> Rob wrote:
>
>
>Irrespective of the location, what have been your worst or funniest
>restaurant experiences you've had so far - as in the food and service
>both being extremely terrible, or being very good, but something else
>occurred.
>

Funniest?

It happened about 35 years ago, at a very posh restaurant in the wealthy
suburbs west of Hartford, Connecticut (The Corner House in, IIRC,
Farmington for those who know the area.) We had joined old college
friends whose anniversary was the same weekend as ours for a joint,
quiet celebration. The restaurant was surprisingly empty.

At the next table were four teenage boys in dress shirts, navy blazers,
and nice ties, from a local prep school, a quiet, clean-cut bunch.

By the time we had all ordered, an older man and a woman were seated on
the other side of the boys. She was dressed a bit gaudily for the
occasion, but those were different times. She and her escort ordered
drinks, then another round, and another. She got loud, he tried to
shush her.

Then she began a conversation with the boys, telling them how nice they
looked, and how fortunate they were to be able to dine in such a nice
place, and how she wished her kids had the opportunity. Within a very
short time the boys were looking at one another, but too polite to roll
their eyes as kids today would do. It became obvious that this woman
had been picked up off the street in Hartford and offered a nice dinner
and who-knows-what-else in exchange for her services. She soon became
so drunk that she could barely speak. Her date took her to the car and
returned to pay the bill for the meal they never ate. He also offered
to pay the boys' tab but they refused.

By that time we were all astonished at the things she had said and we
complimented the boys on their equanimity, then we all realized the
strangeness of the situation and began to laugh, hard.

When we see those friends, now 1/2 continent away, we always get around
to: "Do you remember our memorable anniversary dinner?" and we laugh
all over again.

gloria p