On Tue, 25 May 2004 21:38:38 GMT, "Master Chef Richard Campbell"
> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I get a surprise and was taken out to dinner by my in-laws to the local
>Texas Roadhouse. It did not turn out well. Below is a letter that I sent to
>them. I have yet to hear back but it hasn't been a day yet.
>
>Dear Sir or Madam:
On Tue, 25 May 2004 21:38:38 GMT, in rec.food.cooking you wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I get a surprise and was taken out to dinner by my in-laws to the local
>Texas Roadhouse. It did not turn out well. Below is a letter that I sent to
>them. I have yet to hear back but it hasn't been a day yet.

Chef's letter snipped

>Chef
>
As a person who likes their steaks 'blue', I always provide the
obligatory warning about sending it back. And that occasionally
happens. I can see where you are ticked and I would have gone to see
the guy in charge of the Front rather than possibly embarrassing my
hosts. One of our better steak house chains, does not cut their
steaks on the property but they are grown, aged and cut to their
specs. The inventory is replenished daily. The meat has never been
frozen.

I wish you luck, but also caution you against publishing a private
letter without the author's permission. It's OK to paraphrase it
["they told me to jump in the lake" in business language]. but no
reprints or direct quotes without permission.

Harry

Harry Demidavicius wrote:

> As a person who likes their steaks 'blue', I always provide the
> obligatory warning about sending it back. (...)

I have had good luck getting an actually rare steak by ordering
it "MOO" or "still trying to get away". Anyway the original
poster was probably an fired employee trying to get even.

The worst transgression I have ever experienced at a restaurant
was after ordering the "swordfish special" at the Landmark on
Chincoteague Island. The large group I was part of must have
looked like a bunch of tourist and therefore prey for the locals
that have to work two or three jobs during the on season. When
the special arrived it took about two bites for me to realize
that my meal was bluefish in a cream sauce. I've eaten a lot of
bluefish but always gotten it dirt cheap or off the hook free.
(keep your fingers away from those sharp teeth) I didn't
say anything but have never gone back and warned others away.

The transgressors are probably gone by now so I might give them a
second chance were I to pass that way again. rms

In article >, rms > wrote:
>Harry Demidavicius wrote:
>The worst transgression I have ever experienced at a restaurant
>was after ordering the "swordfish special" at the Landmark on
>Chincoteague Island. ...

I've had two particularly bad ones - one, (using the word
"restaurant" loosely) was at a Sizzler. I've never liked the
place. Everyone else wanted to go there, so, grumbling, I
allowed myself to be dragged along. They had a baby-back ribs
special, so I ordered that. It was smallish ribs, but *not*
baby-back, and they were not barbecued. They had been baked in
what seemed like, heaven help me, Shake-n-Bake with Lowrey's
Seasoned Salt.

I have since laid down the law: No I Will Not Enter A Sizzler.
If You Must Go There Take Me Home First.

The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
opening day: (1) order the advertised prime rib special, wait
for over 30 minutes to be told they were out. (2) order filet
instead; after my wife was done eating, it arrived, a lump of
gristle I couldn't even saw through with the steak knife.
(3) Try for scallops. Get cold, raw scallops. Very cold.
Crunchy un-thawed ice crystals in the middle. It was a couple
of years before I would consent to enter any Hungry Hunter
again, but they've been fine every time I've been to one since.
That one must have been going through some very bad opening-day
problems.

--
"Centralization doesn't scale." Mike Van Pelt
-- Eric S. Raymond mvp at calweb.com
KE6BVH

"Mike Van Pelt" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, rms > wrote:
snip
>
> The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
> opening day: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,snip
>
There is one more commandment that Moses didn't
think was important enough to include, never the less.....
11: Thou shalt not enter a restaurant before the thirtieth day,
and he who enters on the first day must be stoned, or sumpthin'

"Mr. Wizard" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Mike Van Pelt" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >, rms >
wrote:
> snip
> >
> > The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
> > opening day: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,snip
> >
> There is one more commandment that Moses didn't
> think was important enough to include, never the less.....
> 11: Thou shalt not enter a restaurant before the thirtieth day,
> and he who enters on the first day must be stoned, or sumpthin'
>
>

I've gotten a couple of invites to opening night dinners at a couple of
restaurants. The deal usually is that the food is free or half-price and
whatever is paid goes to a local charity. It makes for an interesting meal.
All the servers tend to be a little too cheerful, way to many people stop by
to ask how everything is, and the service can be a tad slow. But that's the
whole point; it's the first time the whole crew has worked together, and the
cooks are still trying to figure out what goes on which plate.

