It can be wrong food, long wait, never getting your food, etc.

For me it was at Red Robin in Indianapolis, we waited almost an hour to get seated, and then when we were seated, we waited 30 minutes, waiters and waitress wouldn't answer us, so we got up and left.

They actually have "waiters" and "waitresses" at "Red Robin"?
(never mind. obviously they don't. but it's a "burger place" so . . .)

They actually have "waiters" and "waitresses" at "Red Robin"?
(never mind. obviously they don't. but it's a "burger place" so . . .)

Red Robin does have waitstaff (At least the last time I went anyway.) They are causal dining like Chili's or Fridays. Like most casual dining restaurants you can walk in and get a to go order at the bar.

Pretty much any time I've eaten at Chili's.... I'm pretty sure it's just conincidence because if they served everyone like they have me. They would be out of business. For some reason I become invisible to wait staff when I enter one though.

I had a bad experience at Olive Garden once. It was during lunch, and after we sat down (four of us), our drink orders were taken and promptly delivered, but then nothing for the next 15 minutes, no salad/breadsticks, etc., just no contact with our waitress at all. We even flagged down a different waiter and asked him to get our waitress for us. She never came back. For all I know she quit and walked out. We finally got up to leave and I grabbed a manager on the way out and explained why we were leaving and asked how much we owe for the drinks (just sodas and tea). He basically gave me a half-hearted sorry and said no charge. I've been to this particular OG before and a few times since and everything has been fine except for that one weird experience.

This happened about 10 years ago, I took my then 6 year old niece who was visiting from California to bricktown to ride the boat and eat at zios, while at zios just finishing our good lunch there was two young male employees having a conversation right by my table and they got loud about who they "tag teamed the other night" and they went into details about what waitress they will tag next. I had to get the manager over who then pulled these guys in the back I guess to the office. I was disgusted and my little niece thank gawd didn't really know what the heck they were talking about. That was probably the worst restaurant experience I ever had.

Waffle House in Moore...

Waitress begins her cleaning for her shift in the middle of my meal: by getting buckets of water and tossing water all over the dining room floor and allowing it to splash up and create a huge mess. Was truly disgusted...

Opening month at the Texas Roadhouse, Memorial and Penn. I didn't receive my steak until my wife was done eating. They were both medium rare filets. I told the manager and he really didn't seem to care. I told him to put my meal in a carryout container and we left. Emailed the company and they sent me a $50 certificate, so understanding that new places do have problems, we decided to go back, ordered and didn't get our appetizer till after we had finished our meal. In a nice way I told him he could keep his appetizer thinking he would take it off of the bill, but he didn't. Well, revenge ten years later, my friend from London wanted to eat there when she was visiting so reluctantly I took her. And Wow, everything was perfect except the bill. My friend paid and I asked her how much it was and something wasn't right, it was a little more than half of what it should have been. I looked at the check and they only listed one filet and baked potato, but they did have her drink and my beer. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel obligated to go back and correct a mistake, I figured it was pay back time for my first two screwed up dinners.
C. T.

I've never had any issues at a restaurant. I'm an easy going guy I guess...

Denny's in Edmond off of Second Street right next to IHOP. I was with my friend and his mom right after we saw the new Tron that came out a few years back. She was super nice at first and something happened, she lost her wagon or something. She asked if I would like something to drink and I asked if they had pulp free orange juice and she said yes. She brought me the juice back and it had pulp in it, so I didn't say anything and took small sips to make it appear I was drinking it. It didn't work and she asked why I wasn't drinking it and I told her why. So she grabbed the juice in a really aggressive manor and half of it spilled on my friends mom and she threw the glass in the kitchen and screamed at the top of her lungs "How about I go to my house and grind up gold for you, would you drink that!!!!".

I will never be going that Denny's again.

OKCisOK4me,
Just curious, what does easy going have to do with what happened to me? I'm about as easy going as they come but when they don't prepare/serve what I paid for, that doesn't have anything to do with my personality.
C. T.
I've never had any issues at a restaurant. I'm an easy going guy I guess...

OKCisOK4me,
Just curious, what does easy going have to do with what happened to me? I'm about as easy going as they come but when they don't prepare/serve what I paid for, that doesn't have anything to do with my personality.
C. T.



