Me and SO went to a decent but not too fancy restaurant that had really good reviews, however the food was so bad that when the waiter asked if we enjoyed our meal we told them it wasn’t quite as expected. We have never given negative feedback in a restaurant before and we aren’t too picky eaters either, as we follow a diet and don’t expect restaurant to put much effort into it. I feel kinda ashamed even though I know honesty should be appreciated, I’m sure they tried their best, but in this case a microwaved ready meal would’ve been a better choice. We didn’t ask for discount but they gave it anyways. Phew what a stressful day!
IMO, no shame in giving negative feedback as long as you’re tipping and giving positive feedback when its genuine.
I once gave negative feedback in a restaurant, and they obviously didn’t like it. Their problem, I’m definitely not going to eat there again. You don’t make “Arabiata” by just adding chili powder to stock “Napoli”. And Balsamico does not belong on a Greek salad.
If I am not planning to go back there anytime soon, i wouldn’t bother sharing my honest opinion tbh. And even if I do, I am not sure it’s worth going through the awkward situation with the waitress.
That’s how I normally do too, and would’ve done this time as well had it been cheaper, but the quality was something similar to the grub I cooked when living alone as a student, so I felt that it would be dishonest to tell them we enjoyed it and not give the chef a chance to improve.
The awkwardness is the worst. I’ve even had a manager like verbally pressuring me to give feedback, and all I’m thinking is “This is so unpleasant, I just want this conversation to end so I can leave. I don’t care about how much the bill is.”
