Agreed. Sending food back because it isn't exactly what you expected or it doesn't taste just like you think it should shouldn't be done. The one exception to that is ingredients that one is allergic to that weren't mentioned in the description, but, really, those should be run by a server anyhow.

I can't remember ever sending back food, but we did send back a bottle of wine once. In France. At a snooty restaurant that had a sommelier. And my husband does not speak much French. That took chutzpah, but the bottle (Sancerre, one of the cheapest wines on the menu, and about all we could afford on a student stipend) was clearly undrinkable. They brought us a much better bottle, and we got treated better after that.

The only times I have sent back food is when I was served the wrong dish or a special request the restaurant agreed to when the order was taken (like dressing on the side) is not honored. For awile I was sending back cold fries but I got tired of eating my fries after the entree when everyone else was done. Now I normally order a different side since almost no restaurants see the need to serve hot, crispy fries.

I've sent back steaks before when I ordered them medium rare and they've come back well done. I'm not going to pay prime rib prices for salisbury steak without speaking up.

Well, there was the Band-aid in the middle of the schnitzel at Schatzie's [spelling optional] at the Shot Tower many years ago.

On occassion, entrees have not been what I anticipated and wait staff and/or management has asked why I didn't eat the dinner. I have declined offers of a different entree [after all, it was my fault] but have been grateful when the meal was taken off the check. That is good business and leaves a much better taste than, say, a bacon mushroom anchovy and sardine omelette.

I don't think I've had the misfortune to have a overdone steak, not even at the Sizzler. Though, that does seem like that happens more often than fits my own experience.

I think the only send-back criterion I've ever employed is the foreign object clause -- which got our meal comped.

If the server gets my order wrong -- which is infrequent, but of the options, the least so -- it's usually something I would have enjoyed eating anyways. It's just the sort of thing I reflect in my tip, is all.

I've had two situations lately where what I ordered was nothing like what I expected. At a restaurant in Strasburg, PA I ordered the chicken and waffles expecting fried chicken on waffles with maple syrup drizzled over the dish. Like at Sylvia's. What I got was pot pie filling over waffles. It was good but not what I expected. The other was at Beck's in Sykesville where I ordered a fillet mignon sandwich with brie cheese. I expected sliced fillet on a toasted bun with brie cheese melted over the top. What I got was a fillet sitting on two slices of cold brie on a bun. It was good steak and a bargain at $9.95 but again not what I expected. Neither went back because it wasn't the kitchen's fault I watch too many food shows on TV. Both were good but I wouldn't order either one again.

EEL, anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line, that is what chicken and waffles are. I grew up there and found it a travisty the first time it came your style. It is the PA Dutch way of making it, and it is delicious.

The PA Dutch way of making chicken and waffles sounds a lot more sensible to me. I never understood the pairing of fried chicken with waffles.

Chicken and waffles always sounded like a symptom of mental illness. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.