After reading about Damon’s experience with receiving an overcooked burger at 8 oz. Burger Bar, AHT reader Joshua S. emailed us to ask what our take is on sending a burger back if it is overcooked. "I don’t want to seem picky and waste food, but should I not get what I asked for considering I am paying for it?"
I've never sent a burger back to the kitchen for being overcooked, but that's because the thought has never entered my mind, not because I considered sending it back and decided it was easier not to. I've only had one recent experience when I asked for medium rare and got something closed to well done. Instead of asking for a new burger, I ate it and told myself I wouldn't go back. That's what I get for being insanely passive. Because of Josh's question, I'm going to keep the "send it back" option in mind.
If you have the sense that the kitchen has the ability to cook the burger right, I think it's safe to send back the offensive burger and get a new one. What would you do?
Right before Christmas we were having a mad craving for burgers and went to a place which wasn't a regular stop for us. I ordered my burger meduim rare and it came out well done and dry. I figured it had been sitting back in the kitchen. I asked the server to make me a new burger. The next one came out ice cold raw in the middle. I gave up and had a salad. I refuse to pay good money for bad food.
I've sent Kobe beef back for being over cooked, I certainly have no qualms about sending a burger back. As far as I am concerned it is the kitchen that wasted the food, not I.
I agree with Gaffer, you are helping to improve the restaurant by calling them on overcooked beef.
I guess it depends where you are eating the burger and whether or not they initially asked for the temp. Most of the good burger joints in HouTex don't bother asking you what temp.
I've only sent a burger back once because it was overcooked. It wasn't just grey in the middle, it was a !@#!$!@#$ hockey puck. I wanted it medium rare so I got a burger that was charred across both surfaces that it crunched when I ate it.
i was friendly with the owner of a restaurant that i really liked. he said that he welcomed customer complaints because if people don't tell him what's wrong, they're not giving him the opportunity to fix it.
usually i order rare, and it comes out medium rare-medium at best... i will eat it -- but i ask the server to please tell the kitchen that they goofed. i agree that it helps to improve the restaurant.... especially if i enjoy going to the place. corrective criticism.... instead of never going back. now if i go back and it happens again - well then i've decided they just either can't get it right or don't care if they get it wrong.
Yes, absolutely, if I were to order a burger at a place where I am asked how I want it done, and if I ordered it medium rare and it arrived well done, I would not hesitate to return it. Or I just wouldn't eat it.
I would absolutely send it back, and have done so. It really depends on the burger, the place, and the price....for a $5 diner burger, no I wouldn't bother, but if I were in a good restaurant paying $10-15 for a burger, I most certainly would send it back if overcooked! I always order rare in an "iffy" place (i.e, a place where I kinda doubt they will get it right) on the expectation that it *will* be overcooked, and hopefully it will come medium-rare. Anything over medium-rare I really don't enjoy and its a waste of a burger opportunity for me.
The one time this happened to my husband, he informed our waiter about the overdone-ness of his burger. But when she offered to have the kitchen bring out another one, he said that wasn't necessary (since he had already eaten half the burger and would have been too full to eat another one). I thought that was silly of him, because why inform the waitstaff if you don't want them to do anything about it?
BUT THEN! at the end of our meal, she offered us dessert on the house to make up for the burger. I was so pleased by this act of good will that it totally made up for the experience of getting the overdone burger and made me want to come back (although we'll order something else next time). So, moral of the story: even if you don't send an overdone burger back, it may not hurt to complain a little, because you might get part of your meal free or some other nice thing, if the restaurant is smart and cares about its customers. And, second moral: free dessert wins me over every time!
yes, it's a missed opportunity not to mention the problem.... it can be the beginning of a very rewarding relationship. i used to have a restaurant and believe me, you want to hear when things are not right. a customer who tells you if there's a problem (in a civilized way) is one you want to keep and get to know.
I don't even know what I'd like to say to this question. I find when at work the majority of recooks sent back are for people who wanted well done, but got medium or medium well. Overcooked meat is, I would imagine, a lot less common.
there's really no excuse for it, so when food is sent back I'll recook it with no problem. I may whine and moan, but it's my job to provide the perfect steak, chicken, fish, etc.
Recently my parents took the family out to a decent place for a holiday dinner. I ordered a mid-rare strip and received a mid-well steak. To add insult it had a little flag stating it was "mid-rare." I ended up not sending it back, but when asked how it was cooked I told the waitress I'd be able to eat it. I wasn't a complete liar, I made it about halfway through before the leather flap on the plate destroyed my blood craving soul.
I like my burgers medium rare, but I've learned to always order them rare. There are several reasons for this:
First, I don't mind my meat red and bloody, but I hate it gray and dry. Unless you're dealing with refined food, cooks will typically overshoot the desired temp on a burger.
Second, it puts the kitchen on notice that I am serious about my burger temperature. I figure that unless the kitchen is unusually detail oriented they aren't likely to pay much notice to 'medium rare' but 'rare' might get their attention.
Finally, I feel asking for rare gives me extra license to send the burger back if it's overdone. Which isn't to say it's wrong to send back a burger that was ordered medium rare, but when I ask for rare I have made myself very clear and I'll have no qualms about asking the restaurant to get it right. I'll suck it up if the burger comes out medium, but anything past that and it's going back.
To be sure, I don't like the food going to waste but I agree with Nick, it's the kitchen that is at fault. Aside from that, I feel no guilt. The ingredients in a burger are very cheap, the meat costs maybe a $1.50. I'm paying for the labor and have every expectation that it's done right.
