Meal for Free or No Big Deal

[luvmy3]

I think the difference is that for *most* people getting chicken on a cheese quesadilla would not have been a really big deal. A mistake, yes... but most people would respond with "Oh gosh, I didn't order chicken. I ordered a cheese quesadilla." Upon realizing there was a mistake, the waiter brought a cheese quesadilla -- problem solved.

To the OP, it's a big deal because it's a "moral issue." I believe the OP expected a bigger compensation (free meal) than the average person would expect, because to her the mistake was a bigger mistake than most people would consider it. I think the "mind reading" thing comes into play, because unless she tells them/told them, I don't think they can be expected to know how big of a deal this is to the OP. To non-vegetarians, this is a little mistake. To her, obviously, it's a big one.

Still though, she ordered something that traditionally doesn't have chicken in it so she didn't have to tell the waiter that she morally objected to chicken when she ordered it because like everyone else (except maybe a few pp's here) wouldn't have expected there to be meat in her cheese entree anyway. She had zero reason to think she had to let them know. Sure she could have said 'I'm replulsed by eating meat so please make sure you don't stuff the cheese quesadilla I ordered with chicken", but honestly why would she bother to since it was a cheese one she ordered and not a chicken one Now, if it was very common practice for restaurants to offer a cheese quesadilla (without mentioning chicken at all in the dish name of the description) on their menu, yet serve a chicken one, I could see it. But I have never been to a single restaurant where that is the case. So while I disagree with the OP that this was a huge mistake, I don't think she was wrong in expecting just cheese in her quesadilla.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Still though, she ordered something that traditionally doesn't have chicken in it so she didn't have to tell the waiter that she morally objected to chicken when she ordered it because like everyone else (except maybe a few pp's here) wouldn't have expected there to be meat in her cheese entree anyway. She had zero reason to think she had to let them know. Sure she could have said 'I'm replulsed by eating meat so please make sure you don't stuff the cheese quesadilla I ordered with chicken", but honestly why would she bother to since it was a cheese one she ordered and not a chicken one Now, if it was very common practice restaurants to offer a cheese quesadilla 9without mentioning chicken at all in the dish name of the description) on their menu, yet serve a chicken one, I could see it. But I have never been to a single restaurant where that is the case. So while I disagree with the OP that this was a huge mistake, I don't think she was wrong in expecting just cheese in her quesadilla.

How often do you get quesadillas? Let me tell you they screw them up all the time and that is even with explaining specifics to the server.

So you think she should have gotten the meal for free?

 

[luvmy3]

See I was mistaken earlier. I thought she had to pay for the chicken and the cheese quesadilla. DUH.......

Of course the cheese quesadilla should not be free, that is silly.

And to you address you luvmy3, cheese quesadillas need to be questioned, esp on a kid's menu. They might have other "stuff" in them.

Where have they had chicken put in them without it being listed somewhere in the description? I'm not being snarky but I'd really like to know. My youngest ds's go to meal is cheese quesadilla and if thats not available its grilled cheese and never has he been served one or the other with chicken in it. I would never think to ask the server if it contained chicken or any other meat because its never happened, so I can totally see why the OP wouldn't have either.

 

[luvmy3]

How often do you get quesadillas? Let me tell you they screw them up all the time and that is even with explaining specifics to the server.

So you think she should have gotten the meal for free?

When I order them I get the chicken in it However my ds always gets the cheese or grilled cheese so I can't really count how many times we have ordered them.
To answer your question, no I don't think her meal should have been comped, and I have said that already earlier in the thread. It was a mistake that was corrected, no big deal. My issue is that some pp's think the OP should have made sure to tell them not to put chicken in her cheese quesadilla when she ordered and its somehow her "fault" that she got the wrong food because she failed to question what was in it.

 

[kirstenb1]

Where have they had chicken put in them without it being listed somewhere in the description? I'm not being snarky but I'd really like to know. My youngest ds's go to meal is cheese quesadilla and if thats not available its grilled cheese and never has he been served one or the other with chicken in it. I would never think to ask the server if it contained chicken or any other meat because its never happened, so I can totally see why the OP wouldn't have either.

I have to agree. Especially with the kids' menu, the restaurants we go to, follow the description to a T. Cheese quesadilla, mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, are the standards at Applebee's etc. We've never had meat in a cheese quesadilla. BTW, I've met lots of little kids, who aren't vegetarians, but really don't like meat yet.

 

[mhsjax]

My son is completely intolerant of dairy. We went to a mexican restaurant and we ordered him a taco with just meat and the shell, we specifically said just meat no shell and then said he can't eat cheese. They brought out a taco, he took one bite and I noticed that it had cheese. We told him to stop eating and told the waiter, he apologized and brought him out another. We paid for one taco.