I can vouch for this ^^^, CT is about as good as an individual as there is.....and easy going at that. Worked around him a good 15 - 18 years or so.....

Guymon, 1986 at a small chain steak house. It was just like a scene that you would expect to see on a movie like Vacation.

When asked if there French fries were frozen our waitresses said how else would they come. When I said sometimes restaurants cut them fresh, she said “like we have time”.
So we put in our order and while the cooks were preparing the meal she sat down at a table right next to us to peal carrots using 5 gallon buckets...She was smoking a cigarette while doing this and letting her ashes fall into the good carrot bucket. By now my wife was fuming. We revived our meal which wasn't anything great. I revived the bill and I got up and paid at the register.. When I returned to the table my wife didn't want to leave any tip but I insisted that we leave something so she didn't think we had forgot to tip her. So I left a nickle below a full glass of water that I had turned upside down on the table.... LOL.

As we left we saw several stray cats going though their garbage.....

Planet Hollywood - Orlando. The service was horrible, the tables/chairs/memorabilia was all disgusting and not clean, and the food was just god awful.

No wonder most of them have already closed down.

We were at the Warren's balcony a few years ago. We went on a Sunday for a 7:00 show, dinner and a movie. Our plan was to split an entree at the beginning, and then get a dessert near the latter part of the movie. The management made an announcement however that the bar and kitchen would be closing at 8:00, less than halfway through the movie itself. I thought this was a little disappointing since, IMO, the food service is part of the value of the higher ticket prices, but whatever. We decided to just get the dessert right after the entree.

We ordered the food as the previews started and we waited. And waited. And waited. At 7:45ish I thought they had forgotten about us and got up to find someone. I went to the bar and asked about my food. They found my food sitting in a to go box and plastic bag. They claimed the waiter entered the order as to go.

I took the food back to my seat and felt self conscious as I pulled it out of the noisy plastic bag. They had placed wax paper on top of the pasta we ordered, so the sauce and cheese was stuck and dripping off of it as we took the wax off. It was a mess. When the waiter later brought the bill he blamed it on the kitchen staff. I was not offered any concession with the bill. I looked for a manager, but there was no one in the balcony area, so I went downstairs to the guest services area. I asked for a manager, but when one came he told me I'd have to speak to a balcony manager and sent me back upstairs.

I trudged back up and found someone who happened to be the GM. He offered me to see another balcony movie for free sometime, but I had to call him to set it up. I would have preferred a pass or coupon or refund or something, but I didn't say anything about it.

And that's about it. I've had some waiters forget about me, but those aren't as fun to tell.

OKCisOK4me,
Just curious, what does easy going have to do with what happened to me? I'm about as easy going as they come but when they don't prepare/serve what I paid for, that doesn't have anything to do with my personality.
C. T.

I wasn't using you as an example.

OKCisOK4me,
I knew that, I just wanted to know how being a "nice guy" could have helped. I think that sometimes nice guys come in last and I seldom complain about anything but when they kick sand in my face, I do take offense.
C. T.

We were at the Warren's balcony a few years ago.

Two of the three times we were in the balcony we had issues with the service..... The reason we have been three times is because we were comped free passes the first two times due to the service issues. The third time was apparently the charm. :wink:

Denny's in Edmond off of Second Street right next to IHOP. I was with my friend and his mom right after we saw the new Tron that came out a few years back. She was super nice at first and something happened, she lost her wagon or something. She asked if I would like something to drink and I asked if they had pulp free orange juice and she said yes. She brought me the juice back and it had pulp in it, so I didn't say anything and took small sips to make it appear I was drinking it. It didn't work and she asked why I wasn't drinking it and I told her why. So she grabbed the juice in a really aggressive manor and half of it spilled on my friends mom and she threw the glass in the kitchen and screamed at the top of her lungs "How about I go to my house and grind up gold for you, would you drink that!!!!".

I will never be going that Denny's again.

Been there three times, had awful service each time, same with the one on May (Which closed and is now S&B)

I will not be going to any Denny's, at least around here, again.

