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AIBU?

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Original poster

Multiple spelling mistakes on a menu

75 replies

Nøn · 21/09/2023 16:22

Do spelling mistakes on a restaurant menu bother you?

If you went to a nice brunch restaurant and were paying £17 for 'egs Royale' or £12 for a 'toasted chesse sandwich' or £5 for a 'croissant pasrty with canied lemon' would the spelling mistakes bother you more?

At this restaurant all of the owners and staff speak English as a first language, the menu writer did not use spellcheck before ordering hundreds of copies from the printing company.

YANBU - The spelling mistakes would bother me
YABU - I don't mind

OP posts:
TestingTestingWonTooFree · 21/09/2023 16:23

I’d wonder how good their attention to detail was on the food.

Notlaughingalot · 21/09/2023 16:24

If 100s of copies were ordered, the owners might have decided to leave the mistakes rather than paying for more.
It wouldn't bother me, I'm not eating the menu. If the food was awful then yes, I'd be bothered.

InYourHeadZombieeeaeaeaea · 21/09/2023 16:25

I made menus, English is not my first language. It's slacky and gives bad impression. Even language is not really an excuse with spell checks nowadays. Or possibility to ask someone

CartoonLlama · 21/09/2023 16:26

I would adjust my opinion of the restaurant slightly downwards, in the same way I would for presentation of other aspects of what they offer - decor, loos, service etc. So yes, it would reflect on their professionalism for me.

HangingByYourFingernails · 21/09/2023 16:27

I'd roll my eyes but I wouldn't be bothered exactly - it's very normal.

DappledOliveGroves · 21/09/2023 16:29

I'd judge and would be reluctant to eat there.

Isittimeformynapyet · 21/09/2023 16:29

I worked in a restaurant that had Eaten Mess on the menu, along with plenty of other typos and misspellings and it bothered me a lot.

I offered to proof read menus before printing but the chef was too proud to accept my offer and actually pissed off with me.

I think it shows a lack of attention to detail - not what I'm looking for in a restaurant.

My friends and I send each other photos of badly written menus so we can take the piss.

Devilsmommy · 21/09/2023 16:31

Yanbu I'm getting into proofreading as I'm always spotting mistakes in spelling and grammar and it drives me up the wall. If it was long hardly used words that's one thing, but eggs and cheese FFS 😆

SlippinJanie · 21/09/2023 16:32

I still say "secletion of suites" from a menu 30 years ago. It puts me right off.

Tintackedsea · 21/09/2023 16:34

I remember going to a wedding stationer and in their sample book they had the pudding listed as "chocolate mouse". Spelling mistakes can be a bit off putting.

InYourHeadZombieeeaeaeaea · 21/09/2023 16:35

Tintackedsea · 21/09/2023 16:34

I remember going to a wedding stationer and in their sample book they had the pudding listed as "chocolate mouse". Spelling mistakes can be a bit off putting.

Hold on. If it was chocolate shaped accordingly, that may have been correct spelling😂

morelippy · 21/09/2023 16:36

I wouldn't eat there

ILikeItWhatIsIt · 21/09/2023 16:36

Try ordering a 'toasted chesse sandwich' and see what they say lol

Isittimeformynapyet · 21/09/2023 16:37

Here's one...

Multiple spelling mistakes on a menu
Isittimeformynapyet · 21/09/2023 16:40

The menu above offers Dungenous crab but you can't see it on the thumbnail

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 21/09/2023 16:48

I find them amusing rather than irritating!

ScottBakula · 21/09/2023 16:55

Tintackedsea · 21/09/2023 16:34

I remember going to a wedding stationer and in their sample book they had the pudding listed as "chocolate mouse". Spelling mistakes can be a bit off putting.

I wonder if they got them from here 😄https://www.chocolate-lodge.co.uk/shop/chocolate-mice/

Rightthere · 21/09/2023 16:57

I think Dungeness crab would be worse.

Fine to an American (I looked it up) but to me Dungeness means the nuclear power station on the Kent coast, and I’d (completely unreasonably) be reluctant to eat something found in the water near there.

TheFifthTellytubby · 21/09/2023 17:02

I agree, and as a proofreader I find it doubly irritating! Hell - I eat out to get away from work...😁What really bugs me is when an establishment is making itself out to be a cut above, but ends up creating a very poor impression because of ignorant mistakes in the menu. A few years ago, a local, upwardly-mobile gastro pub, with prices to match, had a dessert menu that boasted the bizarre-looking "Chocolate gnash". 🙄😂

Topseyt123 · 21/09/2023 17:02

It would be very tempting to point out the spelling mistakes as I ordered.

luckylavender · 21/09/2023 17:07

Nøn · 21/09/2023 16:22

Do spelling mistakes on a restaurant menu bother you?

If you went to a nice brunch restaurant and were paying £17 for 'egs Royale' or £12 for a 'toasted chesse sandwich' or £5 for a 'croissant pasrty with canied lemon' would the spelling mistakes bother you more?

At this restaurant all of the owners and staff speak English as a first language, the menu writer did not use spellcheck before ordering hundreds of copies from the printing company.

YANBU - The spelling mistakes would bother me
YABU - I don't mind

They're not really spelling mistakes are they, more typos? Poor attention to detail though.

DilemmaDelilah · 21/09/2023 17:07

I'm with @DappledOliveGroves and everyone else who said they would judge and think twice about going there. Surely people who have trouble with spelling and grammar know that? So why on earth wouldn't they get their menus proof-read!
I see badly written menus, price lists etc. for new businesses in my area on facebook frequently and cringe every time I see them. I would read through them and make suggestions for correction for free if wanted! I daren't offer though as people get so offended....

Chersfrozenface · 21/09/2023 17:15

TheFifthTellytubby · 21/09/2023 17:02

I agree, and as a proofreader I find it doubly irritating! Hell - I eat out to get away from work...😁What really bugs me is when an establishment is making itself out to be a cut above, but ends up creating a very poor impression because of ignorant mistakes in the menu. A few years ago, a local, upwardly-mobile gastro pub, with prices to match, had a dessert menu that boasted the bizarre-looking "Chocolate gnash". 🙄😂

Oh, yes, the places whose owners / staff think they're superior...

Like the boutique in a naice part of our city where we plebs were looked down on and followed round if we dared to go in. And which had a hat in the window, on sale, labelled "Berry £50".

Shopper727 · 21/09/2023 17:22

It’s off putting tbh
i think too if someone has written out a menu getting someone to check it before it’s copied is a good idea, generally someone who can spell though. As someone who is dyslexic I don’t always know if something is incorrect, however I’m not arrogant enough to just assume I am right and plough on. If you’re running a business attention to detail is important, you want people to have a good impression of you/your business?

EliosBackPack · 21/09/2023 17:29

Couldn’t be botherered if I liked the food. Bigger things in life to worry about.