I was thrown out of my own restaurant! Years ago, I was the Vice President and major stockholder of a 45 unit chain of Mexican dinner houses. (not a taco stand)We were opening new restaurants with about 4 new units a year. The new staff would be trained at the home office, then the new place would open with experienced staff. I had been out of town for a couple of months, so I wasn't known to the staff. I was driving through Fresno California one afternoon, and decided to check out my newest unit. Mid afternoon, dead, no customers. I ordered guacamole and ice tea. (I'm dressed in shorts and tshirt, tennis shoes, I don't look like anyone special) The guac was nothing like the recipe. I explained to the waitress that this is not like what I get in LA. (I'm not telling them I'm the owner) She was snotty, so I asked for the manager. He took around 20 minutes to come to my table, even though the place was empty and he was joking around in the bar. Instead of introducing himself and asking how he could help, he simply walked over to me and said "What's the problem?" I explained to him my concerns. He told me that the waitress said it was the same as in LA, and that he didn't appreciate getting his staff upset and demanding to see him as he was busy with issues more important than me. So he grabbed the guac and my tea and told me to leave. I calmly said no. He threatened to call the police and have me arrested. I told him to be my guest. I also told him the number was 911, not to waste any time looking it up. This is the first time I was at all rude or snarky. He flipped me off! Here come the police. They spoke for a moment and the police paid me a visit. They explained that he had asked me to leave and I hadn't, which I agreed was correct. They said they would ask me to leave and if I refused, then they would arrest me. At that point, I produced my ID (I'm a Reserve Deputy Sheriff). I also gave them my business card, which got them really amused. At that point, I told them that they should remove the manager from the premises with all due speed, as he has just been fired! The guac is my recipe, I should know it well! The restaurant business is a shit show in a dumpster fire. Controlled mayhem. It owns you. Consistency and quality control are a full time job. Everyone tries to change your recipes. Then they treat your customers like garbage. If that's not enough, the kitchen staff is always stealing your food. And the bartender is a crook. I feel your frustration with this waitress. I would have canned her for lying. The manager would go the same way. The customer is king. Period.

Back when cell phones were a rare novelty I had one gotten one due to a long commute on lightly traveled roads. One evening my wife and I went to a chain who is famous for their "open Kitchen" . There was a short wait for a table and we were seated. One half hour later we still had not been waited on so I called the restaurant from our table and watched as the hostess picked up the phone. I asked what was the wait time after being seated, her reply was immediately. I then told her I was calling from in the restaurant and had been waiting for 30 minutes after having been seated. She told me I couldn't be calling from inside the restaurant as their pay phone was broken. I proceeded to describe her and what she was wearing. While doing that a manager approached her and I heard her say there is a pervert on the phone. He told her to hang up. We waited another ten minutes then got up to leave. As we walked by her she said please come back. I held up my cell phone and said I'm the pervert who called because we were never waited on, doubt we'll be back.

Bad experience turned great! Read to the end! I went to an Outback Steakhouse with my family and ordered a sirloin cooked medium. When I got it it was literally raw on the inside. Raw and chewy and quite cold. I cut it in half and started looking at it in amazement and the manager just happened to be walking by (I had no idea he was the manager at the time). He stopped and looked down at it and didn't even ask if something was wrong with it because it was hilariously obvious that it was too raw to eat. He immediately offered to replace it which I accepted. I got the new steak and it was cooked to perfection (as it usually is at Outback!). When my family got the bill he presented it himself with an apology and the total was $0.00 for the whole table and he even covered the tip! I never raised a fuss or anything. He just did it because he knew they had messed up and he wanted to do the only thing in his power to fix it. I was very impressed with Outback that day and have been a happy customer ever since!

Years ago several friends had highly recommended a restaurant. The next time we were in northern Indiana, we went there. They were right, the food was wonderful. As part of the meal, they served a small loaf of bread on a little cutting board so you slice off whatever pieces you wanted. The bread was also very good. When we finished eating, we asked the waitress for a container so we could take home the left over bread. She said, "You can't do that because we need it for tomorrow's meatloaf".

Maybe it was freshly caught Arctic Lasagna?

Hooters illegally towed my brothers car,our friend who was with us,sued them. They never showed up in court,so we had an easy win. Then they refused to pay. Then my friend went their with the sheriff and took the money from the cash register. That was a lot of fun.

"You're not allowed to punch strangers in public." I knew I would get some good law advice on this channel!

My family has been in the restaurant business for generations. As a promotion we were serving spaghetti for 25 cents a plate. A guy comes in, orders the spaghetti, eats it and leaves. He comes back a couple hours later and orders another plate, eats it then wants his money back (25 cents) saying it wasn’t any good, in fact terrible. My nephew who was managing that day said to the man that he was here earlier and ate the spaghetti, ate it all and thin ordered it again and ate it all. The man said it was so bad the first time he came back to see if it was as bad as he thought. My nephew threw him out.

My brother, a computer engineer, told me a good one. He went to lunch with co-workers at a local place. Two, including my brother, ordered the soup, one a cup, the other a bowl. They noticed that in spite of the different size of each vessel, the quantity of soup appeared to be the same. There was a $2.00 difference in price. Calculators whipped out, measurements were taken and surprise, the volume of the liquid for cup and bowl were identical. The server was called and this was pointed out to her. "What are you guys, engineers or sumthin?"

As a restauranteur I have a reverse one (bad customer). My family owns and operates a pizzeria in a economically depressed area. We have been in business 40 years at the same location. This guy orders a sheet pizza (18"x26) with 5 toppings (about $45). He comes in to pick it up. We open the pizza box to show him. This ensures the customer likes the coloring and confirms all the toppings they ordered are on the pizza. This guy says its good to go. I watch him bring the pizza out to the car and open the back door of his sedan and set the pizza in the car. 15 minutes goes by and he's still standing there. At the 20 minutes mark he walks back into the store with the pizza. He says there was pubic hair on 3 slices and he knew exactly which 3 slices. Sure enough they were right on top of the slices. He wants another pizza and his money back. At the same time my Dad calls me on the intercom system and tells he was watching this guy on our CCTV system. He saw the guy waiting till the cars next to him left then he reached into his pants and sprinkled something onto the pizza. Knowing this I grab a glove and zip lock bag. I remove the 3 slices from the pizza and place it in the bag. I offer to give him 3 slices to replace it. I then explained that I would need a hair sample from him. I told him any time we get s complaint about hair in the food we send it out for DNA analysis. If it was his hair he would be responsible for the testing cost and owe us for the pizza times 3. After hearing this he grabs the pizza and runs out the door. 3 days go by and I get a call from this guy. He doesn't know who I am(we marked his number and name in our system) he says he came in a few days ago a d ordered a pizza and when he got home he found hair on it and wanted to know what I was going to do for him. I then said in a polite voice "oh is this Mr. Smith with the black caddy?" He somewhat surprised said yes. I then explained we saw what he did and asked if he would like a copy of the video. He replied with, so you're not going to do anything for me?