Also, I've never once gotten any attitude from a server when I send back a burger. They always seem to understand and are usually apologetic. And the restaurant itself, I agree is better off with a second chance to make good than with a disgruntled customer and without feedback that might help them avoid repeat mistakes.
The process of sending a burger back, of course, is the difficult part. If your waiter doesn't come anywhere near you, you're left sitting there not eating anything, your dining companion sits there awkwardly not knowing whether to eat or wait or what to do, and you invariably wind up waiting and sitting and finishing at different times.
These are the types of problems that lead me to complain, but not actually send it back. Also, I don't pay really close attention and know how to judge these things properly, so sometimes I suspect that what I'm interpreting as "meat cooked to the wrong temperature" is actually "not very good meat cooked by people who are not very good cooks." And no amount of sending a burger back is going to fix _that_ problem.
Which is to say, I can go either way on sending it back, but usually I just eat the thing, complain about it on Yelp, and don't go back, unless it's a place where I'm a regular.
@zEli173 - ordering your burger below what you really want isn't that bad of an idea if you're someone who knows what properly cooked meat should be. A lot of your average restaurants cook their steaks to higher temps than what most of us do at home (often going by the USDA guidelines). I've been told to cook a medium steak to 145-150 degrees before (as in pull it off the heat at that temp, not let it rise during the resting period). You take a 6 oz 1/2 in sirloin cut to that temp and you can bet that by the time it hits the table it will be close to well done.
For me a nice medium is around 135-140 when pulled off the heat, it'll go up the final 5 degrees or so before being consumed.
As a former server and cook, one problem is the lack of any standardised criteria for what is rare/med rare/med/med well/well done. Is well done grey throughout with char? For some, that's medium. Is rare bloody in the middle, or dark pink?
If you're in a place that you think is competent, tell your server the colour you want the middle to be, how much char you want. I had a customer who routinely sent back her first burger every time; she ordered it 'well done', which for me was thoroughly cooked with significant char; she'd send it back because it was 'burnt'. I'd plead with her to order her burgers medium-well, which for me was just cooked through with some char, but she refused...she liked her burgers 'well-done', she said, and that was how she was going to order them. So every new server would bring her a burger, hear her complain, bring it back, and bring her a medium well burger, meaning I was throwing out burgers left and right.
We also used to do a burger stuffed with Gorgonzola, and you wouldn't believe how difficult it was to explain to people that it couldn't be cooked rare. If there's no centre to the burger, how can I cook it rare? I'll keep it as pink as I can, but if you want the cheese to melt, it's coming closer to medium.
You're paying for it, so I send it back.
I will ask for the manager, show him what the problem is and in most cases, they're happy to make the order right for you - especially if their specialty is BURGERS.
If I get a cold cup of coffee, or cold baked potato, it goes back.
I think a manager would much rather prefer a sincere comment and the opportunity to satisfy the customer rather than losing that customer and the comments to all of their friends about how the restaurant has poor quality food.
If they aren't gracious about satisfying the customer, then their is no shortage of competition out there and that's where I'd go from that point on.
@redfish In one very lame incident when I was cooking a dish for the first time, I sent seriously undercooked fish to three people out a table of four. When the dishes came back everyone laughed at me, I was mortified and I nearly cried. In my experience, the majority of line cooks actually have a conscience. I have never, ever come across dish tampering. I think the "spitting on food" myth was created by customers looking for a scapegoat for their own passiveness.
I would send a burger back, but I would pick my battles. Depends how much I'm paying, depends on the vibe of the restaurant. You can definitely get a sense just from being in the restaurant how much they care as an establishment.
For me it's a question of taste/juiciness. There's a place near me that has great burgers. I always order med-rare and half of the time get something that to me seems closer to medium (to echo NotAmerican's comment about lack of standardization of doneness). I never send it back though because it's close enough - but also because the meat is so juicy and delicious. I have even gotten what ended up as a med-well burger there but I've enjoyed it because it's always been moist.
A dry hockey-puck, however, goes right back to the kitchen.
Yes it goes back. No matter what. Overcooked or overcooked, if it is not what I asked for then back it goes. We don't go out often so I see no reason to have to choke down food not cooked properly. As far as retaliation in the kitchen, I feel that sending it back with common courtesy goes a long way. Don't take it out on the server and I see no reason to raise ones voice while explaining what the problem is. If the server or cook decides to get snarky on me then a manager is sought out to settle the problem. Again, just because you are having a problem doesn't mean you must disrupt other dinners.
My biggest problem is that I'm not a "cutter" before I eat the burger, so by the time I realize its completely overcooked, i've eaten at least half of the burger. At that time, i think its too late.
In the case that I do notice it is overcooked before eating too much of it, since I almost always order medium rare, I wouldn't send back something anything unless there was pretty much no pink left. I wouldn't send back a medium burger but a medium-well or well done, I would.
honestly, i've been living in america for a year and i dunno how the burgers can be so red - i love this site, but some of the autopsy shots are a joke when the burger is practically bleeding. i just can't get w/ it. i was on a date, girl ordered rare hamburger meat and i'm like fuck it, i may as well stick my dick in e. coli or whatever.
but if yr shit isn't coming correct however yr ordering it, send that bitch back in a nice way, 'cause i still believe kitchen staff fuck w/ yr food if yr a chauncey-type.
If it's legitimately cooked incorrectly, and you're polite about it, there's no reason to not send food back - even a burger (depending on the establishment). The key words there are "legitimately" and "polite."
