Worst Restaurant Experience: McDonalds off I-35 up around Frontier City.
Drive-Thru. I was hungry. Needed something. Got a frozen in the middle
Filet-o-Fish. Even at the tender age of about 25 I thought of writing a
letter to the management and even went through the Drive-Thru a second
time to take names and make a note of the Toll-Free-Number to express
my concerns.

Thankfully, I got over it.
LOL! I've had only one bad experience at McDonald's and it was luke
warm coffee via the drive through. I honked and honked and got a
manager. She made a fresh pot and returned my money.

Si habla Espanol es parle Francais.

Worst Restaurant Experience: McDonalds off I-35 up around Frontier City. Drive-Thru. I was hungry. Needed something. Got a frozen in the middle Filet-o-Fish. Even at the tender age of about 25 I thought of writing a letter to the management and even went through the Drive-Thru a second time to take names and make a note of the Toll-Free-Number to express my concerns.

Thankfully, I got over it.Had a lady(I use that term lightly) at the Bricktown Micky D's establishment take my order for some McNuggets. They were burnt to a crisp. I am not exaggerating that no I'm not, not one bit. When I brought that to her attention, she grabbed them from the counter in a furious manner and told me, and I quote "you don't need to be eatin' dem damn nuggets any damn way''. I told her I would be letting her superiors know about her malicious like attitude and she then said "I ain't even talkin to yo ass no mo''. I really didn't classify Mikcyds as a restaurant visible on the perm, but is my worse experience I've had to dage with this food organization.

What a bitch.
(it took me a few minutes to figure out what "to dage with this food organization" meant, but it finally dawned on me.)

Speaking of McDonalds . . . One of my worst restaurant experiences was ordering a McRib for the first (and last) time.
Those things seem to be made from some sort of alien lifeform roadkill.

Not me personally but my sis-in-law once went into a McDonalds and no one could speak English. She even asked for the manager, and he couldn't speak much more than the rest of the staff.

McRib ... Proof that Ronald is not God. No Omnipotent being would maul up a rib so sadly.

I was visiting Paris on a tour with my wife, son and a bunch of his high school mates. We had whatever the tour evening meal was earlier in the evening, then went sight seeing until late in the evening. Just the three of us passed a cafe on our way back to the room and thought we might go in for some dessert or something. The place was about the size and layout of the Deep Deuce Grill except there were tables out front under a striped awning. Inside, bar on one side, tables with table cloths on the other. The place had maybe two people in the bar and one couple at a table.

A hurried woman greeted us in broken english, grabbed a couple of menus, quickly escorted us to a table and vanished before we could attempt to communicate. She came back in a few minutes and my wife asked if we could just get some desert explaining we had been walking quite a bit but had dinner earlier. The woman raised her hands and exclaimed "Oh, but you are all ready sitting down!" She turned and walked off, spoke some french to the man near the kitchen.

Ten minutes went by.

The man came and without a peep, removed the settings on the table. Then removed the table cloth. Then left. Never said a word. Never grunted.

After another minute of confusion, we finally got the clue. Dumb Americans. We got up, and made our way to the door while the man now between the kitchen door and the bar had plenty of words to say we couldn't make out but understood the sentiment.


I prefer Italy.

Worst experience in OKC was eating at Billy Baloos. That place was empty the night we ate there, maybe two other tables had people. They sat us as far away from the two tables, the kitchen, the entrance and cash register as we could have been and it was a fair sized dining room. It took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to get waited on, to get our food and to get the check. There were no drink refills nor did the waitress check in during the meal and we couldn't get her attention. My wife's chicken salad was sour. After about 1.5 hours into the ordeal we got the check, paid at the table and didn't leave a tip. The waitress made it to the table as we made it to the door and she shouted across the dining room angrily "Where's my tip!?!"

^classic comedy gold, amigo. classic.
(approaching awesome. really.)

McRib... Proof that Ronald is not God. No Omnipotent being would maul up
a rib so sadly.
I've never tried the mcrib for obvious reasons. In fact, I've never had a
quarter pounder or any of the other burgers created after the Big Mac,
which I like very much.

mcrib? No thanks.

The waitress made it to the table as we made it to the door and she shouted across the dining room angrily "Where's my tip!?!"