Opening month at the Texas Roadhouse, Memorial and Penn. I didn't receive my steak until my wife was done eating. They were both medium rare filets. I told the manager and he really didn't seem to care. I told him to put my meal in a carryout container and we left. Emailed the company and they sent me a $50 certificate, so understanding that new places do have problems, we decided to go back, ordered and didn't get our appetizer till after we had finished our meal. In a nice way I told him he could keep his appetizer thinking he would take it off of the bill, but he didn't. Well, revenge ten years later, my friend from London wanted to eat there when she was visiting so reluctantly I took her. And Wow, everything was perfect except the bill. My friend paid and I asked her how much it was and something wasn't right, it was a little more than half of what it should have been. I looked at the check and they only listed one filet and baked potato, but they did have her drink and my beer. For the first time in my life, I didn't feel obligated to go back and correct a mistake, I figured it was pay back time for my first two screwed up dinners.
C. T.

Been there many times and still go....only problem I've ever had was before we got seated, the waitress was texting and finished and sent the message (probably three minutes long). After we were seated, we told the manager who was clearly not happy...don't know if he ever did anything but I haven't see that waitress since (been back about 8 times since).

Ruth's Chris in Vegas....large party in which they put us in back room. Approx 20 of us and only gave us one waiter with a couple of assistants that couldn't take orders. Waited so long for him to come back to take drink orders that several of us gave up and went to bar to get our own drinks. Walked by the next empty private room and he is in there smoking a cigarette. Food was very average and not what you would expect from this level of a restaurant. Went to another Ruth's Chris in another city with friends and wasn't much better so I swore of them. Most people complain about chains but the good high end ones like Capital Grill, Mortons, Del Frisco, McCormick and Schmidts, etc are consistently good no matter where you are at. We still try local places like Gibson's in Chicago (excellent) and Bern's in Tampa (supposedly largest wine list/collection in US and hand cut to order steaks) but sometimes when travelling...you want something you know and trust. Our local places like Red and the Ranch are just as good. (I left out Mickey Mantles as the last time I ate there, the steak quality was poor)

Some places have far better reputations than they deserve, and folks keep the myth alive. It's a foodie version of an old tale where folks just won't be the one to diss something ...
I suppose one could call it The Emperor's Entree syndrome.

Enigma Grill at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on NW Expressway. I took my car to the car wash at 63rd and May to have the carpet shampooed. I had a $25.00 gift certificate for that place and decided to walk there for lunch while I waited for the car. When I walked in there were a few other people who were ordering and being served. I sat down and waited, and waited, and waited a little more. The waitress walked by many times (although she never came close to me). I thought maybe I was invisible. I tried to catch her eye and raised my hands several times but nothing worked. After about 20 minutes I just got up and walked out because I thought it was silly to have to get up and catch her because I wanted to eat. I didn't really see anyone there to talk to at the hotel that wasn't very busy so I just sent them an email about it later. I never heard back from them at all and Hooters got my money that day. :)

guymon, 1986 at a small chain steak house. It was just like a scene that you would expect to see on a movie like vacation.

When asked if there french fries were frozen our waitresses said how else would they come. When i said sometimes restaurants cut them fresh, she said “like we have time”.
So we put in our order and while the cooks were preparing the meal she sat down at a table right next to us to peal carrots using 5 gallon buckets...she was smoking a cigarette while doing this and letting her ashes fall into the good carrot bucket. By now my wife was fuming. We revived our meal which wasn't anything great. I revived the bill and i got up and paid at the register.. When i returned to the table my wife didn't want to leave any tip but i insisted that we leave something so she didn't think we had forgot to tip her. so i left a nickle below a full glass of water that i had turned upside down on the table.... Lol.

as we left we saw several stray cats going though their garbage.....nice!!!!!!

Two occasions that immediately come to mind.

The Hereford House in Kansas City. The Strip Steak was incredibly tough.
The manager tried to tell me that Strip Steaks, the large part of a
Porterhouse, aren't known for their tenderness. That was news to me
because I've never had a tough Strip Steak. We didn't get a refund but
he lowered the price on the bill.

The salad was simple, like the cafes of old, and House dressing was
fantastic.

Next is the Texas Road House on S.W. 3rd. Awful service, screwed up
the order and it took forever to get our food. After 30 minutes I went
into the kitchen to get our waitress. She had completely forgot about us.
Unlike my experience in North Carolina, this was totally unacceptable. I
won't go back unless some is paying.

When I filed a complaint it was dismissed with the usual and disgusting
pop culture, "sorry, tee hee."