I agree with @NotAmerican, but I'd take it a step further. A server's job is to bring you what you verbally ask for, not what you are picturing in your mind. It's okay to skip the terminology (which can be ambiguous) and tell your server you like your meat "cooked all the way through" or "slightly warm in the center," and then let them translate that for that restaurant's particular kitchen. Servers don't like taking food back to the kitchen any more than you like asking them to. It's a win-win for everyone if it's laid out up front.
It depends on where. At a diner, I don't bother. That said, I can only think of a couple of occasions where a burger at a diner that was served to me overcooked. I order med-rare and am fine with med-rare to med.
That said, if I'm at, say Smith and Wollensky and my burger is over/underdone, I will definitely send it back. I find that steakhouses rarely err on the side of overdone with burgers.
I did take a hamburger back at McDonald's for being undercooked. It resembled most of the pictures on your blog. I don't eat bloody hamburgers. I know many of you relish medium rare burgers but I do not.
The staff at the McDonald's were out of control that night. The girl at the cash register was a space cadet that took our order then grabbed a broom and started dancing around the room. I could hear the cook griping about various things. Someone else had ordered the burger done special. He yelled "What is this grill night at McDonald's!" When I returned the burger, the space cadet took it to the back to show the cook. The rest of the kitchen gathered in a circle, looked at it and started laughing uproariously.
Chisal, spot on. At a chain restaurant like a Friday's (not that I often go to Friday's) I wouldn't expect a burger done to temp. But I also wouldn't expect anything there to be done exquisitely.
I'd send a burger back for being too under or over done if it's cooked more than one level of doneness outside of what I requested. If I request medium and it comes out medium rare or medium well that's okay, but rare or well would instantly be sent back.
Back it goes, but then you're just sitting there with your table mate eating up while you're still waiting for your food. Now, I'm really trying to cut down on the red meat for health reasons, but when i'm jonesing for a really great burger the worst thing you can do to me is serve it medium or well done. I like em medium rare.
Sometimes the resturant (chains, like chili's) say they won't make a burger med. rare because of the e-coli scare. That just pisses me off. one wait staff person actually told me it was because of mad cow. argggggg that was just too stupid for words.
I would say that if you're in the states, you should send it back, but in Ontario it is illegal to serve a burger below well-done, and your restaurant can be found in violation of the health code if they do so. So it would be impolite to send something back that to cook any other way would get them shut down.
Also: you should never serve a rare burger to a child. A case of ecoli for an adult will just mean a little indigestion, but children have died from eating burgers cooked too rare.
Personally, I find rare burgers a little queasy too - but I have grown up here in Ontario where they are a rarity. There are other ways to keep your beef moist, and I prefer them.
I'd have to say no, but it'd be because by the time I get to the center of the burger to see if it's totally overcooked, I'd have eaten a large part of it already and I'd feel not only bad sending it back, but could never eat another...
Yes, I would send it back – if it's a place known for its burgers. And I have. But only once. I'm a medium-rare and when it comes medium, I'll grumble, but I'll eat it. But if it's medium-well, as it clearly was the one time I returned to sender, I don't feel bad about speaking up. I don't think it's being too picky or demanding. They asked how you wanted it, right?
If it's inedible, but I haven't really had that happen. I agree with you Robyn though - I don't think it's passive - it just never occurred to me I could send a burger back. I recently read some list (I think through SE, actually) of restaurant faux pas that are unacceptable and I was surprised to see I'd endured a decent number of them and not complained (including waiting even though I had a reservation). Some things just aren't that big of a deal. Now if I spent $40 on a burger and it wasn't cooked properly, I'd probably say something...
We did, however, once send back a burger that was RAW in the middle. The guy didn't understand - we ALL ordered burgers, and only hers came raw, I mean bright red mush that was not cooked in the slightest - but he didn't understand why we wanted it more cooked. http://feistyfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/11/jackson-hole-64th-street-between-2nd.html
In general--yes, I will ABSOLUTELY send a hamburger (or steak!) back, if they have solicited or accepted my request for degree of doneness. When I'm eating a thick, tavern style burger, I like them medium-rare at the most, otherwise the advantage to this style, the juicy beefiness, is gone.
@zEli173--you do have to request it a little more underdone, sometimes, particularly if, as you said, a little bloody is preferred to lifeless and bland.
This provides the opprotunity for a timely segue on the topic of "do I send it back..."
Last Tuesday I was at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis, in the fun and trendy Loop area. Blueberry Hill is often cited when you ask people for the Best Burger in St. Louis (I don't really agree with this). I was there for the purpose of "checking in" and seeing if the burger was as I remembered.
The waiter seemed cool, so when I ordered the burger medium rare, I asked him if I should really be ordering rare. He said he knew what I was talking about, and while they would sometimes overcook the burgers (!), the "good grill guy" was working that night, and I "should be good".
45 minutes later (!) the burger came out WELL DONE. I POLITELY beckoned the waiter, and when he came over I said "I don't mean to be a bother, but do you remember the conversation we had?" he did, and cheerfully brought one within minutes that was right-on medium rare.
Not cooking a burger right, to me, is a strike against a restaurant akin to using frozen patties.
If you're paying $7 or $10 or $12 for a burger and they don't cook it right...send it back.
Wow! I never thought my question, I am the Joshua S in the post, would generate so many comments. I myself do not usually eat red meat, a whole lot of turkey and chicken here, so when I get red meat I would really appreciate it if it was cooked correctly to order as this is somewhat of a "treat" to me.
I also totally agree with the sending it back in the proper circumstances, ie paying a certain amount or being in a place known for good food/burgers.
I would like to thank everyone on the feedback especially those who cited that sending the food back is a form of giving feedback to the restaurant, as I never saw it that way before.
