What's your worst restaurant experience?

[RainbowsAndCrystals]

Had one where I was with two friends having breakfast and coffees ... they kept asking friends if they wanted another drink and ignored me every single time.

there's been worse and places I would never go back to.

Leeds. Chinese resturant. 2005. Dinner with 8 colleagues. Starters arrived. Kitchen then blew up! Literally! Gas explosion! (No one hurt thank god) but resturant closed. Went to living room and drank way too many cocktails on empty stomach. Got hit on by my DH (colleague also at the dinner) The rest as they say is history 😂 Best worst meal I ever had! 😍😍😍

This is a great thread, but so far gabsdot is the winner for me. Still grinning several minutes after reading it!

Shouldn’t a decent ribeye steak have quite a marbling of fat through it? That’s probably why the attitude. Blue is great for very lean cuts. But if that’s what you wanted that’s what they should have served you I guess.

The horrible Chinese restaurant in London where the staff are famously rude.

I was almost reduced to tears by a waiter shouting at me when I asked for a pot of tea.

An apparently very nice Michelin starred restaurant. Their lunchtime menu includes a glass of wine.

I went with DH, but was pregnant, so gave him my glass of wine and ordered a fruit juice for me.

When the bill came we had been charged for the fruit juice and an extra glass of wine. We queried the bill and they were adamant that it was a glass of wine PER PERSON and that as one person had drunk both glasses they had to charge.

So incredibly petty and rude. I wouldn't go back.

Me and Dh wanted to try a Brick Lane curry house last time we were in London, as we both like Indian food and had never been to Brick Lane. It was awful. We were sat next to a main door which opened every 30 seconds and was freezing. Our drinks never arrived despite asking several times. And, (presumably because they wanted our table back asap), they served our starters and mains at the same time (actually I think our starters arrived after the main). The food was cold and crap. Then they practically grabbed the plates off us the second we finished eating and gave us the bill, and then hurried us to the door as soon as we had put the money down.

I've had a few odd substitutions - mayonnaise instead of sour cream with nachos for example - but my worst experience was in an Italian restaurant where I ordered lasagne and was brought an oven dish with a couple of sheets of lasagne covered in ketchup and grated cheddar. It was inedible, and served by a racist waitress who spoke openly of her desire to assault Muslims. I actually can't remember how the evening ended, it was so surreal, but I do remember my husband standing up and turning around to explain to the racist waitress why her comments were unacceptable.

When the children were younger we went to our local Beefeater, can't remember exactly what we ordered but DH had a small dish of something with dressed salad, he had eaten nearly all of it when he spotted a dead wasp floating in a pool of dressing at the bottom of the dish. We complained and they refunded the cost of the dish but we never went there again. We also ate at our local Harvester, the mains weren't great but we ordered ice cream desserts, they arrived 30 minutes later mostly melted where they had obviously been forgotten, we should have sent them back but the kids were already fed up so we ate them. DH took one of the DC outside as he needed fresh air so I asked for the bill. The waitress brought the card machine over and asked if I would like to add a tip, she was most surprised when I said no!

Forgot my own anecdote. Not really the restaurant's fault, but it happened in a restaurant. I ordered steak. I like steak and rarely cook it at home because nobody else likes it, so I often used to order it when eating out. I started eating it, swallowed a rather large bit (probably a bit gristly) and thought 'Oh, that was a bit big - not going to be easy to swallow that - actually, I can't swallow that' and realised that it had completely blocked my airway. I couldn't breathe and (obviously) I couldn't speak. I think I went very red in the face to start with and was making faces. My husband looked at me and laughed, thinking I'd taken too much mustard, but when I started gesturing he (thankfully) worked out immediately what was happening, jumped up and ran round the table, got me out of my seat and without hesitation did the Heimlich manoeuvre. (He's not medically trained, I should add - but he rarely forgets anything. Lucky for me that he had paid attention during a first aid training session a couple of years before.) Out popped the lump of gristle (yes, in the middle of the restaurant! gross) and I was fine.

Staff very attentive and sympathetic, probably praying we weren't going to sue over the gristle. We even finished the meal. Never been back there, though. Associations aren't great. I will never forget the sensation. A few minutes more and I honestly think I'd have been a goner. Best birthday present he ever gave me.