Oh, here's another.

The Olive Garden on the south side. The waitstaff cut in front of us
several times on the way to the table. The same when we left, I was
brushed by a waiter without so much as an excuse me. I know they
have a lot to do and are very busy but that's no excuse for being
downright rude.

When I paid the bill the waitress kept the change instead of returning it.
When I asked for my change she said, "it's only 35 cents." I told it didn't
matter if it was 1 cent, it's my money! She slammed the money on the
table and stormed off. That tends to be a problem at other places, too.
I left her a 10% tip. I was tempted to leave her the 35 cents.

The manager, Mike Turner, was very nice and seemed concerned.

Believe it or not: Cattleman's. Went during lunch and the food was just not very good, service was terrible. Instead of salad dressing we got a huge plop of mayonaise, steaks were rubbery. Such a disappointment to my out of state guests.

Believe it or not: Cattleman's. Went during lunch and the food was just not very good, service was terrible. Instead of salad dressing we got a huge plop of mayonaise, steaks were rubbery. Such a disappointment to my out of state guests.

That wasn't mayonnaise. It's Cattlemen's house dressing.

Vast.

"One of our party has yet to join us, but we'll go ahead and order cocktails and appetizers."

"Sorry...(words to the effect of 'you'll have to order apps at the same time as your entree", accompanied by some nonsensical reason)."

Finalized with a mediocre meal, wherein the substitute for creative flavor was salt. I'm a food nut, and completely understand the ups and downs of preparing a good meal on a consistent basis, but I will not return to Vast, nor will I recommend it.

This may be a very unpopular post, but mine is unquestionably Charlestons in Edmond. It was a little over 9 years ago, I had just become a father for the first time. My wife decided we should eat at Charlestons for my first Father's Day. To give a little background Dean Blevins was in the booth right next to us. I ordered the chicken fried steak. When I received it, it was frozen solid. Had not been in any heat source for even 10 seconds. It had piping hot gravy over it, so I couldn't tell it was frozen. The gravy had thawed it enough for me to cut a bite off. I tried to eat it and immediately realized it was frozen and spit it out. I flagged the waiter down and explained the issue so they brought me another serving of chicken fried steak. I had completely lost my appetite so I asked to take it home. Meanwhile at the Blevins table they had at least 3 waiters catering to their every need. When they finished the came over to package their take home items, placed them in a bag. For me, the waiter walked by and without slowing down threw a Styrofoam container on my table. I put the cooked meal in the container, we received the check. Not only were we billed for my meal, they charged me for two. I asked for the manager, explained the situation and he looked at me incredulously and said you took a bite of the first one. Again, explained how frozen it was and he said he would adjust my ticket. They removed one of the chicken fried steaks and expected me to pay for the rest even though I had not touched the 2nd one. I was furious, but paid the check.. I have never and will never go back.

Believe it or not: Cattleman's. Went during lunch and the food was just not very good, service was terrible. Instead of salad dressing we got a huge plop of mayonaise, steaks were rubbery. Such a disappointment to my out of state guests.

We ate at Cattleman's on our last trip to OKC. Once was enough for me. It definitively did not live up to the hype and I sure wouldn't take someone new to OKC there.

We ate at Cattleman's on our last trip to OKC. Once was enough for me. It definitively did not live up to the hype and I sure wouldn't take someone new to OKC there.

Cattlemens has sucked for years.......

Along the lines of a similar post I just made, I often wonder when old places like Cattleman's fail to meet expectations it's a matter of the old world overlapping with the new, and not faring well in comparison.

There is no question standards have been raised in terms of restaurants and rather than Cattleman's getting worse, perhaps it's as it always has been and that we just have much better places to which compare? Or maybe there was the occasional great meal but that it never was as consistent as we'd like to remember?

It's easy to wax nostalgic about places long closed because we don't have the present to disrupt our romanticized views.


And yes, I fully realize lots of people are going to swear up and down it used to be miles better and it's all gone down hill since X, but that is almost always said about every single restaurant, even the newer varieties. Not every restaurant can possibly be declining.

I would suggest that we simply choose to cast a warm glow over almost all our past and food memories are the most unreliable of all.