Sometimes I'll send it back. As a rare meat eater I find too many restaurants have no clue what rare means. If I get one that is still pretty pink in the middle I'll slog through it. If there is barely any pink I will send it back, otherwise what is the point of asking me how I want my burger. Not to mention I make it VERY clear to the waitstaff that I want it rare. I usually tell them to run in through a warm room and bring it to me. That tends to get my point across. On those sporadic occasions where I get a perfectly rare burger I make it a point to complement the kitchen staff on getting it so spot on. Positive reinforcement is said to work better than negative right?
Per this earlier comment, I thought I'd mention that in the over 10 years I waited tables, I never worked anywhere where the servers were allowed to eat anything while they were working, not even if it would otherwise go in the trash. In indie places, the dish dogs were given chances at the food before the trash. In chains, everything had to be thrown out and accounted for on some nutso ledger sheet but nobody was allowed to eat while working.
Depending on the establishment, I normally I ask to have it taken back and cook a new one. At more expensive restaurants that serve a burger, I will send it back.
One place, I sent an overcooked medium rare burger back TWICE in the same night at a Downtown Seattle Restaurant that advertises their 1/3 lb burger for $2 on their happy hour menu. This is a popular place, my dining companion is a regular, and they get a lot of orders for their happy hour food.
The waitress was very sorry for us and apologized for the restaurant and waived our bill. She said she would tell the management, though I don't think anything was done about it.
They still overcook their burgers!
It wasn't particularly busy that night, so I don't understand why they can't get it right?
only if it is cooked gray -- i TRULY don't like the flavor of cooked-through ground beef. and i ask for rare, so this would have to be a big misstep in the cooking.
I went to a restaurant recently where they accidentally put cheese on my burger which I noted at the time of delivery so they took back the burger and brought me out a well done one when I had asked for medium. Since it would have been the second time sending it back, I just ate it - but I HATE well done burgers.
I have no doubts or hesitations - send it back!!!!!! You're paying for your food to be prepared to your specifications, and if something you clearly ordered isn't prepared properly and would be truly nauseating to you (as a well done burger is to me), then you are neither obliged to eat it or pay for it. The chefs, restaurant owners or managers should also be aware when something is amiss, as a service establishment, particularly a premium one, that doesn't deliver what customers are paying for is unlikely to survive for long.
I do send badly cooked food, including incinerated burgers, back. I only had one waiter/restaurant give me a hard time - I specifically asked if a fish special was filleted and ended up with a whole fish. The establishment was gone a few months later.
Ive done it but i got really nasty looks and a brief explanation that they thought they heard me say "well". Well???
It makes me nervous though.. what are they doing to my second burger??? !!!
I'm with Blogkitten. There are very few restaurants that I will trust with rare/ med-rare ground beef. I generally only eat a bloody burger if it's at home from a butcher where I know they're grinding their own beef on-premises and not getting it pre-ground from an e. coli factory.
I'd send it back if it's overcooked to the point where it tastes dry. If it's medium and still juicy I'll eat it. I generally wouldn't send back an undercooked burger unless it was almost completely raw.
A properly cooked burger with spit on it tastes much better than a dry chunk of charcoal! j/k
Steak and prime rib always go back if I don't see red.
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64 Comments:
I've done it. It sends me into a blind rage when I get a burger that's over cooked.
simon at 9:31PM on 01/05/09
If I did that every time I got an overcooked burger here in Madison, I'd never get to eat.
BangieB at 9:38PM on 01/05/09
Right before Christmas we were having a mad craving for burgers and went to a place which wasn't a regular stop for us. I ordered my burger meduim rare and it came out well done and dry. I figured it had been sitting back in the kitchen. I asked the server to make me a new burger. The next one came out ice cold raw in the middle. I gave up and had a salad. I refuse to pay good money for bad food.
izatryt at 9:39PM on 01/05/09
If it is slightly over , I will eat it.
But, when I order med rare and it comes out anything past medium, back it goes!
Oh and the Fries are Cold too!
phauxtoe at 9:44PM on 01/05/09
Send it back.
Easier than you think
Just do it nicely and respectfully
No big deal
You are helping them make their business better
gaffer at 9:44PM on 01/05/09
I've sent Kobe beef back for being over cooked, I certainly have no qualms about sending a burger back. As far as I am concerned it is the kitchen that wasted the food, not I.
I agree with Gaffer, you are helping to improve the restaurant by calling them on overcooked beef.
Nick Solares at 9:48PM on 01/05/09
I guess it depends where you are eating the burger and whether or not they initially asked for the temp. Most of the good burger joints in HouTex don't bother asking you what temp.
HoustonJoe at 9:56PM on 01/05/09
I've only sent a burger back once because it was overcooked. It wasn't just grey in the middle, it was a !@#!$!@#$ hockey puck. I wanted it medium rare so I got a burger that was charred across both surfaces that it crunched when I ate it.
Cassaendra at 10:01PM on 01/05/09
i was friendly with the owner of a restaurant that i really liked. he said that he welcomed customer complaints because if people don't tell him what's wrong, they're not giving him the opportunity to fix it.
simon, really, a blind rage?
cybercita at 10:09PM on 01/05/09
usually i order rare, and it comes out medium rare-medium at best... i will eat it -- but i ask the server to please tell the kitchen that they goofed. i agree that it helps to improve the restaurant.... especially if i enjoy going to the place. corrective criticism.... instead of never going back. now if i go back and it happens again - well then i've decided they just either can't get it right or don't care if they get it wrong.
pooch at 10:13PM on 01/05/09
ok, i was exaggerating. but only a little.
simon at 10:14PM on 01/05/09
Yes, absolutely, if I were to order a burger at a place where I am asked how I want it done, and if I ordered it medium rare and it arrived well done, I would not hesitate to return it. Or I just wouldn't eat it.
brooke29 at 10:27PM on 01/05/09
I wouldn't worry about wasting a burger. I bet someone on the wait staff would eat it.
ekrenek at 10:27PM on 01/05/09
I've worked in the food industry before and people sent back food all the time. It's all about keeping customers happy.
