenberg in Philadelphia. He did a story about food carts and stand and their vendors. He caught a man selling soft pretzels outside the airport on the street. Using a hidden camera, he busted him pissing into a jar, then putting his unwashed hands on the pretzels. On another day, the same man blew snot into his fucking hand and, yes, continued to sell the pretzels without washing his hands! Herb confronted this prick about his unhygienic practices and he turned his back to the camera and told him to leave. The guy did eventually shut down. But I am so reluctant to eat soft pretzels anymore. I usually get the frozen ones from the store and make them in my oven. This was back in the 70s or 80s. They have a few places where they make them fresh. But I’ve never had them… We had an investigative reporter named Herb Denenberg in Philadelphia. He did a story about food carts and stand and their vendors. He caught a man selling soft pretzels outside the airport on the street. Using a hidden camera, he busted him pissing into a jar, then putting his unwashed hands on the pretzels. On another day, the same man blew snot into his fucking hand and, yes, continued to sell the pretzels without washing his hands! Herb confronted this prick about his unhygienic practices and he turned his back to the camera and told him to leave. The guy did eventually shut down. But I am so reluctant to eat soft pretzels anymore. I usually get the frozen ones from the store and make them in my oven. This was back in the 70s or 80s. They have a few places where they make them fresh. But I’ve never had them…

by Anonymousreply 298October 8, 2021 1:54 PM

Surprisingly, the nastiest food handling practices I've ever seen were in Europe. While living in Germany I had to swear off döner kebab because of unsanitary conditions in 99.9% of the places that sell it. People would grab money while wearing gloves and proceed to make sandwiches....saw one guy with no gloves and wearing a bandage on his finger making sandwiches...the last time I went to a döner place I threw away my sandwich because I saw cockroaches crawling over the salad stand while waiting.

Probably the nastiest thing I ever saw was a German man with a truck selling rotisserie chickens, stop to blow his nose while preparing food, and then continuing to make a sandwich without washing his hands.

by Anonymousreply 299October 8, 2021 2:13 PM

I witnessed similar things r299 during my visit to Brussels in 2004…there was some kind of Christmas market near the Gare Centraale. Lots of meats and poultry being cooked, but no one was washing hands. And the sausages and things were on display and had obviously been sitting for quite some time.

by Anonymousreply 300October 8, 2021 2:19 PM

sounds delicious to me

by Anonymousreply 301October 8, 2021 2:26 PM

I never turn my nose up at a big hot German sausage.

by Anonymousreply 302October 8, 2021 3:30 PM

No matter how stinky, r302?

by Anonymousreply 303October 8, 2021 5:11 PM

I saw the most unhygienic pangolin sandwich vendor in Wuhan in late 2019.

by Anonymousreply 304October 8, 2021 8:02 PM

ALL American fast food places are horrible!

the food is inedible--you don't need a roach to walk by to not want to eat there again.

by Anonymousreply 305October 8, 2021 8:17 PM

R305, you realize fast food places are world-wide, right?

by Anonymousreply 306October 8, 2021 8:22 PM

Not exaggerating: I've thrown up after eating at McDonald's only twice in my 39 years. Once after eating at one in Denmark, and another time after eating at one in Germany. But I'm sure by R305's logic, McDonald's is "American fast food."

Oh, and the absolute best McDonald's I've ever eaten at was in South Korea. The restaurant was sooooo clean and somehow the food tasted fresh.

by Anonymousreply 307October 8, 2021 9:52 PM

McDonalds in South Korea and Japan is *insane.* Just an obviously higher calibre of food. I was almost insulted eating there when I realized it could be that quality back home as well but it isn't. If you're willing to eat slop, people will feed you slop.

by Anonymousreply 308October 8, 2021 9:57 PM

The Germans must be trying to sabotage McDonalds! (Who could blame them?)

