Worst Restaurant You've Ever Been In?

[IsmaielDeath]

Since its about restaurants I'm not going to writen anything Fastfood in here - nothing in that category deserves to be called a restaurant. Its either junkfood or art - there is no in between .

 

My worst but most interesting restaurant visit was in France. We were searching for a place to eat when arriving at 9pm in the hotel. Since the town wasn't all that big they had no huge selection and most restaurants were either closed down allready for the evening or didn't take any foodorders anymore.

 

We got lucky to find a chinese/asiatic restaurant in the second row - nice looking and good prices. It was full of a mix of french and asian looking people so we thought nothing could go wrong. Turns out that chinese food while never being 'original chinese' also never is the same across countries. French chinese is so vastly different that we were at a loss of what to order in the first place. When we finally picked 3 meals at random (since it was only getting later by the minute and we were really hungry) the waitress looked a bit strange at us.

 

When she came back with 3 family sized portions (for the price of a single serving) we understood her disbelieving face at the order. Obviously up to 4 persons order ONE meal and share it... Oh well the food was good and we were allowed to take some of it with us (we couldn't even carry all the leftovers!). Back at the hotel we snuck the food in through the back doos and hid it in the minifridge after taking out the drinks.

 

I was so stuffed with hot spicy chinese food I couldn't sleep all night and had no chance to actually eat anything from the first non-messed-up frensh breakfast the next morning.

 

 

P.s. Serously.. I had been in restaurants with bad food on my travels.. But I kind of am hardened against this with my grandmothers cooking. Having to throw away perfectly fine food though is a think I kind of dread. Its probably the way we were brought up - honor the ingrediences and work a person put into the food by not throwing any of it away.

 

PPs. Also am I the only one really unlucky with french breakfast? It seems no matter what hotels we book In all my travels I only found one Hotel where the food didn't look 'allready eaten' and actually smelled good! The fruits were fresh the croissants warm and the eggs not directly from a fride after being cooked the night before. In over 10 years of traveling in and around france I only had that 1 time...

[olympe]

Pizza Hut in Düsseldorf (Germany).

 

My daughter had been to a different Pizza Hut restaurant with a friend's family a couple of weeks before, and she loved it there. So, when we were in Düsseldorf for shopping purposes, she asked to go to the local one. Which turned out to be a very bad idea.

 

First of all, the restrooms there... You know what people say about restrooms and restaurants? That the cleanness of the restrooms is an indicator of how clean the kitchen is? Well, if we hadn't ordered before my mom went there, we would have left on the spot. And, indeed, things went downhill from there.

 

When we got our drinks, they weren't carbonated. When I inquired whether we could have the same drinks, but carbonated, I was told by the serving girl that Pepsi Cola was that way. (It isn't, I know that for a fact. Yes, it's usually less carbonated than Coca Cola, but it's still a little bit sparkly. Ours weren't.) Besides, she told me, this lack of carbonic acid was an indicator of high quality because they used a tapping system instead of bottles. Well, I still knew better, from my time jobbing at McDonald's. In such a case, it's necessary to refill CO2 - and I told the woman that, too. However, she got pretty fed up and told me that she could get us the same drinks again, but that they would still be the same.

 

Obviously, this was a lost cause.

 

The food - we all ordered pasta - wasn't stellar, either. The portions were a little bit too small, the taste more mediocre than good.

 

Overall, the experience left quite something to be desired. This was my first visit to any Pizza Hut in over 15 years - and most definitely my last one, too.

[Dragoniclove123]

There was one my family and I went to on holiday in Cornwall.

 

The first time, it was fantastic. I remember it because my mum is extremely finicky with her steak and this was the first place she'd ever been able to get well done steak that was still soft and tender.

 

The second time we went, a few years later, the layout and decor was completely different, we wouldn't have recognized it if it wasn't for the name. It still looked nice, so we still went in and all ordered the steak at my mum's recommendation.

 

We should've been suspicious when the waitress was extremely curt and surly with us for no reason (other than we interrupted her phone time by daring to be paying customers) and it started to sink in when we were literally the only customers, but the food still took over an hour to come out.

 

The food was.....nasty. The obviously frozen peas and chips (in a restaurant advertising that everything was local and freshly prepared) were stone-cold, the steaks were as thin as cardboard yet harder than rock (even my medium-rare) and never once did the waitress ask if we were okay or offer to refill our drinks, she just stood at the counter glaring at us. When my friends steak came out rare instead of the well done she'd ordered and politely asked if it could be cooked some more, the waitress acted like we'd personally insulted her.

 

Needless to say, we left. We found out from locals later on that it had been sold the year before and had just slumped under the new owners.

Wait, CD, are you British?

 

The food sounds disgusting. Yuck.

[Syiren]

I worked in a terrible restaurant. I'm a cook

 

Queens Head Pub in burlington.