Make and Takes at 10:31PM on 01/05/09
Yes--why bother taking a temp if you can't deliver?
PDXbiker at 10:52PM on 01/05/09
I'd be afraid of a spiteful cook to send food back...
zawwin at 10:54PM on 01/05/09
I would absolutely send it back, and have done so. It really depends on the burger, the place, and the price....for a $5 diner burger, no I wouldn't bother, but if I were in a good restaurant paying $10-15 for a burger, I most certainly would send it back if overcooked! I always order rare in an "iffy" place (i.e, a place where I kinda doubt they will get it right) on the expectation that it *will* be overcooked, and hopefully it will come medium-rare. Anything over medium-rare I really don't enjoy and its a waste of a burger opportunity for me.
jinx35 at 11:24PM on 01/05/09
Sending it back is totally worth it, unless you are starving. Many an over cooked burger has been consumed due to starvation.
Linnea Covington at 11:24PM on 01/05/09
The one time this happened to my husband, he informed our waiter about the overdone-ness of his burger. But when she offered to have the kitchen bring out another one, he said that wasn't necessary (since he had already eaten half the burger and would have been too full to eat another one). I thought that was silly of him, because why inform the waitstaff if you don't want them to do anything about it?
BUT THEN! at the end of our meal, she offered us dessert on the house to make up for the burger. I was so pleased by this act of good will that it totally made up for the experience of getting the overdone burger and made me want to come back (although we'll order something else next time). So, moral of the story: even if you don't send an overdone burger back, it may not hurt to complain a little, because you might get part of your meal free or some other nice thing, if the restaurant is smart and cares about its customers. And, second moral: free dessert wins me over every time!
absentmindedprof at 11:30PM on 01/05/09
yes, it's a missed opportunity not to mention the problem.... it can be the beginning of a very rewarding relationship. i used to have a restaurant and believe me, you want to hear when things are not right. a customer who tells you if there's a problem (in a civilized way) is one you want to keep and get to know.
pooch at 11:43PM on 01/05/09
All the time. If I want medium rare and I get WELL DONE, I am not paying to eat a hockey puck!
Xtreambar at 11:51PM on 01/05/09
I don't even know what I'd like to say to this question. I find when at work the majority of recooks sent back are for people who wanted well done, but got medium or medium well. Overcooked meat is, I would imagine, a lot less common.
there's really no excuse for it, so when food is sent back I'll recook it with no problem. I may whine and moan, but it's my job to provide the perfect steak, chicken, fish, etc.
Recently my parents took the family out to a decent place for a holiday dinner. I ordered a mid-rare strip and received a mid-well steak. To add insult it had a little flag stating it was "mid-rare." I ended up not sending it back, but when asked how it was cooked I told the waitress I'd be able to eat it. I wasn't a complete liar, I made it about halfway through before the leather flap on the plate destroyed my blood craving soul.
phenosteve at 12:43AM on 01/06/09
Oh, it's going back!
I like my burgers medium rare, but I've learned to always order them rare. There are several reasons for this:
First, I don't mind my meat red and bloody, but I hate it gray and dry. Unless you're dealing with refined food, cooks will typically overshoot the desired temp on a burger.
Second, it puts the kitchen on notice that I am serious about my burger temperature. I figure that unless the kitchen is unusually detail oriented they aren't likely to pay much notice to 'medium rare' but 'rare' might get their attention.
Finally, I feel asking for rare gives me extra license to send the burger back if it's overdone. Which isn't to say it's wrong to send back a burger that was ordered medium rare, but when I ask for rare I have made myself very clear and I'll have no qualms about asking the restaurant to get it right. I'll suck it up if the burger comes out medium, but anything past that and it's going back.
To be sure, I don't like the food going to waste but I agree with Nick, it's the kitchen that is at fault. Aside from that, I feel no guilt. The ingredients in a burger are very cheap, the meat costs maybe a $1.50. I'm paying for the labor and have every expectation that it's done right.
Also, I've never once gotten any attitude from a server when I send back a burger. They always seem to understand and are usually apologetic. And the restaurant itself, I agree is better off with a second chance to make good than with a disgruntled customer and without feedback that might help them avoid repeat mistakes.
zEli173 at 12:44AM on 01/06/09
The process of sending a burger back, of course, is the difficult part. If your waiter doesn't come anywhere near you, you're left sitting there not eating anything, your dining companion sits there awkwardly not knowing whether to eat or wait or what to do, and you invariably wind up waiting and sitting and finishing at different times.
These are the types of problems that lead me to complain, but not actually send it back. Also, I don't pay really close attention and know how to judge these things properly, so sometimes I suspect that what I'm interpreting as "meat cooked to the wrong temperature" is actually "not very good meat cooked by people who are not very good cooks." And no amount of sending a burger back is going to fix _that_ problem.
Which is to say, I can go either way on sending it back, but usually I just eat the thing, complain about it on Yelp, and don't go back, unless it's a place where I'm a regular.