As you were telling the lasagna story I kept thinking, "This parrot is dead, this parrot is no more."

Not a restaurant story but a grocery store story, specifically the fish counter. I went to buy what was labeled "fresh shrimp" from the fish counter of a local grocery store. I needed 2 pounds of the giant extra large shrimp to make kebabs for a party. They only had about a pound in the display case. The guy behind the counter said "Just grab 2 of those 1 pound bags out of the frozen food section they are exactly the same, we just defrost those bags and put them in the display case and charge $2 more a pound". I give him kiddos for honesty.

Several years ago, myself and several co-workers went to a local chain-type restaurant for lunch. I ordered a BLT. in due time the sandwich arrived. I picked it up and was about to bite into it when I SAW SOMETHING MOVE. I put the sandwich down and peeled back the bread. There, calmly munching on the lettuce, was a green worm/caterpillar/bug. I put the bread back and waited for the waitress to make her "how's your lunch/food" rounds. Which she did. Each of my co-workers answered positively as to their meal. At this time she sees that my sandwich had not been touched, and she inquired as to the sandwich. To which I peeled back the bread to reveal the insect lunching on my lunch. The look on her face-pure horror. I did not think eyes could open that wide, and she let out a very audible gasp. She apologized profusely and took the sandwich away, and returned with a new one. So, now it time to settle-up. She gives each of my co-workers their bill. When she got to me, she says "no charge--you had a bug in your food" and apologized again. Gave her a nice tip anyway--the bug was not her fault, and she never tried to weasel out of the restaurants responsibility.

Magnetron of the microwave was broken. They thought they were heating it but didn’t think to check it had actually warmed up. Also explains why they attempted to reserve you the same piece and it was still frozen.

Him: "I went to an Italian restaurant, I'm not gonna name it because it's still in business..." Me: "Hm, it's probably Olive Garden." Him: "Oh, and it's not Olive Garden." Me: "Well there goes that theory."

I went to a Wendy’s a few years ago. It was a Friday or Saturday, and it was late in the evening. Only the drive through was open. I ordered a meal, burger, no tomato , fries, Coke, and pulled forward to the window. The all teenage crew that I could observe were laughing, cutting up, and doing everything but Wendy-work. After about four or five minutes, I got my sack-o-food and drink, and pulled away. My first bite told me something was wrong. The burger had tomato on it, (I hate tomatoes). But my biggest complaint was that there was no meat or cheese. I wheeled back around the store, fuming. Got to the window, trying to contain my anger, and told the boy at the window my/their problem. Long story short, he told me that having no meat was impossible. I told him to look, he did, then told me I must have removed the two patties and eaten them. He was so rude, I dared not ask for a replacement meal, lest the new burger come with saliva or worse. I left, and came back the next day to speak with an adult manager. He told me the late crew had a drug problem, and as soon as he could train new help, they would all be fired. I got my money back, a free meal, and a handful of free food coupons.

Lasagna story reminds me of a few years ago when I went with a few friends to a local burger restaurant. They brand themselves as a place that serves "real" burgers, not fast food. Heavy wooden tables, green board, oversized Tabasco bottles, the whole show. I rarely eat outside so I'm never familiar with the current fads, so I was surprised when all my friends are discussing what doneness they like their burger at. I never heard of doneness for burgers before. Waitress comes to our table. One friend asks for a medium rare, another two ask for a medium. I laugh at them saying "dude this isn't steak". At this point I'm already the asshole and it's only going to go downhill. Waitress takes all of their orders dutifully, turns to me, I order a burger without mentioning doneness. She asks me how I'd like it, and I say "whatever is most convenient for your chef". She insists she has to write something down, so I ask for a "well done" out of the assumption they can't fuck that up without realizing it before it gets on my plate. Everyone look at me like I'm some unwashed peasant. Order comes in. Friend who ordered medium rare gets a medium well, friend who orders a medium gets a medium rare, other friend who orders a medium gets a patty that's still frozen at its core. I get a medium well. Two friends switch burgers knocking a drink over just as the waitress comes by to ask how we're doing. Everyone complain, and one friend asks for reheat. Waitress finally turns to me, the troublemaker, asks me if I'm good. I say I didn't get what I ordered but I got what I hoped for.

😂😂😂 “Here’s the thing: You’re not allowed to punch strangers in public.” - I had to pause the video, because I was laughing out loud...! 😄😄

I went to an ihop years ago and ordered a brownie Sunday. The waiter brought me a Sunday with no brownie and when I pointed it out to him he told me the brownie Sunday did not come with a brownie and the name was just to suggest it would taste like a brownie Sunday. That was the first day I became a karen and spoke to the manager

Q: "What do you want me to do with it?" A: "Eat it, right now, in front of us."

talk about good manager's. when I was single in the 1960's I went to a local steak house chain. ordered a steak, went through the line and ten started to pay and discovered I did not have my Bill fold so told the manager i would have to return as I had forgot my billfold. He said go ahead and take you dinner and pay the next time. Needless to say I often went to that same steak house for a couple of years just because a good manager trusted me. congrats Sizzler

I was buddies with a cysco food delivery driver, he knew all the scams the eateries pulled. 1st up: "Grandma's lasagna recipe from the old country." He delivered Stouffer's. 2nd up " Home made lemonade." He delivered Country Time. Lastly, "We bake our pies from scratch." He delivered Mrs. Smith's pies.

