Bad Night At An Italian Restaurant

Just take your money back and leave!!

     The other evening we went into an upscale Italian restaurant that we frequent often. After being seated and waiting a rather long time (10 minutes, maybe) a waitress appeared and took our order for an appetizer (potato wedge) and iced tea. 

     After a brief while she returned and we ordered New York Strip steaks which included one side (mine was fried zucchini) plus a salad which is included with the steak. By the time she returned with the salad we had been seated about half an hour. We had to ask for the bread which the waitress had forgotten. 

     About half way through the salad (we had not gotten any refills on the iced tea) the waitress showed up and informed us, “We are out of steaks, so I will take it off your bill. Would you like something else?” We told her no, we had come in for the steak. At that point she left saying she would return with our check. 

     I went and found the “manager,” a young lady who looked like a teenager. I patiently explained that we did NOT come into the restaurant for potato wedges, salad, bread (which we had to ask for) and iced tea. We came in for a streak dinner and I considered those items, even though we paid separately, a la carte if you will, to be part of the dinner. And, we did not appreciate being told after sitting there for over 45 minutes that were would NOT be served a steak, but it would be taken off our bill. Of course it's going to be taken off our bill because we didn’t get it! I also advised her that it was NOT fair and not good service to serve us a partial meal then after nearly 45 minutes tell us we weren’t getting the rest of it.

     The “manager” simply looked at me and asked if we wanted anything else and when I said no, she, too, informed me they would take the steak off the bill? I asked her, "What are you talking about!? Of course you’ll take it off the bill because we didn’t get it." She just looked at me with a blank stare and said, “Sorry.” The whole time there was a young man who appeared to be a waiter standing there, but he didn’t say anything. 

     I returned to our table and informed my wife we would be getting a check for the cost of what we had eaten. At that point a waitress whom we had been served by several times in the past walked by and my wife stopped her and told her we appreciated her good service in the past, but we would not be returning again because of the poor service that night, plus we felt like we were being ripped off by being served what amounted to only part of a meal. 

     She tried to make excuses for the management, but we reminded her that the last time we had been in and ordered steaks, she had told us she would check with the kitchen to make sure they were available. That was not done by our current waitress. 

     At that point the our waitress returned and slapped a bill on the table and, again, announced she had taken the steak off of our check. By this time we were really upset and I asked her, "Why do you think you’re doing us a favor by not charging us for the steak we didn’t get?" She then began shouting that they have steaks, but they are frozen and she didn’t know they had sold the last one, etc., etc. This brought the young man back to our table, but he again remained silent.

     I told her just forget it, here’s the cash, just bring me my change so we can get out of here. She took the money and in a few minutes came back and said “they” decided “in the back” not to charge us and “just take the money back and leave.” 

     Naturally, the diners nearby were aware of the commotion and we think the silent young man was the owner’s son. In any case, we will NOT be returning.You do not serve customers half a meal and after 45 minutes tell them they aren't getting the rest of what they ordered and then charge them for a partial meal that only consisted of sides. And, when doing so you don't act like you are doing the customer a favor by not charging them for something they did not get!