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If a sit down restaurant denies you a simple special order, do you stop going?

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entremet

Member
I was reading a story about a man who spent upwards of 500 dollars per month at a local sit down restaurant. He never named the place out of confidentiality.

He wanted a fried egg on his burger. Simple enough right?

He's declined by his server.

He then asks why.

The servers says we can't do that special order.

The man is perplexed. How can they not be able to do a simple fried egg on a burger.

He then calls for the manager.

The manager explains that they have a waffle topped with fried egg special going on and they're allocating the eggs for that special, so they don't run out.

The patron says well can't you just give one egg for this time?

The manager declines and offers to pay his bill.

The patron was confused since he's a loyal customer and the bill was only 71 bucks. So the GM was willing to burn a bridge on loyal customer for an egg that only costs probably 10 cents with bulk pricing.

It got my thinking, what would you do if you were denied a special, yet simple order at sit down restaurant?

Would you continue going?
 

HotHamBoy

Member
I would keep going because I am a reasonable, rationale person.

But they should have given the dude an egg, just charge him like $3.
 
Depends entirely on the situation, but if I liked the restaurant, probably not.

There may be a valid reason not to make special orders outside of an allergy.
 
I would never make a request like that to begin with. A restaurant buys their food supplies based on what is on the menu and volume of orders per particular item so I completely understand the managers points of view. If this guy is such a loyal customer why would it burn a bridge in the first place. Sounds like a completely irrational person.
 

Massicot

Member
There's a pizza place in Atlanta that will not make any adjustments to your pizza. You cannot (to my knowledge) add or remove any toppings. You pick from a menu of pizza types. It's awesome pizza, but quite a limitation that they make it to the recipe and nothing else.
 

Dan-o

Member
I would keep going because I am a reasonable, rationale person.

But they should have given the dude an egg, just charge him like $3.

All of this right here. I'd still go, but... wtf. It's an egg. They should have done it, and charged accordingly for it.
 

milanbaros

Member?
I don't ask for menu adjustments just like I don't shout out story suggestions in the theatre. Hell, unlike the theatre they even let you freely review what is available before deciding to sit down.

I'm completely with the restaurant on their policy.

Probably cost them a bit of money here but they might be successful enough that it doesn't matter.

Edit: why do some restaurant goers think the menu is a starting off point for suggestions?
 
I don't ask for menu adjustments just like I don't shout out story suggestions in the theatre. Hell, unlike the theatre they even let you freely review what is available before deciding to sit down.

I'm completely with the restaurant on their policy.

Probably cost them a bit of money here but they might be successful enough that it doesn't matter.

There is no legitimate reason, other than the restaurant being assholes, to deny putting an egg on a burger... Bad business and bad customer service. This is hospitality and it is an extremely simple request.
 

Seesaw15

Member
Of course not. If I wanted 100% control over what I was eating I'd just cook at home.

Dude in the story sounded like a bit of an asshole.
 

Jeremy

Member
Business guy. Dining clients and prospects weekly.

This would be my biggest gripe from the perspective of 'that world'. If I brought clients or partners into a restaurant I frequented I would be aware of the mutual benefits both I and the restaurant were serving each other and would be a little disgruntled over being denied a simple request of having an egg on a burger.

Outside of that, for me personally, I would understand and not really mind.
 

Fury451

Banned
I don't do special orders, but I can see how a repeat customer would be taken aback by the response.

At the same time, restaurants are usually under restrictions against special orders, local chain or not, so I wouldn't straight blame them either.
 
wtf w this swinging dick act, is this guy a Donald Trump wannabe? this guy sounds like an idiot. 71 dollars for a hamburger? no wonder he spends 500 dollars a month there.

just hire your own cook if u are spending that kind of money. no need to weild your entitled desire for special treatment over a restaurant's employees based on how much money you spend.
 

IronRinn

Member
People can get stupid crazy when it comes to special ordering. If not getting an egg on your burger is enough to not go to a place anymore that's kind of silly.

Edit: Or: It's a restaurant, not your private, staffed kitchen.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
I've never asked for a special order in my life. I look at the menu and order something on it.

