Bad Restaurant Karma

I must have been a MEAN, MEAN restaurant critic in a past life...because in THIS life, I'm TOTALLY paying for it...

I'm not sure WHAT the deal is, but, if there's a way to SCREW UP my restaurant experience, it WILL happen...whether it's NOT noting on the "check in" sheet that I've CHECKED IN , and having to wait AN HOUR for my "call ahead seating" (thank you VERY MUCH Jensen's Cafe in Burnsville), or my TWO experiences THIS WEEKEND. I JUST don't have very good luck eating out.

Friday, my friend Pat and I went to EDINA ("Every Day I Need Attention"). We left our name at the "check in" station, and, after being told it would be a "five minute wait", proceeded to sit for THIRTY minutes before FINALLY going back and asking how our "wait" was progressing.

The "check in person" looked at the sheet (I had to tell her to go back to the PREVIOUS page), and my name had been crossed off, even though we were STILL WAITING. Either someone TOOK our spot (for which I CURSED them profoundly), or they just crossed our name off in some INSANE moment of CLUELESSNESS...whatever the case WE WERE STILL WAITING AFTER THIRTY MINUTES.

Should have quit while I was BEHIND, but, on SATURDAY, Duane and I went to Duluth to see the "tall sailing ships" (more on that in another blog entry). We went to Belissimo's...a FABULOUS wine bar/Italian restaurant in the "pier" area, that we'd been to before, and the bad karma struck again...

I ordered the gnocci with basil and parmesan...they delivered some GHASTLY shrimp/spaghetti dish (if you know me AT ALL, you know that I DESPISE seafood of any kind...even fish sticks!). I sent it back, and EVENTUALLY got what I ordered. It was FABULOUS, and I, RELUCTANLY, acknowledged this to my waiter. I THOUGHT this was the bad karma for THIS restaurant experience, but, when the bill came, discovered that they'd charged me for the YUCKY shrimp dish, AND the stuff that we'd actually ordered.

Luckily, the waiter was VERY kind in taking it off the bill (it was the MOST expensive item on the bill...natch), and we EVENTUALLY got everything straightened out.

SO...I've decided that, FROM NOW ON, if I go to a restaurant again (for which the probability is VERY high!), SOMEONE ELSE will put in their name, order the food, AND take care of the check. I'll pay them back, but, if I have ANYTHING at all to do with the "process", it WILL get MESSED UP!!!

Hope YOUR restaurant experiences have been WAY better, recently!!!!!