Oh, I've had MUCH worse experiences in restaurants, Steve. I'll detail the two worst ones: Incident #1: Circa 1990, I noticed a new Italian restaurant in Tustin, California. So I stopped in and ordered "spaghetti marinara, garlic toast, and a glass of milk". After keeping me waiting about 50 minutes, the waiter finally brought my food. He served me what LOOKED, at least on first glance, like what I'd ordered. But on closer inspection, the "garlic toast" was a moldy dinner roll, and the "milk" was a glass of curds & whey. The bread was gross so I didn't even touch it. Same with the "milk"; it was so obviously rotten I didn't even sip it. I nibbled on the "spaghetti" and found that it was hot, vinegar-soaked shredded boiled cabbage (basically sauerkraut) with ketchup on top. It was as if the cook had never eaten, much less prepared, Italian food and was just going by pictures. The result was disgusting and inedible. So paid the bill and walked out, leaving the food uneaten. (I was in no mood for a fight, and with food THAT bad, how does one even BEGIN to explain how to do it right?) A week later, as I was driving by the same restaurant on my bike, I looked in and noticed that all of the tables and chairs were gone, the door was boarded up, and there was an "out of business" sign in the window. Gee, I wonder why? Incident #2: In November 2019, I stopped by Taqueria Mexico at 14022 Springdale St, Westminster, CA 92683 for a bit to eat. I ordered a "lengua quesadilla". There's NO way to screw-up that order. It only has 3 ingredients: tortilla, cheese, and beef tongue. Well, they managed to screw-up that order ANYWAY. When the person at the counter called my number, I picked up the quesadilla from the counter and took it to my table. The tortilla was flour and heavily scorched with big black marks on it, and between the black marks it was grey and greasy. The cheese inside was also grey, and stank strongly of ammonia. Not promising. I nibbled on this dubious piece of "food", actually swallowing 3 small bites of it (bad mistake!), but the flavor was disgusting and nauseating, and the meat left a bitter metallic aftertaste in my mouth. After those first 3 small bites, I couldn't eat it, it was too disgusting. So I ended up just walking out and leaving 95% of the rotten quesadilla sitting on the table uneaten. (I considered complaining to the management, but it was late and I was tired and I wouldn't even know how to BEGIN explaining to a night manager just how bad that food actually was. I preferred to waste $7 than get into that verbal fight.) Starting about 2 hours later and lasting 5 hours, I suffered nausea and abdominal pain and repeatedly belched-up gas reeking of rotten cheese and meat. So I went to the "food-borne illness report" web site for my county and filed a written report on the incident, in which I recommended that they send the Health Department out to inspect the place, with emphasis on food expiration dates, food storage temperatures, food handling, and cleanliness of preparation and cooking surfaces and utensils (those being the most likely causes of the rotten food, in my estimation). So, there you have the worst two restaurant experiences of my life, that I can remember.

Being a kitchen manager for years, every time I went to another company I would take over a mess. Ranch made on site theat just kept getting topped off instead of a new pan (leaving weeks old and SOUR ranch on the bottom. ) Mold on all the walkin shelves 2 inches of grease and old food underneath the grill Mold in the ice machine Food not rotated or thrown out when old I couldn't believe how bad a lot of kitchens are. But I ran mine (after replacing staff and sanitized every literal inch) extremely clean and outstanding food quality. After retiring, I rarely go out to eat anymore.

I ran a restaurant for 32 years while also working as a Deputy Probation Officer during much of that time. I kept myself very busy. I worked in the juvenile division and would give many of the kids job opportunities at the restaurant. It was a franchised restaurant and our policy was to do whatever it took to make the customer happy. If someone's meal was not satisfactory I would personally see the order through to make sure the problem was corrected the first time and would not charge them for the meal to help make up for the inconvenience the customer was put through. If a customer took a meal home and called back to say it was not correct, we would take their word for it and re-make and refund, mail out a coupon for the next meal free, whatever the customer wanted. I'm sure we were taken advantage of sometimes but that is just a cost of doing business. That type of customer service paid off as the restaurant was very successful.

What drives me crazy is there are so many scammers who complain to get a free meal, that customers with a legitimate complaint get lumped in with them. Feel better now.

I was at a Burger King. I placed my order I was the only customer there. I paid for my order. The lady hands me my cup and my receipt, tells me it'll be out in a few minutes. I feel my drink cup, sit down at a table. I wasn't in a big hurry and I was watching traffic passed by. I don't remember falling asleep, the lady who took my order wakes me up and asks me what am I doing there. Threatens to call the cops for trespassing. I hand her my receipt, I found out I took a 2-hour nap waiting for my food. That she completely forgot about my order and deleted it. They gave me my money back, gave me my food and a coupon for a free meal.

My wife and I went to a St Louis resteraunt known for their pies one night. It was during a very stormy night and we were glad to get out of the rain. The hostess seated us at a table in the middle of the resteraunt. We ordered our food and placed an additional order for pies to be taken home. They delivered our food and just as we started to eat. Literally I had just put my fork in the food when the entire ceiling fell ontop of us along with several gallons of water. Thank goodness it was only the drop ceiling part that collapsed but you would not believe the amount of water those things can support. So now we are both drenched with wet particle board pieces stuck to us. The resteraunt's first response was to try and get us to sign a release. They offered to not charge us for any of the nasty water soaked food. It wasn't until we argued with them that they should be happy giving us free food and pay for our dry cleaning that they agreed. When we were about to leave after having to dried off as best we could with a handful of napkins, that they brought our pie to go order to us. They then proceeded to try and charge us for them. I don't know if they realized how lucky they were that we were not the type of people to sue them silly.

I stopped at a restaurant in Dayton, Ohio one night (business trip) and was seated promptly. I waited for 15 minutes before someone acknowledged my presence. This waiter had been seated at the table next to me talking to his buddies. The service continued at this same deplorable level through the meal. It took me 1-1/2 hours to complete my meal that took me all of 10 minutes to actually eat. I paid with a credit card, tipped him $0.01 and signed it "Lousy Service". On the way out the manager asked me how my meal was. I just told him to take a look at the tips on the credit card receipts to see how I enjoyed the service.

As a 10 year veteran of the restaurant business, I got lots of stories. Stupid things customers say and do, pranks on fellow employees, things my boss said was ok to do like training customers how to tip and many more. But one of my favorite is when I was a manager and the only one in the front of the house on a slow afternoon... To keep it short, gentleman came in, asked to sit next to the window and I obliged him. He ordered the Grilled Chicken Salad. I explained to him it’s not your normal salad. It had artichoke hearts and other ingredients I don’t remember right now. He said it sounded good and I had the chef serve one up. Have it to the customer and checked on him several times. He assured me it was delicious and ate the whole thing. When I delivered to him the check he asked to see a manager. I inquired of him to tell my why. He said he didn’t like the salad. I reminded him he told me three times it was good. He still insisted on seeing the manager. I then told him I was the manager. I repeated to him that he had expressed satisfaction multiple times and that he ate the entire salad. He then demanded to speak to the owner. I told him I would be happy to let him but the owner won’t even answer my phone calls in a timely manner when I need to speak to him about something that was actually important to him. Which was very true. I told him there was nothing I could do for him and that I would return shortly to collect payment. I started to turn around to walk away but stopped and said, “Oh, by the way, we had cameras installed for weekend nights when we had bands and stayed open until 2 am.” While a pointed out a couple. Then walked away. When I returned you could see cash sticking out of the bill book. He said the rest was for me. I said, “Thank you sir, you have a nice day.” I was expecting only change from the excess of rounding up to the next dollar. I was shockingly and pleasantly surprised to discover a 50% tip from a $15 check. Who would’ve guessed?!