His isn't a choice, it isn't life threatening, but it does make him very ill and in a lot of pain for a couple of hours. One bite didn't hurt him and I knew that.

Now if I don't complain at that, then sorry OP, but your moral opinions really don't deserve a free meal either. No harm was done, it didn't kill her and it didn't make her sick.. Unlike so many here that have actual allergies that really could be life threatening.

Now, I don't believe it was your fault at all either, there was no reason to suspect that chicken would have been on the meal, but the restaurant did make the correction.

 

[happygirl]

Not a big deal at all

 

[nathalee81]

True, however I am going by what the OP said here, as is everyone else.

I don't know what her ordering something off the menu has to do with the restaurant reading her mind about being a vegetarian. Are you all missing the point that the OP ordered a CHEESE quesadilla? She expected a cheese quesadilla to be served to her, and rightfully so. The restaurant didn't need to read her mind, she told then what she wanted. Now I could understand you all making comments like that if she ordered a chicken quesadilla, and didn't wan't chicken on it but never bothered to tell the waiter, but thats not what happened. She ordered something directly off the menu, it makes no difference why she ordered it, she should have gotten what she ordered?

I think its pretty safe to assume that a Cheese quesadilla is just that, and not a chicken quesadilla Where do you people go to eat that the menus are so misleading that you have to question if you are actually going to get what you ordered? Not even that, I'd like to know where you have gone and ordered a cheese quesadilla and recieved a chicken one?

Once again, not saying the restaurant didn't mess up. Perhaps, they did. It is the restaurant's responsibility to fix the mistake and they did.
But, now the OP is bringing morality into it. I am merely stating if is this important to her, she should take some proactive steps to make sure the morals she believes in so strongly are followed. It is NOT the restaurant's responsibility to make sure her kid eats vegetarian. Just like it is not a restaurant's responsibility to make sure I don't eat beef.
Let's take another spin on this scenario. What if this was a chicken quesadilla that was brought to her table by mistake (and the cheese was brought to another child). I am curious to see if this would change anyone's opinion (because in this scenario the menu item would have been correct, the mistake just would have been on the wait staff).

 

[npmommie]

Where have they had chicken put in them without it being listed somewhere in the description? I'm not being snarky but I'd really like to know. My youngest ds's go to meal is cheese quesadilla and if thats not available its grilled cheese and never has he been served one or the other with chicken in it. I would never think to ask the server if it contained chicken or any other meat because its never happened, so I can totally see why the OP wouldn't have either.

I am with you Luvmy3, my kids eat cheese quesadillas and grilled cheese almost anywhere we go, and they have never received meat in either. and I never ask if there is meat in it.

wouldn't think to since it is stated as a grilled cheese. I never heard of putting bacon in a grilled cheese unless it is stated as a bacon and grilled cheese sandwich.

OP I just think it was a mix up, maybe the cook thought the waiter said chicken quesadilla, who knows, but I think they corrected it just fine for you.
I wouldn't be upset. and I agree that the fault was not yours at all.

restaurants have to take responsibility for listing things correctly, if the quesadilla is really a chicken quesa it should say, because the next person may have an allergy to chicken, not just a moral opposition to eating it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Still though, she ordered something that traditionally doesn't have chicken in it so she didn't have to tell the waiter that she morally objected to chicken when she ordered it because like everyone else (except maybe a few pp's here) wouldn't have expected there to be meat in her cheese entree anyway. She had zero reason to think she had to let them know.

Agreed. The diner doesn't have to inform the restaurant of anything.

We don't know why there was chicken on this quesadilla but a reasonable person would agree it wasn't placed there to undermine the OP's vegetarianism.

A mistake was made - whether it was the menu listing, or the OP's party getting someone else's order in error, or the OP not reading the complete description, or even a single piece of chicken finding its way into the quesadilla by accident.

The mistake was corrected and an apology was provided.

The party was charged for the one, correct entree.

All entirely reasonable.

Where have they had chicken put in them without it being listed somewhere in the description? I'm not being snarky but I'd really like to know.

See crashbb's post on the previous page. Chicken/meat wasn't in the name of the dish but it was in the description. crashbb admits not reading the complete description of the dish ordered.

 

[Polyluvr]

Not a big deal @ all.

When you ordered did you specifically state "My DD is a vegetarian?"
Or was it after that fact~ "My DD doesn't eat meat"; would mean to me that she just doesn't like it. Not that she at the age of 2 is a vegetarian.

And all you vegetarians would be very surprised that 99% of the time even mashed potatoes have chicken stock in them and vegetables are steamed w a mix of water/chicken stock.