TheStu at 12:56AM on 01/06/09
@zEli173 - ordering your burger below what you really want isn't that bad of an idea if you're someone who knows what properly cooked meat should be. A lot of your average restaurants cook their steaks to higher temps than what most of us do at home (often going by the USDA guidelines). I've been told to cook a medium steak to 145-150 degrees before (as in pull it off the heat at that temp, not let it rise during the resting period). You take a 6 oz 1/2 in sirloin cut to that temp and you can bet that by the time it hits the table it will be close to well done.
For me a nice medium is around 135-140 when pulled off the heat, it'll go up the final 5 degrees or so before being consumed.
phenosteve at 1:11AM on 01/06/09
As a former server and cook, one problem is the lack of any standardised criteria for what is rare/med rare/med/med well/well done. Is well done grey throughout with char? For some, that's medium. Is rare bloody in the middle, or dark pink?
If you're in a place that you think is competent, tell your server the colour you want the middle to be, how much char you want. I had a customer who routinely sent back her first burger every time; she ordered it 'well done', which for me was thoroughly cooked with significant char; she'd send it back because it was 'burnt'. I'd plead with her to order her burgers medium-well, which for me was just cooked through with some char, but she refused...she liked her burgers 'well-done', she said, and that was how she was going to order them. So every new server would bring her a burger, hear her complain, bring it back, and bring her a medium well burger, meaning I was throwing out burgers left and right.
We also used to do a burger stuffed with Gorgonzola, and you wouldn't believe how difficult it was to explain to people that it couldn't be cooked rare. If there's no centre to the burger, how can I cook it rare? I'll keep it as pink as I can, but if you want the cheese to melt, it's coming closer to medium.
NotAmerican at 1:54AM on 01/06/09
You're paying for it, so I send it back.
I will ask for the manager, show him what the problem is and in most cases, they're happy to make the order right for you - especially if their specialty is BURGERS.
If I get a cold cup of coffee, or cold baked potato, it goes back.
I think a manager would much rather prefer a sincere comment and the opportunity to satisfy the customer rather than losing that customer and the comments to all of their friends about how the restaurant has poor quality food.
If they aren't gracious about satisfying the customer, then their is no shortage of competition out there and that's where I'd go from that point on.
Grifola frondosa at 3:12AM on 01/06/09
I don't send anything back, I just choose a different restaurant next time.
/if you send it back don't they spit on your food?
redfish at 7:44AM on 01/06/09
@redfish In one very lame incident when I was cooking a dish for the first time, I sent seriously undercooked fish to three people out a table of four. When the dishes came back everyone laughed at me, I was mortified and I nearly cried. In my experience, the majority of line cooks actually have a conscience. I have never, ever come across dish tampering. I think the "spitting on food" myth was created by customers looking for a scapegoat for their own passiveness.
I would send a burger back, but I would pick my battles. Depends how much I'm paying, depends on the vibe of the restaurant. You can definitely get a sense just from being in the restaurant how much they care as an establishment.
Michele Humes at 7:59AM on 01/06/09
For me it's a question of taste/juiciness. There's a place near me that has great burgers. I always order med-rare and half of the time get something that to me seems closer to medium (to echo NotAmerican's comment about lack of standardization of doneness). I never send it back though because it's close enough - but also because the meat is so juicy and delicious. I have even gotten what ended up as a med-well burger there but I've enjoyed it because it's always been moist.
A dry hockey-puck, however, goes right back to the kitchen.
maryr123 at 8:06AM on 01/06/09
Yes it goes back. No matter what. Overcooked or overcooked, if it is not what I asked for then back it goes. We don't go out often so I see no reason to have to choke down food not cooked properly. As far as retaliation in the kitchen, I feel that sending it back with common courtesy goes a long way. Don't take it out on the server and I see no reason to raise ones voice while explaining what the problem is. If the server or cook decides to get snarky on me then a manager is sought out to settle the problem. Again, just because you are having a problem doesn't mean you must disrupt other dinners.
finsbigfan at 8:33AM on 01/06/09
My advice...suck it up and eat the the burger. You're probably better off. I'm with redfish on this one....I do not trust anyone.
davey at 9:11AM on 01/06/09
My biggest problem is that I'm not a "cutter" before I eat the burger, so by the time I realize its completely overcooked, i've eaten at least half of the burger. At that time, i think its too late.
In the case that I do notice it is overcooked before eating too much of it, since I almost always order medium rare, I wouldn't send back something anything unless there was pretty much no pink left. I wouldn't send back a medium burger but a medium-well or well done, I would.
ESNY1077 at 9:39AM on 01/06/09
honestly, i've been living in america for a year and i dunno how the burgers can be so red - i love this site, but some of the autopsy shots are a joke when the burger is practically bleeding. i just can't get w/ it. i was on a date, girl ordered rare hamburger meat and i'm like fuck it, i may as well stick my dick in e. coli or whatever.
but if yr shit isn't coming correct however yr ordering it, send that bitch back in a nice way, 'cause i still believe kitchen staff fuck w/ yr food if yr a chauncey-type.
yr momz at 9:40AM on 01/06/09
If it's legitimately cooked incorrectly, and you're polite about it, there's no reason to not send food back - even a burger (depending on the establishment). The key words there are "legitimately" and "polite."
I agree with @NotAmerican, but I'd take it a step further. A server's job is to bring you what you verbally ask for, not what you are picturing in your mind. It's okay to skip the terminology (which can be ambiguous) and tell your server you like your meat "cooked all the way through" or "slightly warm in the center," and then let them translate that for that restaurant's particular kitchen. Servers don't like taking food back to the kitchen any more than you like asking them to. It's a win-win for everyone if it's laid out up front.
adowney23 at 9:42AM on 01/06/09
It depends on where. At a diner, I don't bother. That said, I can only think of a couple of occasions where a burger at a diner that was served to me overcooked. I order med-rare and am fine with med-rare to med.