My response would have been " Stay out of the rain!"

Had a lady(I use that term lightly) at the Bricktown Micky D's establishment take my order for some McNuggets. They were burnt to a crisp. I am not exaggerating that no I'm not, not one bit. When I brought that to her attention, she grabbed them from the counter in a furious manner and told me, and I quote "you don't need to be eatin' dem damn nuggets any damn way''. I told her I would be letting her superiors know about her malicious like attitude and she then said "I ain't even talkin to yo ass no mo''. I really didn't classify Mikcyds as a restaurant visible on the perm, but is my worse experience I've had to dage with this food organization.

For what it's worth ,. . .
As we (that is, my wife and i plus a grandson and his buddy) were sitting around the "comfort zone" table on the patio out back, still basking in the glow of a visit to Ingrid's awaiting my re-make of a chicken curry dish with fish instead of chicken, I read your post, aloud, with complete sincerity. My wife said: "19? he's a good writer." I agreed. (it is possible that I borrowed from the Old Steve Allen Show, but that takes nothing away from the accuracy of your observations vis-à-vis McD's.)

I guess you are a Generation Bridger, dude . . . =)

When my husband was married to his former wife, they went to the old Magnolia Café (in the early 1980's ). When their entrees arrived, he noticed that some type of bug was "spooning" a kernel of corn on his side dish (i.e. some type of small beetle(?) was hugging that corn kernel like nobody's business.) :eek: When it was (very nicely) brought to the attention of the waiter, he and the rest of the wait staff made a joke out of it. They did, thankfully, replace the entrée side, but no offer was made to comp the meal. In fact, when Jim asked for to-go box for the entrée itself, which he said was delicious, the waiter drew bugs all over it with an ink pen.

Perfect. thank you Teri.
If Reader's Digest still made $300 check awards for accuracy in reportage, they would cut you a check for double that amount. =)

LOL! I've had only one bad experience at McDonald's and it was luke
warm coffee via the drive through. I honked and honked and got a
manager. She made a fresh pot and returned my money.

Si habla Espanol es parle Francais.

I've had a similar experience with coffee at an Olive Garden in Stillwater with a less happy ending. My coffee came to the table cold. I complained about it. The waiter brought me another cup, but to my aggravation it was still cold. The waiter said he wouldn't charge me for that and suggested I order something else, so I ordered iced tea. The Olive Garden in Stillwater is inconstant in food and service. For a better Italian dining experience in Stillwater, there is the Da Vinci's, which is in the same shopping center complex as the Olive Garden.

When my husband was married to his former wife, they went to the old
Magnolia Café (in the early 1980's ). When their entrees arrived, he
noticed that some type of bug was "spooning" a kernel of corn on his side
dish (i.e. some type of small beetle(?) was hugging that corn kernel like
nobody's business.)
I remember Magnolia's. Horrors. Luckily I only played there and never
ate the food, to my knowledge. I'm trying to imagine if there was anything
crunchy in my drink.

Geghis Grill, I tried it yesterday for the first time and it is terrible, I will not go back

Same for Ricky's Cafe which I tried years ago, why it is still in business is beyond me....

It's starting to seem like that the "worst restaurant experience" is evolving into what are the multiple restaurants that I don't like. It seems like we should keep to the original premise and say the one worst we have experienced and explain why instead of just saying that many places are terrible.

It's starting to seem like that the "worst restaurant experience" is evolving into what are the multiple restaurants that I don't like. It seems like we should keep to the original premise and say the one worst we have experienced and explain why instead of just saying that many places are terrible.

Why Gehgis Grill is terrible: Undercooked rice, terrible service, even I asked the waitress to take the rice back and make it right but still undercooked anyway, the other food like chicken and steak and shrimp does not taste good

Why Ricky's Cafe is terrible: The rice tastes fake, it is hard to explain, I mean it does not taste like rice, it tastes like something else and the burritos and beans tasted like cardboard which is gross

Is that better?

Why Gehgis Grill is terrible: Undercooked rice, terrible service, even I asked the waitress to take the rice back and make it right but still undercooked anyway, the other food like chicken and steak and shrimp does not taste good

Why Ricky's Cafe is terrible: The rice tastes fake, it is hard to explain, I mean it does not taste like rice, it tastes like something else and the burritos and beans tasted like cardboard which is gross

Is that better?