Not a restaurant but my high school cafeteria back in late 1950s. I saw one of the students stick a fork straight down into a plate of spaghetti and he lifted the entire pile of spaghetti straight up with no sag leaving the plate clean. Another time, same cafeteria, I noticed that they were serving some kind of greens. The school was brand new and I believe it was the first year it was open. I looked out the window and noticed that the tall weeds that had been there were gone. Coincidence? By the way, I brought my own lunch and never ate the cafeteria meals.

Words of wisdom for those that don't know. When your food comes out wrong, either take it the way it is or refuse it. Do not send it back and accept another order. NEVER antagonize the people that prepare your food. Your're better of going hungry until you can get something somewhere else.

Reminds me of Monty Python's dead parrot sketch. 'e's not dead 'e's resting. Perhaps you lasanga was pinin' for the fjords.

A friend of mine stood up in a restaurant and asked in a loud voice, "why did you cook the chips in motor oil" and the manager came over and said, "we only use fully synthetic"

about 3 years ago there seemed to be a new fad in Orange County California. In two stores, I was given change in dollars which meant that they took less money than I owed them. Say I owed them $3.26 and I gave them a $5. They would give me $2 change. When I would point out the change was too much they would say, "Oh, I don't do change." Ok, they reduced the price of the item and took $0.26 right off the bottom line. I then went to a restaurant and the server owed me say $3.26 as my change. They gave me $3 back and I thought they might have dropped the change on the way to my table. When I next saw the server I commented that the change was missing. Again I was told "Oh, I don't do change." But, this time they were taking my money. I looked at her for a few seconds, thinking of my replay and said "Oh, I don't do tips." And, left.

I would have said bring me another piece of Lasagna but leave this one here until the new one comes out, then you can take this one.

Not a restaurant story, but was once in a bakery. Customer asks the lady behind the counter for one dozen mixed donuts. The lady behind the counter replies "What do you want me to mix them with?" Great stuff.

Years ago my wife and I took our foster child to a restaurant, and I ordered a steak. I order my steaks rare. It was spoiled, spoiled so badly it smelled and I sent it back after cutting it. They sent out another one, which was even worse than the first. I refused to eat it, and refused to pay for it. The manager came out and tried to get me to pay for it, so I showed him the piece, and asked if he would cut off a piece and try to eat it. Only then, with other people watching from adjacent tables did he decide I didn't need to pay for it. It is a national chain that presently is in severe decline. I will never enter another one of their restaurants.

Steve, the lasagna story was hilarious!😂

I’m going to preface this story with the fact that I’m legally blind. Some 1214 years ago, my dad and I went to a popular restaurant chain that has waitresses dressed in white shirts and orange booty shorts. We sit down, order drinks, and we’re looking over the menu. I’m using a magnifying glass to read what’s what and decide on which burger I’d like. This girl comes up and without warning, says, “Are you blind or something?” Her tone is what irritated me. “As a matter of fact, I’m legally blind. That’s why I’m using a magnifying glass.” No apology. Just takes our order and leaves. Normally, I get defensive. This time I didn’t. I was stunned, yes. Thought it over. Food was delivered. When she came back to ask how the food was, I asked to speak to the manager. She asked if everything was okay, which it was, I said I was a friend (I had no idea who this guy was) and just wanted to say Hi. Told him what happened. Said, “Now, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, and please don’t make her come out here and apologize because I’ll know she’s only doing it because you told her to. But there’s certain things you just DON’T say to people. That is one of them. Her delivery was awful. I’m not upset, but if she did that to the wrong person, that could cost you business. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation. I thought it was pretty rude. Especially when she didn’t apologize for making herself look stupid.” Dude was really cool about it. Said he would most certainly be having a conversation with her. (Didn’t expect this at all) she brings our check, the whole meal is comped. She’s just as surprised. We just left. No tip. The service wasn’t the issue and I have no doubt that the manager talked to her. I just hope that if she’s still in the food industry, she learned to have a little bit more tact when engaging with customers.

I worked for a restaurant "They have been out of business for years" That would mix 5 gallons of water to 2 teaspoons of chlorine bleach, and we would soak the lettuce in it for 20 minutes. This would prevent the lettuce from going brown after 30 minutes at the salad bar.

I know that feeling Steve had, getting the same plate you sent back set in front of you again. I was with a large group trying out a new family owned neighborhood restaurant. I sent a burger & fries back because a long black hair was in the fries. The waitress claimed that she would have the order redone and bring it back. When she returned I looked at the fries carefully and found the same hair had only been buried under the fries! I said that if they had removed the hair and sent the plate back I likely would not have been able to tell, but now I could never trust them again. My friends and I said we were leaving. The resurant closed soon after.

2 to 3 years without eating McDonald.... It took me 20 after I started to see a trend of stomach cramps. First thing I noticed 20 years later was how much their Big Mac shrunk. I haven't eaten there since.

Two friends and I ordered two large pizzas from a Domino's while staying at a hotel. When the pizzas came my one friend and I took slices from one of pizza and my other friend went for the other pizza. He suddenly exclaimed "what the hell" and pulled a mat of hair out from under the topping. It lookes as somebody had scraped it off a shower drain or something, it was about 1/3 the size of the pizza. When my friend called Domino's they told him it must of been from the mushrooms that came on the pizza! When the delivery driver came to take back the pizzas he had an attitude about it so we asked for our very generous tip back too.

Thinking the Italian rest. was probably a Carrabba's . No matter that story was Hilarious, your friends must have been rolling on the floor with laughter. Great vid.

"You're not allowed to punch strangers in public. Turns out they have laws against that." LOL

I was rolling laughing about the lasagna story. I want to thank you for taking the time to make videos that are both informative and entertaining.

My brother was at a restaurant once (also Bennigan's I think) where they got the bill before they had even ordered.

I once ordered nachos at a chain restaurant who is Very Happy that it's Friday. They came to the table charred black. Charcoal. I sent it back. It returned 10 minutes later, with a pile of shredded cheese on top, melted to cover the soot.

Should have asked for the Waitress's hand, dug out the ice cube in the middle of your lasagna, placed it in her hand and asked "Does that feel frozen to you"?

I was once at a certain Italian restaurant having dinner in one of the little cubbies with my wife. I too had ordered the lasagna. When I started eating, I bit down on something hard and crunched, it hurt. I spit it into a napkin and it was a glass shard. I was livid thinking of what would have happened if I swallowed that. I remained calm as well, but I had to leave our cubby (the curtains hid us) and get a server. The manger came over and explained, "A glass pan we took out of the oven exploded on the cooling rack. WE THOUGHT WE'D GOTTEN ALL THE GLASS OUT OF THE OTHER FOOD ON THE RACK." He said he was sorry and would be happy to check our food again. Neither of us ate beyond that first bite we'd already taken. I can't remember if they made us pay for the meal or not, but we left.