 

[palavra]

Well, I guess I have my answer!

I do want to be clear that I didn't want a "free meal" for the sake of a free meal. It was a $4.00 kids menu item and about a $100 tab. I just always considered the "take it off the bill" to be a restaurants way of admitting that they really screwed up, and, honestly, I considered this to be a pretty big screw up.

(And, I guess I'll start checking more closely!)

I consider it a minor screw up. You didn't tell the waiter that your daughter was a vegetarian, so how would he know?

 

[nathalee81]

Not a big deal @ all.

When you ordered did you specifically state "My DD is a vegetarian?"
Or was it after that fact~ "My DD doesn't eat meat"; would mean to me that she just doesn't like it. Not that she at the age of 2 is a vegetarian.

And all you vegetarians would be very surprised that 99% of the time even mashed potatoes have chicken stock in them and vegetables are steamed w a mix of water/chicken stock.

That is so true! I hadn't even thought about that.
I was shocked to learn that the hashbrown casserole at Cracker Barrel has Cream of Chicken soup in it! I wanted to make it because my husband and I both love it, and I found the recipe online and discovered the cream of chicken soup was in it!?
Also, is it typical to use chicken stock for egg drop soup? I found out that PF Chang's uses it in their Egg Drop Soup and had no idea.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Chicken stock is extremely common in many preparations.

 

[ms.yt]

Also, is it typical to use chicken stock for egg drop soup? I found out that PF Chang's uses it in their Egg Drop Soup and had no idea.

Egg drop soup is mostly chicken broth. Not being snarky, but what did you think it was made from?

As far as the hashbrown casserole, I've made it before with cream of mushroom soup when I didn't have cream of chicken. It's still pretty good that way. With all the butter, cheese and sour cream, the soup change doesn't make that much of a difference.

 

[huey duey & luey]

Once again, not saying the restaurant didn't mess up. Perhaps, they did. It is the restaurant's responsibility to fix the mistake and they did.
But, now the OP is bringing morality into it. I am merely stating if is this important to her, she should take some proactive steps to make sure the morals she believes in so strongly are followed. It is NOT the restaurant's responsibility to make sure her kid eats vegetarian. Just like it is not a restaurant's responsibility to make sure I don't eat beef. Let's take another spin on this scenario. What if this was a chicken quesadilla that was brought to her table by mistake (and the cheese was brought to another child). I am curious to see if this would change anyone's opinion (because in this scenario the menu item would have been correct, the mistake just would have been on the wait staff).

but it is the restaurant's responsibility to serve what is listed on the menu
My husband is allergic to shellfish and always asks about the ingredients when necessary. However if ordering a burger and fries, something typical and common he doesn't

 

[daisyduck123]

No big deal, IMO.

 

[nathalee81]

Egg drop soup is mostly chicken broth. Not being snarky, but what did you think it was made from?

As far as the hashbrown casserole, I've made it before with cream of mushroom soup when I didn't have cream of chicken. It's still pretty good that way. With all the butter, cheese and sour cream, the soup change doesn't make that much of a difference.

I'm not much of a cook and since beef is the only thing I don't eat, I really don't think about what is in the food I like. Truthfully (and this is showing my cooking ignorance), I thought it was eggs and yolk . I know, very silly-but, like I said, total cooking ignorance. Hey, I'm not scared to admit it-I'm a total dunce when it comes to cooking!

 

[nathalee81]

but it is the restaurant's responsibility to serve what is listed on the menu
My husband is allergic to shellfish and always asks about the ingredients when necessary. However if ordering a burger and fries, something typical and common he doesn't

And, as I asked in the same post you quoted, what if the restaurant merely mixed up the chicken quesadilla with the cheese that someone else ordered?
I think the mindset of people on this thread is kind of funny. On all the theme park and resort boards, everyone is always telling people that complain on the boards "did you speak to anyone while you were there?" or "did you talk to manager so they could rectify the situation"? Yet here people are saying that the restaurant should have comped her meal, without even knowing she was a vegetarian? So, if you are at Disney you are supposed to speak with someone before you can complain on a message board, but if you are anywhere else everyone is just supposed to read your mind and know how upset you were?

 

[disneychrista]

@RachaelEllen did you child actually EAT any of the chicken? This would be a compeltely different situation then taking a bite and then FINDING the chicken.

If I had ordered a cheese quesadilla and bite into chicken I would ask them to remove the item from the check and not ask a replacement because that would turn my stomach so much I would not be able to eat. If I simply found that the quesidella had chicken in it, I would ask for replacement and would not expect it to be removed from my check.