vegetarian question~ restaurant ordering

[Guest guest]

Seems like many of us fear our food being tampered

with by surly chefs in the kitchen or disgruntled waithelp.

Kind of funny, but not too funny for I have worked in a

restaurant before and know this is a definate possibility.

However, one thing that can assure us somewhat is that

in my experience, most of the food " hostility " was directed

at the snotty folks who kept sending stuff back or seemed

to delight in being difficult, not the folks who were sincerely

interested in how food was prepared or requesting something

done differently. It seemed the chefs were more peeved when

people would wait until the food was served to start asking

for changes to be made, and then acting rather obnoxious

about it to boot. Still, not a great excuse for any restaurant

employee to do such a thing, but it should give us some hope.

Of course we can never know what people might do on any

given day, or where they will snap and lash out, but for the

most part, I think good manners, kindness and showing

your appreciation for the extra help will go a long way toward

making your dining experience a pleasant one.

 

Another idea is to call the restaurant ahead of time. This gives

you a chance to ask questions in a more anonymous fashion

to someone who is in charge of food prep or management.

Ask them about what vegetarian items they might have, or the

posibilities of them preparing a dish differently for you. If it

looks like this will be too much hassle or they offer too few

options, either plan to go out with your dining partners with

a full stomach, or ask them to choose another place to dine.

There is truely nothing worse in my mind than going out to eat,

hungry as hell, and just being able to order a tossed salad

because it is the only blessed thing on the menu even remotely

vegetarian.

 

~ feral ~

 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest

compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all

of which have the potential to turn a life around.

~Leo Buscaglia, author (1924-1998)

~~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~>

, " Laurie " <laitaina@h...>

wrote:

> >What does everyone do when going into restaurants and trying to

> >figure out what to order?

[Guest guest]

I agree with definitely being nice to people in restaurants. There really isn't

any excuse for being snotty. When I have sent stuff back I've apologized and

been nice about it. Of course, I have had hostile waitstaff before and rude

management and they deserve to be treated snotty. I went to this restaurant

with my family one time and we waited forever!! Everyone got their food but me

and then they were done eating and it still hadn't come out, so we complained.

I was afraid of complaining and didn't want to eat anything there after I

complained. I also had lost my appetite because I was mad that everyone else

was done and I didn't have anything to eat and I was the one complaining i was

hungry! Anyway, the manager came out and I told him how I felt and he had the

audacity to tell me that " you don't have to be a BITCH about it " . He actually

said that to me. He wasn't apologetic or anything just giving us the excuses

that they were short staffed and stuff. I got up and left and told my family

that we were NOT going to pay for that meal. My mother argued a bit with him

and finally he comped the meal, but I'm telling you with that hostile staff,

there was no way I was going to eat anything there!

 

Feral <terebinthus wrote:Seems like many of us fear our food being

tampered

with by surly chefs in the kitchen or disgruntled waithelp.

Kind of funny, but not too funny for I have worked in a

restaurant before and know this is a definate possibility.

However, one thing that can assure us somewhat is that

in my experience, most of the food " hostility " was directed

at the snotty folks who kept sending stuff back or seemed

to delight in being difficult, not the folks who were sincerely

interested in how food was prepared or requesting something

done differently. It seemed the chefs were more peeved when

people would wait until the food was served to start asking

for changes to be made, and then acting rather obnoxious

about it to boot. Still, not a great excuse for any restaurant

employee to do such a thing, but it should give us some hope.

Of course we can never know what people might do on any

given day, or where they will snap and lash out, but for the

most part, I think good manners, kindness and showing

your appreciation for the extra help will go a long way toward

making your dining experience a pleasant one.

 

Another idea is to call the restaurant ahead of time. This gives

you a chance to ask questions in a more anonymous fashion

to someone who is in charge of food prep or management.

Ask them about what vegetarian items they might have, or the

posibilities of them preparing a dish differently for you. If it

looks like this will be too much hassle or they offer too few

options, either plan to go out with your dining partners with

a full stomach, or ask them to choose another place to dine.

There is truely nothing worse in my mind than going out to eat,

hungry as hell, and just being able to order a tossed salad

because it is the only blessed thing on the menu even remotely

vegetarian.

 

~ feral ~

 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest

compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all

of which have the potential to turn a life around.

~Leo Buscaglia, author (1924-1998)

~~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~>

, " Laurie " <laitaina@h...>

wrote:

> >What does everyone do when going into restaurants and trying to

> >figure out what to order?