Ordered a chicken cordon blue sandwich special to go at a local deli I frequented for lunch. Got it back to work and found they left the chicken cutlet out of the sandwich. Called the shop and they said, "Oh that was you. We realized too late but didn't know who ordered it" They agreed to take care of it and asked if I wanted the whole thing. It included steak fries which I already ate while still hot so I said no. I drive back to the deli and the owner hands me just the missing chicken patty in a foil pack so I can bring it back to my shop and put it into my now 15 minute old soggy bun. I don't eat there anymore.

I had a friend who was a "Cook" at Red Lobster. He says everything comes in a bag and gets microwaved. I also have a thing about the bathrooms. They reflect what the kitchen looks like. When I was in Marines, we stayed and cleaned after all meals when on mess duty. You know the kitchen crew is out the back door in a heart beat when done with their shif. I'm also a big fan of Yelp and the reviews that are posted. I stay away from chains.

I am late to the Lehtos Law party so I am watching old videos. I had a great restaurant experience just a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know about other towns, but in mine all fast food has long lines. I made the mistake of going to Wendy’s. I was online for 20 minutes. When I get to the speaker they announce they only accept cash. I really don’t carry cash so I was out of luck. But I said hey, you should put a sign out so people don’t have to wait 20 minutes. The response “that’s not my problem” I went embarrassingly ballistic.

I have "Walked a Ticket" once in my life.(Not paid for a restaurant meal ... Some call it "Dine and Dash") A friend asked me to double with his GF and her cousin who was visiting. We went to a chain "Steak House" that was more pricey than good. 4 diners, drinks and 2 desserts. This was in the early 80's so the ticket was about $400 (a lot of money for a couple of working stiffs but my friend was buying). When we finished, my friend tried to hand the server the ticket and payment. The server told him he had to pay at the counter, which was in the entry. The four of us go out to the entry and stand there talking. And talking and talking. By this time, we're talking about how long it's taking someone to come and take payment. Finally my friend tells me to take the girls and go warm up the car. About the time the heater warms up (at least 5 min), my friend comes out the front door gets in the car and we drive away. About the time we got to the nightclub across town, my friend says "I wonder if they realized we walked the ticket". They never came after at least a 25 min wait just to pay out even though our server was told we were leaving when he tried to pay.

- "SO?!" - "So I'M ON AIR sitting in front of the microphone of a radio station NAUSEATED from YOUR JUNK." [brief pause] "DO YOU WANT TO RECONSIDER YOUR ANSWER?"

Ordered a side of guacamole from a family-run Mexican restaurant, and it was spoiled. I told the waitress, she apologized and took it away. Check comes and the $6 charge for the guac is still on the bill. I asked her to remove the charge and she was stunned that I didn't want to pay for it. Fine, whatever, so I reduced her tip by $6. They were out of business a short while later.

My story: I went to a national chain steak restaurant. The server asked how I wanted my steak cooked. I don't know why they bother to ask as it always comes out the same, regardless. ...but I requested medium rare. As expected, it came out well done. I don't dare send anything back, because I fear revenge from the kitchen. Eventually, the server came by and asked "how's everything" I said, "I know you can't uncook a steak, so I don't want to send this back, but you know I requested medium rare, and look how it was cooked." The server looked at it and insisted over my objections that I must send it back. I very hesitantly gave in. My replacement, was browned on the surface and frozen in the center. When the server came by again, to inquire, I said "it's fine, thank you." I didn't want to return it in the first place. I have nightmares of what kitchen staff might do to returned food, and I wasn't going to risk it a second time.

I will just say this, first so that you understand my very first job and my job for several years was in a very nice restaurant as a busser and waiter later. I am now a firefighter and fire inspector. After doing many fire inspections in restaurants I have a rule, I will not do an inspection in any restaurant that I like to eat it. I have found that if I do I will probably never eat there again after seeing their kitchen.

I have worked at several chain restaurants like the one you describe. I waitressed. I will say with all honesty that i believed that we were serving fresh food until I made friends with one of the long time kitchen staff. He told me that not only do they serve previously frozen food that is usually delivered and just cooked before service, but that waitstaff is kept in the dark so as to seem sincere since that is what they believe. He said that they are told to lie and keep this from the waitstaff. It made sense because there was only a small area of the kitchen the waitresses were even allowed to go. So your waitress more than likely did not know that your lasagne was frozen. So I am glad you did not punch her.

Not about food but similar. A boy misbehaves badly on the school bus. The mother is asked to come in and discuss the issue with the principal etc. The mother says "my son is a good boy, he would not do ...what you say he did" The principal tells the mom, we have it on the film from the bus. They play it, the mom says that looks like my son, but he would never do that. They play the film again, same answer from the mom. It looks like my son but he would never do that. This happened in Mass. approx. 25 years ago, the early days of cameras on school busses. A true story. Some people can't handle the truth! I enjoy your shows.

A few years ago, my nephew and I went to Texas Roadhouse. We both ordered drinks and meals. He got his and I got nothing even though I kept asking. When the bill came, both drinks and meals are onthere. The waitress argued that I had eaten but said she'd get the manager. Before the manager came out, two local police officers came to talk with me about dine and dash. I pointed to the security camera above my table and suggested that they review the video. The manager refused at first but then led them to the back. A few minutes later, the police apologised for bothering me, the manager comped both meals, and the waitress called me a son of a bitch for not tipping.

I was about 18, I worked at the local hospital night shift. One Friday I called for a pizza to be delivered to my floor. I chose the specific pizza company because I worked there a couple of years before and had never had any issues. So the pizza gets there, I and a nurse or two grab a slice and start eating. I was talking as I was eating and quickly glanced down at the pizza as I took a bite and chewed it. Then something in my mind clicked that what I had originally thought was a piece of herb or something had legs. So I spit out whatever was left in my mouth and peeled back the topping to discover half of a cockroach. All I could do is puke at that point. I grabbed the trash can and puked and was crying and finally when things calmed down the nurses asked me what had happened and I told them. I don't think they believed me and they started laughing. I called the pizza store and tried to tell them what happened but started puking again. The nurses got on the phone and spoke with them and they offered to replace the pizza with a couple of free pizza's and all I could do is shake my head no. The nurses said to bring them on over so they did. They also explained that they had just sprayed because of a bug problem... I am 60 now, it's been almost 40 years and that still turns my stomach when I think of it.

I went to a restaurant, ordered a Pizza and waited a long time for it and then asked when it might be done... well this very uncrowded restaurant had lost my order. So they said why don't you take this Pizza. It's a little different but it's ready. Fine, I take it. In comes a customer who has ordered a Pizza by phone and asks for his Pizza. The guy behind the counter points at me and says " He took it!"