There is no question standards have been raised in terms of restaurants and rather than Cattleman's getting worse, perhaps it's as it always has been and that we just have much better places to which compare? Or maybe there was the occasional great meal but that it never was as consistent as we'd like to remember?

It's easy to wax nostalgic about places long closed because we don't have the present to disrupt our romanticized views.


I think you're pretty right on here. Using Cattlemen's once again as an example.

When I grew up eating at Cattlemen's there were no prime steakhouses like Mahogany, Red Prime, or The Ranch..... Now that I've dined at those establishments I consider Cattlemen's to be the Western Sizzlin of steaks compared to those places and Western Sizzlin is pretty much inedible for me now.

Also, the rarity of eating out just 20-25 years ago has to have a heavy influence.

As kids we almost never ate out; as in maybe once a month, including getting a carryout pizza. That certainly was the norm for almost everyone at that time.

So, every restaurant meal was a big deal and seemed fantastic. I remember going to Nicolosi's on 10th and thinking it was the best food ever created. In reality, it probably was decent at absolute best and a place that I would never eat at today given the thousands of good choices.

Heck, McDonald's was a massive big deal and now you frequently hear kids complain about being tired of it -- and just about every other place, too.


Things are only new and interesting for a short period of time. Once you get used to them, they never seem to live up to the original experiences.

My worst restaurant experience, hands down, was several years ago at Othello's on Campus Corner. My cousin & I were there for dinner on a busy Friday night and while waiting for our entrees we found a cockroach crawling across our table. We then noticed several more on the wall by our booth. We flagged down our waitress, who was very rude about our discovery and begrudgingly agreed to send the manager to us. The manager finally came over and we were told that the exterminator had made their regular visit to spray that morning & "that always drives out the bugs so it's not surprising to see some" and would we like to move to a different table. Of course, by then we were completely grossed out and didn't want to eat ANYTHING prepared there. Our food was delivered while the manager was talking to us, and we refused it and said we were just going to leave. The manager said ok and instructed the waitress to go get our bill and told us we could pay up front. We couldn't believe he actually expected us to pay for meals we weren't eating and we hadn't ordered drinks, just water. We said as much and were told that we ordered the food, and it was our choice not his that we weren't going to eat it. At that, we very politely told him we would NOT be paying for anything and that if he made an issue out of it, we'd announce to everyone there that the place was infested with roaches. That of course got his attention and he let us go without another word. Never ever have I had such a horrible experience at a restaurant since.

My worst restaurant experience, hands down, was several years ago at Othello's on Campus Corner. of course got his attention and he let us go without another word. Never ever have I had such a horrible experience at a restaurant since.

I used to be acquainted with The Plumber To The Stars (in norman). One time his wife, the bookkeeper, said Othello's was the worst. Your excellent story lends veracity to her rumor.

Prior to that, my worst Restaurant Experience was attempting to measure the kitchen area at Molly Murphey's for a new paint job.

Still . . . in retrospect . . . Mother's Day at Bellini's in Edmond ('round 'bout mebbe a decade/decade-and-a-half back down the road ?) comes close in terms of Worstness: We waited and waited and waited and waited at the table, with no service, until I felt forced to gently and courteously confront a member of the waitstaff with my concern about the lack of service for our six or eight person entourage. In a confidential manner, I asked to speak to The Manager. I think the waitperson could tell that an opportunity for customer satisfaction improvement was at hand. I asked The Manager if I could speak with him in his office in order to avoid a scene. We went to this tiny broom closetesque cubicle with a primitive computer atop something resembling a desk (replete with an old-tyme fone) and I expressed my disappointment with the service provided. Our entire meal wound up being comped.

So, I suppose that it was both the worst of times and the best of times at the same time.
I can't remember if I left a tip or not, yet I probably did.

It's hard to say about Othello's because it's had several different owners over the last decade. I always liked going there for the booze and atmosphere first, food second.

Also, the rarity of eating out just 20-25 years ago has to have a heavy influence.

As kids we almost never ate out; as in maybe once a month, including getting a carryout pizza. That certainly was the norm for almost everyone at that time.

So, every restaurant meal was a big deal and seemed fantastic. I remember going to Nicolosi's on 10th and thinking it was the best food ever created. In reality, it probably was decent at absolute best and a place that I would never eat at today given the thousands of good choices.

Heck, McDonald's was a massive big deal and now you frequently hear kids complain about being tired of it -- and just about every other place, too.


