Have you ever walked out of a restaurant?
 

Yesterday The DW and I were driving home from a quick trip to Greensboro and around noon we both decided that for some reason Waffle House was a good place to stop for a quick bite to eat. We pulled off the Interstate and walked in and it was full with the after church crowd. We were seated within 2 minutes and the first thing we noticed was the table had several crumbs on it. After a long wait a flustered waitress came over and put plastic forks and knives in front of us and told us no one is doing what they need to do, so we got plastic.

That got me to thinking, what else is going on? Food handling issues? Plates not being washed properly? We decided to just walk out. (No drinks were even ordered yet, so we had not even begun to generate a bill.)

So have you ever walked out of a restaurant? Doesn't matter if it's is a Waffle house of a fine restaurant in Paris. What caused you to walk?

(I did a search and didn't find a thread covering this topic....:))

Went to a (not busy) restaurant and then sat for 10-15 minutes with no server. Caught the attention of the hostess who said she'd get our server for us. We were then treated to a loud argument directly behind out table between two waitresses over who HAD to take the table. Seeing as neither wanted to wait on us, we took the cue and got up and left.

Yes, at least once or twice. The one that comes to mind was at a Red Robin. Neither of us could decide on what we wanted for dinner. I suggested a local pizza place. We walked in, and Mr. Kipper didn't like the options, so he suggested Red Robin. We were seated, and had to walk by the bar area. We noticed Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap. After 10 minutes of waiting for a server, our server finally greeted us. When she took our drink order, I ordered a Sam Adams Octoberfest, as did Mr. Kipper. She said something like, "Oh, we ran out and I don't know what else we have." She had an attitude with us, and demonstrated that she really didn't want to deal with customers, so we told her not to bother, and walked out.

The hostess said something to us on the way out, and Mr. Kipper's comment was, "You just lost two dinner customers." The manager happened to overhear that, and chased us. We explained that we didn't like her attitude, especially after we'd been sitting for that long, waiting for a server. He apologized, and gave us 2 $10 gift cards, and invited us to return at some point. We did, in part because he told us that he understood we probably didn't want to try our luck that night.

More often than I'd have thought would happen. Sometimes it just doesn't "feel" right and something inside tells you you are going to be discontent. I use to ignore those feelings and stay put because I thought I'd be embarrassed. But my initial instinctive concerns always turned out to be right. Now it's " sorry .... it's not right ... do you mind if we go ....." and up we get, and off we go. Sometimes to the surprise of the staff.

Sometimes it's simply the welcome. Sometimes it's cold and dour and we're the only people. Sometimes it's things don't seem quite clean. Once it was a clearing of a throat ...another sneezing ..... from a kitchen. Sometimes if we have been sitting for too long without any attention. It is anything instinctive.

At least once that I can recall. We had 7:30 reservations and, when we still were not seated by 8:15 (and were offered nothing but an apology), we left. The restaurant was Mortons in Beverly Hills.

Yes. We have walked into a restaurant that is completely empty at 8:00 pm on a Thursday or Friday, and that strikes us as odd. So we have left. Another time, the service was terrible: our server was MIA, and when he finally showed up, it was clear he had no interest in serving us. He never brought the bread basket, forgot our drinks, brought only one of our apps (and that, cold), so we asked for the bill, took it to the manager, and explained that we were not staying for the rest of our meal. He explained that it was a particularly busy night; we explained that we were thirsty, and would have appreciated our drinks, hungry, and would have appreciated both our apps, and would have liked to sample the bread basket every other table had. We paid for the single app we had received, and left.

The manager made you pay for the app? Yikes!

Once or twice. Mostly, I sort of stumble out.

I've walked out of upscale and fine dining restaurants several times. Each time I try to explain clearly to the manager or at least the hostess why I am leaving. Issues have including being kept waiting for a reserved table (while others are being seated, etc.), being given a very bad table when one with a view or whatever had been confirmed, and the presence of out of control children running around the restaurant and yelling to each other.

What do you expect the restaurant to do in regards to the children, other than tell the parents to control the children? In situations like that, have you tried talking to the parents?

We were in one place for a very long time being totally ignored despite asking for menus, drinks, etc, and eventually we left. We asked for the manager, and when we saw he was one of the people who said he would send somebody right over and never followed up, we knew it was hopeless.

Oh, he did. We never went back, and told the hotel concierge who had recommended the restaurant about our experience. She was pretty shocked and made a note of it.

Yikes! I can't believe that he'd make you pay for the app after an experience like that. I'd guess that was the last time the concierge suggested that restaurant to anyone.

Once, recently. My wife wasn't interested in anything on the menu so we just left. The fact that a waitress hadn't come around for drink orders made the decision easier.

Yes, when I've gotten a bad vibe or waited a long time for menus, etc