DC etiquette question: Some waitress stole my meal!

[BuyingThyme]

We were celebrating a big deal. Nothing but the best. The best restaurant, the best booze, the best people. Everything was perfect.

But just as we were to dig in, the waitress ran in and snatched our plates. All of 'em. She cleared the table.

A little later she shows up with appetizers, explaining that there would be no main course. It was like an apology, but not exactly. And no explanation at all except something about making room for the appetizers. She also gave us balloons and a bunch of those things where you pull the string and confetti pops out.

I didn't know what to think. What in world was this lady thinking?

A little later she returns with the check. It's completely blank, but the total is shown on the bottom. Not only did she take the main course away, but she expected us to pay for it!

What's one to do?

[Cha]

1. Ask to speak to the manager and

ask is going on? I take it, it's too late for that?

BTW, what were you about to dig in to?

[BuyingThyme]

7. I hope it 's not too late.

But it turns out that the waitress has it in good with management.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Was this Dick Cheney's restaurant?

"We'll tell you if you enjoyed your meal. The contents are secret".

[BuyingThyme]

8. It's some kind of co-op. I think that 's what they call it.

[Vincardog]

3. Ask for her boss to come over and explain... LUCY you got some slainin to do

[pnwmom]

4. So what DID you do?

I would have insisted on speaking to the manager, and of course not paid for food I hadn't gotten.

[BuyingThyme]

10. I've been writing letters for months now.

They respond with letters that seem to have been written by young lawyers.

[pnwmom]

20. But did you pay the bill that night for food you had never gotten?

And if so -- why? Did they intimidate you somehow?

[BuyingThyme]

43. Well, we wrote a check, but it hasn't cleared.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

5. Walk out -- you owe them nothing for treatment like that. nt.

[BuyingThyme]

13. Sometimes there's nowhere else to go.

[Cha]

15. You mean "go

Independent"?

[BuyingThyme]

23. In DC, it's hard to get something going if you're not corporate.

[Cha]

32. You're not just whistling

DIXIE!

[Midlodemocrat]

6. So, the main course is off the table?

[BuyingThyme]

9. Poof!

[Cha]

Yeah, just like Impeachment..

Is that what Buying Thyme is talkin' about? That's Good!

[Midlodemocrat]

17. I think so.

[Cha]

38. Brilliant!

[Warpy]

11. One is expected to call the manager over

as soon as the plates are removed and to demand an explanation. One is expected to remain seated and use a stage voice that will rattle every glass on every table in the whole establishment. One is expected to demand to know why one's party has been refused service.

There is no excuse for any of this. I sincerely hope you walked out without paying, at the very least.

Restaurants don't want unhappy customers. They know the word will get around. My guess is that the waitress was either new and didn't know her thumb from her bum or she was high on something. The manager would have dealt with the situation on the spot and you'd have been a bunch of happy celebrants.

(I've only had to call a manager over a couple of times in my life, and I've always had the problem dealt with very quietly. Of course, I'm prepared to make a scene. A big one.)

[BuyingThyme]

16. Actually, she's been the head waitress for over four years.

[Cha]

22. Oh Gawd! I like

your restaurant analogy ALOT!

[Warpy]

89. I saw farther down that this is an old complaint

Your only recourse is to go to small claims court and bring at least two of the other guests as witnesses. You'll need your credit card statement or other proof that the meal you never got was paid for.

Head waitresses are not managers. If anything this bizarre happens again, call the damn manager over. It's his job.

[JVS]

12. do the world a favor and get her fired

waitresses that bad need to find new lines of work

[BuyingThyme]

18. I tend to agree.

[vanlassie]

14. I definately would not respond to her request for $$$

[BuyingThyme]

19. I hear many people have responded in a similar fashion.

[Ghost in the Machine]

21. sometimes your metaphoric posts take me a minute to 'get'....

Good one!

[BuyingThyme]

25. I can't even spell meteoric.

[Ghost in the Machine]

44. Your rhetoric is meteoric and almost euphoric, but still remains metaphoric

[mitchtv]

24. Had you ordered individually?

Sounds like you got a "package" I'm confused, I'd've stuck a fork in her hand trying to grab my plate!

[BuyingThyme]

29. Yes, but many of the orders got lost.

They have some weird system where all of the orders get run through a computer.