Things are only new and interesting for a short period of time. Once you get used to them, they never seem to live up to the original experiences.

Haha. I remember eating at Applegate's Landing in Norman in the late 1970s and thinking it was the nicest restaurant I'd ever seen. I have distinctly fond memories of having Long John Silver's on Friday nights (and for some reason that memory is connected to OU basketball during the Billy Tubbs era). I also fondly remember Pizza Shuttle, although my taste in pizza has certainly grown beyond that fare.

Speaking of vanished Norman restaurants, the holy trinity for me of lost Norman establishments is the Town Tavern, Denco Cafe, and Border Crossing. Those restaurants, particularly the latter two, were better than just about anything that exists in Norman today. And yes, I like Pepe's, but the Border Crossing in its prime was superb.

Cattlemens has sucked for years.......

Cattlemen's is what it is. It is NOT fine dining. It is not a "serious" steakhouse. To me Cattlemen's is a fun and campy family restaurant with fairly high-quality food. It's kinda the modern equivalent of what a good cafeteria was when we were growing up.

We go there twice a month. Frankly, for what you get, it's pretty cheap. We've spent more at lesser establishments. Part of the fun is the atmosphere, and the food is GOOD, not great. But it is reliably what it is. I've made peace with Cattlemen's. It is not a great steakhouse, but it's a good restaurant with campy charm (that tourists absolutely love).

One terrible I experienced in my youth at many restaurants was this sign.
I knew what it meant but didn't, and still don't, understand why people
are this way.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRY-eHY5F-QYp6dVay1M_zRD0b0oYpFoy2J9ixyd64amacD_Bg4Kw

hate to tell this story but its just kind of a heads up.

Ordered take out at Iguana Cafe in NH plaza about a month ago. I called it in at 8:00, gave order and they said it would be ready in 20-30 minutes. So i showed up at 8:30, waited at the bar for my food. I left at 8:50 and still no food. They claimed they had just gotten a big table. It shouldnt take 50+ minutes to make 2 mexican dishes...

Vast. Place sucks in every aspect other than the view. Hopefully, it will be re-branded or under different managment in the next year or so.

One terrible I experienced in my youth at many restaurants was this sign.
I knew what it meant but didn't, and still don't, understand why people
are this way.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRY-eHY5F-QYp6dVay1M_zRD0b0oYpFoy2J9ixyd64amacD_Bg4Kw

Do you mean why do people feel the need to post these signs? ... There is a current thread just a few doors down dealing with "Gratuities". Much of the discussion focuses on weather or not the server deserves a certain amount of tip. ... basically the behavior of the server. The servers conduct is in direct relation to the amount of tip received. But no one has mentioned the behavior of some of the customers. If they come in my business acting like they own the place and treat me like crap, then I reserve the right to refuse them service. Their conduct is in direct relation to them getting served or getting shown the door.

...
the holy trinity for me of lost Norman establishments is the Town Tavern, Denco Cafe, and Border Crossing. Those restaurants, particularly the latter two, were better than just about anything that exists in Norman today. And yes, I like Pepe's, but the Border Crossing in its prime was superb.

I readily agree on Town Tavern and Denco, but for me Border Crossing was a place I tended to only go if I was outvoted by still wanted to enjoy the company of certain folks.

One terrible I experienced in my youth at many restaurants was this sign.
I knew what it meant but didn't, and still don't, understand why people
are this way.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRY-eHY5F-QYp6dVay1M_zRD0b0oYpFoy2J9ixyd64amacD_Bg4Kw

I was surprised to see that sign again in Oregon restaurants, not long ago.

Do you mean why do people feel the need to these signs?
No. And after reading the rest of your post I mean, "hell no!"
Racism is repulsive and there is no responsible reason to embrace it.
Maybe you're young, that is under 40+, and don't understand the
gravity of what racism was and what the sign meant to innocent
bystanders. It was aimed at people of color, mostly African Americans
and often toward Mexicans and Asians. Racism has no place in our
world. No place whatsoever.

I honestly can't believe you tried to lump gratuities and weather in this
post. Are you serious? Do you not understand the seriousness of
racism?

I was surprised to see that sign again in Oregon restaurants, not long ago.
And Oregon of all places. I saw the same sign in an Asian restaurant about
12 years ago. I quit dining there.

