Had a customer ask me to refire their steak 4 times tonight

Working the line at a busy spot in Denver and a guy sends back his ribeye first because it's 'too rare.' Second time, now it's too done. Third time, he says it's not seasoned enough. Fourth time, I just stood there staring at him from the pass before walking over. He told me 'you call yourself a chef?' right there in the middle of service. I told him five minutes on the flat top each side if he wants a hockey puck, otherwise eat it as is. He ate the third one and complained to the manager anyway. How do you guys handle people who treat a well done order like a science experiment?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_hugo1mo agoTop Commenter

Man, I gotta push back on this a little, @hart.mark. I get wanting the manager to step in, but sometimes you gotta handle it yourself or the line loses all respect. That fourth time, the guy was just trying to get a reaction, and honestly, you gave him exactly what he needed by calling it like it is. If you hand it off to a manager every time someone whines, they learn that acting up gets them special treatment. Some people just need to hear "that's how steak comes, pick it or leave it" straight from the cook.

hart.mark1mo ago

Oh man, I feel your pain on this one. I mean, best move is to just have the manager handle that stuff from the start so they can set a hard limit like "this is the third time, pick one or pick something else off the menu.

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