It's a pretty good way to figure out if I ever want to go back again.

Mr. Wizard wrote:
> "Mike Van Pelt" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In article >, rms >
>> wrote: snip
>>
>> The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
>> opening day: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,snip
>>
> There is one more commandment that Moses didn't
> think was important enough to include, never the less.....
> 11: Thou shalt not enter a restaurant before the thirtieth day,
> and he who enters on the first day must be stoned, or sumpthin'

Reminds me of Folks Folly in Memphis. Opening day they had a big 'to do'
and invited all the press. One person got a phone call; suddenly everyone
was leaving. Elvis Presley had just died which of course was a much bigger
media event than a new steak house.

The staff had to eat all the food (darn, hate when that happens!)

Jill

Mr. Wizard > wrote:

> "Mike Van Pelt" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In article >, rms > wrote:
> snip
>>
>> The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
>> opening day: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,snip
>>
> There is one more commandment that Moses didn't
> think was important enough to include, never the less.....
> 11: Thou shalt not enter a restaurant before the thirtieth day,
> and he who enters on the first day must be stoned, or sumpthin'

Fortunately, I have never been one to take all Ten (or eleven) Commandments on
face value. Once when some friends and I were down in Center City Philadelphia
during our lunch break one day, we walked by the Hard Rock Cafe that was about
to open for business. An employee walked up to us while we were waiting to cross
the street and she asked if we would be willing to be guinea pigs so the newly
hired wait staff could get practice in on serving people and taking their orders.
We all agreed and we each had a great lunch and it cost us absolutely nothing.

On 27 May 2004 00:08:55 GMT, Mike Van Pelt wrote:

> In article >, rms > wrote:
>>Harry Demidavicius wrote:
>>The worst transgression I have ever experienced at a restaurant
>>was after ordering the "swordfish special" at the Landmark on
>>Chincoteague Island. ...
>
> I've had two particularly bad ones - one, (using the word
> "restaurant" loosely) was at a Sizzler. I've never liked the
> place. Everyone else wanted to go there, so, grumbling, I
> allowed myself to be dragged along. They had a baby-back ribs
> special, so I ordered that. It was smallish ribs, but *not*
> baby-back, and they were not barbecued. They had been baked in
> what seemed like, heaven help me, Shake-n-Bake with Lowrey's
> Seasoned Salt.
>
> I have since laid down the law: No I Will Not Enter A Sizzler.
> If You Must Go There Take Me Home First.
>
> The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
> opening day: (1) order the advertised prime rib special, wait
> for over 30 minutes to be told they were out. (2) order filet
> instead; after my wife was done eating, it arrived, a lump of
> gristle I couldn't even saw through with the steak knife.
> (3) Try for scallops. Get cold, raw scallops. Very cold.
> Crunchy un-thawed ice crystals in the middle. It was a couple
> of years before I would consent to enter any Hungry Hunter
> again, but they've been fine every time I've been to one since.
> That one must have been going through some very bad opening-day
> problems.

This may not be a transgression, but it was a bit strange. At a very nice
restaurant in the Mountains, after a meal our waiter invited my wife and I
out to his truck, where he opened his cooler and gave us each a beer and
then commenced to run down the ownership of the restaurant. His main
complaint was the owner's wife who worked also as a waitress shared the
tips with the rest of the wait staff.

The next time we went to that restaurant he wasn't there.


--
JakeInHartsel

Food, The Art Form that You Can Eat

On Wed, 26 May 2004 20:29:55 -0600, Glenn Jacobs
> wrote:

> His main
> complaint was the owner's wife who worked also as a waitress shared the
> tips with the rest of the wait staff.


Why on earth would he complain about that? Did he divulge?


