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Going out to eat is a huge privilege nowadays. If you think groceries have gotten expensive, try ordering two entrees and two glasses of wine from your local Italian restaurant. The shock of seeing your bill will convince you that instant noodles and PB&J sandwiches are healthy enough to sustain you for the rest of the month.
So if you’re going to splurge on a nice meal or treat yourself by ordering takeout, that food better be delicious. Or you might find yourself having serious regrets. Bored Panda has scoured the internet and found some of the most insulting and disappointing meals people have ever been served by restaurants. I’ll warn you right now that this list might give you trust issues when it comes to ordering food, but these establishments deserve to be called out for trying to pass these abominations off as edible!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This Starbucks Wrap Was Not What I Was Expecting
RELATED:
#3
My Friends Mom Ordered A Cobb Salad At Resort In Dominican Republic
There’s nothing like the disappointment of being served a bad meal. Whether your soup comes cold, your pizza came with olives even though you explicitly asked for none, or your burger is burned to a crisp, it’s painful to have to suffer through a gross dish. But if you’re paying for it, it’s even more painful to waste the food!
Some of us are far too polite or anxious to complain about a bad meal, but shouldn’t we be happy with what we ordered? Well, if you want to have a game plan for the next time you’re served a plate of disappointment, Food & Wine has some tips. First, they recommend resisting the urge to get angry. You’re likely to receive much better service if you’re polite and respectful. Plus, nobody wants their server spitting in their dinner!
#4
I’m An English Man Travelling India. Fancied Some British Food And Ordered Fish And Chips. Wow, What A Sight This Was
#5
The Outback Steakhouse Salad I Ordered vs. What I Got
I remember when going to a steakhouse used to mean something.
#6
Expectation vs. Reality
If you’re tempted to channel your inner Karen and ask to see a manager when you’ve been served a bad meal, Food & Wine notes that this isn’t always the best choice. It’s likely that they’ll offer you the exact same solution that your server did, so you probably don’t need to escalate the issue to this point.
And if you are interested in speaking with the manager, first consider if there’s actually anything they can do for you. If your server has informed you that the kitchen is out of the dish you wanted or is missing a key ingredient, the manager can’t magically make it appear. And if your waiter offered to comp your dinner, that’s probably enough to satisfy you. Try to keep calm and remember that everyone makes mistakes. Yes, even people working in restaurants!
#7
We Were On Holiday In Sheffield. As A Parting Gift My Wife Got This "Cheese And Onion Toastie" For £8. We Did Not Pay And Left
#8
Panera Is The Absolute Worst
Robert Beveridge 9 months ago
Panera has been the worst for a long, long time. I vaguely remember a time when they were affordable and reasonably tasty (IIRC they made their soups in-house rather than getting them from the back of a huge truck), but we're going back easily 15 years...
#9
I Ordered A Salad And Got A Plate Of Random Ingredients On A Wooden Board
BlackCatWithWhiteSocks 9 months ago
If they d give you a knife and some olive oil, that could be a greek salad. Lazy sods
Eater has also shared some advice on how to politely complain when a restaurant messes up your order. First, it’s important to know when it’s worth it to say something and when it’s best to keep your mouth shut. For example, if you asked for mild curry, and the first bite of the dish burned your tastebuds off, don’t hesitate to tell your server. However, if you forgot to ask for your salad without tomatoes or didn’t realize that there would be some onions on top of your guacamole, it might be best to just pick them off and carry on with your meal.
#10
Box Lunch From Sandwich Shop Comes With Picture Of A Cookie, Rather Than An Actual Cookie
Kabuki Kitsune 9 months ago
Those meals don’t come with cookies and are advertised as a sandwich, chips, and a pickle. The other side of that cookie paper is a coupon for a free cookie, but OP didn’t bother to include that in the post.
#11
Caprese Salad Takeout From Local Restaurant
#12
Airport Breakfast
First photo is screenshotted from their online menu and second pic is what I got. I paid extra for a side of avocado and they gave me a little scoop of an overly ripened one that tasted tangy.