[Bluebear]

26. It's a shame too, I hear tell you had high hopes for that waitress when you sat down.

You would think she would have her guest's dining experience in mind and not her own agenda.

[BuyingThyme]

33. She seemed very nice.

[Midlodemocrat]

34. .

[HCE SuiGeneris]

27. Still feeling hungry I bet!

[BuyingThyme]

35. Oh, man. I'm starving. It's starting to effect people around me.

[jobycom]

It's part of the new cruelty.

[Robbien]

28. Guys, this is not about a meal.

Main entree = impeachment
Appetizers = Silly ass go nowhere defense bills/Committee investigations
The bill = Death, Destruction and taxes
Young lawyer replies = Gonzo's Regent U grads

[HCE SuiGeneris]

31. oh really....

shucks

[HCE SuiGeneris]

36. Guess who the "waitress" is...

[pnwmom]

42. Thanks for the enlightenment. n/t

[badgerpup]

72. Oh...

...and here's me thinking "something must have gone haywire in the kitchen and the chef or cook tells the waitress "Holy chit, I've just accidently put (something toxic or intoxicating) in that entire order for table #8! Get it back before they eat it or our asses are gonna get so SUED...."

It's not easy, being part Vulcan...we are so damn literal...

[pnwmom]

95. And trusting!

[Warren DeMontague]

51. "I forget. What does the Asparagus represent, again?" nt

[me b zola]

90. Something to cast upon someone

[Rosemary2205]

30. Warpy's right, if you didn't raise a stink right then it's too late now.

Service that terrible requires raising a big stink right then. BEFORE you leave the restaurant. And Warpy has it right. The stink you raise should be loud enough to get the attention of every other patron in the place.

For lesser versions of crappy service one might raise a lesser stink. But once you leave that restaurant it's too late to get satisfaction.

[BuyingThyme]

39. I haven't left the place, and I'm still trying to get attention.

[SoCalDem]

37. Aaah the wicked metaphors at DU.. You are being mean to the freeps

They are probably wondering how to get the name of the "restaurant" so they can send this one off to Bill-O.

[Bluebear]

40. "I et there too one time!!!111 I know where they mean!!!1" nt

[nam78_two]

84. LOL

All there soymilk are belong to us and makes that makes our childrens gays and makes them evolves or something!!11111 Hugh series problems with said restaurant !

[Warren DeMontague]

41. The meal may still be coming.

Give it time.

[BuyingThyme]

45. It may spoil.

[Warren DeMontague]

52. Well, the whole place will be under new management in about 2 years, anyway.

Maybe the first thing to do is to tell the wait staff that their priorities are fucked, that they need to stop trying to get the crazy church crowd from across the street to come in, because on the rare occasions that they do they fire up cigars, don't pay their bill, and leave dirty diapers all over the floor.

Maybe they should start listening to their regular clientele.

[BuyingThyme]

58. Actually, there's another group interested in buying the place.

I think they want to open some kind of sausage factory.

[Jim Sagle]

71. Actually that's the CURRENT ownership. And they intend to make sausage out of YOU!.

[sandnsea]

46. Clearly at the wrong restaurant

There never was any main course on the menu. Don't blame the restaurant because you're too stupid to pay attention to what it promises to serve.

[BuyingThyme]

49. I don't know why a waitress should be allowed to decide the main course.

That's not how it usually works, is it?

[Warren DeMontague]

55. Well, they had this really goofy head waiter for years and years. I doubt you would have gotten any

better service from him.




Frankly, the Head waitress you have is about as good as you're going to get, right now.

[BuyingThyme]

57. I don't know. There's a little guy who does dishes in the back...

[Warren DeMontague]

63. Yeah, I like him. But I'd much rather have him as the owner

instead of the head waiter.

[BuyingThyme]

68. It's a class issue.

[MADem]

69. I find the gender bias in that post rather interesting, myself.

Both had the same job, yet one is called the Maitre D' and the other the "Head waitress." And the "Head Waitress" actually had a bigger SPEAKING job than the minority leading Maitre D'.

Says a little something, that analogy, there. And what it says is...interesting.

Here's what I think--if the "restaurant" sucks so bad, LEAVE. And don't come back. EVER. Unless you LIKE not getting the service you feel you're entitled to...

Go to a restaurant that serves the food you like, the WAY you like it, that will kowtow to your every whim and wish, and good luck finding such an establishment, too.

