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"Never Again" Experiences


mame11

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Gepettos in Bethesda... basic pizza not well done... looked good but did not taste good... AND the two servers were fighting with each other over a disputed tip! Crazy.

Don, if you don't like my topic feel free to take it down... but I had to vent. I am tired of giving money for bad food and service. Yuck.

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Gepettos in Bethesda... basic pizza not well done... looked good but did not taste good... AND the two servers were fighting with each other over a disputed tip!  Crazy. 

Don, if you don't like my topic feel free to take it down... but I had to vent.  I am tired of giving money for bad food and service.  Yuck.

I live in Bethesda. Gepettos was good about ten years ago, but it is very tired and needs to be put out of its misery.

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Buffalo Billiards. Never had the food, but I was drinking club soda last night and was getting charged two bucks a pop. Can't you give me some free refills? This is America!

(I'm leaving out the incredibly horrible waitress who was very rude to a rather large group of us -- one of the few groups there, as a matter of fact. Tip could have been very good... but it wasn't)

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Cafe Milano in Georgetown. Horrible food..overpriced...terrible service...

Gepettos in Bethesda... basic pizza not well done... looked good but did not taste good... AND the two servers were fighting with each other over a disputed tip!  Crazy. 

Don, if you don't like my topic feel free to take it down... but I had to vent.  I am tired of giving money for bad food and service.  Yuck.

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Don, if you don't like my topic feel free to take it down

[Are you kidding? I love a good schoolyard fight. Carry on...]

(FWIW, I had a decent lunch pizza (pepperoni and mushroom) at Gepetto about eight months ago - that having been said, later that afternoon, I felt like I had spent all morning double-tonguing a salt lick.)

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A piece of metal in my burger!

But would this really prevent you from returning? I've probably unknowingly consumed the following items in restaurants: metal, rock, plastic, hair, bone, dirt, insect, rodent, vermin, feather, fur, and I won't even go into the entire array of human bodily fluids.

(and that was just one meal cooked by Wabeck)

Seriously though, best to ignore, no?

Fears,

Rocks.

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Ardeo in CP. My halibut was actually still crispy from ICE in the center. Never again.

Ivy's in CP as well. My parents live a block away and kept talking about how great it was. My squid appetizer was tastless, but that was okay because it was overcooked to an inedible rubbery texture. Think Michelin cooking...and I mean the kind you'd get at "Just Tires." The satay was a dark meat like I've never had. Unbelievely vile in texture and flavor...like it was microwaved. Shudder. Wait staff didn't inquire at to why I only ate two bites, one from the app and one from the main. I told them it wasn't edible, but they only smiled and shrugged.

[Edited to fix very poor grammar and spelling errors (mom the English major would be pissed)]

Edited by Biotech
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Ironically, tonight I had the worst meal I have had in a long time. It was take out from Nam's, a Vietnamese place on Cordell Ave in Bethesda. Papaya salad had basil leaves that were not green but mostly brown. Grilled Pork with Vermicelli noodles was nasty. Overcooked tough pork over almost stale rice noodles. NASTY

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A few years ago, I got dragged to the Macaroni Grill in Ballston mall by friends before seeing a movie there. Ordered some chicken and portobello mushrooms dish. While waiting for food, we hear a crash from the kitchen. A few moments later, everyone's food comes out except for mine. Waitress says they started mine late but it will be out shortly.

5-10 minutes or so later, my dish comes out. I cut into it only to find the chicken half-raw. Flag the waitress, send it back for further cooking. 10 minutes later, the dish reappears. At this point, I've been eating off my boyfriend's plate and the bread basket so I'm not famished, which is a good thing since one bite revealed a dish so salty it was inedible. Having filled up on other items, I didn't feel like flagging the waitress again since we had a movie to catch.

Waitress comes back to clear the table, noticed I didn't eat any of the dish and asked what was wrong with it. I explain, and her response is "Well, you can't always get a good meal, can you?" :P

The check comes, and my meal is on it. She felt I should pay for it, I felt differently. As did the manager, which was nice.