"The good news is they're out of businesses so who cares" had a good laugh when you said this.

Years ago I worked for Chuck Muer and then for Matt Prentice. Their policy was, first apologize then give them whatever they want and send a manager over ASAP. Making the customer happy was the most important thing. Without happy customers you don't have a business. As Matt used to say "Customer satisfaction no matter the cost."

MANAGER: What would you like me to do? YOU: I'd like to see you eat this frozen lasagna. If you can do it, I'll pay for it. If you can't, the whole table walks out without paying a penny, and you can bring that piece of frozen lasagna out to someone else.

When my son was young he would not eat beef. 20 years later he is still not a fan. He did love to play, in the hardly every cleaned, Play Place "The balls". We would order him a cheese burger with out the burger, AKA a cheese burger. Most would accommodate, even try to figure out how not to charge for the meat. We did have one manager once argue it could not be done because they did not give him a minus burger button. We explained it had on been many times. "Then put the burger on my burger" I can't do that I would have to charge you for the EXTRA Burger. So much for our education system? He new how to push my button.

Once years ago a couple of friends and I were riding our bikes up the coast of California. We stopped in a restaurant in Solvang California for breakfast. There was a line waiting for breakfast so when it was our turn we asked to be seated in the non smoking section of the restaurant. A few minutes later they asked if we would be willing to switch to the smoking section as they had an older couple with breathing problems that needed to be in the non smoking section, so we said sure. They moved us and then ignored us. We kept on asking for a server and everyone of them said we were sitting at someone else's table. Finally we got tired of this and started serving ourselves, we got out own coffee and milk, we ate every cracker off of every table in the restaurant, we finally got ourselves our own pie. We were trying to be obnoxious on purpose hoping that eventually a manager would come and talk to us. Finally after about an hour of taking up one of the larger tables while they had a line out the door. We got up and left, we walked right by the cashier and out the door without a word from anyone. We never did figured out why.

Your frozen lasagna video was hilarious. You’re so expressive with all your emotions it’s great!

I’m a serial big tipper. I was a waiter in my teens for a year, as a result of that experience I’m the guy servers love to see coming in the door. So, one time in my life I had service soooo bad I took the customary amount in cash and tore the bills into small pieces and left it on the table. I was simply reflecting back the passive aggressive rage I received from my server/chef/manager.

Went to an expensive steakhouse for Xmas. Dad asks for medium rare, gets a medium well. If you don’t eat steak you may not think it’s a big deal but it is. Asks them to remake that he can’t eat that. They make a new steak that was so rare you couldn’t even call it blue rare. He at the corners which were most cooked and when the server came back she even said “o my god would you like me to take it back.” Dad said no I’ll take it home and finish cooking it myself.

Steve, I've gotta say you are so hard to please. You want your food cooked? Really?

I went to winston tires way back ! This clown comes over and says I need shocks. I say ok put them on. So he tells boy to put them on. Then a few minutes later he says do you want to know what it cost ? I said nope they are winston life time warranty shocks. OH ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY WERE FINE !!!

Sounds like the microwave was broken. Reminds me of when a waitress told Gordon Ramsey everything is cooked by chef Mike. Take me to chef Mike. She points to the microwave. lol

And now you know why they are out of business!!! Long ago I learned do not deal with the server if they cannot understand it the first time it is explained to them. Ate at a steak house and when the food arrived something smelled off. I picked up the plate and the baked potato smelled like cleaning solution so I called the server over, explained and asked her to smell it, to which she responded "do you want me to do something about it?" Got the manager, he provided a different potato and comped the meal. Just got back into town, wife and kids picked me up at the airport, they wanted to eat so we stopped at a TexMex restaurant (now closed), server took our drink order, place was not busy but 40 minutes later still no drinks. I'm barely awake which normally looks like I am mad, manager comes over and asks if he can help us, so we explain the problem. He says I thought you looked upset about something, I'm sorry that server just quit 30 minutes ago. "What do you want from the bar, and dinner is on us". Maybe I should look grumpy all the time.

My restaurant story...I am living in Alaska. Been living there off and on since the early 60s. I go to a touristy restaurant in Fairbanks, I order Salmon. They serve me Halibut, I like Halibut but I ordered Salmon. I point out that they made a simple mistake. The waitress goes back to talk to the kitchen staff. She comes back and tell me there was no mistake, they had given me white salmon. There is no such thing as white salmon. They lied to me like I was a tourist they could rip off. No biggie. I never went back. They didn't miss my business and I didn't miss the lies.

My husband and I were helping a friend with a bathroom remodel in his new home several years ago. We had been working since early that morning and it was now 9:30 pm and there was only one place still serving dinner and that was TGIFriday's. We were starving so we raced over there before the kitchen closed and ordered three meals. My husbands and Brian's meal were fine, mine on the other hand it was just a burger and fries with a side of broccoli. Burger was raw in the middle, still cold, so it must have been frozen. I was going to say something but I was starving and by now the kitchen was surely closed, so I ate it anyway (I do like things rare just not raw) I put a lot of black pepper and ketchup on it and called it steak tartar. The broccoli well that was a combination of broccmush and raw mixed together. I ate the raw pieces fine done. Then I ordered a slice of cheesecake. A treat for me yeah! This was "my lasagna" It was a brick with whipped cream on it. I figured I would let it sit a bit, so I finished my drink, then maybe it thawed out enough to eat. Wrong. After about 8-10 mins I started to try to eat it. I started with the whipped cream and then scraped a little and I mean little bit off the top. That wasn't working so I thought if I could just at least get one bite I'll wrap the rest and take it home. So I picked the pointy part of the cheesecake figuring that it would be less frozen and it could just melt in my mouth like ice cream. Well I took my fork and tried to wedge off about 3/4 of an inch, I bent the fork a bit. Determined to get my one bite I straightened out the fork picked up my knife and used it's handle like a hammer to the fork, well a piece did break off it shot across the table and landed on the carpet, the big piece flew in the other direction and landed in a womans' lap sitting about 6 feet away, I broke the plate. The one half of the broken plate hit my water glass breaking it and ice water went everywhere including in my purse which was on the floor (no I was not drunk I only had one drink). Brian reacted to the glass breaking and inadvertently knocked over his beer which soaked my husband who was sitting across from him and my husband was trying to catch the chunk of cheesecake which was flying by him (that's how it wound up in that womans lap), but what he did accomplish was knocking his plate and utensils to floor some distance from the table. After all this commotion you could of heard a pin drop, everybody at the bar was staring at us, the woman was pissed and I mean pissed (now SHE was drunk) the manager came running over and basically asked us to leave. I explained to him of our experience and he could see we were sober just not dressed so nice from renovating all day. He apologized for the poor meal and gave me a coupon for a free dessert the next time I come in. We payed the bill and rushed out of there from embarrassment. When we got home I looked at the bill closer (something didn't seem right) he had charged us for the 3 meals, drinks AND the cheesecake And there was another charge for 25.00. Next day I called and spoke with the manager and asked him about the 25.00 charge and why did he charge me for the cheesecake? He said it was an inconvenience fee and that I did eat part of the cheesecake and it wasn't the restaurants fault it fell on the floor. I ate the whipped cream and a shaving! It was frozen, It's a brick. I told him that it is their fault. I never heard of an inconvenience fee, for what! He said it was for the clean up. What What What! I was pissed now. My husband calmed me down and decided it's not worth driving all the way back and not to carry on bad feelings and let's look at it as an "entertainment fee". So I entertained myself. I I called the health department that Monday of my hamburger experience and improper cooking, the broccoli mush not being to temp, and then I emailed corporate with a statement regarding the 25.00 charge with the receipt attached. Then the final thing I did was give my coupon to a very stinky (I mean really bad BO) lady at the nearby Walmart to that TGIF next time we went to Brian's (you just know she would use it. It was a no purchase required coupon). Brian did go to that TGIF on some occasions and said he had never seen that manager again. The restaurant did close within a year of our wonderful entertainment night.

