When good restaurants disappoint--a rant

[Jenise]

Bob and I rarely dine-in these days, and a favorite local take-out-only joint for Mex food is a frequent (once every two months maybe) stop for lunch on the run.

Consistency has been a problem, however. Chile Rellenos went from best-ever to blah last time I ordered one, the beans on the combo plates have varied wildly, and I've heard tales about issues from others that suggest that the original chef-owners aren't neccesarily always behind the stove anymore.

But yesterday takes the cake. On our last visit there we discovered a 'brisket burrito'. To die for. Tender shredded beef, brown in color, mixed with a beefy gravy--wonderful flavor and texture. We usually order carnitas, this is the first time we've deviated. And always they are just meat, rice and beans and a bit of pico de gallo. I fastidiously always order our burrito (we share one) "no crema" and the guy always says it wouldn't have crema anyway unless I order the 'Supreme' which would also have cheese, lettuce and tomato. I never oder the Supreme. So yesterday we ordered another brisket burrito and for the first time ever I did not specify 'no crema'.

To my shock and disbelief, this time the meat was bright red. Long, stringy, and very very salty. IT WAS CORNED BEEF BRISKET. And dear god, it had crema--a look I, who has a phobia about dairy products, cannot even stand to look at.

It doesn't take much to turn me off permanently. Trust is not easily earned but it's very easily destroyed, and I'm there. CORNED F---ING BEEF? Go ahead, make it that way on purpose, try to make it a thing like the pastrami tacos at Mission Chinese in San Francisco if you are a restaurant with a rep for cooking outside the box, but when you're just a normal little taco stand don't go around acting like beef brisket and corned beef are interchangeable--THEY ARE NOT.

Did you ask them about it? I wonder if it was a mistake...once I bought a corned beef thinking it was a brisket. I was so mad at myself when I got it home and realized what I had done. No way are they a substitute. Maybe the chef realized what happened and decided to use it anyway?

I'm with Karen on this one. If they sent somebody's nephew to pick up a few pieces of meat, he might not know.

Regarding the 'no crema' thing, well, I am forever saying 'no onions' to people because Pumpkin doesn't eat them. And I make them repeat it back to me, too.

Corned beef is definitely not a substitute.

My gripe would be one of two versions:

1. A good restaurant turns crappo by using cheaper ingredients, etc.

2: When I rave about a restaurant and recommend it to a friend (or take them) and it's suddenly crappo (and then they wonder about my judgment). A good example is from years ago when I recommended Le Peep, a breakfast and lunch restaurant that had always been stellar. Our sunnyside-up eggs came out with yolks like hard-boiled eggs. When we asked for new eggs, our new plates came out with barely cooked eggs with transparent, runny whites. Never again.

I'm with Karen on this one. If they sent somebody's nephew to pick up a few pieces of meat, he might not know.

Regarding the 'no crema' thing, well, I am forever saying 'no onions' to people because Pumpkin doesn't eat them. And I make them repeat it back to me, too.

I don't think order takers actually listen, and I don't think they hear the words, "no" or "don't." If I say, "Don't seat me next to the kitchen," they invariably lead me to a table that gets fanned by the kitchen door.

And other times I get into conversations that resemble "Who's on first." An amusing example from a steakhouse that had a huge banner on the wall behind the young hostess: ITS OUR 18TH ANNIVERSARY!

I pointed out that the banner had a misspelling. I said, "I-T-S is possessive, you need I-T-apostrophe-S, which means "it is your anniversary."

" Well," she replied, "it is our anniversary!" And that settled that.

[Jenise]

Did you ask them about it? I wonder if it was a mistake...once I bought a corned beef thinking it was a brisket. I was so mad at myself when I got it home and realized what I had done. No way are they a substitute. Maybe the chef realized what happened and decided to use it anyway?

Nope. It's a taco stand. There are cooks, not chefs. Not the kind of place it's worth even complaining to (not that you could get near the line at the order window, it's a very popular place). Possibly got in on sale after St. Patricks day and naively didn't understand the difference. I love corned beef, but a brisket burrito it do not make.

[Jenise]

I don't think order takers actually listen, and I don't think they hear the words, "no" or "don't."

In this case, they do regular and Supreme burritos, and the latter which would include crema costs more, so the mistake shouldn't happen. It just took me until now to trust them not to screw up my food so for once I trusted the fact that I never order a Supreme to have me covered. Serves me right.

Funny fact, I heard the order taker ask the guy in front of me for his name for when they call out his order at the pickup window. When I paid, I wasn't asked so I followed up with "don't you want my name" and he said no, their POS (point of sale, not being rude here) credit card machine recognized my credit card and also had my name on record for the pickup window! I should ask why if they can do that they can't keep track of the fact that I'll die if they serve me crema.

I don't often eat fast food, but I had some Burger King coupons that I used a couple of times this past month. Each time, BK screwed up our order, but we always gained extra food:

1. I had a coupon for two cheeseburgers, two small fries, and one small drink. What we got was one cheeseburger, one chicken nuggets (ugh), two med. fries, and one small drink. I argued with the order taker (the manager!) that he got my order wrong. "No," he said. "Here's your coupon," producing not my coupon, but only a receipt tape from the cash register. We both agreed there was a mistake somewhere, so he let me keep the wrong order and gave us what was actually on our coupon. So we wound up with three cheeseburgers, two small drinks, three medium fries, and a bag of chicken nuggets >gag< along with a drink.

I know it wasn't my coupon order that I received. How do I know? The guy in front of me ordered extra pickles on his cheeseburger, and that's what I got on that extra cheeseburger. It was his order. I gave the nuggets to my neighbor who'll eat anything.

2. Tonight, it was a coupon for two Whopper Jrs., two small fries, and two small drinks. What we received were two Whopper Jrs., one medium fries, one small fries, two small drinks, one small chicken nuggets, and one large chicken nuggets. Now, I have to get rid of the chicken nuggets >gag< again.

I marvel at your use of BK coupons. I have avoided all fast-food burger joints for years and years now, and am content to continue to do so.

Years ago we had one meal at our local Greek pizzaria and the waitress offered us datagram service. Some of the items we ordered arrived out of order, some were not delivered at all, some were duplicated, and some arrived with errors.

-Paul W.

I marvel at your use of BK coupons. I have avoided all fast-food burger joints for years and years now, and am content to continue to do so.

Good for you, but nothing marvelous here. I've been on a low carb diet for over a decade, and I, too, have avoided fast-food burger joints for all that time. But I had the BK coupons and used them on two Saturday nights lately when I was too exhausted to cook--thanks to my current iron-deficiency anemia. It was the quickest, easiest way to go, and I don't think a couple of burgers will kill me. I guess I'll have to wear a BK tattoo on my forehead as a mark of shame for temporarily falling off the wagon.

Years ago we had one meal at our local Greek pizzaria and the waitress offered us datagram service. Some of the items we ordered arrived out of order, some were not delivered at all, some were duplicated, and some arrived with errors.

That's funny!