 

I worked there for a little over a month before I got into slag for refusing to serve meat I felt was unfit for any living creature's consumption. I am sorry, I have standards, and if I would not dare eat it, I sure as hell would not expect someone else to.

 

Fish they would use until it was smelling super foul. Half the time I wanted to throw up. Chicken smelled equally as vile - reviews would suggest chicken meat tasted "gamey".

 

food was rarely kept out of the danger zone. Mashed potatoes would smell sour. I wanted to remove a dead mouse from a trap and got told to leave it alone, it stayed there for days rotting and stinking.

 

So when I refused to serve the meat they told me to go. I was fine with this. I called the health unit in.

Oh my gosh, that is absolutely putrid! It makes my stomach feel queasy just hearing about it. I'm glad you called the health department and I hope it got shut down. just, ew no. *shudders*

 

 

It's been a while since I've been to a bad restaurant. The food at my local Cracker Barrel is always delicious.

 

I'd say it would have to have been a few years ago when I went to this one diner in Tampa. I had never been there before and when I go someplace new the thing I fall back to is the chicken meal. I ordered some chicken tenders with fries.

 

The fries came back green and smelled funny, so I didn't eat them and the chicken was weird. The crispy breading wasn't crispy, it was actually kinda soft and the meat inside wasn't cooked all the way through. I had them send it back and it took them over twenty minutes, (during which time my family had nearly finished their meal) and then when I got it back it still wasn't right. The fries were rock hard and the chicken was now spicy which wasn't what I ordered because spicy food gives me bad heartburn.

 

I wanted them to send it back and the waitress gave me a look like I was a spoiled brat for being too picky (at least that's the vibe I got with her horrible attitude) and when she asked "What I want this time?" I told her to forget it.

 

Needless to say I left hungry until Dad stopped at a pizza shop and ordered me a small pizza, which was really good.

 

Oh, and the diner looked like it hadn't had a good cleaning in weeks. My chair was sticky.

[Keileon]

I must be lucky. I've never minded KFC, IHOP, McDonald's, Burger King, etc and I think the only bad experience I've had with a restaurant was poor service from a very specific waiter at a local Denny's one very specific time.

 

I did get food poisoning off a corn dog at a local fair once, though. And at the Ventura County Fair in California I learned not to get hot dogs if I didn't want to feel like I was eating rubber.

 

TL;DR don't eat corn dogs or hot dogs bought at a fair

 

Edit: Ah no, actually, I almost didn't count this one. When I was in Florida for a few days with my mom we had dinner at a local diner. Don't get me wrong- what food there was edible was really good. The biscuits however were rock-hard. Some people at a nearby table pointed it out to the waitress because I didn't want to cause a fuss, and she was very kind about the whole thing and gave me both replacement biscuits and a free large soda to go.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Kiryu

[SheridanCharon]

I must be lucky. I've never minded KFC, IHOP, McDonald's, Burger King, etc and I think the only bad experience I've had with a restaurant was poor service from a very specific waiter at a local Denny's one very specific time.

I was about to say similarly that the McDonalds in my area are actually pretty decent (except the drive-thru where the food is always cold). They're not spectacular, but hey, they're fast food, they're not meant to 5-star quality. They're just enjoyable.

 

KFCs, on the other hand, the two times I've been there at least two of our group ended up with food poisoning.

 

Had to mention this one due to recent happenings. In my area there was a small family-owned cafe that used to the best fish and chips in the area, along with these fantastic milkshakes.

 

About a year ago, they sold the place. Went in once, walked out within an hour. Sky-high prices for awful food (£5 for a small bowl of chips, which is a lot considering the cafe across the road does a full meal for less), surly staff and the biggest thing was the smell. I can't place it even now, but it was.....vile. It made my friend gag, and she has a cast iron stomach.

 

It shut down last week, heard it was due to health and safety violations but no idea if that's true or not.

 

Though, on the good side, went to one last night that used to be horrible for the same reasons and they're seriously good now. Good food, low prices and friendly staff. So not all bad news

Edited July 6, 2016 by CharonDusk

[Odeen]

A specific Applebee's late at night. Went there on a spontaneous date, the table was sticky and covered in... something that smelled vaguely carcinogenic, there was a film over the pretzel dipping sauce, the pretzel sticks were overcooked, and the drinks tasted like questionable mouthwash.

 

It was so bad we were somehow able to unironically have a great time.

[Dragoniclove123]

A specific Applebee's late at night. Went there on a spontaneous date, the table was sticky and covered in... something that smelled vaguely carcinogenic, there was a film over the pretzel dipping sauce, the pretzel sticks were overcooked, and the drinks tasted like questionable mouthwash.

 

It was so bad we were somehow able to unironically have a great time.

Oh Starclan EWWWW!

 

I rarely have those experiences. In fact, the only one I've ever had is already on this thread.

[Syiren]

I pray no one's ever eaten in a place as bad as these businesses.

 

Warning - Gordon Ramsey is known to swear worse than a sailor.

