Sending food back?

[JDiva02]

Great--my first time on DDP and free at that, and I'm reading scathing reviews of Les Chefs--the one place my husband specifically requested!

I'm going to keep our ADR, and hope that our experience is good. I see bad (or at least unenthusiastic) as well as good reviews for almost every restaurant at WDW.

But I do wonder, not just at Les Chefs, but other restaurants there is seldom mention of sending the food back, or asking to have a meal replaced with another menu item. Whether OOP or on DDP we are paying for these meals, and if we are served something that is truly inedible we should not have to merely push it aside. If I order my steak medium rare and it is served well done why should I have to "swallow" it?

Am I missing something?

 

[faindrops27]

My son, and I ate at concourse last year.. He got the ribs, which came with beans on the side. The beans were not great, tasted as if someone dumped a can of iodized salt in them.His ribs, from what he says were delicious. I got the filet with the blue cheese butter. The steak was cooked to my specs but I was not really impressed with my dish. I could have complained about my son' dish. But we were pressed for time. So, I did not. He was full anyway. As for my dish, just because I did not care for it, did not mean I could just send it back. I chose the dish afterall.

If your steak is not cooked to the right temp, then by all means send it back. But, if you picked a dish that is cooked correctly. But, you just don't like it. I don't see that as a excuse that you can send it back. Unless it is prepared incorrectly. JMHO.

 

[bicker]

Just a note about Chefs de France. We've eaten there every year or two for the last ten years. It has been the only restaurant that has been consistently superior. Better than Le Cellier. Better than Spoodles. Better than even some of the signature restaurants. I wouldn't go into Chefs de France expecting to have problems.

 

[Jestocost]

As with any restaurant meal, if the food you receive is truly "bad," not prepared to specifications (within reason, no quibbling about the very specific nuances of medium rare vs. medium, for example) or varies significantly from the menu description, you can and should send it back. If you just don't like what you ordered, you should not.

 

[joyjoy]

My daughter's fish at California Grill had a 2 in. piece of plastic wrap in it and she sent it back, of course. The chef himself brought her replacement to the table and said "One halibut, hold the plastic.".

I would absolutely send anything back I couldn't eat or that was bad. Complain and send things back if everything is not perfect? Not my style.

 

[lilyv]

I rarely send food back. The benchmark I'd use, especially at Disney, would be: "Is this truly a real problem, or is this a quibble? "

And yes, the plastic wrap mention above would be in the real problem category.

DD waits tables while finishing up grad school, (not at Disney), but listening to her experiences is an education. I think most servers want to fix real problems, but also be aware there are a surprising number of rather unethical diners in America that like to finish the dish, complain, and then, hopefully, be comped. OP certainly isn't in this category, but it explains why when something is 99% right, but the diner complains (and isn't amenable to any non-cash equivalent solutions to a minor problem) they don't get a real sympathetic response.

My best advise: Plan to have a great time, great dinners, and great memories!

 

[MickeyNicki]

If I order something and it is not cooked correctly or smells or tastes bad (not because I do not like it but other reasons) I will send it back.

If I order something and I personally do not care for it I will not send it back, I will just pay for it and order something else.

 

[LisaInNc]

I can't comment on Les Chefs I can comment on sending food back.

First, yes i is free dining but you ARE paying for it, you are paying rack rate for your room. Even if it totally free you should still expect the food to be eidble.

I have food "issues" there is a long list of food problems with me I have had it most of my life, even went to a hypnotist to try to get over it. I expect my food to come as I ordered it I have never had to send anything back at Disney. I have no had a problem with this type of thing there. In the rest of the world that is another story. I usually order filet mignon and for those prices I do want it the way that I asked. Disney always gets it and I have comented that if they can do it right why can't other resturants?

So it should be edible! I would be shocked if the food wasn't. There might all be an occasional story of a problem like the plactic wrap at the Concorse but that stuf is rare. We all have standards of what we expect our food to be and sometimes forget how many people a restaurant will serve and how fast it usually is. In most cases it isn't supposed to be gourmet but it is supposed to be plastic wrap free.