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Clyde's has always been a disappointment to me, and last September was the final straw. The manager sent me a letter good for $75 worth of food, I still have not been back. Here is the story that I originally posted on chowhound.com on 9/17/04:

Because Clyde’s is having their lobster fest I decided to humor my wife and go. I am not generally a fan of Clyde’s, and the last time we were there I had one of the worst dining experiences of my life, both poor food and service. But just to make sure that my wife is happy, I decided to go. Our waitress had a trainee trailing her. This is usually a sign that you have one of the better waiters/waitresses. We placed our drink orders, and the wine arrived in a reasonable amount of time. The waitress was prompt in taking our order, and the appetizers again arrived in a reasonable amount of time, and my raw oysters were fine, but no lemon or Tabasco sauce came with them. My wife had the very flavorful day boat scallops. We finished these and our plates were cleared promptly, and a refill of my wife’s drink order was taken, I had ordered my entrée wine when I placed my order. I was assured that the wine would be delivered before my entrée. It did not, but that was the least of my concerns.

My wife’s lobster arrived and was cooked nicely. But the prime rib that I ordered arrived well done, I had ordered it medium rare. Also the baked potato arrived with no toppings available. Anyway, I sent it back to get what I had ordered. Another piece of beef arrived, this one was more medium, but I tried to give it a go. It was cold, when I say cold, I mean that the edges were cold to the touch. The trainee came by the table to ask how it was, I told her that it was cold. She took it back and the arrived with the same piece of meat. She had it “reheated”. Now a piece of medium prime rib was now well done, and still not warm. Her response was “I’m sorry what do you want, I am a vegetarian, and have no frame of reference.” OK, now, I do not like most vegetables, but I know how they should be prepared, and I do not make a living serving food, nor have I ever been in the food business. I told her that I wanted a piece of medium rare meat that is not cold. She asked if I wanted to keep what I had and she would get me a new one. I told her to just take it away. The non-trainee waitress showed-up with another piece of meat. This one also looked medium, but since my wife was almost done with her lobster, I thought I would give it a try. First thing I did was touch the edge of the meat, and guess what, it was cold. I told the waitress to feel the meat. She was not excited by this, but I insisted that she do so. When I finally got her to do so, she understood, and asked if she wanted me to try another piece. Not a chance. I told her to take it back and just bring me a lobster. It arrived and was fine, not out standing, but fine.

It annoys me that after so many foul-ups the waitress should have at least brought the manager over to placate us, but she did not. She offered no compensation, a desert, a drink, what have you. She was attentive, and under normal circumstances she would have been fine, but she did not know how to handle such situations. This is the first time I have ever had to return a dish more than once, and I will not be going back.

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Santa Rosa's in Adams Morgan. I know, shouldn't have even been tempted, but my boyfriend wanted to eat somewhere where we could order what we want by picture, and I felt otherwise. SR's was the first place we found that was open on a Monday afternoon.

I order a Dos Equis. The hispanic waitress doesn't understand. After yelling "DOS EQUIS!" she comes out with a Miller Lite. I say no, "DOS EQUIS!!!!!!!" she comes out with the chef. The chef speaks Spanish, but she also evidently speaks beer, so she comprehends what I am asking for. Two Dos Equis come out, my boyfriend repeats his order for "Ice Tea!!!!" and the waitress nods and takes his beer glass away. She thinks she understands us now.

I order paella. What I get is meat stew with rice on the side. I say no, this isn't paella. The waitress nods and says, "Si! Paella!" as if we now have opened a line of communication and all is well.

In the meantime, a gentleman seated at a table next to us asks for hot sauce. Then he asks for "HOT SAUCE!!!!" The waitress again nods, and brings out a napkin. Thank God the guy already had his wine.

Moral of the story?

