r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Savage_Mindset • Aug 22 '26

Do u dont wanna A restaurant tried to pull a switch-a-roo on the type of meat I was served.

So a group of us went to a local popular American chain steakhouse restaurant and all ordered different dishes. I ordered a filet, when my food arrived, I thought the steak looked more like a sirloin than a filet.

Upon taking my first bite it was chewy and not buttery like a filet. It was supposed to be an 8oz filet, it was more like 12oz sirloin, 2nd bite confirmed it was definitely not a filet.

I must’ve been visibly upset because the manager walked over and asked if everything was ok, to which I questioned the cut. She said it was a filet (but I think she went based on the toppings that are only offered on the filet). I said hmm ok, I guess.

She offered to switch it if I was not happy, I said it was fine, however, she insisted, so I accepted.. The second steak was a filet, appearance, taste and texture.. only the cook made it EXTRA peppery for me.. jokes on them I appreciated the extra pepper :)

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177

u/Savage_Mindset Aug 22 '26

It was outback, I felt they over seasoned it because I’ve had the steak before and usually I need to add extra pepper. Not yesterday

77

u/french_snail Aug 23 '26

They didn’t want to cook you the first steak they certainly don’t want to cook a third one. Don’t listen to these people saying they’re paid minimum wage and don’t give a shit and fuck with customers. They probably don’t give a shit yeah but they also don’t want to make more work for themselves. If it was over seasoned it was probably an accident.

People who genuinely believe cooks fucking with food is at all common should just stop eating out. 

36

u/ChickenBossChiefsFan Aug 23 '26

I’ve worked in food service for 25 years and I’ve only seen someone intentionally screw with someone’s food once (they asked for a ridiculous amount of pickles, they received a ridiculous amount of pickles, they were pissed).

People will bitch and moan about annoying customers, they will occasionally make fun of outlandish orders, but the vast majority (like 99.9999%) of the time that’s as far as it goes.

3

u/tirednsleepyyy Aug 23 '26

I don’t know if it was explicitly malicious, ignorance, or taking the piss, but I distinctly remember ordering a pizza from papa John’s one time during lockdown. It was a basic pizza, just like, some type of cheese sprinkled on top and jalapeños. No extra instructions or anything.

Whoever made the pizza covered the entire pizza in jalapeños. As in, you could barely see the cheese beneath them. Like, as much jalapeño as dough. I wish I still had a picture of it. I didn’t send it back or complain, just took most of them off. But like damn lol who wanted that many.

Not really relevant I just remembered it when you said the pickles thing.

2

u/EggplantDifferent968 Aug 24 '26

My hubs always asks for extra extra pickles and one time he got a ridiculous amount and he was so happy XD

108

u/PlaidMax Aug 22 '26

Why would the over season it and risk having to make it over again for a third time?

87

u/Fluffy-Designer Aug 22 '26

Because then the chef can claim this bloke’s just a whiny asshole and nothing is good enough for him, instead of admitting he fucked up and/or is doing something dodgy with the inventory

61

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

[deleted]

53

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Aug 23 '26

Yep, former cook, we don't fuck with food. For that reason. You've complained once already. I am not making the same dish three times. You are no more a person to me than a stray dog that wandered in. You're a ticket number not a target for my grievances, and I will hate making something three times more than I will ever hate even Hitler

1

u/AmarilloArmadillos Aug 23 '26

Probably more like cook one cooked steak one, and cook two cooked steak two. Cook two has a heavier hand with the seasoning, or a different shaker that wasn't clogged or it was fresher and not clumpy.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Glad-Competition-757 Aug 24 '26

Imagine thinking every kitchen is identical

0

u/AmarilloArmadillos Aug 23 '26

I literally worked at outback 🤣🤣🤣

-6

u/Nettmel60 Aug 23 '26

They're just "cooks" no culinary training. You get what you pay for.

13

u/extinctalien Aug 23 '26

One cook could’ve made the first and another could’ve made the second

1

u/That_sounded_bad Aug 23 '26

They typically have stations, so it was probably the same cook. But they absolutely wouldn’t have fucked around.