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

On 27 May 2004 00:08:55 GMT, (Mike Van
Pelt) wrote:

> The real worst one was at a brand new Hungry Hunter on its
> opening day: (1) order the advertised prime rib special, wait
> for over 30 minutes to be told they were out. (2) order filet
> instead; after my wife was done eating, it arrived, a lump of
> gristle I couldn't even saw through with the steak knife.
> (3) Try for scallops. Get cold, raw scallops. Very cold.
> Crunchy un-thawed ice crystals in the middle. It was a couple
> of years before I would consent to enter any Hungry Hunter
> again, but they've been fine every time I've been to one since.
> That one must have been going through some very bad opening-day
> problems.

I've only had hamburgers at sizzler (haven't been there in
yeaers) and never have been to Hungry Hunter... yes, there
is one nearby.

That's what's wonderful about living in a true urban area.
You're not held hostage to chains.


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

When I was in Utah, someone suggested we get take-away from this "outback
steakhouse" place. Since half of us was aussies, we wanted to try this
allegedgly australian food. The Americans went off to get the food. What
they came back with was the weirdest stuff I've ever seen. Definitely NOT
australian, not from anywhere since the 60s, anyway. I believe carpetbag
steak was popular in the 50s but the rest of it was pure USA.
And that fuggin' Bloomin Onion gave me the trots. We don't eat that kind of
stuff here. Yuck.

ant

In rec.food.cooking, ant > wrote:

> We don't eat that kind of
> stuff here. Yuck.

The sane ones among us don't eat that kind of stuff HERE, either...


--
....I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

Worst one I've ever experienced was at a company appreciation dinner.
The company had reserved space in a restaurant with a good reputation
for hosting appreciation/awards dinners. (It was so long ago that I
forget what the name of the restaurant was). One of the specialties
was a chicken breast fillet with some kind of fancy sauce, which is
what everyone at my table ordered.

Apparently the restaurant didn't have quite enough of the chicken. The
waitress came around and apologized, saying that the chicken for our
table, and several other tables, would be delayed. We didn't mind very
much. We were enjoying ourselves anyway.

Finally our table was served. By then I was getting hungry, so I cut
off a nice big piece of chicken, put it in my mouth, started to chew
-- and realized that under that lovely warm sauce, the chicken was
raw. Not just undercooked, but totally raw. It was obvious that
somehow the chicken breast fillet had been colorfully spiced and
carefully laid on the plate while still raw, and the sauce had been
ladled over the raw meat. I checked with the other people at the
table and their chicken was raw as well.

I called the waitress over and told her that the chicken wasn't
cooked. She misunderstood and started to tell me that they couldn't
customize how much time each person's chicken was cooked, that each
fillet was not cooked separately but that multiple fillets were
cooked together in batches, and ...

I interrupted her and told her that wasn't what I meant -- that what I
meant was, the chicken was raw. Not cooked at all. Finally she took a
look at my chicken, then quickly whisked away everyone's plate.

Eventually we did get our chicken, and it was as good as promised, but
the whole meal was kind of spoiled with the aftertaste of that
unexpectedly raw chicken.

Terrel
--
Spamblocker in address. If you must reply by e-mail,
remove the last three letters of the alphabet and .invalid

Mike Van Pelt > wrote:

> I have since laid down the law: No I Will Not Enter A Sizzler.
> If You Must Go There Take Me Home First.

The Sizzler chain went Chapter 11 a few years ago. Here on the east
coast, all the Sizzler restaurants were closed when they went bankrupt
and I had assumed they all closed nationwide, but when I went to Provo,
Utah a few months ago to do some consulting, I found a Sizzler. If you
have ever been to Provo before, you know they pretty much roll up the
sidewalk after about 7:00pm on Sundays. I was really hungry that Sunday
night and I didn't know the area well so when I saw that Sizzler, my
curosity and hunger compelled me to eat dinner there.