I would literally eat off the floor of the Munich airport--it's so clean and shiny!

by Anonymousreply 309October 8, 2021 10:12 PM

Germans are meticulous. When you come back to the US after being in Germany, you can't believe how much of a trash pile the US looks like. It rather shocking.

by Anonymousreply 310October 8, 2021 10:39 PM

Interesting, r310. I guess you've never been to Berlin.

by Anonymousreply 311October 8, 2021 10:44 PM

Take a good look the next time you're in a large German city. Villages are clean. The airports are clean. Train cars are clean. However, just walking on the street in Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, or Frankfurt, you'll see trash everywhere. My assumption that Germany is super clean was destroyed after my first New Year's Day there. I was in a large city (near Stuttgart) and it looked like a warzone from the previous night's festivities. And some rather large pieces of debris left from fireworks remained on the side or the street I took to work for months.

by Anonymousreply 312October 8, 2021 10:50 PM

Then why are the German cocks so dirty?

by Anonymousreply 313October 8, 2021 10:52 PM

Of course the streets would be littered right after New Year's Eve, dumbass

by Anonymousreply 314October 9, 2021 12:07 AM

I was there in May, r314.

by Anonymousreply 315October 9, 2021 12:10 AM

R302, Right ?

Half of these queens wouldn’t turn down a cock if it was rancid, but they mince and prisspot about restaurants like the Queen of Sheba

by Anonymousreply 316October 9, 2021 12:11 AM

R314: Not for months after, dumbfuck.

by Anonymousreply 317October 9, 2021 12:41 AM

Watch this video of Shoneys buffet. It looks gross, though this supposed to showcase it. Too much food left out from morning to night, hot and cold, salad bar, dessert bar, hot foods. Open to all the flies and anyone who cares to dig in.

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by Anonymousreply 318October 9, 2021 1:50 AM

I was on a family trip about 15 years ago. My sister was bitching about being hungry and we HAD to stop at this run down Shoney's for nostalgias sake. I knew when we walked in i didn't want to eat anything. My sister and partner ate from the all you can eat bar. I think there was fried fish and they both ate it and got so sick afterwards. I was nice enough not to say anything.

by Anonymousreply 319October 9, 2021 3:25 AM

Yuck, I used to love Shoney's as a kid (we'd go there for breakfast before church), but the idea disgusts me today.

by Anonymousreply 320October 9, 2021 5:46 AM

When I went to Berlin, I didn’t see much trash.

Of course I didn’t stay in the poor parts

by Anonymousreply 321October 9, 2021 1:10 PM

I’m in a for a McDonalds hamburger

by Anonymousreply 322October 9, 2021 1:30 PM

Shoney's is disgusting. When I temped, the medical records office I was assigned to had a Xmas luncheon there. I didn't get sick, but everything was so greasy and/or lukewarm.

by Anonymousreply 323October 9, 2021 3:43 PM

I don't eat at buffets because of two reasons--they're inherently unclean, and I'm only interested in eating food when I'm out that I can't easily make at home. If I can make it at home (and probably much tastier) what's the point of a buffet?

by Anonymousreply 324October 9, 2021 4:52 PM

I used to eat lunch at the Chinese Kitchen inside the Banc Club casino in Tonopah, Nevada. All of a sudden, it closed, though the casino remained open. I asked friends about it and they said the Health Department shut them down because they got caught putting the rice back into the pot. Then they reopened, but it was to go only. You could eat it at their tables, but it was given to you as a to go order. That went on for one year, then they finally reopened for normal operations. I ate lunch there once since then, but I just looked at the rice, I couldn't eat it.

There was another place up the street from there, called Cisco's, which is now closed. It was across the street from the infamous Clown Motel that you see in movies and video games. Cisco's was run by this weird older lady with long gray hair. Her employees were nice though.

One time I was the only customer eating, and a family came in with 2 kids about 4 or 5 years old, who ran all over the place screaming and chasing each other. The parents did nothing to calm them or quiet them. They were so loud that I felt like leaving. Finally I stood on the ramp that led from the counter down into the dining area, partially blocking the kids from running up and down it, in hopes that they would realize something and sit down. The boy started to run down the ramp, but on seeing me he stopped and yelled "get out of the way!" and ran around me. Still the parents did nothing.

The last time I ever ate there, I went in at 8:30 pm, and they were open until 9:00. About 5 minutes after I sat down to eat, the employee started vacuuming the dining room. He stopped when he got near me, and said, "The owner wants me to tell you we're closing early because it's slow." I said, "You mean I have to leave?" He said, "I'm sorry, we're closing." I finished in a hurry. It was 8:45. I was halfway done eating anyway, if he had waited 5 more minutes I would have been out of there anyway, without him having to say anything.