That said, if I'm at, say Smith and Wollensky and my burger is over/underdone, I will definitely send it back. I find that steakhouses rarely err on the side of overdone with burgers.
chisai at 10:00AM on 01/06/09
I did take a hamburger back at McDonald's for being undercooked. It resembled most of the pictures on your blog. I don't eat bloody hamburgers. I know many of you relish medium rare burgers but I do not.
The staff at the McDonald's were out of control that night. The girl at the cash register was a space cadet that took our order then grabbed a broom and started dancing around the room. I could hear the cook griping about various things. Someone else had ordered the burger done special. He yelled "What is this grill night at McDonald's!" When I returned the burger, the space cadet took it to the back to show the cook. The rest of the kitchen gathered in a circle, looked at it and started laughing uproariously.
eatorama at 10:09AM on 01/06/09
Chisal, spot on. At a chain restaurant like a Friday's (not that I often go to Friday's) I wouldn't expect a burger done to temp. But I also wouldn't expect anything there to be done exquisitely.
schwartz at 10:09AM on 01/06/09
I'd send a burger back for being too under or over done if it's cooked more than one level of doneness outside of what I requested. If I request medium and it comes out medium rare or medium well that's okay, but rare or well would instantly be sent back.
EazyB at 10:10AM on 01/06/09
Back it goes, but then you're just sitting there with your table mate eating up while you're still waiting for your food. Now, I'm really trying to cut down on the red meat for health reasons, but when i'm jonesing for a really great burger the worst thing you can do to me is serve it medium or well done. I like em medium rare.
Sometimes the resturant (chains, like chili's) say they won't make a burger med. rare because of the e-coli scare. That just pisses me off. one wait staff person actually told me it was because of mad cow. argggggg that was just too stupid for words.
nightmoon at 10:12AM on 01/06/09
always send it back.
BurgerSeeker at 10:20AM on 01/06/09
I would only send it back if it was completely inedible. Otherwise, frankly, I'm really not that picky.
juliebugsmama at 10:25AM on 01/06/09
I would say that if you're in the states, you should send it back, but in Ontario it is illegal to serve a burger below well-done, and your restaurant can be found in violation of the health code if they do so. So it would be impolite to send something back that to cook any other way would get them shut down.
Also: you should never serve a rare burger to a child. A case of ecoli for an adult will just mean a little indigestion, but children have died from eating burgers cooked too rare.
Personally, I find rare burgers a little queasy too - but I have grown up here in Ontario where they are a rarity. There are other ways to keep your beef moist, and I prefer them.
beth maher at 10:54AM on 01/06/09
I'd have to say no, but it'd be because by the time I get to the center of the burger to see if it's totally overcooked, I'd have eaten a large part of it already and I'd feel not only bad sending it back, but could never eat another...
shoneyjoe at 11:02AM on 01/06/09
Yes, I would send it back – if it's a place known for its burgers. And I have. But only once. I'm a medium-rare and when it comes medium, I'll grumble, but I'll eat it. But if it's medium-well, as it clearly was the one time I returned to sender, I don't feel bad about speaking up. I don't think it's being too picky or demanding. They asked how you wanted it, right?
JustNancy at 11:42AM on 01/06/09
If it's inedible, but I haven't really had that happen. I agree with you Robyn though - I don't think it's passive - it just never occurred to me I could send a burger back. I recently read some list (I think through SE, actually) of restaurant faux pas that are unacceptable and I was surprised to see I'd endured a decent number of them and not complained (including waiting even though I had a reservation). Some things just aren't that big of a deal. Now if I spent $40 on a burger and it wasn't cooked properly, I'd probably say something...
We did, however, once send back a burger that was RAW in the middle. The guy didn't understand - we ALL ordered burgers, and only hers came raw, I mean bright red mush that was not cooked in the slightest - but he didn't understand why we wanted it more cooked.
http://feistyfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/11/jackson-hole-64th-street-between-2nd.html
feistyfoodie at 11:59AM on 01/06/09
In general--yes, I will ABSOLUTELY send a hamburger (or steak!) back, if they have solicited or accepted my request for degree of doneness. When I'm eating a thick, tavern style burger, I like them medium-rare at the most, otherwise the advantage to this style, the juicy beefiness, is gone.
@zEli173--you do have to request it a little more underdone, sometimes, particularly if, as you said, a little bloody is preferred to lifeless and bland.
This provides the opprotunity for a timely segue on the topic of "do I send it back..."
Last Tuesday I was at Blueberry Hill here in St. Louis, in the fun and trendy Loop area. Blueberry Hill is often cited when you ask people for the Best Burger in St. Louis (I don't really agree with this). I was there for the purpose of "checking in" and seeing if the burger was as I remembered.
The waiter seemed cool, so when I ordered the burger medium rare, I asked him if I should really be ordering rare. He said he knew what I was talking about, and while they would sometimes overcook the burgers (!), the "good grill guy" was working that night, and I "should be good".
45 minutes later (!) the burger came out WELL DONE. I POLITELY beckoned the waiter, and when he came over I said "I don't mean to be a bother, but do you remember the conversation we had?" he did, and cheerfully brought one within minutes that was right-on medium rare.
Not cooking a burger right, to me, is a strike against a restaurant akin to using frozen patties.