I have in the past, worked in restaurants, both slightly higher end local places (for me any way), fast food, and burger joint. All in the kitchen. There are things you don't do. If any food went out that was bad for any reason, I would be very upset with myself and fellow staff. I take pride in my work. So I went to another restaurant with a friend who claimed this to be one of the best Mexican in the area. It didn't look all that great inside. A little time worn perhaps. We place our respective orders and chat while we wait. Nearby one of the waitresses is sweeping. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. Our food arrives and I am about to dig in when the waitress who was sweeping exclaims, nearly yelling, "wow, look at all these bugs!". My fork stops midway between plate and mouth and just stare at my friend. It must have been some look because she stops eating, the fact that was still eating blew my mind, sighs and asks me what is wrong. If they have bugs in the front of the restaurant, they have bugs in the back of the restaurant. If they have bugs then they aren't keeping a clean kitchen. I . Am. Not. Eating. Here. She sighs and knows that I will tear the hostess a new one over this and goes to tell them we (me) are not paying for it and we are leaving. The hostess complains about the bill. I haven't eaten any off my plate and she has only taken two or three bites. The hostess says fine but looks us down and says we aren't to come back. I just stared at her for a moment and say as calmly as I can ( it came out much colder than intended), that won't be a problem, neither I, nor any of my friends will eat there ever again.

I remember back in my twenties my best buddy LOVED ketchup, and whenever we went to McDonalds (or any other burger joint) he would always order extra ketchup. So we pick up our burgers from the drive through and they didn't put extra ketchup on his burger, so I pull into a parking spot and he goes in to complain. They take his burger back, put the extra ketchup on it and give it back to him. He hops back in the car, unwraps his burger, bites into it...and hanging from his lips was a ketchup packet. That might of been the hardest I've ever laughed in my life!

As a chef, I made a customer, a lemon Dijon chicken sauté”, it came back to the kitchen twice and then a third time so I went out to the table and the woman says, “it’s the same as before”, and I asked, “what’s the issue” and she said, “it tastes like there is mustard in it!”….. I had to tell her that Dijon is a creamy French mustard…

Went to a 'hot pepper' restaurant (it wasn't chipotle) and waited about 5 min for a drink order. Our waiter took the order and never showed back up til the end of the meal, and another waiter then proceeded to say that our waiter was really busy, and they were going to "help him out." We ordered, waited for the food, ate, and paid our bill with the other 'helper' who clearly was swamped and seemed to be the only other person for the 10-15 tables that were there at the same time, trying to show up often enough to let everyone know he wasn't forgetting them. Finally our waiter shows back up and tries to have a conversation with us like they had all the free time in the world now. Oh, one tidbit I forgot to mention we could see him the whole time about 5 tables away talking to 3 sorority girls (I can say that since they all had their shirts on from an event earlier in the day) for the better part of an hour while his co-worker tried to manage the entire restaurant by himself. At least we didn't get sick, just mostly ignored. p.s. he ended up rejected by all three of them, and we never saw him working there again.

I know this is 3 years later - but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell my story. I worked on a night crew as a linen porter at a hospital. We often went to a local Denny's for our midnight lunches. The restaurant was decent for what it was, most of the staff was good, and knew us too (not too many midnight options where I was working at the time). Anyhow, we show up around midnight as usual, the place is dead. The lone server brings us to a table, takes our orders, chats with us - and lets us know that he actually wants to get a job with us. He brings our food - and then proceeds to bugger off. One of my friends gets a little impatient waiting for a refill on his drink, and being a little obnoxious, clangs his glass as the serve walks by, not intending for him to hear it, but the server does, and turns and glares at him - but when politely asks, does go get a refill for my friend. And then he never leaves the front counter again. We wait and wait for him to bring us the bill. After about 20 minutes, my friends head out to the car, and he ignores them as they leave. I wait another 15 minutes, until my friends start flashing the car's headlights at me through the window to get me to come out - we're late to get back to work. I finally get up, try to make eye contact with the guy as I walk up to the front. He looks up at me, then looks back at his magazine, and ignores me while I walk out. Well, when we showed up a couple of nights later, he immediately pulls me aside, and tries to get me to pay - I politely tell him to sod off. My boss has a little chat with the manager, and she had no problem with us once he had explained to her what happened. She had been confused when the server told her we hadn't paid as we had always been polite, and were generally good tippers. We never saw him there again after that. It still amazes me that the guy thought could get a job with us, but then treated us like that!

I was a manager at a chain of pizza restaurants. One night a sever came to me saying customer wanted to see the manager. I walk over to the table and asked if everything was okay. They had ordered cheese covered bread sticks as an appetizer but had revived plain ol' non-cheese bread sticks. I apologized and said not to worry they could keep the bread sticks and I would remake a new batch with cheese and they would not have to pay for it, I also offer 10 or 20% off their entire meal on top of that. As I turn around to head to the kitchen and take a few steps I feel something hit me in the back. I turn back around and the guy is throwing the bread sticks at me one by one. I ask him to leave and he refused until I had one of the cooks call the cops.

Denny's: I wanted onion rings instead of french fries with my hamburger, they brought me out 4 onion rings and charged $2.00 extra. I've NEVER gone back in over 20 years.

I went to an actual applebees with my ex and her parents maybe 3 years ago. Ordered a medium steak. They brought out a very well done steak. Sent it back politely. Another very well done steak. Sent it back slightly less politely. Brought out a third steak that was well done. I ate it, paid, did NOT leave a tip and have not been back since. That location closed down a year before covid.