23

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Aug 23 '26

Chef? Its an Outback? It's a cook who would rather put extra attention to the remake because they were just about to smoke a cigarette before you sent it back and now they have to wait to cook the steak again to go smoke

You are cattle to cooks. There's no maliciousness there other than malicious compliance like the lady who always sent back her spaghetti for not being hot enough so we made hers like normal and then let Chef Mike polish it off, she loved it and we didn't have to make it again after Mike took extra special care of her. Eventually we just started letting Mike do most of the work because it's clearly what she wanted, hotter than the Devils office and mushy noodles

4

u/Low_Biscotti5539 Aug 23 '26

"Chef Mike" lol

2

u/talltime Aug 23 '26

Your finger quote treatment clued me in. Thanks.

2

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Aug 23 '26

You'd be surprised how many hours Mike puts in and he actually is the guy usually in charge of making sure the frozen pre-prepped stuff is ready to go to the short order cook

Won't work the fryers but not a bad ally when you run out of not frozen meatballs and need a quick hand in the matter to solve your woes

1

u/xRehab Aug 23 '26

spoken like a redditor who never worked in a kitchen before

17

u/SinistaJ Aug 22 '26

Filets were probably going bad and they needed to cover the flavor

8

u/no_one_denies_this Aug 22 '26

That's unhinged.

11

u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 Aug 23 '26

Or it was a simple mistake and cooks don't want to admit it, who knows.

11

u/SmallPurplePeopleEat Aug 23 '26

Could've grabbed out of the wrong drawer, or they needed to restock the filet pan and were too lazy to run to the walk-in, or it actually was a filet but the cut itself was shitty. There's tons of reasons that don't involve maliciousness.

6

u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 Aug 23 '26

100% It's actually possible for people to make mistakes lol. And as a waitress I can't say I'd really know the differences between cuts at the Olive Garden of steak houses lol

5

u/SmallPurplePeopleEat Aug 23 '26

Lol, for sure. I'm no longer a chef, but spent 20 years as one and I've had more than a few customers erroneously claim a steak was not what they ordered. Usually while drunk, frequently a scammer, and occasionally it was someone well-meaning who just didn't know the difference.

In 100% of those cases I just remade the steak to my best ability, and then talked shit about them to the line cooks. But we never purposely served a customer the wrong item, too much pride for that shit.

7

u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 Aug 23 '26

As a stupid customer, I can totally imagine ordering a steak "medium rare" not really knowing what that was, and getting it and not really wanting it to be THAT rare? Sometimes people are just idiots but not trying to be assholes.

However, a blue steak is just not acceptable lol. And sometimes it's just a mistake that happens in a busy kitchen, you pop it back on and give it some time. I dunno, it doesn't seem like it's gotta be a big deal if the customer isn't being an asshole.

But yeah I get the frustration of ordering "medium rare" and the customer doesn't understand what they're ordering and then gets mad or some shit. As an idiot, I'd probably tell the waitress that I'd like it to be a tad bit more cooked and admit that I wasn't familiar. Still annoying for the back of house, but not a cause to be an asshole as a customer.

3

u/SmallPurplePeopleEat Aug 23 '26

In the very beginning of my career I would get a little frustrated with returns on steak temps, or when someone ordered a well-done filet. But I worked with this awesome chef who would be like "I'm going to make them the best well-done steak they've ever had" and our customers absolutely loved him for it.

It made a big impression on me.

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u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 Aug 23 '26

(btw I love ordering steak at restaurants because I am TERRIBLE at it at home! Medium rare is what I want, I like it to be a bit red and juicy, but I can understand if someone doesn't eat much steak and gets freaked out I guess? Or ya know, sometimes it comes out sliiiighlty undercooked and it's not the end of the world.)

I have tried for YEARS to make a good steak. Sometimes the gods smile on me and it turns out great and other times it's a disaster. I'm so bad at it. But you do need to know what medium rare is. I like it to be red and juicy!!!! Not RAW, but nice and RED!

5

u/windshipper Aug 23 '26

🤷‍♂️ It’s Outback Steakhouse. When you’re here, you’re family. Why shouldn’t it be unhinged?

2

u/Beccamac1 Aug 23 '26

I was served a bad filet last week. The manager insisted I just didn't like the spices. Then corporate called to double down on the claim that I just don't like the spices. No, I just don't like rotten meat.

16

u/BTTammer Aug 22 '26

Because Fuck You, that's why. 

Cooks making minimum wage working for a publicly owned corporation could give a shit about the customers satisfaction. They are there to do a job, and get paid. And if the customer makes their job harder, Fuck You.