If you're paying $7 or $10 or $12 for a burger and they don't cook it right...send it back.
Chris W., St. Louis
chevalier at 1:03PM on 01/06/09
@eatorama:
When you see that kind of nonsense going on in a restaurant, leave--they're not going to cook your food right.
chevalier at 1:23PM on 01/06/09
Wow! I never thought my question, I am the Joshua S in the post, would generate so many comments. I myself do not usually eat red meat, a whole lot of turkey and chicken here, so when I get red meat I would really appreciate it if it was cooked correctly to order as this is somewhat of a "treat" to me.
I also totally agree with the sending it back in the proper circumstances, ie paying a certain amount or being in a place known for good food/burgers.
I would like to thank everyone on the feedback especially those who cited that sending the food back is a form of giving feedback to the restaurant, as I never saw it that way before.
FrostyGhost at 1:52PM on 01/06/09
Sometimes I'll send it back. As a rare meat eater I find too many restaurants have no clue what rare means. If I get one that is still pretty pink in the middle I'll slog through it. If there is barely any pink I will send it back, otherwise what is the point of asking me how I want my burger. Not to mention I make it VERY clear to the waitstaff that I want it rare. I usually tell them to run in through a warm room and bring it to me. That tends to get my point across. On those sporadic occasions where I get a perfectly rare burger I make it a point to complement the kitchen staff on getting it so spot on. Positive reinforcement is said to work better than negative right?
Martini Me at 2:36PM on 01/06/09
You'd have to be an idiot not to send it back.
I never understood people who felt "bad" about sending it back. You ordered rare, you got medium, send it back.
www.ubereater.com
Ubereater at 3:52PM on 01/06/09
"I bet someone on the wait staff would eat it."
Per this earlier comment, I thought I'd mention that in the over 10 years I waited tables, I never worked anywhere where the servers were allowed to eat anything while they were working, not even if it would otherwise go in the trash. In indie places, the dish dogs were given chances at the food before the trash. In chains, everything had to be thrown out and accounted for on some nutso ledger sheet but nobody was allowed to eat while working.
rockandroller at 4:28PM on 01/06/09
Depending on the establishment, I normally I ask to have it taken back and cook a new one. At more expensive restaurants that serve a burger, I will send it back.
One place, I sent an overcooked medium rare burger back TWICE in the same night at a Downtown Seattle Restaurant that advertises their 1/3 lb burger for $2 on their happy hour menu. This is a popular place, my dining companion is a regular, and they get a lot of orders for their happy hour food.
The waitress was very sorry for us and apologized for the restaurant and waived our bill. She said she would tell the management, though I don't think anything was done about it.
They still overcook their burgers!
It wasn't particularly busy that night, so I don't understand why they can't get it right?
fatbuddy at 4:47PM on 01/06/09
only if it is cooked gray -- i TRULY don't like the flavor of cooked-through ground beef. and i ask for rare, so this would have to be a big misstep in the cooking.
megannesta at 5:18PM on 01/06/09
I went to a restaurant recently where they accidentally put cheese on my burger which I noted at the time of delivery so they took back the burger and brought me out a well done one when I had asked for medium. Since it would have been the second time sending it back, I just ate it - but I HATE well done burgers.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 6:15PM on 01/06/09
I have no doubts or hesitations - send it back!!!!!! You're paying for your food to be prepared to your specifications, and if something you clearly ordered isn't prepared properly and would be truly nauseating to you (as a well done burger is to me), then you are neither obliged to eat it or pay for it. The chefs, restaurant owners or managers should also be aware when something is amiss, as a service establishment, particularly a premium one, that doesn't deliver what customers are paying for is unlikely to survive for long.
I do send badly cooked food, including incinerated burgers, back. I only had one waiter/restaurant give me a hard time - I specifically asked if a fish special was filleted and ended up with a whole fish. The establishment was gone a few months later.
MMinNYC at 6:26PM on 01/06/09
Ive done it but i got really nasty looks and a brief explanation that they thought they heard me say "well". Well???
It makes me nervous though.. what are they doing to my second burger??? !!!
shiso at 7:42PM on 01/06/09
I agree with @yr momz - I don't trust the restaurants hygiene levels to not give me some illness from the undercooked meat.
If I want a medium rare burger, I'll grind the meat myself and prepare it myself. Otherwise I go for medium well in a restaurant.
blogkitten at 10:17AM on 01/07/09
I can answer your question with a story - not only do we send them back but we then go eat somewhere else... http://burgerconquest.blogspot.com/2008/12/corner-bistro-dont-believe-hype-vs-old.html
BurgerConquest at 5:04PM on 01/07/09
I've sent it back 3x unbelievable! I like mine xtra rare so if it's not the way I want it back it goes.....
tinakd at 9:23AM on 01/08/09
I never send anything back. I just don't go back.
jdettling at 10:50AM on 01/10/09
Without question: the burger goes back.
missbhavens at 4:38AM on 01/11/09
I'm with Blogkitten. There are very few restaurants that I will trust with rare/ med-rare ground beef. I generally only eat a bloody burger if it's at home from a butcher where I know they're grinding their own beef on-premises and not getting it pre-ground from an e. coli factory.
jd7979 at 11:21AM on 01/13/09
I'd send it back if it's overcooked to the point where it tastes dry. If it's medium and still juicy I'll eat it. I generally wouldn't send back an undercooked burger unless it was almost completely raw.
A properly cooked burger with spit on it tastes much better than a dry chunk of charcoal! j/k
Steak and prime rib always go back if I don't see red.
JFlash42 at 11:07AM on 01/30/09