I rolled over the picture. Ha Ha Ha. Way to anticipate.

I know all your tricks. :-) EL

Yeah a $50+ bottle of wine? I think you're appropriate. What'dya want lady, him to clean his teeth right there? A whole free meal? Sheesh.

In a way the presence of the wire shows that this is a fine-dining restaurant because it shows they are actually using fresh lettuce, not a food-service-size bag of pre-chopped, pre-rinsed, who-knows-how-old lettuce from wherever.

I'm glad nobody was hurt. And I think the Manager did do the right thing. Public flogging of the Salad Chef would have been in poor taste.

If it is something you could reasonably find in the prep of food, such as a lettuce band, I think a bottle of wine is pretty generous. I bet alot of places would have only done a free dessert.

Now, if it something you wouldn't find in normal food prep, such as a bandaid or a cigarette, I would want the entire meal to be comped.

Once I found a piece of hard black plastic in my shrimp salad at Eddies in Charles Village. The owner gave me a fully stamped sandwich card (5 dollars off). I was pretty happy with that.

my fiancee found a roach in her salad at one of the nicer places for lunch downtown with her coworkers. they gave her a free meal for that.

Once I ordered an iced tea and it came in a dark colored glass. I think it was dark red. I took a couple sips and thought it tasted odd so I started moving ice around and discovered a hair tie (elastic band type) in the bottom along with some hair. I assume the odd taste was hair spray?

The manager comped my meal and I was more or less satisfied though slightly freaked out. I mean, how does a hair tie get to the bottom of the glass to be covered with ice and liquid and no one notices it in there? ew.

My husband and I dined at one of the premier finer restaurants in Iceland. My husband ordered the duck breast and in his second bite, he discovered a round metal object...buckshot. We showed it to the waiter and all he said was "at least you know it's fresh".

I think the treatment was fair. I am curious, however, as to how Dr. Giggles knows the price of the bottle. I didn't read anything about it being $50+.

Nancy, that sounds like Icelandic service. Actually, that sounds a bit friendly for Reykjavik. Were you out in the country?

RiE, it depends on how cute the salad chef is.

Given the markup on bottles of wine (and liqour) in restaurants, I don't think Dr. Giggles was too far off in his estimate. Since she said a "nice" bottle of red wine, I would think they ordered something in the medium priced range; which would be around $40 to $60.

For those whose browsers don't allow them being in on the photo filename humor, it was NotChezRestaurant.JPG.

This recalls a discussion by Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison on foreign objects at table:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0AjXkBnBzA

I'm happy to endure something that doesn't belong in my food for the sake of more free food/wine. In fact, I'm going to start bringing objects that could reasonably end up in your food with me all the time. Prime Rib, I'm looking at YOU!

Thanks for the inspiration!

chowsearch, that was Robert Preston, not Rex Harrison.

My personal philosophy when something like this happens (thankfully, it is quite rare) is take what the restaurant is willing to offer, and for the rest of the night, do not let this one thing spoil your evening (especially if no one one harmed, was completely sanitarily negligent etc.)

Once you leave the restaurant, you can decide whether or not the compensation justifies a return visit to the establishment. Either way, you will show whether or not you think the restaurant's offer was fair by how much cash you are willing to hand over to them in future dining excursions.

You're right hmpstd, or, as the detective says of him later on, it might have been the best disguise he'd ever seen.

I was at lunch with an associate in a high-end New Jersey restaurant when my associate found a live caterpillar, about an inch long, crawling around his salad bowl.

We were comp'ed his meal--although we did have to pay for his drinks and dessert.

A few and far between occasions, I've found the odd hair in salads and soup, thankfully before I've started to eat, and sent the dish back. I don't recall receiving anything for those meals. To mean, it would be the shock of finding a foreign item AFTER I started eating, as opposed to spotting it before I've dug in.

We had bug on our table at Roy's and got the whole meal comped. I believe this practice exists in the more corporate type of restaurants due to the deep pockets and the unwanted fallout.

Lissa,
If the Salad Chef is that cute, you wouldn't want the flogging to be in a public place.

JackinEC,
Since I started letting my facial hair grow out lo those many years ago, I have become more tolerant of stray hairs. Now if my DW found a stray blonde hair on my jacket THAT would mean trouble.

Hmm...depends on the day, RiE.

Probably against some health code or another, though. You know, no dogs, no cat o' nine tails...

Years ago we had a dinner at a restaurant in OC, and my sister was eating her salad. She found a box staple in it. I am not sure how that would end up in there, but luckily she was not hurt or cut. She was only offered a free kids' dessert. I think the wine was a fair offer, and the manager handled the situation well by asking about the customer first. Some would start by saying "I have no idea how that got there"

Now that I'm back at work, we had a potluck lunch today for myself and another person in the office who's birthday is next week.
As I'm eating the broccoli casserole, quite tasty by the way, I notice something in it. I thought it was the tine from a black plastic fork. Upon further inspection, it was a young roach.
I was immediately done eating.
I didn't say anything because I didn't want to embarrass the person who brought it.
But - GACK!