Pictures aren't so bad to order from.

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A few years ago, I got dragged to the Macaroni Grill in Ballston mall by friends before seeing a movie there....<much snipped>

Waitress comes back to clear the table, noticed I didn't eat any of the dish and asked what was wrong with it. I explain, and her response is "Well, you can't always get a good meal, can you?"  :P

The check comes, and my meal is on it. She felt I should pay for it, I felt differently. As did the manager, which was nice.

Yeah, I ahd a simialr experience there a few years ago...my wife and I both found foreign objects in our food---she found a small pebble in her salad, and the waitress took it back to the kitchen, then returned with THE SAME SALAD - she had just added more dressing. You could see the spots where my wife had picked out the olives and crotons.

She did not attempt the salad further, but said nothing. Mistake.

As I was working my way through the entree, I found, I kid you not, a TOOTH. Actually, it was someone's crown, not a whole tooth. Not mine, I have no dental work of that nature. I showed it to the waitress, who comented that it was little fishy that BOTH of us had found foreign objects in our food.

We asked to speak to the manager, and the waitress refused, so I went to the hostess station and loudly asked to see the manager. That worthy made her way out shortly thereafter, and I explained the situation. She listened, then told me "I can't believe what you are saying. What do you want me to do?" I told her that, since she had to ask, nothing, we would simply pay the bill and be on our way.

Argh, it still makes my blod boil to think about it.

Rob

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"What do you want me to do?" 

Is there some school for manager's of crappy restaurants that teaches them to say this? It seems that they try to put the onus on the customer to rectify the problem instead of fixing it themselves. When I had a truly horrible meal at the Tyson’s Legal Seafood where the waitress honored us with her presence just twice, once to take our order and then to give us the bill, when I spoke with the manager he asked “what would you like for me to do?” My answer was, “oh be creative, find someway to make me happy after such a poor experience.” He offered me desert, but would not take my uneaten entrée off the bill.

His regional manager did not agree with his decision, and credited my Visa for the dinner, and sent me a gift certificate. He also thought that the question was inappropriate and that he should have offered a solution and not expect me to tell him what would make me happy.

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I went one time to Le Chat Noir on Wisconsin Ave. I really wanted to like it because it is right in my neighborhood.

It took a good 30 minutes for someone to even come take our drink order. I actually liked the food I ate, but the service was so terrible, I cannot bring myself to return.

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The worst episode I've had was a few years ago. It happened at lunch at a little Italian place on Capitol Hill, behind Schneider's I think. I ordered the veal parmesan sandwich. A little while later I'm presented with the eggplant parmesan sandwich. I said to the waitress, "I'm sorry, but I ordered the veal parmesan sandwich."

She said "No, you didn't."

"Yes, yes I did."

"No you didn't, because we ran out of veal. If you had ordered it, I would have told you we were out of veal."

My friend at the table said "Actually, he did. I remember it. It's what he always orders."

The waitress starts arguing with my friend. At which point I say, "It's fine, I'll just have the eggplant then," to try to head off further issues.

"Are you sure?" The waitress asks in a hateful, sarcastic tone.

"It's fine." I say through gritted teeth. This is the only time I've been anywhere I thought the server was actively hostile to me.

I was glad I had exact change that day. I think that was one of only two times I left no tip at all. And I haven't been back there since.

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Whitlow's on Wilson two years ago after Hurricane Isobel. The place was slammed for brunch, but we got a table fairly easily. The waiter comes by fifteen minutes later and asks us for our drink order and we tell him we're ready to order our drinks and entrees. He asks again what we want to drink, as if he didn't hear what we just said. We all got up and left without even consulting each other. I tried talking to the manager on our way out, but he interrupted and said "Have you ever tried to serve brunch in the middle of a hurricane?" The manager then made like he wanted to throw down, so we left and haven't returned.