I'm sure the management of this dreadful restaurant doesn't want to deal with unhappy customers who complain constantly, and customers with brains shouldn't patronize a place where they don't enjoy the food or the service--that's just stupid. Unless, of course, they just like making a ruckus, and really don't CARE about the food one way or another.

But to hang around griping is just a way to make the customers who DO enjoy what's on the menu, miserable. Spoiling THEIR meal.

Don't let the door hit ya. That's my take.

[Warren DeMontague]

75. Alright, now it's "head waiter". Jesus. The analogies here are tortured enough.

Like I've got the time to sit and over-think the fucker. Sheesh.

Beyond that, I agree with you.

[mondo joe]

67. Because at this restaurant you have an elected representative.

It helps when you understand that.

[sandnsea]

99. It's decided by popular demand

Not the foot-stomping of a bunch of 2 year olds.

[jobycom]

53. Exactly. Not to mention that the restaurant in question never had the ingredients

to prepare that dish in the first place. It's charter document is very strict about preparation of that dish.

[John Q. Citizen]

76. Doesn't it say "Shall", as in customers "shall " be served? I don't think it's up

to the discretion of the waitress or any of the other employees.

Bill Moyers had a show on DC area restaurants on Friday night and that was a main point they brought up repeatedly.

[Bluebear]

47. I'm recommending the post so more can hear of your horrible meal.

Honestly, it's hard to find good help nowadays.

[BuyingThyme]

50. I think it's important to discuss this.

I know there are many people here who work in the industry, but sometimes you have to break some eggs (no pun intended).

[HCE SuiGeneris]

48. Maybe they can make amends, put on a skit or something?

I hear there are many actors working there...

[nosmokes]

54. Me and a bunch more have also walked outta that restaraunt and we din't

pay the bill either. It's a damn shame too because we ate there regular for years. Really loved the place, warts and all. But we've found a little vegetarian hole in the wall joint down the street. The food is excellent, even if the serevice is a bit spotty, the folks are very warm and wise and welcome you with open arms. C'mon and I'll buy ya a cuppa, shade grown organic fair trade, of course, . It's all they serve.

[BuyingThyme]

56. These guys are pretty serious when it comes to paying the bill.

You can make a fuss, but they always seem to catch up with you.

[nosmokes]

59. Tell me about it! They keep calling and mailing and

I keep telling em I'm sorry, but what you're serving up these days I just can't swallow any more.

[Crunchy Frog]

60. Ahh, I get it. It's an allegory.

It took me a few minutes of to figure it out. Nice one, though I have no idea what the solution is.

[BuyingThyme]

61. Is that like a pheasant?

[BlooInBloo]

112. It must be - but I don't quite see of what, atm.

[mondo joe]

62. Poor allegory.

You don't get to place an order with Congress.

It's not a restaurant.

You get to vote for your representative.

[BuyingThyme]

65. If Congress were a restaurant, then this would be a terrible allegory.

Or a really bad pheasant.

[John Q. Citizen]

79. Dick Halliburton is going to be suprised to hear that. He's been placing orders

with congress for years now, and so have all his friends.

But what does congress have to do with taking the main course off the table, anyway?

[mondo joe]

81. The community just has to vote for staff that don't want to work that way. But they

don't seem as uniform as you might like to think.

[zabet]

64. Everyone needs to call the waitress and tell her we will all...

boycott the restaurant, protest on the sidewalk, and make business terrible for them.

[BuyingThyme]

66. I think that's the Democratic thing to do.

[John Q. Citizen]

80. I read a poll last week where only 14% of diners said they would eat there, so

one would hope that they would get the message.

[mondo joe]

83. And yet the diners keep asking for the same waitstaff over and over again.

Funny.

[Solly Mack]

70. I'm going hungry

[Bluebear]

73. Whatever people say here, this restaurant is getting horrible reviews.

Not many approve of it, so that ought to tell the apologists something.

Even the place run by some idiot down the block a piece is getting more favorable reviews, and that is saying something.

[noamnety]

74. If they didn't bring your food

You could refuse to leave. Just sit there, occupying space at their table, until they pay attention. Of course you risk being hauled off by the cops, and the folks that love that restaurant aren't gonna appreciate that you made a scene. They'd probably point out that, while you did get completely screwed on your order at their restaurant, at least the food that was described on the menu was good. Isn't that really enough?