Cardsforkittens that's just RUDE!
And the food sounds vile!

Mine was probably ordering a veggie meal and getting it with a load of bacon on.
When I complained the waitress just shrugged and said 'what's your problem?'

Not the restaurant’s fault...

I was working in the arts and the pay was so low I was counting every penny. My pay was below the (then) minimum wage.

My boss’s millionaire boyfriend asked me to organise a surprise birthday lunch for my boss at a very expensive restaurant in central London (where I worked).

I organised the whole event. Having been asked to book said expensive restaurant by the boyfriend, I rashly assumed he would foot the bill, especially as he knew how tight my finances were.

Meal went well and I even paid for a cake.

When the bill came, not only was I expected to pay for my own meal but was ordered, by boss’s boyfriend, to contribute to my boss’s meal.

Back at work, my lovely boss was mortified and kindly paid me back.

Frankie and Bennies giving my 7 month DF and SF daughter one of her allergies.
The next week of hysterical screaming and the skin peeling from her arse because of the blisters was great fun.

When I worked in a steak house we were told to recommend ribeyes should be cooked at least medium, because otherwise the line of fat through the middle doesn't render down. The chefs would call us over to check we'd put it through the computer properly and ask if we'd explained!

Blue steaks were uncommon but not unheard of.

DH and I went out for dinner on our wedding anniversary. The restaurant was far from busy. We ordered, just main courses, and the waiter brought our wine immediately. Fifteen minutes later he brought DH's food. We expected him to come straight back with mine, but he didn't. I told DH to go ahead and begin eating as his meal was going cold. We chatted as I watched him eat. The waiter eventually reappeared with my dinner five minutes after DH had finished his, so then DH sat and watched me eat ...

4 of us went to our local harvester for my birthday.
Starters were awful. I had cheese and bacon potato skins which were really dry and rubbery, DH prawns were completely overcooke and like bullets, friend 1 had breaded mushrooms but a few sneaky little breaded prawns had decided to join the party. Lucky she doesn't shellfish allergy really.
When we complained the waitress was a bit useless so we asked for the manager and when we complained he was totally bemused and laughed nervously. When DH asked if he would eat the rubber prawns he said no because he doesn't like them .
Mains meals were ok though and we had the starters and drink knocked off the bill.

Same Harvester a couple of years later we went with a group from work for a christmas meal. We all paid a £5 deposit and the meal was apalling. 12 people and the last starter came out 45 minutes after the first one and people were getting their main meals before some of the starters came out. The main meals were awful! I had the christmas dinner and it worse worse than a microwave meal. The gravy was just lumps so I sent it back and when it was returned they had scraped off the lumps and put new gravy on (they hadn't quite got rid of the lumps), the stuffing was dry and burnt and the roast potatos were still frozen. I think I had 2 bites and it tasted rank.
The waitress was useless, I think she was new but she really didn't have a clue. The manager was very good and said he would credit the main meals for the whole group and get us free drinks. The waitress only ended up taking half the drinks order before diappearing so only half of us got the free drink offered. When dessert came out they had run out of the correct dishes so we were served in glasses which would have been fine if the glasses hadn't still been hot from the dishwasher and most of us had icecream sundaes which we could pretty much drink by the time they came out. The manager also refunded these so with my deposit having already been paid I actually left with more money than I went with.

Last Christmas I took the little munchkins for lunch at a local restaurant. We ordered and their food came. I let them start so it wouldn't go cold and I waited... my food never arrived! I suppose I should have chased up one of the waiters but I didn't want to hassle them as it was extremely busy, but after half an hour, and the children's meals finished, I gave up. I knew they were too little to sit nicely and wait for my food to be reordered and cooked and sit there and watch me eat it so we just left! A bit depressing as it was meant to be our special Christmas meal, and they wouldn't knock a penny off the bill.

This one has always stuck with me too: At Pizza express on my birthday (Valentines Day) many years ago the guy at the table next to us was repeatedly trying to propose, and his girlfriend clearly wasn't into it. Every time he took hold of her hands and made eye contact and started his speech, she was remove her hands to take a sip of water, look around the restaurant, scrutinize the menu or pretend to search for something in her bag. This went on for a good 20 minutes at least. It was so, so painful and he really wasn't taking the hint. We left before them so I don't know how it ended, but not too well I'm thinking.