A couple of weeks later I drove past it and noticed they had gone out of business.

by Anonymousreply 325October 9, 2021 5:19 PM

What were you doing in Tonopah? It looks like hell. Middle of nowhere, population 2,500.

by Anonymousreply 326October 9, 2021 5:35 PM

Long story. We now live in Goldfield, for work. However, Tonopah is very popular because U.S. Highway 95 runs through it. 95 is still the main road between Las Vegas and Reno, even though it's a 2-lane highway most of the way, one lane in each direction, with many large trucks. Now over 1 million vehicles per year go between Vegas and Reno on 95. Tonopah is the halfway point exactly, between Reno and Vegas, so it is very popular for travelers needing gas or something to eat. Also quite popular among ghost hunters, off-roaders, mining history buffs and stargazers as it is a designated "dark sky" zone. (And the stars are astounding.) There has been talk for years about building an Interstate 11 to replace U.S. 95 as the Reno/Vegas route. If and when that happens, Tonopah will be bypassed and will completely die out, except for the fact that it is the county seat of Nye County, which will keep it going for that reason.

by Anonymousreply 327October 9, 2021 5:47 PM

R325, if that kid was bothering you, take my advice. Stand up and loudly ask, "Would someone get this kid outta here before I fuck it?" Works like a charm.

by Anonymousreply 328October 9, 2021 11:10 PM

One time, I went to a restaurant, and I ate all the food in the restaurant, and they had to close the restaurant.

by Anonymousreply 329October 9, 2021 11:22 PM

Nobu at Malibu. Not enough food.

by Anonymousreply 330October 9, 2021 11:26 PM

I ordered a walk in Wednesday pizza from Dominos and I walked in to get it as the baker was just pulling it from the oven. She places it in the box for cutting just as the phone starts ringing. She leaves my pizza to answer the phone while a delivery driver walks in through the side door. He fishes some cash out his pocket, places it in his money bag, and then proceeds to cut my pizza after coming in from making a delivery without washing his hands or even wearing gloves. I walked in on Wednesday only to walk out without my pizza!

by Anonymousreply 331October 10, 2021 5:29 PM

Do you ever go to Hardees’ drive-thru? Don’t. They cum in the shakes.

by Anonymousreply 332October 10, 2021 8:20 PM

What's wrong with that? I like a spunky shake.

by Anonymousreply 333October 10, 2021 9:05 PM

Sometimes I just crave a bad for you, greasy fast food burger with hot fries and a milkshake. Even mediocre ones like McDonald’s.

by Anonymousreply 334October 11, 2021 1:05 AM

If you're in Seattle, r334, try Dick's. Everyone loves Dick's.

by Anonymousreply 335October 11, 2021 10:06 AM

Somewhere in Appalachia on a road trip from California to NY and back, way back in the '80s... Pass a cute little place and stop in for a bite. I'd heard of scrapple but never eaten it. BIG mistake. I became so ill with food poisoning that I passed out in the car and woke up on the border of Tennessee. My BF just threw me in the back seat and kept driving. I thought I might die. At least I wanted to, believe it.

by Anonymousreply 336October 11, 2021 10:21 AM

^You’re happier not knowing the ingredients of scrapple and how it’s made.

My late husband, who was h the adventurous sort when it came to food, once ordered a piece of liver Mush at a North Carolina diner. He left most of it in his plate.

Some things, like our beloved DL, are an acquired taste.

by Anonymousreply 337October 11, 2021 10:48 AM

My Dad used love scrapple..he was from Pennsyltucky

by Anonymousreply 338October 11, 2021 3:40 PM

I used to eat tons of scrapple growing up in Philadelphia. Can’t look at it anymore.

by Anonymousreply 339October 11, 2021 4:03 PM

I was in a Cheesecake Factory, when one of the toilets apparently clogged up and started spilling shit all over the bathroom floor. It ultimately leaked out under the door and came rolling down the aisles.

Everyone just got up and left.

by Anonymousreply 340October 11, 2021 5:26 PM

^^"I wanted a fudge brownie, but THIS is ridiculous!"

by Anonymousreply 341October 11, 2021 5:27 PM

Never understood the hate for scrapple. Pork + cornmeal + spices, cooked, molded, sliced and fried. I can see if you don't care for 'mystery meat,' but scrapple is good for what it is. Think of it as "Amish Polenta." 😉

by Anonymousreply 342October 11, 2021 5:31 PM

Along those lines, I was horrified and disappointed to find that haggis doesn't actually taste bad.