Always the perfect gentleman, PCB Rob!

Years ago another couple we knew were invited to have dinner at the home of mutual friends (newly-weds). Our friend found a tea-bag in her blanquette de veau. I've always wondered what that was doing there--did the new wife think the blanquette was too white?

Whats the old joke?

What's worse then finding a worm in the apple your eating?

Finding half a worm!!

Checking in.. a bit late (school started this week)...

I've had two spectacular incidents of what a restaurant should NOT do in this incidence.

Gampy's (years ago and closed, so I'll put the name): found a hair "embedded" in my hamburger. I flipped out as it actually caught in my teeth as I took a bite. The waiter said it was mine. There is no way possible my hair could become part of a burger. I got up, walked out, and did not pay. Eventually my dinner partner followed. I don't want to know if he paid.

Chain restaurant still operating (no name): my dinner companion took a forkful of a dessert we were sharing and discovered after putting it into his mouth the plastic cap similar to those on milk cartons. He about threw up. I was not much better. The waitress attempted to explain that it must have been the cap from the syrup container (the dessert had a syrup on it). The manager was not much better. Eventually though she came back, made sounds like we should not have been such sissies, comped HIS meal (despite that we were sharing the dessert, my not having plastic in my mouth meant I was not offended), and gave us a gift card to come back. We never have eaten there again.

When something that is not food is found in a dish: the customer should be apologized to and the meal comped. Offering additional compensation is nice but not necessary. But definitely do not make me pay for a meal that is now ruined. No free wine or dessert is going to help with finding non-food items in a meal.

my parents had dinner not that long ago at an Olive Garden Restaurant. As my Dad was eating some salad, he bit into something hard, it was a piece of a mussel shell. They called the waitress over who was horrified about the situation. Olive Garden gave them their full meal (both Mom AND Dad's) for free.

Sometimes I think management responds better based on how the customer reacts to situations like this. Both of my parents were pretty calm about the whole situation...then again, finding a mussel shell isn't all that bad....I'm sure they would have gotten up and walked out if they had found a roach or other insect.

Wow. I hope I never, ever find an insect, hair, or piece of food packaging in my food. Just reading this thread makes me want to throw up.

Once again I find myself in the minority. None of this would particularly upset me. Now a severed body part in the chili--THAT would upset me!

Once several years ago, My wife, daughter and I were dining at Maison Marconi, the late great place that everyone loved and misses. We ordered the lobster bisque and after tasting it, thought it could use a little more sherry, The waiter approached, we asked and he presented us with a shaker style cruet usually reseved for vinegar. As we we shaking it into the bisque, we became aware of fruit flies inhabiting the bottle. I mentioned this to the waiter and he very politely told me, "There was no charge for the extra protein" My wife, being the person she is, tore the manager a new one over his conduct. Needles to say we had our entire meal comped. Alas, it was the last time i would ever set foot in the place, much as I had loved it in my youth.

MDtopdad, we only went to Marconi's once or twice (didn't have the advantage of growing up here!) The time I remember we took my in-laws. It was a total disaster. They were out of most of what we wanted, the food they did provide was so-so, and we were seated next to a refrigerator. Waiters kept rushing up and extracting bottles, slamming the door shut. It felt like dining in the kitchen--not exactly the "fine dining" experience we were expecting.

A few years ago, at an ice-cream-and-grill type restaurant, my husband bit into his reuben and retreived a one-inch piece of red plastic from his mouth.
The manager was summoned, who wasnt very "Friendly." He said, "sorry 'bout that" and walked away.
Did not replace the meal, nor take anything off the bill.
So much for that Friendly spot.

We were eating at Golden Corral (I know, not a good decision in the first place) and my fiance had a push pin in his mashed potatoes. It was a red plastic push pin. It was actually in his mouth. They gave us our money back. He didn't have an apetite any longer.

Some time ago, my daughter found a hair in a crab cake at a local seafood restaurant. We are the most honest people in the world, but the staff clearly acted as if she had placed the hair there "on purpose" to get a free meal. I don't remember what they did to alleviate the situation, but whatever it was, it did not matter, because their ATTITUDE in treating us like common criminals trying to steal from them, when they and their disgustingly poor hygiene were at fault, was as upsetting as the hair! Needless to say, we never, ever went back to this particular restaurant OR to any of the other restaurants in that chain!

I'm pretty sure I've reported this before but my son got a piece of wood in his eggs at a place we actually still go to. The management could have been more responsive I suppose but the fact that the place burned down and is being rebuilt lets me know at least it will be cleaner.

Joyce, was the wood well-done?

Hal, you could definitely say the kid got some extra fiber that day. Yes, well done indeed.