Things other than food in your restaurant food

Other than an occasional hair, and a crunch of unknown origin, I've been pretty lucky, my wife had a large spider walk out of her House salad at an Italian place in Frederick Md., she screamed. Got any horror stories?

Many moons ago, we took our two boys to a Chinese restaurant. I and my older son had just returned from the bar while the younger son and his mother went to get their food. Just as we were sitting down, I saw a roach crawl out of an egg roll on my son's plate!!!(I know...it was just as disgusting than it sounds)

Needless to say we swept up both boys and left...we hadn't paid yet, and there was absolutely nothing that anyone could have said to make me stay there!!!

Same here, just the odd hair. No insects or rodent stuff.

I'm more concerned with the microscopic bugs, and yes, I've brought those home in me, with predictable results.

I had a piece of broken glass in an entree, about 10-15 years ago, and I had a piece of a nail show up in the marinated mushrooms on a quattro staglione brick oven pizza, about 3-4 years ago. Both places replaced and comped the meal, and I didn't hold it against either of them.

Regarding hairs; I've had a few over the years, and they are pretty disgusting IMO. You can break a tooth on a nail, but hairs are still worse.

There was a joint in my serving of potato salad at a deli. It was not too soggy, it must have dropped out of the pantry person's pocket right before it was dished up.

My husband and I received a gift certificate to Morton's Steakhouse and on that auspicious evening he found a large piece of a plastic scrubber sponge in his mashed potatoes - unfortunately as he was chewing it. What really turned me off was that the manager offered us a free drink vs. offering to comp a meal or some other compensation - we don't drink, and he should have realized that by looking at the fact that there were no drinks on the table. I didn't push it, and have never returned to that chain. (not that anyone really can afford to if they're not being treated - VERY overpriced).

When I lived in another town, a few years ago, a group of co-workers and I would order lunch from a Roadfood rated place that is in the Stern's book which I will not name at this time. The food is excellent as well as the sweet tea. The tea was in a styofoam cup with a lid. After drinking the entire drink I had some ice left and took the lid off to add some water. There was a large roach sitting on the ice. I felt sick the rest of the afternoon just from the shock of it.

Years ago I ordered a cheese pizza, took a bite and heard a distinct crunch.  I pulled out of my mouth a press-on fingernail that was painted with a dark blue sky, stars and a crescent moon.  Curiously, the place in question was one of those "Bermuda Triangles" of retail:  first it was an arcade, then a furniture restoration shop, then a pizza place, etc. No business could ever survive there and seemed to disappear almost without warning!

Once, many, many years ago I discovered a wooden clothes pen inside a bottle of Hires rootbeer.

Frederick, Md., what's with that town? Several years ago PP convinced me to eat at Red Lobster. I had a shrimp and Alfredo fettucine dish. I choked on a piece of plastic wrap that was in the noodles.

The manager comped our meals, bought us dessert and gave me her business card for another free dinner for the 2 of us.

Many years ago I was eating at The Sterling restaurant in Charleston WV.  I was served my salad & when I put my fork into the salad, there was a loud "clink".  A large piece of glass was in the dressing. 
 
I still look carefully at my food before eating.  Your food should not "clink"!!!!!

I had to read some of these twice to make sure I was reading what I thought I was reading!

I've gotten a few hairs over the years, but the only "major" thing was when I was a kid: at a Stickney's in California a large Caterpillar crawled out of a side salad on my plate. I was a bit freaked, but thought it was kind of cool, too.

«There was a joint in my serving of potato salad at a deli»

So, zataar.... did it give you the munchies?

gross..reading through some of these has made me lose my appetite to go out for dinner. LOL.
But seriously, they are gross

I found a bit of bone in an egg roll..nearly broke my tooth. When i went to go see what happened, i saw it was bones you use for soup.

Not gross as much as off putting. My tooth hurt. I told the owners and they seemed very unconcerned like it was no big deal.

Oh well.

quijote

So, zataar.... did it give you the munchies?

 

 I remembering wondering at the time if it was a gift from someone in the kitchen. It actually freaked me out and I threw it away in the restroom. 

If your baked potato comes wrapped in foil, ALWAYS remove it before eating.

A baked roach may be hiding between it and the potato.

Not the type of roach that zaatar was gifted.

Speaking of bones in food...

When traveling cross country many years ago I stopped at a Cafe somewhere in New Mexico.

I ordered a chicken salad sandwich.  The only way I knew that it was really chicken salad was from the leg bone in the sandwich.

Unless it was a trick.

I've had a waitress tell me "It's a piece of meat" when I asked what the little thing on the lettuce leaf of my hamburger was.  Not believing her I looked closer.  It was a baby snail, smaller than the type in an aquarium making it's way to the other side of the leaf.

I thought the dead fly in my shrimp sauce was gross but several of these are even worse!

My brother-in-law found a dirty band-aid in his pudding while eating lunch at school once. He hasent eaten pudding since and that was 40 years ago.

I'm really sorry that I looked at this thread. I'll never eat anything anywhere again...

Had an excellent chicken sandwich w/gobs of melted cheese on it in a sit-down place. On the second bite my front teeth closed down onto a plastic coated twist tie from a pack of buns. Did you ever bite a piece of metal? It really hurts! Mgr. comped both meals, made me another sandwich and told us any other drinks we ordered were on the house. The latter part of the comp we took full advantage of but hey, I could've chipped my tooth. It saved them from me putting the big X on the place.

As a college student in Chicago many years ago, I was smoking a little dope, listening to music and working on on a design project when I got the urge to order a pizza (imagine that...). I took a break and walked about 5 blocks to get the pie, got back home to find what looked like the by-product of a long haired latina cleaning out her hair brush under the cheese in the pie. Luckily I found the pile of hair when I pulled the slice out not when biting into it.

I was too stoned to go back and make a stink...frankly was afraid they'd make me another pizza and make it even better than the last one... simply never ordered from there again..

Other than that I get the odd hair...one hair doesn't freak me out at all (I find my own hair in my cooking and don't throw it out)...its the clumps of hair... that disturb me.

An occasional toenail or two.

In College, Mt. St. Mary's !965, the cafereria food was notoriously terrible, one night we were served up Salisbury Steak, the guy sitting next to me cut into his slice of heaven and there was a large hunk of what appeared to be cow skin with the hair still on it, we told him to "eat around it", it was a complete gross out!

At a B&R, my wife and I saw a cockroach crawling in the peach ice cream. For years later, we joked about the 32nd flavor, "Peaches and Cockroach".

One time, at a Manhattan Italian restaurant now thankfully out of business, I ordered stuffed clams. Well, attached to some of the clams were baby crabs. And I am VERY allergic to crab....

Barely an apology from the restaurant manager, although he didn't charge for the clams we sent back...