If I were to name one thing I hate it'd have to be racism. Racism is so repulsive.
And this is coming from someone who can't stand hate. Not that it matters to
the haters.

No. And after reading the rest of your post I mean, "hell no!"
Racism is repulsive and there is no responsible reason to embrace it.
Maybe you're young, that is under 40+, and don't understand the
gravity of what racism was and what the sign meant to innocent
bystanders. It was aimed at people of color, mostly African Americans
and often toward Mexicans and Asians. Racism has no place in our
world. No place whatsoever.

I honestly can't believe you tried to lump gratuities and weather in this
post. Are you serious? Do you not understand the seriousness of
racism?

What? ... Really? Where was racism even mentioned until you brought it up?

I'm talking about when someone comes into a place of business and acts like a complete jackass and expects to be waited on. Whatever the type of retail establishment. Obviously it means something entirely different to you, but that's your problem. Don't push your racial bullsh*t off on the rest of us. ... And your wrong. I'm on the 50+ side and have seen it too.

... Where was racism even mentioned until you brought it up?
That was the sole purpose of the sign.

I have to wonder about that sign . . .

My Granddad used to have a sign tacked up on the back wall of his garage/filling station out there in Eastern Oklahoma County, in the vicinity of Shady Nook (just this side of Choctaw) that said: "Credit Makes Enemies. Let's Be Friends. Pay Cash"

The sign featured one of those old time "Monopoly game-lookin' advertising characters from the late 30's or early 40's.

Visiting "down here" in Oklahoma, and keeping my innocent eyes open in his garage--except for when he was arc-welding, of course (perhaps for one of the "colored folk" who mostly dwelled a short distance to the east)--made me wonder about the other sign that said "We Reserve The Right To Refuse Service To Anyone" but only for a moment.

Dang. For just a second there I forgot this was about "bad restaurants". . . sorry.

That was the sole purpose of the sign.

I am 47 and I have never thought of the sign that way. I have always taken it to mean that if you are a complete a**, they could refuse service. I can see now where racial tones could be taken from the sign but I have never thought of it that way.

You don't need a sign to refuse service to anyone. The statement reeks of old-time racism. It doesn't necessarily mean the proprietor is a blatant racist but rather mindlessly follows local custom.

You don't need a sign to refuse service to anyone. The statement reeks of old-time racism. It doesn't necessarily mean the proprietor is a blatant racist but rather mindlessly follows local custom.

There was no "old-time racism" where I grew up, therefore I can't comprehend all of the subjective connotations that you may be considering. =)

Where I grew up, the sign was posted to let patrons know who was boss and to discourage assholism on the premises.

Regardless of race, creed or color.

You don't need a sign to refuse service to anyone. The statement reeks
of old-time racism. It doesn't necessarily mean the proprietor is a blatant
racist but rather mindlessly follows local custom.
Correct. I remember the signs diminishing @ 1964 or 1965.

As far as mindlessly following local customs go, anyone who followed
them were racist.

I want to apologize for unintentionally hijacking this thread. I had
no idea it would create this much stir.

But it was a terrible restaurant experience.

The Food Factory, Bethany, was quite a disappointment for me when it
first opened. They were so arrogant and insisted that City Bites moved
their location because they, Food Factory, were moving in. FF had no
reputation whatsoever. How could they be an influence? Oy vey!

The food wasn't very good and I haven't returned since. City Bites was
far, far better, and I don't like City Bites. In fact, if I'm offered a meal
at City Bites I'll order a baked potato.

Was it "terrible"? Or was it "memorable"?
(sorry . . . i'm not trying to be anti- or pro- semantic . . .)


I want to apologize for unintentionally hijacking this thread. I had
no idea it would create this much stir.

But it was a terrible restaurant experience.

I want to apologize for unintentionally hijacking this thread. I had
no idea it would create this much stir.

But it was a terrible restaurant experience.

I knew exactly what you were talking about before you even mentioned it. Younger folks who weren't around in the 1950s through 1970s have no idea how common this was. It's a credit to you for bringing this up. People who didn't experience that kind of racism have a hard time believing it ever existed, but I knew exactly what you were referring to before you spelled it out, because I was an alive and sentient being during that period.

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.