How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant

  • July 2, 2009
  • 8,131 Views
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Learn when it’s appropriate to send your meal back in a restaurant, and how to do it without offending the chef.

You Will Need

  • An inedible meal
  • Diplomacy
How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant: Evaluate the error

Step 1: Evaluate the error

Make sure the problem is on their end, not yours. If your food is undercooked, overcooked, the wrong temperature, stale, has a foreign object in it, or is not what you ordered, send it back. If it doesn’t taste the way you thought it would, however, try to deal with your disappointment.

If you’re at a business meal, don’t send food back unless it poses a health risk.

How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant: Notify your server immediately

Step 2: Notify your server immediately

Notify your server as soon as possible. Don’t eat half the meal and then complain.

How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant: Be polite

Step 3: Be polite

Be polite. Call over the waitperson and, in a calm and friendly voice, tell them exactly what is wrong with your meal and what you would like done about it. Do you want the meal to be fixed? Cooked from scratch? Replaced with something else?

How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant: Insist that everyone else eat

Step 4: Insist that everyone else eat

Insist that everyone else begin eating while the kitchen remedies your complaint.

Orders that are sent back to the kitchen usually take priority over everything else.

How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant: Be persistent

Step 5: Be persistent

If the food comes back and it’s still not up to snuff, ask that it be taken off the bill. If your server refuses, ask to speak to the manager.

How To Send Food Back At a Restaurant: Don’t expect a free meal

Step 6: Don’t expect a free meal

Unless the restaurant’s made an egregious mistake, don’t expect your meal to be on the house.

Sixty-eight percent of restaurant goers polled cited poor service as the thing that irritates them most when dining out.

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Comments (4)

MeLovingBoo

The music at the end makes me happy cry.

over 2 years ago by MeLovingBoo

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Max_Boigon

This is a great video.

over 2 years ago by Max_Boigon

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denissepichardo

disgusting food

about 1 year ago by denissepichardo

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Blikes

hahahaha, since when are they called a wait person? polital correctness gone mad!

9 months ago by Blikes

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Video is in Dining Out (8 videos)