I used to work at both a BBQ restaurant. I had customers who dined there and expected anything they could imagine, from pizza to Chinese food. They always threw a fit.
 

kmfdmpig

Member
There's a pizza place in Atlanta that will not make any adjustments to your pizza. You cannot (to my knowledge) add or remove any toppings. You pick from a menu of pizza types. It's awesome pizza, but quite a limitation that they make it to the recipe and nothing else.

That's probably because they are prepped already and waiting to be cooked. Either that or the soup nazi manages that place.

I think it would have made sense to give the customer an egg on his burger. It's not a crazy request. With that said, if I were the customer I'd be unimpressed, but would not stop going there based on their inability to accommodate a special order.
 
It's a reasonable request and he got a reasonable answer that they are using eggs for a special today.

The fact he wrote a story about how much he spends and his total bill cost tells me he's probably an asshole.
 
There is no legitimate reason, other than the restaurant being assholes, to deny putting an egg on a burger... Bad business and bad customer service. This is hospitality and it is an extremely simple request.

That's a bit much. I've worked as a waiter and I know how this story goes. People look around and see what other people order. If one guy gets an egg on his burger it can snowball very quickly to a bunch of people requesting it and then getting pissed off because they made 1 exception.
 

milanbaros

Member?
There is no legitimate reason, other than the restaurant being assholes, to deny putting an egg on a burger... Bad business and bad customer service. This is hospitality and it is an extremely simple request.

Then the whole menu is open to a bit of adjustment here an extra sauce there. The chef created the menu, you decide if you want anything on there or not. Don't make special requests.
 
I don't do special orders, but I can see how a repeat customer would be taken aback by the response.

At the same time, restaurants are usually under restrictions against special orders, local chain or not, so I wouldn't straight blame them either.

Usually? I've never heard of such a thing. Sure for complex requests. But something like this? Nah.
 

entremet

Member
wtf w this swinging dick act, is this guy a Donald Trump wannabe? this guy sounds like an idiot. 71 dollars for a hamburger? no wonder he spends 500 dollars a month there.

just hire your own cook if u are spending that kind of money. no need to weild your entitled desire for special treatment over a restaurant's employees based on how much money you spend.
It's more that the restaurant business is very loyalty based.

They lost along term client for a ten cent egg?
 

Chris R

Member
Local Mexican place took torta ahogada off their menu probably 18 months ago.

I've been back once since. Used to go every week to play some trivia, but fuck them
 
It reminds me of this one pizza place near my Dad in Charlotte.

They make amazing pizza but they are very strict on the no substitution and no half topping orders.

They have a bevy of 1 star reviews on Yelp for that very reason.

It's all labeled out very clearly on the menu, it's not like it wasn't there and they berated you because you wanted a pizza with only half a topping.
 
If its a restaurant i go often, they should have a good relationship with me and should be handle any special requests. I do this all the time with my favorite place.
 
It's more that the restaurant business is very loyalty based.

They lost along term client for a ten cent egg?

they can run their business however they want to.

unless we all need to bend every aspect of society into special rules for rich people.
 
This doesn't make a ton of sense.

One egg is such a big deal the entire $71 meal is comped rather than just giving it to him?

And the guy still complains and wants to take his business elsewhere?

Sounds like someone who is always in there, possibly a pain for the staff to deal with, and putting a stop to catering to his wishes was worth losing his business.
 

daviyoung

Banned
The manager explains that they have a waffle topped with fried egg special going on and they're allocating the eggs for that special, so they don't run out.

he could have ordered this and put the egg in his burger

what a dumbass

Come on guys, entremet posts like 45 threads a day, he doesn't have time to go to a sit down restaurant.

pretty sure the implication is that it's a dreamt-up hypothetical question posing as a reference to literature
 

Fury451

Banned
Usually? I've never heard of such a thing. Sure for complex requests. But something like this? Nah.

It depends, maybe usually is a bit too broad. This isn't a big deal in this case, no, but a local restaurant chain I visit makes no concessions on any special orders ever. Others will swap sides, but not the actual content of the meal.

I don't see the issue for something small like this, but if they said no I wouldn't take my business elsewhere either.
 
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