Not saying it's right, but neither are public corporations that treat their employees like garbage.

59

u/Quick_Requirement748 Aug 22 '26

Speaking as a cook who has never made minimum wage, but still doesn't get paid great, the more satisfied a customer is with their meal, the less recooks we have to do = way less work.

30

u/DisposableSaviour Aug 22 '26

Yeah, this is wild thinking we want to make more work for ourselves. I didn’t want to make your steak in the first place, and you think I want to do it a third time? For shits and giggles? Fuck outta here, I got closing shit to do.

1

u/Uncivil_ Aug 22 '26

Unfortunately not all cooks are logical and only do things that are in their best interest.

9

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Aug 23 '26

No lol you have enough work, you don't make extra work for yourself by deliberately fucking with food. They're just a ticket number anyway, I don't even see customers as people.

1

u/r3dditr0x Aug 23 '26

I was a short order cook briefly in college and I always hooked people up because I'm a foodie and I'm greedy and that's what I would want as a customer.

It wasn't about the patron, or the restaurant so much as my belief that food should look and taste a certain way.

If dude has that much hostility he probably needs to find another job?

(and, for the record, I never ever send food back, so this isn't something I'd have to worry about)

1

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Aug 23 '26

Cooks just don't do that. You either like the job or you view it neutrally but you don't even have to deal with the customers, that's not even a factor in the job, why would you have it out for one unless they were egregious in which case worst you'd do is move the ticket to the back of the ticket line when it comes up and that's only with server approval because a long wait can affect their tip.

And that brings up another thing, why would I fuck with the food? It gets sent back twice that server isn't getting a good tip, you know they won't, even if their service is immaculate but the problem is with the kitchen.

I make the send back good out of spite, not bad out of spite. I want to make it so perfect I can tell Jennifer to blame it all on me and the head chef personally remade the dish and she's totally responsible for pulling it all off and I want the person who sent it back to a) have a good time if it actually was my fault, or b) throw down a $20 because they think "poor Jennifer, she's so good at her job and she has to deal with this, thank God they took care of us"

6

u/According-Capital-45 Aug 23 '26

We are told that if you don't have one customer complaint per day about too much seasoning, you aren't putting enough on. Now, how much seasoning is left on the steak by the time it hits the plate is up to the gods, sometimes half of it sticks to the grill, sometimes it's all on the steak, and sometimes it all sticks to the grill.

-1

u/JimDa5is Aug 22 '26

Never worked in food service, huh?

16

u/DisposableSaviour Aug 22 '26

You obviously haven’t.

Ain’t no way BoH is purposely making more work for ourselves. We’re already behind and ready to close and get the fuck out as fast as possible, you think we’re giving ourselves more to do? On purpose? You really think that? That’s fucking crazy talk.

Say it loud, right now, to yourself: I’m going to fuck up this steak so I have to make the customer a new third steak!

See how dumb that sounds?

4

u/PlaidMax Aug 22 '26

Yeh this is my point. Cooks are going to find the quickest way from point A to point B. Making a third steak is just more work to “prove” something to someone they can’t even see in the dining room.

1

u/MooseJuice19 Aug 23 '26

That’s incredibly rare and a weird assumption and chef won’t be happy that your dumbass wasted 3 steaks.

0

u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 Aug 23 '26

cooks in low end restaurants can be suuuper petty like that lol. He's lucky they didn't mess with his food.

2

u/AnEvenNicerGuy Aug 23 '26

Yeah, line cooks are known for giving a shit what you think

9

u/Hot_Eggplant1306 Aug 22 '26

That's called the floor spice

3

u/UsedDragon Aug 23 '26

She was the shortest Spice Girl who was always in the background of the album cover, so you never saw her. You just knew she was there, somewhere.

6

u/AnEvenNicerGuy Aug 23 '26

You’re looking for things to be mad about if you think a random line cook intentionally over seasoned to “get back at you” or whatever. They don’t give a fuck to make another steak. It’s their job 

0

u/MyNameIsSkittles Aug 23 '26

Nah, most people aren't malicious like that. It was probably a new cook who grabbed the wrong cut, or maybe it was mislabelled. Whoever made it again figured they would want to make a good and just added a good amount of pepper. Others are saying Outback usually has peppery steaks so maybe people have been not good cooks previously as well and the guy who refired your steak was someone who actually knew what he was doing