I think what they'd do, if the same restaurant screwed them over, is protest a different restaurant across the street.

[Lugnut]

77. Beautiful!

K&R for brilliance.

[Rabrrrrrr]

78. And to think I supported her move to head waiter because I thought she'd help get rid of management

and move herself up there to make the restaurant even better after six years of them serving us cardboard dressed up as nourishment, and ruining our own reputations so much that other restaurants looked upon us with scorn if we tried to eat somewhere else.

[NNN0LHI]

82. I had a dream that Donald Rumsfeld was busing my table while out dining recently

You didn't happen to see him there did you?

Don

[Pastiche423]

87. Different resturant

He's worked in several resturants over the years. He "resigned" from the last one.

[BuyingThyme]

106. Yes, but he left right after they cleared the table.

[StarryNite]

85. That was great!

[Annces]

86. Yep - part of her problem is she does not see herself as a servant

She needs to be straightened out.

[mondo joe]

101. Or: the problem is you think she's YOUR servant.

But there is a much broader "customer" base.

[tbyg52]

88. That has got to be

amonst the weirder things I've heard in my life. Makes me glad I don't run in fast circles....! If you ever find out what the heck was going on, I'd love to know.

[Bluebear]

91. Or, read through the thread thoroughly :)

[tbyg52]

102. That would be an option also--ummm...., well, actually.....

I read it down to this point (which I realized I had already for the most part done) and I *still* don't get how the restaurant got so weird, was it always like that or was it normal at one time, and how such a weird restaurant could stay in business.

[InkAddict]

92. Fess up-You were dining in Hell's Kitchen.

What did you expect - an epicurean freedom feast. And you were so schuckered by Happy Hour, you just paid the bill and quietly stumbled out the door? Did you get your just desserts at home, at least, or were you so out of control that you called "that number" for some company or went for a lonely walk in the park looking to take the world in a love embrace. Still thirsty?

Only thing to do is jump over the moon.

[Duer 157099]

97. Indeed it does sound like Hell's Kitchen. The only question is...

where the hell is chef Ramsey, and when is he going to KICK some serious ASS???

[Wednesdays]

93. If it's any consolation...

I'll bet most of the other customers there are feeling the same way as you. Too bad no one can just get up and leave, or make changes in the personnel.

[LiberalHeart]

94. Let them get away with this and they'll just keep doing it....

And even when new management takes over, they'll do the same thing if they see how easy it was to get away with this outrageous rip-off. You need to go back there and DEMAND the main course, and it'd be a good idea to take a few million friends with you -- streaming in from coast to coast. I'd be glad to be one of them.

[BuyingThyme]

104. Perfect.

Thank you.

[philosophie_en_rose]

96. No shirts. No shoes. No service.

[seemslikeadream]

98. BuyingThyme?

[lynne]

100. Sorry, can't comprehend this. I never, EVER let anyone take my food if I'm not finished.

Why didn't someone say something? Yes, I live near DC and have eaten at some of their best restaurants. NO, I've never had a table cleared without my permission because I won't allow it.

One is to speak up - let her know that the table is not to be cleared until you are finished - return the tab unpaid until it is itemized - and leave her a 2 cent tip so she gets the message.

[BuyingThyme]

105. Will do.

[GeorgeGist]

103. Take you business to a restaurant ...

where Nancy doesn't work.

[NashVegas]

107. When Was Impeachment Ever on the Menu?

Hmmm?

[BuyingThyme]

108. 1787-2006

[mondo joe]

110. Funny - the restaurant did a big promotion and never mentioned impeachment as a main course.

[LWolf]

109. It's really too late.

To recommend the thread, anyway.

As a former waitress, I can tell you that your best bet is to do the following:

1. Quit eating at that restaurant.

2. Picket the restaurant. Write letters to corporate headquarters, write lttes, call in to talk shows to discuss the problem, and demonstrate some more.

3. Keep up all of the above until the waitress quits or is fired or you are invited by management to enjoy a full course meal, complete with appetizers, main course, dessert, and superb service.

4. Meanwhile, eat elsewhere.

[BlooInBloo]

111. That's the most asinine thing I've ever heard. There's no "pay" in this situation - LOLOL!

God I wish that woulda happened to me.

[Bluebear]

113. pssst

read the thread

[BlooInBloo]

114. Yup. I caught on too late, and don't believe in substantially altering my posts.