Two lessons learned: after a hurricane is not the best time for brunch and Whitlow's isn't worth the abuse anyways, unless you're hard up for an unattractive date or a worthless burger on Monday night. Either will cost you just $4.

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You know I avoid chains at all costs. So in some places and at certain times, I am a real pain with whom to catch a meal. My mom likes to say to me that it won't be my last meal so what does it matter. Oh it matters... I hate paying for bad food and/or service.

This thread is great. Thanks! I feel better, but keep the rants coming...

Edited by NCPinDC
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I think that "avoiding chains at all costs" does not keep you from a bad meal.

I actually had the poorest service of my entire life at Bradley Ogden's in Vegas the second time I ate there.

I was there with a group of 6 all under the age of 35 and we were treated as if we were at the children's table at thanksgiving.

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I think that "avoiding chains at all costs" does not keep you from a bad meal. 

I actually had the poorest service of my entire life at Bradley Ogden's in Vegas the second time I ate there.

I was there with a group of 6 all under the age of 35 and we were treated as if we were at the children's table at thanksgiving.

Would you be so kind as to give us some details? Snarkiness is always appreciated, too. :P

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Il Radicchio, and at two different locations. First time, in Dupont (where Komi now is located) we ate with some friends and one of them found a cockroach in her salad. When we brought it to the attention of the waiter, the salad was removed, and moments later he brought back the same salad (minus cockroach, at least). No apologies, no complimentary anything, nothing. Vowed never to return.

Years later was prevailed upon to go again, this time to the location in Old Town Fairfax (long since closed). This time we had the most inept service I had ever experienced, with mistaken orders, glacial pace, etc, and the food when it came was horrendous. Vowed never to return, and to date have not. Are they even still in business?

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If you had eaten the heart, you would have gained the chicken's courage.

Oh no, you mentioned a Holy Grail of Barbecue for some of us!! Rocklands!

Blasphemy! :P

I try to eat there as much as possible and all the folks in my office have learned that Red Hot and Blue and a few lousy others are pale in comparison to Rocklands.

Please try their pulled pork platter to change your mind. Sweet Tea too!

....and no I'm not affiliated, just love good barbecue done right.

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I think there's one still open in Arlington at the corner of Rhodes and Wilson, but I've never been.

There is, as it's right next to my office. I've been once and wasn't that impressed. A coworker of mine who eats there semi-regularly has been known to bring his own soda since they don't seem to refrigerate theirs. Requests for ice go unmet so he resorted to bringing his own.

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Just to add a glimmer of hope here, I had what could have been a horrible experience at Grillfish last fall. I was out with my mom and sister, we were seated next to a wall, and next to a very romantic couple. Suddenly, a HUGE cockroach starts walking up the wall. The girl next to us wigs out - I mean, flat out hyperventilates. She's pointing and staring and almost making a scene. They quickly leave (hadn't ordered yet). The manager comes directly to us, and says "We just had the place sprayed for cockroaches, and if you can forgive us for our "friend" there on the wall, and not draw attention from the other customers, I will gladly comp your entire bill." We hadn't ordered yet, and were assured we could have even the most expensive item.

I don't mind cockroaches, have lived with quite a few - just don't put them in my food!

We were impressed and ate quite well. :-)

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our son, who was once a waiter at cafe deluxe, tells a story of serving salads on an early sunday to a large table only to discover they were garnished with grasshoppers that were popping up faster than he could whisk them away and that the whole place was jumping.

over the years i have encountered all sorts of insects in my food, though they usually have been cooked, most memorably a big yellow- and black-striped beetle that had been stir fried by washington's recently departed oldest thai spot.

