Do you give restaurants a second chance after an initial bad experience?

[jackie daytona]

We recently moved into our new home, and as such, there are tons of new restaurants around to try.

Last night my wife and I had a mini date night since my parents were watching our daughter, and we tried a place nearby. The menu looked decent (mid-tier bar food: not a gastropub, not a hole in the wall), so we went.

The food wasn't great, nor was it awful. But the service…my god. We barely saw our waitress, and when she did come by, she grabbed my wife's empty glass to get her a refill, ignoring my mostly-empty glass. And my wife didn't get her drink back for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, my drink is empty and I'm sitting there looking at my burger getting colder by the minute as I wait for a new drink.

Now, I realize if we go back, we may actually get a competent server and the experience may actually be enjoyable. On the other hand, there are so many options around us, why bother?

And I'm much more forgiving for a shitty experience if it's a place I've been before and enjoyed.

So my question is: are you a one-and-done type of person, or are you willing to risk a second shitty encounter in the hopes it'll be better?

 

[BasilZero]

One and Done.

 

[Ryuelli]

If the service was bad because they were clearly understaffed but the food was good, maybe.

If the food was bad, nope.

 

[Milennia]

Nope, too many options by me to come back to a place after a bad experience

 

[Damaniel]

No.

 

[skeezx]

i usually wait a month or three and give them another shot (hoping they had staff turnover), if i like the food well enough

 

[rezuth]

If the place has good reviews I'll check it out again but usually I do it once… maybe twice if the place just opened.

 

[CHC]

If it's the first time, no. If it's a place I go to regularly and they are not that good for a night, I'll go back again.

 

[Cheesebu]

One and done if it's a first time visit. I live in LA lol. I am surrounded by highly rated restaurants of all types.

 

[Maximus Odinson]

There's a million restaurants out there. It doesn't even cross my mind to give bad eating places another shot.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Nope.

If you give me food poisoning and then threaten to take me to court over a 1 star review then there is zero chance I'm ever going to step foot in your establishment again, and I'll do everything in my power to ensure none of my friends do either.

 

[xxracerxx]

Possibly.

Also, why did you not eat your burger without a drink?

 

[natjjohn]

I'm typically done. Maybe again after a long time and someone else likes the place.

 

[Ocean Bones]

Yeah I'll run it back if the service is trash. Actually had that happen recently and we went back and had much better service.

 

[Uncle at Nintendo]

If the food is shit then no.

 

[Dyno]

Nah. There was actually one we went to regularly until management changed. In that single outing we had 3 attempts at a clean glass, all of which failed, then proceeded to hear the table behind proclaim "Excuse me, this carrot has a barcode printed on it". The food was also completely overdone and pricier than it was before management changed. Never went back after that.

 

[jackie daytona]

Nope.

If you give me food poisoning and then threaten to take me to court over a 1 star review then there is zero chance I'm ever going to step foot in your establishment again, and I'll do everything in my power to ensure none of my friends do either.

Click to shrink...

Story time.

Possibly.

Also, why did you not eat your burger without a drink?

Click to shrink...

I snacked on the "fries" which were basically potato wedges, but I don't eat the entree without a drink at the ready.

 

[NCR Ranger]

Depends on how bad the experience was. A first-time experience like yours, I wouldn't completely write the place off, but I also wouldn't go out of my way to go back. Like I would go if someone wanted to or if I was already in the area, but it would be pretty much random chance on me going back. Now say if the service was shit like you had, but the food was amazing I would try again sometime in the future.

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

And I'm much more forgiving for a shitty experience if it's a place I've been before and enjoyed.

Click to shrink...

Well yeah, that's because you know what the bar for that establishment is

If it's my first visit and if they're doing something I'm interested in, I'll probably give 'em another shot at some point because I don't know if that was a normal day or not. I don't have the context that I have with a restaurant I frequent.

 

[jsnepo]

If the food is good and there's nothing like it nearby, yeah.

 

[Ravelle]

I'd rather have just okay food and portions than having bad service and having to wait forever because it affects my mood.

The hungrier I get the more irritated and grumpy I get, no good food is worth that. I'll gladly visit a restaurant again if the service was good and I had a alright meal, I'll order something different next time.

The last resaurant I wen to with work was a fish restaurant, not only did they not serve appatizers, the wait between first course which was such a tiny portion, took forever, felt like an hour. Luckily the actual main course was splendid but I was tired and hungry after work that I had trouble staying awake. They also didn't check on the drink refills.

 

[pants]

Depends on how bad the experience was.

 

[Waggles]

No?

Why would I?

Also why did you sit there staring at your food because you didn't have a drink?

 

[Charpunk]

Bad service, probably.

Bad food, nope. I'd rather go to a place I know that is good than risk blowing money again on bad food.

 

[RedMercury]

I live in a small town so there are very few options, I'll give a place a second try unless my food is like, really really bad or I get sick.

A place opened recently and the service was real bad, my wife said she was done with it, to me I was like they just opened and have to iron stuff out, wouldn't be fair to write them off forever

 

[inner-G]

Not usually

 

[Aldi]

There was a pizza place near me that does amazing pizza. Unfortunately, twice I've been and twice they've got my order wrong.

I won't go back again. I only went the second time because when I did eventually get my pizza it was great.

 

[Isee]

I am willing to overlook bad service once, if the food is great.

If the food is bad, I'm out. Independent of the service.

 

[Sanjuro]

Depends on how rare the place is. Like if they are known for serving a limited item in the area, I'd give it another go

 

[Palette Swap]

Nope. Way too much choice to have any time for that.

 

[Jarmel]

Bad service? Yes. Bad food? Maybe, depends if there are other options in that cuisine in the nearby area.

