Unfiltered Story #366285
On Sundays, I get some takeout at nearby restaurants and bring it to my grandmother’s house for lunch. My grandmother has dementia and feels intense anxiety away from her house, so I always bring food to her. I tend to favor a few restaurants, but one weekend, I decide for a change to go to a buffet-style restaurant that I haven’t been to in years. The eating-in policy lets customers choose as many dishes as they want from the buffet and come back for more, if they wish. The side dishes are divided into very small portions to accommodate this eating style. I’m not sure what the restaurant’s takeout policy is, so when I walk in, I look around for someone to ask. There’s no one at what I assume is the hostess stand. There’s a menu board, but it says nothing about takeout. I join the line, not wanting to cut in line just to ask one of the buffet servers. It’s a long line, so about 10 minutes pass before I get to the front of it. The meat options look delicious, especially the crawfish etoufee, which is a local dish.
Me: Hi, I’d like to get something to go, but I’m not sure what your policy is. How does it work?
The server grabs a styrofoam box from a pile on her side of the counter and just looks at me.
Me: Um, okay…I’d like some roast beef and a couple pieces of fish, and some of the crawfish etoufee…I may need two boxes…
She starts loading half of the box with roast beef.
Me: Uh, sorry, I don’t want that much of the roast beef.
She continues to fill the compartment with roast beef.
Me: Wait, that’s enough, thank you. I’d also like to get some of the fish and some of the…
She’s now given me enough roast beef to feed six people.
Me: Okay, um, could I get a second box, then, for the crawfish etouffee, at least?
She ignores me and passes the roast-beef box down to the next server, who is standing in front of the sides. The first server turns to the next customer in line. Confused and unhappy about being ignored, I move along to the next server.
Me: Um, hi. I wanted more than one kind of meat, but I guess I only get one? How many sides do I get?
Server #2: Two.
There are dozens of sides to choose from. Unfortunately, there is a selection of breads further down the line, and I have no idea if those count as “sides” or fall into some other arbitrary category that customers can only guess at. I pick two sides, and he puts them in the box.
Server #2: What kind of bread do you want?
Me: *a little annoyed* Oh, I get that, too?
I make my choice, and he puts a single roll in the box and closes it. He hands it to me, and I move down the line to the cashier.
Cashier: Okay, that’s $30 for the roast beef.
Me: $30? Look, I’m sorry, but I didn’t want as much roast beef as she gave me. You have no signs about your takeout policy and I had no idea she was going to give me that much. Could I exchange the roast beef for the crawfish etoufee?
Cashier: Of course.
He takes the food away. It’s a long wait to get a new box with no roast beef in it. I apologize to the people waiting in line behind me, who have watched this whole transaction and seem patient enough. I eventually move aside so they can be rung up while I wait. The new box with the crawfish dish costs $21, so apparently, the different meat dishes cost different amounts, despite there being no signs anywhere to indicate this. I pay and leave. I haven’t been back since.
