That is not my problem. If I go to an upscale restaurant, I do not expect that there will be out of control children running around. By allowing it to continue instead of asking them to leave, the restaurant has made a choice as to who is more important and who does not count.

DON

Anytime two of the listed scenarios happen, I'm out of there.

Recently
 

Wandering around MSP with a long layover one evening, trying to decide what sounded good for dinner. Ended up at Chili's, thought sitting at a table outside the restaurant, in the airport mall area, would be fun for people watching. There were many empty tables. The host asked if a booth was okay and I asked if I could have a table in the mall area, was told that they didn't have any 2-tops empty. I asked if I could sit at a table for 4 and was told they don't really like to do that. (strike 1) As he was leading me to a booth in the back area of the restaurant, I noticed that the floor was very dirty and had bits of trash lying around. The table he took me to was cleared but it had some smears of grease on the table top. The whole place just felt dirty. (strike 2) While perusing the menu, the host seated another woman at the table behind me. The server came over within a minute to take her drink order, and left without acknowledging me. (strike 3) Took another look around at the grubbiness and decided to leave. Walked out past the host, who didn't even bother to ask why I was leaving. There are plenty of good food options at MSP, was actually surprised by the condition of this particular restaurant.

I'd complain to the person the speakerphone-user was speaking with (making my complaint into the phone).

Casually ignoring the person in whose physical presence you stand?

Brilliant. :D

Not exactly ignoring; I'd be complaining about him.

Walk out
 

Why not? Nothing is as you wish it to be, you haven't entered into any sort of legal obligation to stay ... so off you go.

Ah--that's likely because you've never had the good fortune to enjoy Ron Telesky's Canadian Pizza in Berlin! (in the basement of Dieffenbachstraße 62 in Kreuzberg--quite tasty, including a maple syrup option)

Seems to be a "funny" place. I would not even walked in;)

Went to Dick's Last Resort in Vegas for a late lunch with two friends. If you don't know Dick's, their gimmick is that they purposely give you "bad" service. We were seated immediately. But then we were ignored for ten minutes...and the place was nearly empty, with plenty of staff around. No acknowledgment from anyone else, at all. At that point, we should have been "insulted" and then served drinks, at least. Since we had all just woken up from a long night, we were starving and just walked out. Because we wanted to actually eat some food, you know?!


Why on earth would someone want to go to a place whose catch is bad service?

Yes, I've walked out of restaurants after being seated and ignored.

Oddly, I've been to Dick's in San Diego at least a half dozen times over many years and never once had bad service, or knew that I was supposed to. Never knew about this gimmick till now. Of course I could also take this to mean my service standards are really low.:)