*waves shyly at BAG*

by Anonymousreply 343October 11, 2021 6:48 PM

Is it the return of Poo Shoes at R340?

by Anonymousreply 344October 11, 2021 6:58 PM

I cannot stomach scrapple, but I love Taylor Ham a/k/a pork roll.

by Anonymousreply 345October 11, 2021 10:48 PM

When the food is bad/unacceptable and you want to make a point (and prove you're not complaining to get a freebie, as many managers and owners assume the case is), agree to pay but only as a tip for the waiter. If you dont have cash, have them charge your credit card for $1 and leave the removed items (or entire check) as a tip.

You actually end up with a 30% discount anyway, since you're not paying tax or tip on the item in addition to the item itself. But its more to make the point that you are complaining so they improve, not to get something for nothing.

by Anonymousreply 346October 11, 2021 11:24 PM

[quote] I'd heard of scrapple

I mis-read this as Snapple.

by Anonymousreply 347October 12, 2021 2:07 AM

I remember getting one of these back in the 80s. They sliced it in half before they served it to you. I raised one of the halves to eat it and saw a hair UNDERNEATH the breading at the cut. So I picked up the other half to see that the long black hair ran lengthwise up the middle of the patty. I walked up to the counter and held up the cut ends to the staffer until they saw what I had seen. They gave me a Whopper for free. I wasn't worried about cross contamination because of the hair being under the breading.

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by Anonymousreply 348October 13, 2021 1:59 AM

You had it your way!

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by Anonymousreply 349October 13, 2021 2:28 AM

r343 So it wasn't too 'baaaaaa-d'? Pretty lame, I know. It's late, and I'm bushed. 🥱

No reason to be shy. How you doin'?

by Anonymousreply 350October 13, 2021 8:23 AM

This happened just a few weeks ago. I got a craving for a taco supreme. I live only a block away from one so I walked over and ordered in the dining room. The woman operating the drive thru appeared to be the floor manager (or at least appeared to have authority). She had her mask on beneath her chin. Everyone else was fully covered. As I'm waiting for my order not more 10 feet away from her, she removed her t shirt and wiped her face and arm pits with it and put it back on. This is the place that closes every bag with a "safety seal."

by Anonymousreply 351October 16, 2021 7:02 PM

^^^I so wouldn't eat there again.

by Anonymousreply 352October 16, 2021 7:03 PM

🍔 Finding onions on my Bic Mac after I clearly specified "no onions, please."

by Anonymousreply 353October 16, 2021 7:15 PM

Was she wearing anything underneath r351

by Anonymousreply 354October 16, 2021 8:11 PM

A couple of years ago went to a local Chinese buffet and had to use the restroom. Next to the toilet in my stall was a wastebasket filled with used TP.

by Anonymousreply 355October 16, 2021 8:19 PM

She was, r354. Sports bra or something. She did have prodromal gunt. A few more years...

by Anonymousreply 356October 16, 2021 8:25 PM

R355, that would be every bathroom experience you ever had in Greece, Peru, or other countries where you're not allowed to flush toilet paper. Public and private lavatories keep little garbage cans available for disposal of the soiled tissue. I didn't know that it was a Chinese custom.

When I visited a friend in Athens I made sure to time my craps so that I could take a shower immediately after rather than leave shitty tp around; but I suppose the locals are used to it and treat like just throwing away kleenex that you blew your nose in.

by Anonymousreply 357October 16, 2021 8:56 PM

😝 Imagine all of the worst nightmare "foods" you've eaten and never even knew .....

by Anonymousreply 358October 16, 2021 10:58 PM

I shudder to think what our Miss Ross has unknowingly ingested during the many years of her most outrageous Divatude!

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by Anonymousreply 359October 16, 2021 11:18 PM

I ordered three egg rolls from Jack in the Box, and one had a bite out of it.

When I was a food server, my coworker’s two-top was served a shot of Kahlua as requested. When the customer threw her shot back, a dead carpenter stuck to her lips. The bottle was old and from small bar used only when the restaurant was super busy. The manager comped her meal, bought her drinks and schmoozed the hell out of her. She left happy.

by Anonymousreply 360October 17, 2021 2:18 AM

^^carpenter ANT!

by Anonymousreply 361October 17, 2021 4:23 AM

Oh, for a minute I thought you meant me.

by Anonymousreply 362October 17, 2021 4:33 AM

I was eating Chinese from a restaurant near the UN with a coworker. We got our food to-go and brought it to a little sheltered concrete park with a fountain off first ave near the UN — this particular building used to let people sit and eat lunch. (That building doesn’t allow that anymore, this was in the late 80s.)