Now if the food is bad twice? Yea, we're done.

 

[Epiphyte]

I've been forgiving of slow service since COVID if I hear good things about a place from friends, so if the food was good I'll give them another shot

Only been burned once on a place that was just as bad several months later

 

[Sirhc]

If the service was bad because they were clearly understaffed but the food was good, maybe.

If the food was bad, nope.

Click to shrink...

This.

Meh service is understandable with how understaffed alot of places are, but if the food sucks or isn't anything notable there's no point in trying again.

 

[Coriander]

My impulse is usually one and done. However....

If I have issues with the quality of the food, or mess-ups in ordering or filthy surroundings, I have no issues in contacting a manger either in person or via email, afterward, to detail my problems. As a result, I'm usually given gift certificates or free meals in the future to compensate—so I'll use those. If the problems haven't gone away, i'll avoid that place in the future.

When it comes to service, I have a long fuse, since I've worked in food service before. i'm more likely to talk to or emal a manager about exceptional service than I am to complain about bad.

 

[Kitsunebaby]

If I see that reviews are good overall, I'm willing to challenge my initial impression. If I still dislike it I'll probably write them off for good at that point.

 

[Nola]

This.

Meh service is understandable with how understaffed alot of places are, but if the food sucks or isn't anything notable there's no point in trying again.

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Id only add that being understaffed can and often does extend to the kitchen, so I wouldn't rule out going back to a place if the menu has some sort of unique appeal, or reviews when it's operating well states it's worth it.

But generally, if you are one of many options for the same cuisine, the service was really bad and the food wasn't outstanding, it'd be hard for me to go back again when I'm already someone that enjoys trying new restaurants whenever I can

 

[samoscratch]

if the food was terrible then no but if it's a service issue I'm willing to try again.

 

[jackie daytona]

I should clarify: as far as service goes, I am pretty reasonable in terms of timeliness. I just want the server to actually acknowledge it, and not ignore my table. I get it, the kitchen can be slow or overloaded at times, and that's out of their hands.

But if I don't see the server at all, that grinds my gears.

 

[ngower]

It would depend on what the bad experience is.

I'm vegan so there are times when menus aren't clear and I need to ask clarifying questions. Some places are fucking awesome and will tell me what allergens are in or talk to the kitchen or w/e. Others are just rude and dismissive and won't even bother to clarify. In those circumstances I typically don't go back because I'm not gonna risk shitting my brains out getting egg or dairy in something because a server doesn't want to do any digging.

There was one time I ordered a vegan breakfast sandwich from a place and I had called in after getting it delivered and was like "are you guys sure this isn't real egg because it looks like real egg" and they were like "no it's Just Egg, you're good" and then I bit into it and it was 100% egg so I called back and they were like "oh shit yep that's egg" when I brought it in. They did right by me but the initial call felt like they didn't give a shit.

I can't say I've had particularly bad service at any restaurant but if it isn't busy and a server takes forever to get a drink or bill or whatever to me that'll probably leave a sour taste.

I'm generally pretty forgiving though. Unless a place is like actively being an asshole or unsanitary or something than they stay in my rotation.

 

[zero_suit]

If the service was bad because they were clearly understaffed but the food was good, maybe.

If the food was bad, nope.

Click to shrink...

I live by these standards too.

 

[Dis]

Nope, not a chance. Especially when I visit the usa and I'm expected to tip 20%. I'll cook at home before I go to a bad restaurant a 2nd time in hopes it isn't bad this time.

 

[Archduke Kong]

It depends. If I went by myself? I'll go again and try a different item. If I went with family and tried a variety of things? Nah, I'm probably not gonna like the rest of the menu enough to go back.

If it's just because of service I don't care. We've had waiters/waitresses that my family said "they weren't a good waiter" and I didn't even notice because unless they're actively spitting in my food and being rude as fuck to me, I don't really care what their service is like (then again my job experience is primarily in food service so I'm biased and overly polite to all of the people who serve my food)

 

[Calamari41]

I'm understanding if there's clearly an unexpected rush, or a short handed kitchen, or a short handed wait staff. But if I'm sitting there getting no service while I can see other tables getting it, it's over for good.

Bad food is an instant deal killer as well, with restaurant prices the way they are.

 

[fade]

If the service was bad because they were clearly understaffed but the food was good, maybe.

If the food was bad, nope.

Click to shrink...

To add to this how a manager deals with it if you bring it to attention could be a make it or break it moment.

 

[Violence Jack]

If it's a brand new place that fucked up something small, then I'll give it another shot if I liked the food.

But if you have waiters sitting around on their asses not refilling water and you have to ask repeatedly the status of your order, or if it takes 40 minutes to get my order during a not busy time then have the gall to serve me cold food, nah. I'm asking for a comped meal and never going back.

 

[Armouredpriest]

Depends. As long as everything isn't outright bad across the board, then I'll tend to give places another chance or two.

My patience isn't limitless, though.

 

[____]

Nope.

 

[GungHo]

I live in Houston. There are too many good restaurants to ever have to tolerate mediocre experiences, much less bad experiences. That being said, I do have mercy for soft opens and for old favorites that had a bad night. But, even then… there's hundreds of places to go within 10~15 minutes.

 

[Deleted member 13798]

This all depends on how bad the experience was and what the reason was for it. During the pandemic I tried some new places that were well revered but the quality was a little bit mixed given the nature of it being takeout. But it ultimately leveled out when I tried some of those places again about a year later.

Unless the whole experience is bad, I usually give a place a second shot as long as it's not some thing like appalling food quality or a hygiene issue.

 

[Doggg]

It really just depends. If there was rudeness, probably not. If the food was not what I expected, but there's something on the menu I might like more, maybe.