Restaurants to Avoid Worldwide — and Please Name Names!
 

With the help of FlyerTalk members from all over the world, this thread is meant to be a comprehensive list of restaurants to avoid.

Please state the name and address of the restaurant and the reason(s) to avoid it.

I will begin:

Pelican Restaurant
Apostolou Pavlou 102
Paphos, CYPRUS

While the location offers a nice view of the harbour in Paphos (especially during a sunset, which I was fortunate enough to witness), I was disappointed with the fish meze there.

A meze is supposed to be a sampling of the native foods indicative of the country — in this case, Cyprus. I have been informed not to completely finish every course of a meze, as one may not have room to sample every course.

Usually a meze is for two persons, but I was convinced by one of the proprietors of this restaurant that they will gladly create a fish meze for one.

Ultimately, all I received was a salad and a main course consisting of six small whole fish, two small filets of fish, and three portions of squid prepared three different ways, all on one plate, along with five different kinds of sauces and three slices of bread. The food was unimpressive, to say the least. With a small glass of cola, the total bill was CY£11.00, or US$25.46.

The only positive hightlight of my experience was that the restaurant had a real live pelican that was rather entertaining. After I sat down, the pelican was brought out to try to attract customers, which unfortunately gave me an obvious clue to avoid eating there, albeit too late. The pelican did try to playfully eat my arm after a cat meowed at me incessantly for some food...

I left hungry and dissatisfied, with a feeling of being cheated because I was denied my one opportunity to sample an authentic Cyprus meze...

McDonalds, Burger King, TGIF, KFC...well you get the picture. Avoid most any chain restaurant.

As for others, it's hard to say. I try to quickly forget the bad ones so I can't really remember many. And by US standards there aren't any bad restaurants within perhaps 200 miles of where I live in Burgundy. ;)

I do recall a particularly bad restaurant in Oak Park, Illinois because of the name. It's called Poor Phil's, but I renamed it Poor Choice.

I'll pick Jumbo (that boat thing) in Hong Kong. It's on every guidebooks, but this is a total tourist trap. If you want Egg Fu Young and another American takeout food, then by all means go there. But in HK, you can get great food anywhere else. Even at touristy places. No need to waste your hard earn money here.

After seeing "Super Size Me", a documentary about the filmaker eating nothing but McDonald's for 30 days straight I am hesitant to eat McDonaldd's or any other fast food chain restaurant ever again. The poor guy was starting to get liver problems along with other problems!!! :eek: :td:

Please AVOID:

Restaurant Pierre Orsi, Lyon

It is (perhaps now it isn't) a Michelin 1 starred restaurant and the whole experience was terrible. The food was mediocre and being an amateur cook with a passion for food, I felt that I could cook better. The food was barely warm, uninspired -- the food did not look appetising -- seasoning problems, some dishes overcooked, some undercooked; the all female wait staff had problems with who ordered what (only 2 of us!!) and always "Plunked" the plate down in front of us, but the wrong side facing us (logo of restaurant upside down). The Sommelier never returned to poor our wine; and we had to ask for more bread half a dozen times throughout the meal.
The worst part is that when someone is celebrating their birthday at the restaurant, the restaurant dims the light and plays some hoaky organ grinder music while the wait staff stop working and start clapping with the music.

It was a disaster....... and to think we cancelled our reservations at BOTH Leon de Lyon and La Pyramide in Vienne to go to this place!! :mad: :td:

Not to mention their last CEO dropped dead of a heart attack at 45 and the current one is on leave with intestinal cancer at age 44. At least you can say they eat their own cooking.

Interesting .. it still has one Michelin star. It also has four "red" forks. Actually, I avoid restaurants with lots of forks ... lots of "tam - tam", but often lousy food.

Here is my "tip":

Au Crocodile in Strasbourg. I was there, when they had 3 Michelin stars .. and when they lost a star, I said right so! The food was O.K., but "nothing to write home". Next, the service was "not very friendly". All in all - with this prices, not worth it!

Antico Pignolo in Venice. Food was average (bland but edible) but prices were outrageous. I wouldn't mind paying $140/pp if the meal was very nice but this wasn't. It left me wondering - "How could this be? We're in Italy!". Then, I realized it was a tourist trap i.e. our hotel concierge (and many others) recommended this place coz they get a kickback. That really made me mad since we were staying at a nice hotel and wanted quality food.

For comparison, we went to a sublime restaurant the next day (of our own finding). 5-course meal, incredible food, for $90/pp. They were part of a Venetian restaurant association called "Buona Accoglienza". We liked it so much we tried another restaurant on the list the next night and it was a hit as well!