I had general Tso’s chicken. I’m sitting and eating with chopsticks as she’s telling me some issue she’s been having with the supervisor and I scoop some chicken and broccoli up, half looking, and my peripheral vision catches something, and so I look, and the aggregated food in my chopsticks includes a complete body of an NYC waterbug, well over an inch and a half long.

The thing was, we were five blocks from the restaurant. She told me we need to go back “so we can tell them” — she seemed to mean that we would let them know so they would be … more careful about roaches. Like, “we have to warn them!” I wanted to tell them, all right, but to get my money back.

I told them at the restaurant and the woman at the counter said NO NO NOT HAPPEN until I whisked the container out and showed the roach, slathered in general tso sauce. They were horrified (as were some seated diners who heard us) and immediately gave us both our money back, and we went back to the office.

by Anonymousreply 363October 17, 2021 4:46 AM

When I was about 19 I went with about 8 friends to my favorite (now closed) Chinese place, Fung Lum. We went a bit too close to closing, so right at the stroke of 9 (?) about 6 waiters came to the table & stood in a circle behind us to hurry us up. I forget if they charged us a mandatory fee for being a party of 8 or so, so we had nothing left for tip, we were all teens with no credit cards & had only cash. We paid the bill in a flash & ran, leaving very little tip (because we were out of cash). One of the waiters chased us into the parking lot & literally threw our tip at us.

by Anonymousreply 364October 17, 2021 5:41 AM

If 6 people stood around my table R364, I wouldn't have given them a tip, even if I had the money.

by Anonymousreply 365October 17, 2021 6:16 AM

No more Chinese food. That simple.

The only non Chinese restaurant issue I had was at a Greek restaurant that served stale baklava.

by Anonymousreply 366October 17, 2021 6:54 PM

Someone please start a thread on Your Best Dining Experience.

by Anonymousreply 367October 17, 2021 8:59 PM

My best dining experience:

🤗 The Spaghetti and Meatballs were fully dressed, and the waiter was naked.

by Anonymousreply 368October 17, 2021 11:02 PM

Not my own experience, but horrifying nonetheless. My brother once told me a story about when he was a line cook at a local bar/restaurant. Some guy he couldn't stand came in for dinner and ordered a hamburger. Before placing the cooked burger under the heat lamps, my brother reached down his pants, pulled out a few pubes and tucked them inside the bun, too. Some hapless waitress served the furburger, but I don't know if the guy ever realized he had pubes in his food.

by Anonymousreply 369November 25, 2021 4:17 AM

I worked as a waiter for the lunch shift at The Velvet Turtle in Pasadena, CA. A frail, ancient man came in accompanied by a middle-aged relative. They downed two martinis each. When the food arrived ancient man got a few bites into the plate and then shit himself. Not just a small shit, it was everywhere, as if he had not gone in a week and let loose finally. The person accompanying him begged me to go to the restroom and help clean him up. NO, I responded, not in this lifetime. The manager agreed to help, while the bus people cleaned the leather banquette seat. I attended to my other customers. About 30 minutes later the shitter and his companion return to the table and act like nothing had happened. They ordered another martini and asked for their food to be brought back, which I delivered. The smell. Oh my God. To return and then carry on as though nothing had happened. The entire experience was surreal.

by Anonymousreply 370November 25, 2021 1:14 PM

That story is out of order r370.

by Anonymousreply 371November 25, 2021 3:13 PM

Uggh r370, if I was one of the other customers I would have left.

by Anonymousreply 372November 25, 2021 6:22 PM

Off topic but a friend of mine's family appears to be estranged possibly for good after an elderly-relative-massively-shitting-themselves incident. Son of Shitter's wife got extremely angry Shitter used one of the "good" towels to try to clean up, words were exchanged and now Son of Shitter and his wife haven't spoken to anyone else in the family for months.

by Anonymousreply 373November 26, 2021 2:31 AM

Years ago I went to dinner with some friends (gay male couple) at a restaurant that we ate at frequently. When I arrived, they informed me that they had invited straight couple they were friends with to join us. When they arrived, the woman was clearly quite drunk. She continued to drink heavily at the table, was loud and belligerent, and it was obvious that her husband was very embarrassed.

The topper was when she vomited all over the table, and we were all asked to leave.

It was horrifying.

by Anonymousreply 374November 26, 2021 2:36 AM
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