Dining out has gotten quite expensive these days.
Even McDonald’s happy meals can run over ten bucks.
So people expect a lot when they chose where to eat out.
And when the food arrives, or the bill… chaos can ensue.
Case in point…
Redditor GimmeBigSteak wanted to discuss his experience and get some feedback. So naturally, he came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
He asked:
“AITA for refusing to pay at a restaurant that was false advertising?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“So my girlfriend (her 27 me 28) wants to go to this fancy new restaurant in the city that she’s heard good things about.”
“We get there and it seems like one of those hipster places but whatever, I’m hungry.”
“I look at the menu and this place is crazy expensive.”
“Like every dish is more than $15-$20 and half the ingredients I’ve never heard of.”
“I order the bison steak ($26) and my girlfriend orders some weird pasta, Noki I think ($18).”
“Very important, these were listed as ENTREES on the menu.”
“Mind you with drinks plus tip this is going to come out to over $60 which is already ridiculous for dinner for two people.”
“So anyway we order as we are starving.”
“My steak arrives and I am shocked.”
“It’s like 6 small pieces of sliced steak with some weird sauce on the side and a small handful of salad.”
“I joke to the waiter ‘Where’s the rest of my steak?'”
“And he explains they serve smaller portions at this restaurant because they focus on getting the highest quality ingredients.”
“I don’t care if this bison was blessed by the Pope himself, it’s absurd to charge that much for such a small bit of steak, it’s highway robbery.”
“When I go to restaurants I expect an entree to fill me up and be enough for leftovers.”
“I’m complaining to my girlfriend and she’s getting annoyed with me.”
“Similar situation with her pasta”
“It was like maybe 12 pieces of noki dressed up with some frou frou bullsh*t.”
“Granted the food was pretty good but I can not get over how tiny these portions are.”
“I’m a big guy and I like to eat, what can I say.”
“When the waiter comes back I inform him we will not be paying for our meal.”
“And that they are falsely advertising entrees that barely qualify as a light snack.”
“My girlfriend is begging me to stop but that’s where we’re different.”
“I don’t let businesses push me around and rip me off.”
“A manager comes and apologizes but asks us to leave.”
“I don’t end up paying as they realized I called them out on their bullsh*t.”
“My girlfriend is silent the entire time on the way back.”
“Im still hungry so I drive through McDonald’s and get a burger, and when I did that she asked to be dropped off at her place.”
“It’s now the next day and I’m starting to think I didn’t handle the situation as well as I could have.”
“I could have probably just asked for a discount.”
“My girlfriend hasn’t responded to my texts so now I’m starting to think I’m an a**hole.”
“Am I the a**hole?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP WAS the A**hole.
“Those prices are not even expensive…”
“It seems you are not suited to fine dining. YTA.”
“What makes you think you even deserve a discount?” ~ dog_show_judge
“Right? 60 bucks for two people including drinks and a tip?”
“That’s really good.”
“I’m trying to imagine what would happen if OP found himself at an upscale steakhouse by accident.” ~ Dead_before_dessert
“I grew up and lived in a very high cost of living area until I was about 30, when my ex and I moved to North Carolina.”
“I remember going out to dinner shortly after moving, at what I would call a ‘nice’ restaurant.”
“We each had one or two drinks, apps and an entree.”
“When the bill came it was around $75.”
“And I genuinely thought the waitress had made a mistake, because back home that meal would have been $150.”
“And he’s bitching over sixty-fucking-dollars???”
“He really needs to just stick with the Olive Garden. And I can’t believe his girlfriend didn’t get up and leave his stingy ass at the restaurant.”
“Also, because this was driving me insane as I read the post: G-N-O-C-C-H-I…” ~ jericha
“Around here the Olive Garden would’ve easily cost just as much.” ~ Alexispinpgh
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“$30/person really isn’t a lot.”
“But at Olive Garden, you get a lot of bang for your buck.”
“Endless breadsticks, mountains of cheesy, gelatinous pasta.”
“In his mind, that probably makes it worth shelling out the $60 to take his poor, beleaguered girlfriend out to dinner.” ~ jericha
“The portions at Olive Garden are insane.”