It's better but it still doesn't address the topic of the worst when you give multiple examples of places you don't like and mainly just don't like the food.

It's better but it still doesn't address the topic of the worst when you give multiple examples of places you don't like and mainly just don't like the food.

Oh well, I tried

It's better but it still doesn't address the topic of the worst when you give multiple examples of places you don't like and mainly just don't like the food.

Well, topping getting cold coffee at the Olive Garden is giving them your credit card and getting someone else's card back. It didn't happen to me, but I've heard it happen to someone else.

In younger, hollow leg days, being told by a manager that contrary to my belief, I had actually had all that I could eat, and it was now time for me to depart. I thought I was good for at least another two servings of shrimp, but he seemed sooooo danged sure about it.

Actually, that was the second worst experience. The worst happened earlier in my life. I was sitting in an eatery in my hometown with some fellow members of the Order of the Hollow Leg. Right as we were wondering among ourselves what happened to their quite good all you could eat shrimp special, which had been running run for several weekends, another customer across the room asked his server why they no longer offered that particular special.

She looked at him pointed a long finger our way and announced, sans any pretense of a stage whisper ... "Because of them."

In retrospect, i suppose it is fair to say this was the first time I was ever shrimp shamed.

In younger, hollow leg days, being told by a manager that contrary to my belief, I had actually had all that I could eat, and it was now time for me to depart. I thought I was good for at least another two servings of shrimp, but he seemed sooooo danged sure about it.

Actually, that was the second worst experience. The worst happened earlier in my life. I was sitting in an eatery in my hometown with some fellow members of the Order of the Hollow Leg. Right as we were wondering among ourselves what happened to their quite good all you could eat shrimp special, which had been running run for several weekends, another customer across the room asked his server why they no longer offered that particular special.

She looked at him pointed a long finger our way and announced, sans any pretense of a stage whisper ... "Because of them."

In retrospect, i suppose it is fair to say this was the first time I was ever shrimp shamed.


My husband and a friend were kicked out of Catfish Cabin, back before it went buffet on one of their 'all you can eat' specials. I think it was shrimp too. They ticked the management off when they requested, no more sides, just keep bringing the shrimp!

I think my worst experience was at the old El Chico's that was at Britton and May.

After being seated at our table and ordering, I went to the men's room to wash my hands. I walked in to find that someone had vomited in and around the wash basin, rendering it useless. I quietly notified the manager of the problem and returned to my table. When I ordered my meal, I ordered it with rice and no beans. When I received my order, my plate had a huge puddle of refried beans surrounding my enchiladas. I told the waiter that I ordered rice only, no beans, and he just replied with, "well, we're out of rice so we gave you double beans", which I also quietly brought to the managers attention.

I can say that he comped our whole tab, but we never returned there again.

I remember Magnolia's. Horrors. Luckily I only played there and never
ate the food, to my knowledge. I'm trying to imagine if there was anything
crunchy in my drink.

I think I ate at Magnolia's once . . . My Pavlovian response is not a pleasant one for some reason . . .

"Waiter! I like the crunch of ice in my drink . . . but why does this here black cube have what appear to be legs?"

I think my worst experience was at the old El Chico's that was at Britton and May.

After being seated at our table and ordering, I went to the men's room to wash my hands. I walked in to find that someone had vomited in and around the wash basin, rendering it useless. I quietly notified the manager of the problem and returned to my table. When I ordered my meal, I ordered it with rice and no beans. When I received my order, my plate had a huge puddle of refried beans surrounding my enchiladas. I told the waiter that I ordered rice only, no beans, and he just replied with, "well, we're out of rice so we gave you double beans", which I also quietly brought to the managers attention.

I can say that he comped our whole tab, but we never returned there again.

Still . . . that El Chico location has phenominal corn . . . =)
(you can duplicate it at home by tossing some Herdez Green Sauce into some microwaved frozen corn and throwing in some of those red peppers from a jar plus something green)

Still . . . that El Chico location has phenominal corn . . . =)
(you can duplicate it at home by tossing some Herdez Green Sauce into some microwaved frozen corn and throwing in some of those red peppers from a jar plus something green)

Come to think of it,... That's what was in the sink... Pass The Tortillias Please!