when the bugs are alive, especially when they are cockroaches, i have found a range of reactions. several years ago at city lights of china, when we called our server over to check out the baby roach swimming for its life in a mai tai she was all ooh's and aah's and seemed resigned to letting nature take its course until we asked for a replacement. at the other extreme, at a new orleans-type cooking place in the block of connecticut at calvert (i forget the name and don't know if it is still there; many of the restaurants in that area become invisible fairly quickly) one of those basement jobs about the size of a flying cigar precipitated shrieks and tumbling chairs when it started dive bombing tables. we decided to stick it out, and just when it looked like it was heading for the bar, the creepy crawler turned around and attacked our table and our knee-jerk reactions were similar to those of the diners who had recently departed. the roach was soon taken out by napkin-swatting waiters, and the manager came over to explain that the invasion had originated from another restaurant on the block; theirs was the cleanest. our reward was free dessert.

foreign objects intruding into a meal have included a three-inch metal "shaving" from a can all covered in cheese in a chile relleno, bottle caps, rubber bands and hard pieces of plastic (broken in the dish washer?). i haven't found any coins, but isn't including a foil-wrapped quarter randomly in a batch of cupcakes still a tradition for pta's and church socials?

the caspian tea room out mass. ave always had delicious desserts into which there invariably was baked an impressively long, thick, black strand of hair. i don't know who she was, but she was really losing it.

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when the bugs are alive, especially when they are cockroaches, i have found a range of reactions. several years ago at city lights of china, when we called our server over to check out the baby roach swimming for its life in a mai tai she was all ooh's and aah's and seemed resigned to letting nature take its course until we asked for a replacement. at the other extreme, at a new orleans-type cooking place in the block of connecticut at calvert (i forget the name and don't know if it is still there; many of the restaurants in that area become invisible fairly quickly) one of those basement jobs about the size of a flying cigar precipitated shrieks and tumbling chairs when it started dive bombing tables. we decided to stick it out, and just when it looked like it was heading for the bar, the creepy crawler turned around and attacked our table and our knee-jerk reactions were similar to those of the diners who had recently departed. the roach was soon taken out by napkin-swatting waiters, and the manager came over to explain that the invasion had originated from another restaurant on the block; theirs was the cleanest. our reward was free dessert.

I miss our cicada friends. :P

Edited by CrescentFresh
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Il Radicchio, and at two different locations.  First time, in Dupont (where Komi now is located) we ate with some friends and one of them found a cockroach in her salad.  When we brought it to the attention of the waiter, the salad was removed, and moments later he brought back the same salad (minus cockroach, at least).  No apologies, no complimentary anything, nothing.  Vowed never to return.

Years later was prevailed upon to go again, this time to the location in Old Town Fairfax (long since closed).  This time we had the most inept service I had ever experienced, with mistaken orders, glacial pace, etc, and the food when it came was horrendous.  Vowed never to return, and to date have not.  Are they even still in business?

I went to the Dupont location once before a show at the Studio Theater. We didn't want leftovers (no place to put them), so we explained that to our waiter and asked about the size of their pizzas. The waiter assured us that the pizzas were small enough to serve one person. Now, we had ordered a bottle of wine, apps, and were planning dessert, so he would be making a decent tip. Of course we wound up wasting half our meals.

The (non-Italian) waiter also made a point of obnoxiously correcting my (Italian) friend's pronunciation of Pinot Grigio - comically mispronouncing it of course. :P

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Oh no, you mentioned a Holy Grail of Barbecue for some of us!!  Rocklands!

Blasphemy!  :P

I try to eat there as much as possible and all the folks in my office have learned that Red Hot and Blue and a few lousy others are pale in comparison to Rocklands.

Please try their pulled pork platter to change your mind.  Sweet Tea too!

....and no I'm not affiliated, just love good barbecue done right.

Actually, the blasphemy is comparing Rocklands to decent BBQ. The first time I had Rocklands, I found the pulled pork to look and smell like the real deal, but it lacked any flavor, and the meat was quite dry and unpleasant. I have tried it several other times, and nothing has been different from the first visit. The only thing that I have had there that are worse than the pulled pork are the ribs. They tasted washed-out, as if they had been boiled first (talk about blasphemy).