“No healthy human being should eat an entire one of any of the meals they serve.”
“Unless it’s your calories for the whole day, and you’re going to go run ten miles.”
“And that’s just the entree.”
“Throw in the breadsticks and salad, and you’ve got two+ days of calories in one meal.”
“I assume OP is basing his portion expectations off of fine dining establishments such as Olive Garden or AppleBees, where the goal is to get as much food as possible per dollar.”
“$60 for drinks, gnocchi (sounds like a big plate too, 12 pieces), and bison steak for two is not a crazy price at all.”
“Even if it was a 6oz piece of bison, and 8oz of gnocchi and sauce.”
“I would expect a place serving things like sliced bison to be the type of place that has portions designed under the assumption you will be ordering a salad/appetizer and/or dessert.” ~ REDDIT
“YTA OP. A**hole move: eating the entire dish and then refusing to pay for it because you think the restaurant should give you more.”
“Which like…You don’t get to decide their pricing structure. Sorry.”
“Less a**hole move: don’t eat the dish, say you’re not interested, leave and don’t pay.”
“Still sucks for your girlfriend but at least you’re not a thief.”
“Gracious cool guy move: eat the food, enjoy the night out and new experiences with your girlfriend, pay accordingly, hit up McDonald’s on your way home.”
“I would break up with you so fast OP.” ~ batboobies
“I’m a chef, and I’ve worked at different places in chef roles and front of house roles.”
“Nothing angers me more than people walking into a place they’ve not looked up and getting mad that we don’t do the type of food or dining experience they fancy at that specific moment.”
“At the minute I work at an Asian fine dining place that does a matcha cheesecake, people order it without asking what it is and then complain that it’s weird or disgusting.”
“All our staff are trained on the menu, AND the patisserie is open to the dining floor for the benefit of the guests, so it’s not like it’s hard to ask.”
“You’re in a f**king authentic pan-Asian restaurant, what did you expect, a f**king lemon tart?”
YTA OP. Not every place does the exact same style, and it’s fine to prefer something different but for fucks sake make your mind up before you order.” ~ fishhibiscus
“AND OP was so arrogant too ‘…when they realized I called them out on their bullsh*t’… riiight.”
“It’s like an anti-vaxxer slapping the table after making a terrible point thinking they just won an argument. CHECKMATE!!!”
“YTA OP… no matter how much you disagree, stick to Burger King.” ~ Akio540
“YTA for not knowing what false advertising is.”
“Also for not knowing how the food at a fancy restaurant is going to be prepared.”
“Also for thinking the restaurant was pushing you around, they weren’t.”
“You accomplished nothing except a dine and dash and making yourself look like a giant a** in front of your girlfriend.”
“Good job big guy.” ~ GoauldofWar
“The lack of awareness is one thing, but the lack of couth when it comes to fine dining is astounding.”
“If you go to a restaurant that serves food you’ve never heard of (then mention bison, aka buffalo, steaks) then you can expect to have smaller portions.”
“Buffalo aren’t cheap.”
“And he can’t even spell gnocchi correctly.”
“I have a rule – if you can’t spell it, don’t buy it.”
“Then you can spend your $60 at the McDonald’s drive through.”
“He totally made a gigantic ass of himself, and his girlfriend was embarrassed by proxy.”
“I agree with the others that she probably needs some cool off time, assuming she doesn’t leave him altogether.” ~ ActofEncouragement
“Well you ATE the whole thing.”
“You should have stood up the moment you saw that dish come out and make the complaint.”
“If you ate it? You pay for it.”
“YTA 100 times. Eternally.” ~ SantaPachaMama
“YTA. Nice restaurants frequently serve relatively small portions.”
“It’s annoying, but it’s certainly not false advertising, and refusing to pay (or for that matter asking for a discount) is ridiculous.”
“You’re not being pushed around.”
“You’re make false assumptions and blaming everyone around you for it.”
“I would have been incredibly embarrassed to be around you for this.” ~ inevitablegirlie
Well OP, Reddit sounds pretty loud and clear on their thoughts.
Maybe next time it would be best to research a new restaurant before you go.
Good luck with the girlfriend.