I used to travel a lot and I learned not to eat at restaurants at all. It's hard to work sick. If you absolutely must, a McChain with McStrict McCorporate McStandards is your best option. Most of the motels I stayed in were well aware of this issue and had microwaves, coffee makers and small fridges in the rooms for guys like me living out of work trucks to prepare our own food.

It's NEVER a good idea to actually consume replacement food after you've sent something back. There's a possibility the kitchen added some extra ingredients you don't want.

A buddy and I regularly get lunch at a grocery store near our work. They have sandwiches, some hot food, a salad bar, and soup. I once went for soup, and found that it was only about room temperature, so I went down to the service desk and told them "hey, you need to heat up the soup." They thanked me and said they'd take care of it. A couple weeks later, same thing - cold soup. Back to the service desk. I tell them that it's the second time. They apologize profusely and say "So sorry! We'll make sure it never happens again." A week or so later, once again, cold soup. I was annoyed before, and now I'm pissed. Talk to the manager, tell him it's the third time this has happened, and if it happens again, I'm calling the health department (probably should have done it by this point, regardless, but there it is). Dude denies there's a problem. I'm standing there in front of him, holding a cup of cold soup, and he says it's fine. Steam rises from my ears. OK...I spent the next 5 minutes trying to find the health department number. When I get it, I find the manager again, tell him I'm calling, and drop the dime right in front of him as he continues to deny any problem. I had to leave a message, which had me thinking it was likely I'd never hear back from the county. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a call back later that day from a county food inspector asking for more details. I filled him in, and he said he'd follow up. A week or so later, he calls me and says he found cold soup, and that "someone there is having a very bad day" after he shut down the soup and salad bar. I started going back a week or two later, and there's been hot soup there every day.

Went to the Saturday night races with some friends who own race cars. Had a great time and we were out of there around 11:30pm. Drove 2 miles to a 24/7 restaurant national chain. There were a dozen adults and 4 kids. Ordered food at 11:45pm. Got our food at 2:30am. Friend of mine told them we don't want the kid's meals because the kids were sound asleep. Waitress asked what he wants her to do with it. Without hesitation he said "Eat it!" Manager came over and asked if there was a problem. My friend explained the food took hours to get to our table and the kids are sound asleep. Manager looked at the ticket and said "These people ordered their food at 11:45 and it's 2:30am. What took so long? Waitress told him "Cook on duty when they ordered didn't know how to cook eggs so we had to wait for the next shift to come to work!" Manager comped all the meals. Kids slept well.

That feel when some attorney makes better entertainment than 99% of crap on TV.

What I've learned over the years of eating out is if you want something good to eat you make it yourself. It seems that 1 out of 10 times is a poor experience when I'm waited on. Then they want a tip on top of it!

This is why I do NOT eat in restaurants anymore. All across the country, American hospitality in restaurants, is enemy action against the customer. Bad food, bad service, bad attitude.

I cracked up laughing when you mentioned the fork marks in your Lasagna. Years ago, in Jackson California after working late one night at one of our local hydro electric plants we stopped for a meal at a local coffee shop. It was very late and this particular restaurant was the only thing open in town. I ordered a cottage cheese salad and when it arrived, the plate still had hardened gravy from someones previous meal on one edge of the platter. I mentioned this to the waitress (back then - 1970s - we still called female servers waitresses) . Without hesitating, she reached down to my plate and with one of her fingernails scratched the dried gravy away. In disgust, I angrily pushed the plate away and at the same time stabbed my fork into the middle of the mound of cottage cheese, crossed my arms and stated that I would not accept this. She walked away, but a few seconds later realizing her mistake returned and picked up my plate and headed for the kitchen. Shortly, she returned and placed a plate of cottage cheese salad in front of me. Guess what I saw in the middle of said salad? You're right - FORK MARKS!. That's been over 40 years ago and I don't remember what happened next, but I will always remember the event. So when you mentioned stabbing your Lasagna it immediately brought back this long lost memory of an event that occurred in Jackson, Califronia one late night a long, long time ago. ;o)

I went to Logan's Roadhouse in Wichita Falls Texas, menu in big bold letters said, all steaks cut fresh. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak. When it came it was obviously a pre-prepared, frozen patty and tasted like cardboard. I asked the waitress if it was fresh and she admitted it was in fact a frozen patty from from Sam's Club. I later logged onto the company website and entered a complaint. I received a call from a very nice lady who stated that I must be wrong, all their steaks including the Chicken Fry were fresh. She said she would be traveling through Wichita Falls that weekend and would check it out. She called me again a few days later and stated that the local manager had decided to go to Sam's because theirs were cheaper than the Logan's supply. She apologized and sent me coupons for 10 free entrees. I tried the chicken fry again and that time it was in fact fresh cut, freshly breaded and a great meal. They closed that branch a few months later. Seems that manager was cutting a few more corners and the business couldn't survive.

Once I went to a fast-casual pizza place that is part of a large chain with my family and ordered a pizza. We ordered a large pepperoni pizza, 45 minutes to an hour later and we were still waiting for our pizza. We told our server, and the explanation was that they had forgotten to make our pizza. After more waiting, the server eventually brought us our pizza and offered us a free desert for our trouble. We accepted the free desert. Then later on, after we had paid for the pizza and were ready to leave, the manager came out and lectured us about how we did not deserve a free desert and that we shouldn't expect something like that to happen in the future. It's almost as if the manager didn't want us as customers. We never went back to that place, and they have long since gone out of business.

Similar thing. I went to olive garden with some other folks. Ordered, waited, everyone got their food but me. Time passed, the waitress finally came by so I told her I never got my food. She said sorry I'll check. Time went by. No food. Everyone was done eating. She came back and noticed I didn't have any food yet. She said she would put the order in again. I said no thanks, we're done so just skip it. A minute later the manager came over and in a gruff voice asked why I didn't like the food. Apparently thinking I was try to scam out of paying. I said ' i haven't seen any food yet'. He looked surprised and just said 'oh' and walked away. At least they didn't give me a bill.

Wife & I and a friend eating curbside at The Empire Diner in NYC, I found a large brass knurled & threaded nut in the salad. When the waiter came by again and we showed him, he exclaimed “Oh, we were looking for that!” Took it away and walked back into the kitchen. We had no choice but to laugh & shake our heads in disbelief.

Macaroni Grill? My son-in-law was kitchen manager for one here, he quit when he couldn't get management to keep fresh food in the cooler. SIx weeks later the place was closed. Last time I looked, the building was still for lease over a year later. Right across from a P F Chang's that does HUGE business, with great food and service... Pricey, though.