It wasn't bad. I ordered one of the larger steaks. It came with a
baked potato and that salad bar. The service was fine. The salad bar
was okay. Not great, but more than edible. The steak arrived after
about ten minutes and it was decent and it was cooked slightly pink
the way I ordered it. The baked potato was the standard aluminum foil
wrapped steamed spud, but it too was okay. Not the best meal I had
when I was in Provo that week, by a longshot, but it was reasonably
tasty and the waitstaff had enough sense to leave me alone while I
sat and ate and read a local newspaper.

wrote:
>
> Mike Van Pelt > wrote:
>
> > I have since laid down the law: No I Will Not Enter A Sizzler.
> > If You Must Go There Take Me Home First.
>
> The Sizzler chain went Chapter 11 a few years ago. Here on the east
> coast, all the Sizzler restaurants were closed when they went bankrupt
> and I had assumed they all closed nationwide, but when I went to Provo,
> Utah a few months ago to do some consulting, I found a Sizzler. If you
> have ever been to Provo before, you know they pretty much roll up the
> sidewalk after about 7:00pm on Sundays. I was really hungry that Sunday
> night and I didn't know the area well so when I saw that Sizzler, my
> curosity and hunger compelled me to eat dinner there.
>
>
There were two 'Sizzlers' here in ABQ, but now there is only one. Had no
idea the chain went bankrupt.

In article >, wrote:

> The Sizzler chain went Chapter 11 a few years ago. Here on the east
> coast, all the Sizzler restaurants were closed when they went bankrupt
> and I had assumed they all closed nationwide, but when I went to Provo,
> Utah a few months ago to do some consulting, I found a Sizzler.

Not all of the Sizzlers on the East Coast were closed. There's one about
4 miles away from me on Long Island. I haven't been there for at least
10 years, but they're definitely still open.

--
to respond, change "spamless.invalid" with "optonline.net"
please mail OT responses only

Scott wrote:

> In article >, wrote:
>
>
>>The Sizzler chain went Chapter 11 a few years ago. Here on the east
>>coast, all the Sizzler restaurants were closed when they went bankrupt
>>and I had assumed they all closed nationwide, but when I went to Provo,
>>Utah a few months ago to do some consulting, I found a Sizzler.
>
>
> Not all of the Sizzlers on the East Coast were closed. There's one about
> 4 miles away from me on Long Island. I haven't been there for at least
> 10 years, but they're definitely still open.
>

And there is at one I see regularly in San Diego.


jim

rms wrote:
> Harry Demidavicius wrote:
>
>> As a person who likes their steaks 'blue', I always provide the
>> obligatory warning about sending it back. (...)
>
> I have had good luck getting an actually rare steak by ordering
> it "MOO" or "still trying to get away".

pass the paper towels..... monitor and cleanup needed in Louisiana




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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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"rms" > wrote in message
...
> Harry Demidavicius wrote:
>
> > As a person who likes their steaks 'blue', I always provide the
> > obligatory warning about sending it back. (...)
>
> I have had good luck getting an actually rare steak by ordering
> it "MOO" or "still trying to get away". Anyway the original
> poster was probably an fired employee trying to get even.

My Dad's friend Jimmy once told our server to "light a match under it's ass
and throw it on a plate".

He got the rarest steak I've seen that wasn't steak tar tar.


>
> The worst transgression I have ever experienced at a restaurant
> was after ordering the "swordfish special" at the Landmark on
> Chincoteague Island. The large group I was part of must have
> looked like a bunch of tourist and therefore prey for the locals
> that have to work two or three jobs during the on season. When
> the special arrived it took about two bites for me to realize
> that my meal was bluefish in a cream sauce. I've eaten a lot of
> bluefish but always gotten it dirt cheap or off the hook free.
> (keep your fingers away from those sharp teeth) I didn't
> say anything but have never gone back and warned others away.
>
> The transgressors are probably gone by now so I might give them a
> second chance were I to pass that way again. rms

As a family that travels alot, we've eaten out a lot. It's hard to pick just
one thing! One that does stand out in recent memory....I had ordered a
steak, medium. The waitress emphasized "that will be a dark pink, almost
red, center." I said, yes, that was perfect. She brought me a steak that had
not the slightest red, pink or any other color in the red family, to it. It
was at best medium well, if not well done. I sent it back. They cooked it a
bit longer, and brought it back to me! I laughed, and said that the "chef"
must be confused...you can't uncook an overcooked steak by putting it back
on the grill! The manager was at a loss for words trying to explain. I heard
everything from "training a new chef" to "busy night", which I pleasantly
reminded him was not my problem. I finally did get a properly cooked steak,
with the manager in the kitchen overseeing it's preparation.

kimberly