Went with a family member to a restaurant and we told them we needed to be on the ground floor as he is in a wheelchair.... got there and they came out with a ramp to help us get him in the restaurant and they placed it on the door and on the busy pavement which was on a main road ... as he went up the ramp the ramp fell off and my cousin fell off the ramp onto the hard ground and his wheelchair and the ramp landed up on top of him! He was absolutely humiliated and hurt .. he was only offered a free bottle of wine... we complained and we later sued the restaurant.

The glory of a ribeye is the big nuggets of fat throughout, particularly in the middle. It is almost the only steak that needs a good cooking to render that fat, which makes the meat incredibly tender and tasty. To eat it blue would be to eat lumps of entirely uncooked fat.

Two that I can think of.

We went to a rather posh hotel on London for afternoon tea. Was worried I'd feel a bit out of place because because it was all very fancy but turned out that was the least of my worries.

Staff and food were amazing but there were two businessmen having a meeting on the table next to us. The one guy was really slimey and creeping round the other guy, he was so LOUD and he would not shut up, going on and on about all of the countries he'd visited and how he'd flown first class, going on about all his business ventures, he really thought a lot of himself, dh and I couldn't hear ourselves think because he had a loud voice that carried.

Other time was completely inedible chicken in a holiday inn, tasted like it had been microwaved 50 times, the staff just shrugged.

I had voucher for Harvester on my phone, waiter took my phone from me I assumed to read details, then went off with it. I demanded the manager and got it back but not for 20 minutes!
Another time I went to a restaurant as a group and my fish was raw, I quietly mentioned to the waitress who took it away but I never got a replacement, the group still insisted I paid equal share...not seen them since

Had the usual not great food /service ones but nothing too bad.

However I am very picky with food in resturants after working in a few. I went to one a small foodie place in our local town.Had the best steak and chips I have ever had then and since then. So good in fact I bought them a card to say thank you for the excellent meal.
The next week our local paper gleefully reported Environmental Health had shut them down with immediate effect. They never reopened. I didn't know whether to be horrified or gutted.

Ask...waitress too interested in our colleague rather than serving. Left after one course but had to chase her down to pay for that one course as she never left her colleagues side (male). We left thirsty and hungry.

Theres another but chef got nasty about my honest review. Trip advisor got involved.

And then theres the one place where they served ear wax as a side order on your sandwiches and the one place that gave you food poisoning.

Saying that ive had much more amazing meals than bad meals.

Going back to the mid 80s there was a local restaurant which had an amazing reputation and which you had to book months in advance. A few friends and myself went one Saturday night and as a couple of us were dieting by that time for a holiday which we'd booked in the meantime, we looked for a salad option on the menu. We couldn't see any so asked the waitress if there was anything like a chicken salad available. She enquired in the kitchen and said that they couldn't do a chicken salad but would a green salad be okay. Us dieters ordered that and when it came out each consisted of just a few lettuce leaves (nothing fancy, just limp round lettuce leaves) and a few cucumber slices. It just looked like the salad side from a main course which another friend had ordered.
When the bill came we'd each been charged £12 (remember, this was over 30 years ago) for our green salads and was actually double what the main courses ordered had cost. We queried it and was told that it was because it wasn't on the menu. We refused to pay that amount saying we'd pay £5 each, we said that their charge was unreasonable, the manager intervened and threatened to call the police if we didn't pay in full. Being teenagers we caved and paid.

Ordered a veggie lasagne and my friend ordered the meat one. They both came out and we started eating but I realised immediately mine was meat. It was in a nice pub/restaurant, so I called the waiter over and explained that I'd been given the wrong meal. No drama, I wasn't aggressive or rude at all. He was fine, apologised and said he'd bring the right one out.

Next thing I know, the chef comes charging out of the kitchen, leans both fists on our table and says how dare I send my food back, there is no veggie lasagne on the menu (there was, it was on the special board over the bar), I am a liar and basically how dare I then stormed back to the kitchen. She was really aggressive and by the end of her rant, both my friend and I were just gobsmacked. I'm not at all a pushover but it was so unexpected that I just didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking and it was mortifying.

My friend got up and told the bar staff we were leaving and not paying, and they just nodded dumbly. I still think of it occasionally and think WTF.