When it comes to our dining experiences, whether it’s the vegetables we like the most, or how we like our steaks cooked, or how spicy we like our meals, we all have our own food personalities.
But some people can’t seem to respect that we all like different things, pointed out the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor spicythaifoodthrow found themselves asking to have their meal returned to the kitchen repeatedly because their requests weren’t being met.
When they noted the increasing exacerbation, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if they were asking too much.
They asked the sub:
“AITA for sending back my dish four times because it wasn’t spicy enough?”
A waitress did not take the OP’s order seriously.
“I am currently on a business trip to another city. A few days ago, I dined at a Thai restaurant near my hotel.”
“I ordered a green curry, and asked for 5-star spiciness.”
“My waitress laughed at me and told me that I’m getting it 3-star.”
“I corrected her and told her that I in fact ordered it as a 5-star.”
The OP was not impressed with their meal.
“When she came back with my dish and I tasted it, it was not spicy at all. It wasn’t even a 3-star.”
“I sent the dish back, and it came back a few moments later with what appeared to be red chile flakes sprinkled on top.”
“I asked her about it and was sarcastically told that I ordered it spicy.”
“I told her that it makes no sense to sprinkle red chile flakes on a green curry, which is supposed to be made with green chiles.”
“It honestly looked hideous, but I tried it anyway. It still wasn’t spicy, so I sent it back.”
The third iteration was not an improvement.
“When I got my dish the third time, it was exactly the same as the first one I got.”
“So I sent it back again, only to have the red chile flakes sprinkled on top again.”
“It was, like that other time, not spicy—so I sent it back for the fourth time.”
The OP ultimately gave in.
“When I got my dish for the fifth time, I was happy to see that there were no red chili flakes sprinkled on top.”
“The waitress, in a very sarcastic tone, told me that they made it extra spicy just for me, told me that she was going to stand there and watch me eat it, and took away my water glass.”
“I tried it, and it was not extra spicy. But it was just barely acceptable, so I didn’t send it back.”
“I told her so, and she walked away looking completely bewildered as I finished my bland meal.”
The OP tried an experiment the next day.
“The next day, I was still upset about it.”
“So that night, I decided to order the same dish from the same restaurant to my hotel room—but under a Thai name just to see if they make it any differently.”
“Sure enough, the food was very spicy just as I ordered.”
“It was far better than the ‘extra spicy’ dish I had at the restaurant.”
The OP complained.
“I sent the manager an email detailing my experience at the restaurant, along with the waitress’s rude behavior.”
“I told them about the difference between my meal from that day and my delivery order.”
“The manager apologized and told me that they will talk to the waitress in question.”
“They also offered to refund both of my meals, but I declined because I will be reimbursed by my company and do not plan on eating there again.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some said the waitress was an AH for not taking the OP seriously.
“They had no business serving you bland food, especially when they do offer the option of really spicy.”
“If you can’t handle it, then it’s your problem, but they shouldn’t make the decision for you.”
“The waitress was really rude, besides water doesn’t do s**t to soothe a burn from chilies. If that’s really how the events unfolded, I’d say NTA.” – paindepiceaubeurre
“I’ve gotten a few ‘are you sure?’ and ‘good luck’ comments over the years when asking for something Thai hot (and then emphasizing that I know what that means), but I’ve always gotten my food exactly as requested.”
“OP wasn’t an a** for wanting what he ordered, they were an a** for not serving it. Five freaking times. He shouldn’t have had to keep sending it back.” – IAMA_Shark__AMA
“NTA and same. In college I had a friend that brought around her own ghost pepper seasoning. We both loved really spicy food.”
“We’d go to one Indian food truck together regularly because they asked us to try the curry on a toothpick prior to getting the food the first time we went. We passed the test, got the food, and happily ate it in front of them, and were never questioned again.”
“We kept going back for the sheer convenience of not having to convince someone we could handle the spice.”
“That being said, no one has ever actually given me bland food when I’ve ordered it super spicy. I’d be pretty irritated too. For reference, we were both young little White girls with blond hair.” – velociraptorbreath
Others questioned why the OP sent their food back so many times.
“NTA – I would have walked out after the second dish personally, especially given the waitress’s behavior.”
“It’s fine to confirm with a person that the spice level they want is what they REALLY want, but it’s not fine to ignore the customers order or treat them disrespectfully.” – bahwivxvxzfdzda
“I can’t imagine feeling comfortable sending a dish back more than once. I’d sooner ask for a refund and leave than have them attempt to make it that many times.”
“And then to order it again to the room? Who would actually do this?” – The_Bucket_Of_Truth
“This is a really dumb power struggle. 4x sending it back makes me think op is an A and then coupled down to prove a point. For no reason.”
“Sure, the waitress was an A too. Just don’t go back and stop stressing everyone out. Why pick this hill to die on and cause a scene.” – AstroRiker
Though everyone can agree that getting a food order wrong, or not being taken seriously about what you want, is incredibly frustrating, the subReddit couldn’t see eye-to-eye on how the OP handled the situation.
On the one hand, the waitress should have taken the OP’s order seriously from the beginning. On the other hand, while that continues to be true, the OP didn’t have to keep sending their food back, or ordering for a second night in a row.
This might have been better served by getting a refund and going somewhere else for dinner instead.