Continuation on a theme...

In an effort to not sound snobby or pushy or rude or whatever, I ordinarily wouldn't write this post, but in light of my last post, it seems only appropriate.

After work tonight, I had a meeting to go to with my boss so he and I stopped for dinner on the way. We couldn't decide on anything on that side of town, so we ended up at Ruby Tuesdays. I don't ordinarily care for Ruby Tuesdays that much, but we both agreed that it's better than Applebee's, which was our next best option, so we went. I couldn't decide what I wanted, so at my boss's suggestion, I ordered the Triple Prime Cheeseburger.

I should also add, that our server was a little strange to begin with. He was one of those guys that just seemed really nervous and even a bit shy. It's fine if that's your personality, but perhaps food service isn't the best employment choice for you. I typically expect wait staff to be very personable and friendly and to really make you feel like they're happy to serve you, not like they're afraid to speak to you. Anyway...

Like I always do with beef products, I ordered my burger medium rare. Say what you want, but cooking meat anything beyond medium just sucks all the flavor right out of it! When the burgers come, my boss and I both comment on the lack of condiments they bring us. For an entire plate of fries and a burger we were each given half a ramekin of ketchup and there was about a drop of mayonnaise on each burger (I know, too bad I didn't have any of that taco sauce with me, but that's not the point), so we sent him off into the kitchen to get us more.

While he was gone, I took a big bite into my burger and noticed it tasted a little funny. In actuality, it tasted...mushy. My first thought was that the bread must have absorbed some of the grease/juices from the meat and got soggy. I lifted the bun off, however, and looked at my bite to see a very bright pink burger. I kinda pulled the burger apart and saw that the whole thing was completely raw inside!!! I immediately announced "Oh my gosh...this is raw!!" (and not very quietly at that) When I said this, another server happened to be walking by and she just kinda ignored me and kept walking. I kept looking at the kitchen door waiting for our server to come back with the ketchup so I could complain to him, but he was taking too long. There was another guy walking by (I think he was a host or bus boy or something) so I grabbed him and said, "Excuse me, you need to get a manager over here please." (haha, you'll all remember my short temperament for poor service.)

He told me "Sure, is there a problem?" So I showed him my burger and told him that it was uncooked, so he took the plate off to his manager. A minute or so later, some guy comes walking around the corner with my plate in hand and introduces himself. It went something like this:

Mgr. Mike: Hi, my name is Mike and I'm the manager here. How are you gentlemen doing tonight?
Me: Uhhhh....well.... (looking down at the empty table in front of me and the raw meat in his hand)
Mgr. Mike: Ok, well how did you request this to be cooked. (before this statement there's a very slight chance he may have thrown out a flippant apology, but I'm not entirely sure because his tone and actions were anything but apologetic)
Me: Medium Rare (thinking..."If you dare try to tell me that that is medium rare or that anything cooked below medium will in fact come out a bit pink, assuming that's normal, I swear I'll go all Madea (video here) up in here!") (PS--That's for you, K!)
Mgr. Mike: Alright, well I'll take this back and have them make you a new one. [Starts to walk away]
Me: (Looking at the time on my phone) Well excuse me, I have to be somewhere in 15 minutes, I don't think I have time to just sit here and wait for you to cook a whole new meal.
Mgr. Mike: (With a strong amount of attitude) Well...do you want me to have them make you something else?
Me: (Looking around to see if there was a menu anywhere, since one was very clearly not offered.) Uhhh, welll...I guess not. I guess I'll have to have another one of those, but they'd better make it fast, I can't sit here all night.
Mgr. Mike: I'll have them make you another.
Me: Make sure it's fast!

{Skip to 8 minutes later}

Server comes out and awkwardly sets a new plate down in front of me and nervously stands there without saying a word. I kinda picked at a piece of the meat to see if it was edible.
Server: (Sheepishly) So, ummm...Is this one okay for you?
Me: Hmm, well, yes, I think this will be fine.
Server: Okay. (slowly walks away)
Me: So, are you going to comp this meal for me or what?
Server: (Still sheepish) Oh, umm, he said he'd give you a discount on it.
Me: Fine.

Please note that through this entire exchange, no one once offered an apology for the mistake or has acted apologetically at all!! They really seemed more annoyed that I requested my meat to be cooked!

So now I eat my burger in a big hurry b/c we're late for our meeting (which I knew we were going to be a little late to anyway, but now we're really late) and it really wasn't all that good. In truth, half of the burger was still slightly undercooked, but it didn't seem to have quite the same e. coli risk, so I ate it anyway. When our server brought the bill out, I looked to see what the "discount" was that they so graciously gave me. All they did was apply the employee discount (40%) to my burger. Not to the entire check, not even to my sweet tea....just the burger. Grrrrr!!!

At this point I was so annoyed it wasn't even funny. If I didn't have to run out of there to get to my meeting, I really would've hung around and at least insisted that the meal be free, but I didn't have the time or energy to throw down right then. I'll just call corporate in the morning, hahaha.

Please don't misunderstand me here either...while I was annoyed that I took a bite out of raw meat, I do understand that mistakes can happen, especially in a kitchen. Honestly, I probably would have been okay with the whole thing if the manager came out and profusely apologized, offered me the discount or comped the meal or whatever, and if the server had apologized. I know neither of them was anywhere near the grill at the time, but in a service atmosphere, that's your role. But neither of them seemed to care...in fact the manager seemed annoyed that he had to come out of his office and speak to one of the 7 customers who were in the restaurant at the time (heaven forbid!). I gave the waiter a 10% tip for that one...and those of you who currently or previously worked in food service...don't yell at me! I'm normally at least a 20% tipper and only if the service is particularly bad do I give a 15%. I NEVER give below that. But tonight, I was so annoyed that he didn't even at least pretend to apologize there was no way I could give 15%. A simple "I'm so sorry about that" at any point in the evening would have at least earned him that much.

Anyway, like I said, in light of my last post, I thought I'd just add this one on as a part two. It looks like I'm running out of places to go eat around here. Maybe one of these days I'm gonna have to learn how to cook! Ack! Nevermind...I'll just get a girlfriend who likes to cook...or hire a personal chef...or both :)