Lisa

So give it a shot you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Kae]

One time at Cal grill. I ordered the Autumn pasta special it had goat cheese & stuff... They brought it out & all I saw was beets of every color-yuk It is like the one Veggie I cannot stand. the waiter took one look at my face & said you don't like beets do you? I said nope. He took it back & the chef made me something else. It did not say anything about beets. I should of figured there would be beets when it said Autumn Veggies but I never think of beets in anything. Temp is anther reason I will send things back.

kae

 

[Luv2Roam]

We both really like Chefs, and have gone there with friends various time. Never had a complaint. Actually their food seems to be very consistent. I would not worry at all about dining at Chefs.

 

[disneyjunebug]

Chefs is one of my fav places to eat. I've eaten there many times, always great. It isn't the quietest place, but I have never had anything that was terrible. Service was spotty once, but I've had worse at the O'Charleys down the street! And they don't feed near the amount of people!

In a lot of ways, it reminds me of a few cafes in Paris, loud, happy people eating great food!

 

[jennib5426]

We have also had a meal at Chefs de France on every trip for the past 7 years, most recently in March 07. I have never had a bad experience or bad food there. Year after year the food is consistantly great, IMO.

Best French onion soup I have ever had, anywhere.

 

[Uncleromulus]

"Truly inedible" is certainly something that should be sent back. In our case, it's happened only once in all the years that we've been going to WDW.
I've ordered a few things that I really didn't like--but that was my fault and I'd never consider sending it back.
And as for Chef's--I would expect the food there to be quite edible.

 

[ElizabethB]

On our most recent visit to Chefs, the waitress noticed my friend was not eating her seared tuna (it was seriously overcooked, notwithstanding the menu warning that it will be served rare). The waitress offered to bring another entree. Our friend accepted and chose the chicken (which was delicious, I might add). So, there is certainly an effort made to ensure customers are satisfied with their meals, based on our experience.

Notwithstanding that the waitress was attentive and the chicken delicious, the overall experience at Chefs has declined precipitously in our opinion and we don't plan to return. My steak frites was not good at all -- poor quality meat and cold, truly cold, fries. And, the tables are so packed in now that you're nearly sitting in the laps of the folks at the next table.

What's still good? The chicken, as noted above, the escargot, the cheese plate (not very exciting but tasty) and the wine list. Our opera cake dessert also was okay.

Still, we were disappointed. The place was a madhouse and noisy as all get-out, and, overall, the food was "eh".

 

[MissMet]

Having lots of friends in the restaurant business, I would NEVER send my food back for any reason.

Send back at your own risk.

 

[BrendaC]

Whether at WDW or not, if my food comes to my table and the quality is not great, I will send it back. I do not enjoy eating cold food that is supposed to be hot or a hamburger that is still pink when I've ordered well done. I figured I'm paying for my meal, I want the dish the way I like it.

On the other hand, if the dish is something that I've ordered and my choice turns out to be disappointing, I will not send it back. It was my choice, my mistake. I will eat enough so I won't be hungry.

Brenda

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I agree with the majority here. I would send it back if it were not cooked to specification or something was truly wrong with it. I would not send it back if it was just something I personally did not care for.

At Disney I've never sent anything back, sure there were a few things I did not care for so much, but I've never had anything "inedible." If you're unsure about a place, do what I do, and order a sampler if it's available, I've done that at Jiko and Marrakesh, and have always found enough on there that I've enjoyed that I'm full, even if I don't eat everything.

I liked everything I had at Chefs when I ate there though. Granted, that was only two things, the lobster bisques, and a bacon, onion, and creme frieche flatbread.

 

[dburg30]

I dont think I have ever sent food back. There were a couple of times I thought about it, but never have. I may not eat it all, and I will express my concerns to the server and or manager, but I'm not going to piss off the person making my food, no matter if they screwed it up or not. I'll not go back for a long while usually also. It's not that I dont trust people that handle my food once I've complained about it....... Oh wait, yes it is!

 

[lunapnp]

Having lots of friends in the restaurant business, I would NEVER send my food back for any reason.

Send back at your own risk.

My thoughts exactly!!! I will admit, though, I have at times sent stuff back at my own risk...but usually only for undercooked meat. If it comes out with something on it that I requested to be held (such as tomatoes, etc.) I just pick around the unwanted topping! I wouldn't send it back because it may come back out with something else I didn't order!