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Two stories:

After a series of mistakes, problems and indifferent service on several visits to the very overpriced Daily Grill (18th and M) the camel's back broke on what was to be my last visit a couple years ago. I believe I had a ceasar salad with grilled chicken. Most of the lettuce was a brownish yellow and was no longer crisp. Clearly very old lettuce. I sent it back to try again. Ten or fifteen minutes later a new salad appeared with somewhat improved romaine. However clearly tossed in was a very long, thick black hair (it was so thick, it might have been from a broom, actually.) The plate hit the table and I quickly handed it right back and asked for a menu and the manager. "But the hearts of romaine are supposed to be yellow," he protested. yeah yeah yeah, they aren't supposed to be brownish and limp either. He made a big deal that I wouldn't have to pay for the two salads I didn't touch (gee, thanks,) I had some sort of bland grilled meat (which I paid for) and have never been back.

The other story that comes to mind was at Banducci's, a tiny Italian at 2nd and F NE. I'd always enjoyed the food even though the chef/owner continually silently scowled at most guests all of the time. I was a semi-regular, knew all the wait-staff and never even an nod from the guy as I'd walk past him to get to the dining room. While chatting with the server on a slow night on the outdoor patio, she told me that he's actually a really sweet guy and that she keeps telling him to be friendlier with the customers. I agreed with her and added that over several years I'd seen him be a jerk to several customers and once or twice to me. I kept going there because the food was great (although it had been slipping the previous few months) and was quite cheap and DC needs more good, small neighborhood hangouts.

She took it upon herself to go inside and say something to him along the lines of, "See, even your customers think you're a jerk." He quickly comes bounding outside demanding of all the customers to speak up if they think he's a jerk. Everyone was quite mortified and I spoke up and tried to smooth it all over - I really thought he might try to hit me. He went on about how hard he works and how hot it gets and whatnot. I calmly said something about how most other restaurateurs endure the same conditions and manage to be friendly. He stormed back inside and I and my dinner companion promptly paid and left before he might return with a knife (as did the other two tables of customers). Haven't been back since - but I don't see it as too much of a loss, the food had really been slipping, thereby removing any reason to go there in the first place. Perhaps I could have been more tactful with the waitress or could have just kept my mouth shut, but the guy certainly didn't do much to soften his image that night.

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At Clyde's in CC (before remodeling) we were served water in the white ceramic pitchers that they use. This instance the pitchers were definately not clean b/c they had two flies floating in them. That was just nasty and I havent been back since.

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at a new orleans-type cooking place in the block of connecticut at calvert (i forget the name and don't know if it is still there; many of the restaurants in that area become invisible fairly quickly)

i beleive that you are referencing "lex cajun grill". i wouldn't swear to it, but i am fairly sure that they are still around.

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that's the one. the food was okay, as i recall, but for whatever the reason we have never been back. so they have managed to stay in business for several years now.

We went there once, too. Nothing too terrible, but not enough of a reason to go back. The reason those restaurants near the corner of Connecticut and Calvert stay in business is because of the three large hotels in the neighborhood. Tourists and conventioneers don't seem to be very demanding food-wise. I suspect that the residents just head up to Cleveland Park.

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Ivy's in CP as well. My parents live a block away and kept talking about how great it was. My squid appetizer was tastless, but that was okay because it was overcooked to an inedible rubbery texture. Think Michelin cooking...and I mean the kind you'd get at "Just Tires." The satay was a dark meat like I've never had. Unbelievely vile in texture and flavor...like it was microwaved. Shudder. Wait staff didn't inquire at to why I only ate two bites, one from the app and one from the main. I told them it wasn't edible, but they only smiled and shrugged.

Yikes, I forgot about Ivy. I was dragged there once, and also made the mistake of ordering something with squid. I was impressed that something could taste so rubbery, mushy, and dried-out at the same time. I also had some sort of soup, not quite bad enough to be memorable - it was supposed to be a bit spicy, but all I tasted was a vague saltiness.