There's your problem. Never, ever cancel a reservation at Leon de Lyon. The food gods got back at you. ;)

Just don't do the same thing he did. You can have the occasional meal from there, and it won't be too bad for you.

Cheers, just inside security at LAS. The clam chowder was very heavy and very over-priced. The fish and chips were far less tasty than grocery store frozen fish sticks -- and very over-priced. Granted, the service was cheerful and competent.

Fifteen, London, UK. Run by 'celebrity' chef Jamie Oliver, it offers some of the most overpriced food I have ever eaten - mediocre interpretations of Italian food. The service was very, very average and the staff knew less about the food than we did. After parting with GBP125 a head, the sight of a tip box on the cloakroom counter was the crowning moment. Avoid.

The Pret-a-Manger chain in London: Tasteless and overpriced "organic" sandwiches and uncomfortable seating. Go to any Italian sandwich bar in London and get your sandwich made on order and a decent coffee, not the bland Pret-a-Manger brew. They're a part of McDonals now, I believe(?)

The Fat Duck, Bray ...pretentious nonsense.

Legal Sea Food in DCA. Met me bride when she flew in. Parked her in LSF whilst I got her checked bags. When I got back to LSF she had still gotten neither drink nor even a menu.

We ate at Wool Lae Oak that night.

Anything owned by Emeril
 

My friends and family have a saying now, called "Getting Emeriled" for when a restaurant is high priced and expectations fail to be met so severely.

About 12 years ago NOLA in New Orleans was interesting, funky, and tasty. Last two trips have been a nightmare. Food partially frozen, stuff that doesn't belong together on a plate and nobody holding anything together service wise. The namesake restuarant in the Warehouse District was incredibly overpriced and much worse than many other restaurants within a 3 mile area.

You can also "Get Emiriled" in Tokyo at Restaurant Chen in the Cerulean Tower Hotel (still my favorite Western style hotel in Japan). Chef Chen is the Chinese Iron Chef and this is a Szechuan restauarant. A meal is about US$85-100 per person, portions are miniscule, VERY oily, and just don't taste that good.

Fook Lam Moon HKG. This used to be one of the great seafood restaurants in HKG. Last year when we were there, we found the prices to be wildly inflated, the food was mediocre, at best ,and the service was abominable. Perhaps that is why the restaurant was nearly empty at the height of the dinner hour.

Here Here!!! Also, Delmonico's in NOLA (owned by Emeril) has the same reputation in my family. Three different dinners, 50 guests total, and none of them special -- but all overpriced. I will say however that the service was excellent, and we still meet there occasionally for drinks, but not to eat.

OK - I have chime in with another over-rated NOLA restaurant - Commander's Palace. Went there for dinner and was extremely disappointed. Amateur service, average food, poor wine service (I was brought my glass of red wine, luke warm, in a glass that is meant for dessert wine, filled to the brim). They tried a lot of smoke and mirrors to make up for their short comings - calling us maam and sir a lot, having four servers show up at once with food that gets poured onto your plate tableside, but then no servers come by for almost an hour to check how we are doing. This restaurant may be a 'tradition' - but there is much better food and service to be had elsewhere in NOLA.

FWIW-

It have seen the quality at all of the "Emeril" restaurnts go down hill in recent years. :td: I would recommend them to no one....

Three nominations from me
 

First of all, thanks to Canarsie for starting this thread. Fortunately it seems that good restaurants far outnumber bad ones!

- Novomestsky pivovar ( www.npivovar.cz ) in PRG sounds like a very good micro-brewery and boasts a number of local awards but when I visited (was on CSA's recommended list :mad: ) both food and service were significantly below average...Not downright nasty, but not satisfactory either.


- Las Iguanas in Leicester (England) is another restaurant I would hesitate to visit again. Their interpretation of Mexican cuisine is less accurate/original than what found in ready Mexican meals that can be bought from any supermarket. Really tacky food, average service passable if you are extremely hungry (not very likely as there are about 5 other restaurants/pubs within 100m from it). Above average prices.

- A nationwide UK chain called "Nando's" offering various chicken dishes and certain Portuguese specialities. Setting and pricing resemble a normal mid-range restaurant, but there is no table-ordering system and cutlery is self-service too. The majority of employees will be "new to the job" (I've visited their restaurants three times, so it can't be a matter of luck) and will know nothing about the limited wine list.

My nominations for San Francisco:

1. First Crush in Union Square. Nothing particularly bad about the food (and the wine list is just great). However, the service on my three visits ranged from just OK to extremely bad. The wait staff was very slow (my date and I finally left after 45-minutes without menus). Also - any restaurant that makes you wait more than a few minutes beyond your reservation time will always be at the top of my 'avoid' list. I think they did this thinking we were tourists who would never be back.