I think my worst experience was at the old El Chico's that was at Britton and May.

After being seated at our table and ordering, I went to the men's room to wash my hands. I walked in to find that someone had vomited in and around the wash basin, rendering it useless. I quietly notified the manager of the problem and returned to my table. When I ordered my meal, I ordered it with rice and no beans. When I received my order, my plate had a huge puddle of refried beans surrounding my enchiladas. I told the waiter that I ordered rice only, no beans, and he just replied with, "well, we're out of rice so we gave you double beans", which I also quietly brought to the managers attention.

I can say that he comped our whole tab, but we never returned there again.

What a terrible restaurant. Ugh. The El Chico in Norman is OK, but talk about a chain that has rapidly gone downhill. Growing up, El Chico was actually very good Tex-Mex at one time.

^

As I have hypothesized elsewhere, I really think the few restaurants that have been around for more than 30 years or so merely suffer by modern comparisons.

It probably was never as good as you'd like to remember (it always seemed lame to me) and now has to carry on in the present, without the benefit of hazy memories and warm nostalgia. (I really believe this is the reason for so many people claiming almost every restaurant has gone 'downhill'. They all can't possibly getting worse.) And it has to compete against operations that are better in almost every way.

Like almost everything else in this world, restaurants are just way better now than before.

^

As I have hypothesized elsewhere, I really think the few restaurants that have been around for more than 30 years or so merely suffer by modern comparisons.

It probably was never as good as you'd like to remember (it always seemed lame to me) and now has to carry on in the present, without the benefit of hazy memories and warm nostalgia. (I really believe this is the reason for so many people claiming almost every restaurant has gone 'downhill'. They all can't possibly getting worse.) And it has to compete against operations that are better in almost every way.

Like almost everything else in this world, restaurants are just way better now than before.

I agree with your theory, but El Chico at one time only had a handful of locations, and they were quite good Tex-Mex. They expanded the chain in the late 1980s and started changing things around. The one on Britton is particularly bad and has almost always been so.

I agree with your theory, but El Chico at one time only had a handful of
locations, and they were quite good Tex-Mex. They expanded the chain
in the late 1980s and started changing things around. The one on Britton
is particularly bad and has almost always been so.
I've always liked that particular El Chico, though it's been 2 years since
my last visit. Maybe I have poor taste in Tex-Mex.

What a terrible restaurant. Ugh. The El Chico in Norman is OK, but talk about a chain that has rapidly gone downhill. Growing up, El Chico was actually very good Tex-Mex at one time.

The only time I ever ate at an El Chico and enjoyed it was one time in Dallas years ago. Every other location has been absolutely terrible. It definitely seems very sporadic in quality and whether its good or not depends largely on location. Personally I wonder how they've stayed in business so long with all the other choices out there today for Mexican food.

I agree with your theory, but El Chico at one time only had a handful of locations, and they were quite good Tex-Mex. They expanded the chain in the late 1980s and started changing things around. The one on Britton is particularly bad and has almost always been so.

I moved away in 1989 so I only know El Chico from before then and ate there relatively often because it was one of the few options; the one in Norman, too.

And I always thought it was lame and only became aware of the degree of lameness when we actually got a few more options.

And when you compare to today's Casa Perico, Abel's or even Ted's, it's amazing how far the standards have raised.

For what it's worth ,. . .
As we (that is, my wife and i plus a grandson and his buddy) were sitting around the "comfort zone" table on the patio out back, still basking in the glow of a visit to Ingrid's awaiting my re-make of a chicken curry dish with fish instead of chicken, I read your post, aloud, with complete sincerity. My wife said: "19? he's a good writer." I agreed. (it is possible that I borrowed from the Old Steve Allen Show, but that takes nothing away from the accuracy of your observations vis-à-vis McD's.)

I guess you are a Generation Bridger, dude . . . =)Well, I will take that as a compliment even though I sustained a few grammar infractions lol

A "Generation Bridger", awww yeaaah. Hopefully that bridge is part of a future 5 stack interchange here in OKC ;)