Frozen butter that cannot be spread

Overly familiar wait staff, for example, sitting down in the booth with you when you order

Hostesses who try to sit us next to a table with a squalking baby, even though the dining room is 1/2 empty

Letting the drink get all the way empty before asking if I want another one, which leaves me drink-less for a while

Not writing down my order, and then screwing it up

And then having the temerity to suggest that I might be mistaken!

Lack of any decent vegetarian entrees in any of the so-called upscale eateries....frankly I think they do not deserve accolades by food critics unless there are more creative veg. entrees than a bowl of pasta.

It's only a minor peeve of mine when a restaurant imposes a mandatory 18% service charge on larger groups... It becomes a major peeve when (frequently) those restaurants deliver crummy service.

For example, I co-hosted a party with approximately 28 guests at a local restaurant a few months ago. We placed our reservation a week in advance to ensure space and staff were planned appropriately. We had one waiter! The guy couldn't even keep up with our drink orders. I hunted down the manager and explained to him that this was unacceptable. Thankfully, in this case, the manager acknowledged the problem and quickly assigned two additional servers to our party. All too often, managers refuse to address such a problem and hide behind the excuse that the mandatory service fee is printed policy and thus immutable.

Continuing on to this, a server at an Indian restaurant asking if I'd like some "naan breads" or some "roti breads" to accompany the meal.

No. I'd like a "Naan".

"Naan Bread" sounds like "bread bread"

Naan is a type of bread. While I don't expect the general populace to be aware of that, if you are serving in an Indian restaurant, you better pick that up pretty quick.

Happened to be the other day, albeit late at night in a bar.

Asked for a "whiskey and soda". The concoction served tasted suspiciously like Rum and Soda. Take it back to the bar. Suggest that she might've poured the wrong spirit. The wait person argues that it was infact Whiskey and not rum. Ask her to check if she poured the right bottle. Pulls a bottle out to show that she indeed poured whiskey and not rum. Except, the bottle she pulled out was "Bundaberg Rum".

Comes back to me, says, "If you aren't happy, I'll make you another one"; without actually accepting that she might've poured the wrong spirit.

(Geez, how about accepting that you infact screwed up the order. Not it wasn't the end of the world. Accept the mistake, none the less!)

Being seated in the window seat at an Asian restaurant because I am Chinese and there are more private tables. It seems to happen when I am traveling for conferences/conventions.

When this happens I ask what are you paying me to sit at this table to advertise for you.

Most customers prefer sitting by the windows. Have you been sat by a window after specifically requesting a more private location? If not, I think you're taking an ordinary courtesy as a personalized insult.

Yup, by the window is often far more desired than 'in the back by the loos'!

Window and some kind of sightline to outside is nice but not when you are being "showcased"

I don't like it when off-menu specials are recited without prices, you order one, and it turns out to be far more expensive than the entree range on the menu would suggest. If entrees are priced from $14 to $29 it's OK for the special to be $28 or $30, but not $39.

Why would anyone order an item without knowing the price? I am not at all ashamed to ask the price of any special I'm thinking of ordering.

There are plenty of occasions (with clients, etc.) where it's not appropriate to display concern about price. And the restaurant knows it.

I think it depends on the client/business arrangement. Some clients may actually prefer to see someone who keeps money in mind :)

Of course, it's better to err on the side of caution and just not order the special if no price is mentioned.

Restaurants whose websites are Facebook pages.