2. Market Bar in the Ferry Building. Nothing special for a pretty high price.

I have some more, this time in London (no surprises here!!):

Itsu in Wardour Street: They claim to serve "Japanese" food, e.g. "sushi" on kaiten-style conveyor belts. The food is passable at best, most certainly NOT authentically (for London) Japanese, and not really sushi either. However, if you are after conviviality and don't care about food then this may be the place. If you want Japanese or even Japanesey food, this is not the place. I should note I am of Japanese heritage so I tend to judge Japanese food in a somewhat harsher light.

ToTo's off Walton Street in Knightsbridge: Way over-priced Italian food (a theme of Italian restaurants in London it seems) of average quality. I felt that I could make what I ate better myself. Portions were of average size but the dining room is a spectacular setting, only, if, one can get seated there. We were relegated to the entry way of the restaurant. I would recommend Scalini (nearby in Walton Street) or Locanda Locatelli (Portman Square in the Hyatt Regency Churchill) as better places for italian food.

I am sure I can think of more in London...... will post them as I remember them..... ;)

Any place in Waikiki that has a second dinner 50% off coupon.
Food will be very very average as will the service.

I am surprised you had a bad experience at Legal....their food and service are usually top notch (the pecan crusted snapper is like eating sweet heaven). Maybe the airport location is the problem for them.

Woo Lae Oak near Crystal City is an excellent choice for Korean - I hope you enjoyed it. On busy nights, it's like half the Korean diplomatic mission is there eating.

I disagree. I thought Nick's Fishmarket and Matteo's were wonderful. The ambiance, the service and the quality of the food were quite nice for the price. Especially the Osso Bucco at Matteo's.

Macaroni Grill
Terrible food. It seems to me they measure salt by cup.

Amen!

My partner & I whilst on our annual Walt Disney World Vacation went to Emeril's Orlando. We chose the menu degustation. The food was so tasteless, parts even unappetizing that we actually left in the middle of the meal, after paying an outrageous sum, of course. That was a first for us!

Any place with the word "Chez" in the title!

Two well known restaurants in San Francisco were serious disappointments - Postrio and Masa's. When you pay the kind of money you do in those places, especially Masa's, you expect everything to be superb. Nothing was bad at either place, but more than half of what we ordered in both places was just OK at best.

And both used to be so wonderful,,,so sad...San Francisco has so little allure for me these days.

Interesting! We've eaten there a total of four times over the past four years in Minnesota, Florida, and British Columbia and haven't noticed that. Was this in one location that you experienced this or an overall perception?

With one exception: Chez Panisse in Berkeley.

For my wife and myself the biggest disappointment with regard to highly regarded restaurant was:

Restaurant Bernard Loiseau in Seaulieu, he was supposed to be one of the top chefs in France after Ducasse together with Blanc, haeberlin and Boyer. It has of course 3 stars in the Guide Michelin, but the food encountered was maximum 1 star, menu choice was uninspiring at best and the service - well no comment.

In the meantime as most of you know certainly I think last year bernard Loiseau committed suicide because there were downgrading his restaurant in particular in the Gault Millau, well I though the downgrading was well deserved.


On the American Continent, my biggest disappointment was Charlie Trotters in Chicago, which is supposed to be one of the best on the continent, but which in our opinion didn't live to the hype, in particular with regard to service and food, they really feel they are the greatest in the world, but hey they aren't and I will not even comment about the prices

I have eaten at a few Nando's in the UK and Canada and although there is no table ordering system, I have found the service to be quick after you order and the food to be very good, especially the wide variety of sauces that they offer for the chicken dinners

Concur...I was even a tourist when I went there and wasn't impressed. And to think a Chinese native took us there.

Picasso at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas is widely heralded as the best restaurant in the city. IMHO it is highly over-rated. The food was just a bit better than average; prices were stratospheric and portions very small. Very pretty setting, however and the service is good.

^^^

That's so unfortunate. I used to eat at Postrio quite often in the early 90's when I had a project in Berkeley and used to stay upstairs at the Kimpton Prescott. Postrio did the room service which was always very good, and they did a good breakfast. It's a shame if it's gone down hill over the last ten years since my last visit, but I'm not surprised now that Wolfgang Puck is selling canned soup...

For my parents it must be Tetsuya's in Sydney (set menu US$130 excluding drinks). They were very disappointed after all the rave reviews. They felt the food was no more than 'ok', and the desserts were very poor.