It’s happened to us all. Each of us has ordered food at a restaurant and gotten something that differs from our expectations to some degree. Kitchen work is a very human business, and sometimes cooks get caught up in a multitude of orders. All the same, as a consumer, it’s hard to know when it’s appropriate to send back food. On one hand, you don’t want to be judged as a graceless complainer. On the other hand, you are paying for a meal, so you should get what you want. Here’s how to walk that fine line:
Size Up the Joint
If you are in a fast-food joint or family-oriented chain and order your burger rare, there’s not much the kitchen will be able do (unless the burger is as hard as a hockey puck, that is). Of course, if the cheese is missing from your cheeseburger, that’s a different story. When you’re at a lower-end chain, think of your meal as simply filling your belly, unless the order is outright wrong. If, however, you’re at a nice “tablecloth restaurant,” and the waiter tells you about the osso bucco that is falling off the bone, but you wind up sawing through it with a steak knife, that shank should go back.
One exception: in a business setting, I advise my clients to never send food back. The business meal is not about food—it’s about business.
Pull a Switch
If you ordered one thing and got another, then the waiter either ordered the wrong dish or mixed yours up with someone else’s. If you ordered salmon but like the tuna dish that came in its place, inform the waiter: “I ordered the salmon, but I’m happy to keep the tuna.” Between the waiter and kitchen, the restaurant can figure out the problem and assure that the woman at the next table gets the tuna she had ordered.
Make the Call
As far as other situations, it’s going to come down to your tolerance. If something is too salty to eat, burnt, or the opposite of what you envisioned, you are doing a disservice to yourself as well as to the restaurant if you don’t send the dish back.