Edited July 18, 2016 by Syiren

[Toyo]

This one made me sad, because I liked eating here.

 

I once ordered a bunch of take out orders from a hole-in-the-wall that served GREAT gyros. I guess our order was too large for them to handle, though, since half the fries were still frozen. Didn't realize until I was all the way home.

[AngelKitty]

Moe's Southwest Grill. Hands down. I've never eaten more disgusting food in my whole life. As far as I'm concerned, Moe's is nothing but mushy generic grossness that is a waste of the living things that go into making it, and that includes the plants. :|

[Gsea]

I live in Florida about an hour away from the gulf so I'm no stranger to all of the gross local seafood places and various 'crab shacks' and whatnot, and since I hate seafood those are probably the worst restaurants I've ever been in because EVERYTHING IS FISH and everything is old and vintage-y sailor-themed which is an aesthetic some people might be into but just gives off an unclean vibe for me, but that's kind of unfair and subjective because if you love seafood you'd probably love those places. Just...too authentic for me, eugh.

 

So a better answer would be a chain restaurant that most people are probably familiar with: Chili's is the worst restaurant, hands down, with not only the most disappointing food choices but the worst service as well. I've been to several and the service is always terrible across the board, it's a strange phenomenon. And I've never ever left a Chili's feeling satisfied/feeling like I ate anything remotely enjoyable. It literally all tastes like pre-made frozen dinners.

 

Waffle House is a close second only because those places are always coated ceiling-to-floor in a layer of maple syrup and that's just not enjoyable for anyone.

 

And any loud obnoxious steakhouse with peanuts all over the floor. Why are there so many varieties of those and what is the appeal?

[Syiren]

So a better answer would be a chain restaurant that most people are probably familiar with: Chili's is the worst restaurant, hands down, with not only the most disappointing food choices but the worst service as well. I've been to several and the service is always terrible across the board, it's a strange phenomenon. And I've never ever left a Chili's feeling satisfied/feeling like I ate anything remotely enjoyable. It literally all tastes like pre-made frozen dinners.

In that regard, you should try the one on highway 441 that boarders Mt. Dora and Eustis. I've only eaten there once because of distance, but I will say that the meal I ordered was really good. I ordered the chicken tender meal and it was a good portion, the meat was nice and moist. the breading was crunchy, but not too much and the fries were nicely seasoned.

 

also, the waiter was good. He kept checking back and refilling our drinks and made sure we enjoyed our meal. We left him a good tip.

 

~*~

 

My most recent disappointment came from a place that surprises me. I love eating at Cracker Barrel. the food is nearly always delicious. Yesterday's meal wasn't. I think it's the Monday cook who may be the problem, because the last time I had a bad meal there was also on a Monday.

 

I ordered the Shrimp platter and the shrimp tasted mushy. Mom's was worse however. She ordered the grilled tenderloin with a sweet baked potato. The chicken was bone dry and the sweet potato was rotten.

 

She told the waitress who took it back to get her another and she came back and told mom that she cut into two other sweet potatoes and they were also rotten. She claimed that they used to cut the potatoes ahead of time to make sure the customers weren't the first to find out, but they changed it. Mom ordered a normal baked potato instead and when she got that one it wasn't even cooked all the way through.

 

I don't know what was going on, but the next time we go there it won't be on a Monday.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Syiren

[Aqub]

While visiting a family friend a few states away, we decided to try this restaurant that made Asian pizzas...

At first everything was fine, the appetizers were good, but we ordered our pizzas and then sat there for almost an hour waiting while everyone else in the small restaurant, even people who got there long after us, were eating. It turned out the waitress lost our order then lied about it when we asked the first time... After we had been waiting for over an hour our friend started to get upset and we decided to leave, but at that point the pizzas finally came so we asked for them to be boxed up and took them to the house. 

Sadly, they were incredibly disappointing. The sweet and sour chicken pizza was just peppers and chicken nuggets dumped on top of dough, and the crab wanton pizza was even worse, it just had wanton crackers and some sweet and sour sauce dumped on the dough... 

It was a weird experience but it makes a good story! 

Edited October 9, 2018 by aqub

[blockEdragon]

I can't bring myself to eat at McDonalds anymore. I haven't since I was younger and ate it, went home, and started having intense pains in random parts of my body in short bursts after eating there, Like REALLY bad, laying on the bed just screaming kinds of bad.

it's been a while but if I remember correctly it was underarms, lower back, legs weirdly enough, arms, and stomach. The memories are pretty fuzzy but I distinctly remember eating McDonalds both times before this happened but I still refuse to take the chance.

 

Plus the theory is not unfounded, I didn't eat there often even back then but once I ate it, the pains struck, it was assumed a coincidence, I ate there again a week or two later, pains struck again. After that I refused to eat there ever again, I've never had them since. Sure that's not exactly grounds for a scientific research report but it's grounds enough for me to not eat there anymore.

 

Even if it wasn't McDonald's food causing the phantom pains it's still not that big of a loss.