My friends liked their food. They also love Maggiano's and Outback, and couldn't understand my devotion to China Star or Ruan Thai. I need new dining companions. Sigh.

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according to washingtonpost.com's best bets, maggiano's is the area's best italian.  :P

I still can't believe that cheezoid copout from the editors of the Post (But it's the only thing a bunch of our readers know... we put 'Editor's Choice' next to the good ones). Isn't the point of these sorts of things to bring great spots to the attention of the general public? Maybe they should separate out the chains into their own categories, if they're so determined to keep them eligible.

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when the bugs are alive, especially when they are cockroaches, i have found a range of reactions.

One of my favorite there's-a-fly-in-my-soup episodes occured at a venerable establishment near Dupont Circle, where the my server's response to the very much alive roach in my salad was "I'm so sorry, chef insists on using organic lettuces grown without pesticides."

:P

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While I have had numerous bad meals and terrible service at crummy joints, nothing quite compares with with the disappointment of a terible meal at a place widely reported to be great.

Years ago, I went with my wife on our 5th anniversary to a highly regarded little "boutique" Italian place in town. I won't say the name here, because it may not be fair to it so long after the fact to vent publicly about my one time experience. Nevertheless, I had heard the numerous raves about the place before going, so at the time, I was really excited about it.

While none of the meal stands out in my memory at this stage, which is bad enough in itself, what galled me to no end was the absolutely horrific service. We sat in that little place in the middle of the row and we could not get the attention of the wait staff to save our lives. Indeed, they would serve our neighbors to each side and were chatting away with each other behind some half-opened curtain (we could see a couple of open glasses of wine). I mean, we sat there for a good 20 minutes before anyone evn took our first drink order.

As the meal progressed, a waiter would occasionally circle the dining room, and I'd flag one down periodically, but most of the time they studiously avoided eye contact with us. It was almost laughable, like they made a point of not serving us. (We had never met any of them, mind you.)

I recall spending 2/3 of the meal absolutely seething and unable to enjoy anything. I have never been so pissed at a restaurant as that night.

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foreign objects intruding into a meal have included a three-inch metal "shaving" from a can all covered in cheese in a chile relleno, bottle caps, rubber bands...

I had a frappuccino once at Starbucks that wasn't quite right... eventually I realized that either a lid or a straw had fallen into the blender and been ground up along with the ice, and evenly distributed throughout the whole drink. It was clear plastic so it blended in perfectly.

The sad thing was how long it took me to 1) realize something was wrong, and 2) stop drinking it.

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One of my favorite there's-a-fly-in-my-soup episodes occured at a venerable establishment near Dupont Circle, where the my server's response to the very much alive roach in my salad was "I'm so sorry, chef insists on using organic lettuces grown without pesticides."

:P

I got an almost identical response when I found a slug on my plate at a VERY well regarded downtown restaurant. But to their credit, we were amply compensated and have returned time and again.

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We were at Jaleo over 4th of July weekend (downtown location) and our server was not pleased when we didn't order the full pitcher of sangria (opting instead to start with the half-pitcher since there were a few non-drinkers among us).

He brought out the sangria, and one of the glasses had jagged chip in its lip...(it would have definitely caused a bloody lip had someone unsuspectedly drank from it). Anyway, we noticed it only after he had filled it with sangria. Server walks off with the remainder of the pitcher and the offending glass.

He returns with a filled-to-the-brim glass (not pitcher) of sangria that was impossible to pour into the remaining glasses. We essentially took turns drinking from it. No apology for almost causing serious bleeding, and what was up with bringing out the rest of the sangria in a glass and not a pitcher?

(The other service glitch was that one person never got one of her dishes.)

Wouldn't cause me not to return to Jaleo and I didn't mention anything to the manager because we were in a group and I didn't want to cause a scene (we all thought it was vaguely amusing but yet indicative of some of the bad service we've all experienced in DC).

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