Captain's Quarters.... How to complain, and how not to

[....he said "gastronomical ailments"....Nice!!

Huh. Huh-huh. He said "gastronomical ailments," Beavis. Huh-huh.

Hehe... You guyz invoking the memories of Baxter Station, $.10 wings and BnButthead. I'll take a side of (a bottle of tabasco)

i spoke to the server, whom i assumed told someone in management.

Why would you assume the server would tell management after all the things you say she said to you? She'd have been crazy to tell the boss to go see someone who she'd just been trashing the restaurant to.

People, PLEASE see a manager or contact one the next day before you relate such a story to such a large number of people. If it was a disgruntled employee, as has been suggested - how awful to take THEIR word for the way things are done without giving management a chance to make things right.

Also, no way would management have made you pay for the sandwich had they known the situation.

in fact they liked their job.

Any decent professional server would have involved management in this situation. She was obviously never going to tell management that she'd said those things to you. Right or wrong about what she thought was going on in the kitchen, she acted unprofessionally in the extreme.

I think you should have contacted management before posting in a public forum. I think you had every reason to suspect the server didn't relay your concerns to management.

management knows.

So, tell the rest of the story - what did management do to rectify/address the situation? If they ignored it, surely you'd tell us that.

I truly hope that, going forward, reasonable people who have a negative experience at area restaurants will notify management first, and wait whatever amount of time they think is appropriate before it seems management is not going to respond, then post their "awful story" if they still think the situation wasn't addressed correctly.

I understand if you are dissatisfied but don't want to spoil an occasion or are loathe to "make a scene", but there's always the option of a polite phone call or email the next day. But if you truly feel you are being served unwholesome food, have some regard for your fellow diners and ask management to address it on the spot. That pregnant lady two tables over or the 90-year-old patriarch of the family celebration in the adjacent dining room could be life-threateningly sickened due to a suppressed immune system if that is the case.

As the largest food and restaurant forum in town, we have a responsibility both to our fellow diners and to restaurant owners and managers to handle these hopefully isolated incidents with reason and civility. I'd hate for HotBytes to devolve into the place restaurateurs love to hate because the participants of this forum develop a reputation for "trashing now, complaining to management later".

Please consider this before you post a negative experience. No, it's not a forum rule, but it's what civilized people should do.

Well, you left out of your original post that you spoke to management that night. You actually said you "assumed the server would tell someone". So, are you telling us now that a manager was aware at the time that you didn't feel you should pay for the sandwich, and they asked you to anyway?

[Robin Garr]

CAHUNA"S

Hawaiian shamans????

[Robin Garr]

(BALLS) in new york

Psst ...

It's "cojones" ...

....he said "gastronomical ailments"....Nice!!

Big words from a Mixologist.

Back on point, folks. My question was never answered:

How much of the sandwich did you eat?

It says in her original post that she ate a few bites.

It says in her original post that she ate a few bites.

A 'few bites' = 'a coupla beers.' Cops don't buy it, neither do I.

I smell what the rock is cooking and it's not cool...

EDIT: BTW, there is a science to food poisoning and how it works, especially with poultry products.

Okay, okay down girls.

I was there, the croissant was like a rock, and the chicken salad had taken on the taste of refrigeration because it was prob not rotated out because of lack of movement (don't throw away perfectly good chick salad).

There was a request for Alan, and he was not present, the server did go to "Tony", or "Todd",. and made the request to replace the chicken salad for a piece (or two ) of cod. The manager on duty agreed, and no more mention was made, and no more effort was made to continue to subject, only to bring out the cod. The server was not disgruntled, just stating her opinion. I have a habit of asking servers "what is your favorite dish here" because they are going to tell it true. Most times staff has to eat before, during, or after their shift, and they pick out what dishes they like best, and stick to those for a meal. This particular sandwich was NOT her favorite. And we found out only after she ordered it.
This chick was just telling it like it is a little too late, but none the less. She got a 22% tip from me for being honest, and making an effort to rectify.


I tried the chicken salad and my stomach was "talking" to me too. It could have been the ration of Dairy to Mayo, (some folks are lactose intolerant)

So put down the nonsense and step away from the theories, it is what it is.

Management was notified, and it went from there, I think that between this being a foodie forum , and we live in a country where speech is free, a little more respect should be in order.

Heather,

You have my highest respect. If it is as you say it is, well then,

It is.

I would hope everybody would ease up a little on this strand. If the woman got sick, then she got sick. If she thought if was a the chicken salad that even the waitress dissed, that got her sick, that seems like a reasonable assumption. Captains Quarters isn't going to suffer from this strand, or this forums, yea or nays. They got it rocking most of the time. I worked there when the first owners had it back in the Seventies and it was a much more refined kinda of place. Now its a party down and watch the sunset kind of place. I would never go there for the excellence of the food, but have gone many times for the setting. I have found very few persons on this forum to be outright liars. So why don't we ease up. If the official policy of the forum is that all must notify management before commenting on a given problem, then let Robin pass down his decree, as he has done in the past. This juvenile back and forth, gets in the way of talking about the food scene. Food goes bad, people get sick. Sometimes there is blame to pass around, sometimes simple biology is fickle and things go bad or stomachs go bad. I've bought products off the shelves of stores that were bad, it happens. If the management of Captains Quarters wanted to respond they would have certainly done so after the first posting, since they are always on the site. I don't see why we all have to jump to their defense all of a sudden. Cant we all just get along? Bill