JuniorCJ82 9 months ago
It was probably because they doused it in lemon juice to hide the fact it was rotten.
Eater also suggests that diners remain on their best manners when sharing concerns about their dishes. Don’t be a jerk, and always remain calm. It’s not the end of the world if your steak was cooked the wrong way. Just politely explain the situation and ask for a new one.
If you have something in mind that will resolve the issue, be specific when requesting it. If it’s as easy as getting a new meal, ask for that. And if it’s too late, you might want to ask the restaurant to comp your dish. Or, if you ordered an appetizer that was incredibly disappointing, you might be able to swap it out for a different one. Have suggestions, but be reasonable.
#13
I Ordered A Takeout Fish Sandwich. Got Home, Opened The Box, And Noticed Something Was Missing
They told me to come back and they would give me another one. No apology, no compensation for my inconvenience.
April Pickett 9 months ago
I will pull aside and check my order before leaving the lot. I never go all the way home before I check. I'm tired, it's been a long day, and I want my food. No, I don't hold up the drive-thru to check, I've been in that line too long.
#14
The Number Of Fries I Got In My Meal
Libstak 9 months ago (edited)
Happened at a KFC when i ordered a snack bucket with a chicken strip....3 chips in total. I picked it up realised it was very light, opened the lid and complained, biatch said it was only supposed to a snack not a full serve. The manager heard, looked over her shoulder, apologised profusely and made me a fresh pack. I left to the sounds of her being berated quite loudly.
#15
What I Ordered From Panera vs. What I Got
I got a refund, but still felt cheated. I craved this meal all day and it took over an hour to get. Had a small scoop of rice. No meat and look at everything else. By the time I got it, they were closed for the day. I was infuriated to say the least. Highly doubt that I’ll order from Panera anytime soon.
When expressing concerns about your food to restaurant staff, you also have to remember that they might not always be interested in hearing your feedback. It’s possible that the chef will double down and assure the customer that there’s nothing wrong with their food. And you know what, they might be right. If you’re really uncomfortable with your dish, no one will force you to eat it. But you might still have to pay and simply decide to never return in the future.
#16
Ordered The Garden Avocado Toast From Panera, And Got This
#17
Ordered Soft Serve And It Was Hollow
#18
This $10 Cheesy Garlic Bread I Bought Tonight
It’s also not a great practice to fail to speak up in the moment when you’ve been served a disappointing meal, and then write a scathing Yelp review after you’ve left. Give the restaurant an opportunity to right their wrong while you’re still sitting at your table. Negative reviews can really hurt a business, and it’s possible that you just caught them on a bad day. Don’t make the restaurant suffer forever because of one bad experience.
#19
Ordered Some Pancakes With Syrup And Bacon, But I Got The Top Slices Of A Brioche Bun
April Pickett 9 months ago
I was going with hamburger buns, but brioche buns, wow, that's classy.
#20
Ordered A Grilled Cheese From Panera
#21
I Ordered Thai Food Delivery And This Is What I Got
Everyone loves to enjoy a delicious meal, and it’s natural to hold restaurants to a high standard. But the reality is that there are a lot of ways an order can go wrong. First, the customer must correctly explain what they want. Then, the server has to relay that information to the kitchen. The line cooks must pay attention to what’s written and properly plate the order, and then, the server has to deliver it to the correct customer before it gets cold. Let’s have some sympathy for the staff when dining out!
#22
Caprese Salad I Purchased From A Pizza Place. I Should Have Checked The Review First
#23
Dairy Queen Side Salad For $4
Daniel Atkins 9 months ago
Dairy Queen you don’t go there for anything but the ice cream treats. You’ll be disappointed.
#24
I Ordered A Salad, They Sent Me 12 Slices Of Ham
I ordered a salad from Subway using this little robot delivery service my campus has. I get back to my room, and see that my "salad" is just a bowl of ham. The cold cut combo is supposed to have three types of meat anyway, why just the ham?
I'm mostly just baffled. I'm upset because it cost nearly $8 and they just gave me ham.
Are these photos infuriating you, pandas? Keep upvoting the ones that you find particularly atrocious, and let us know in the comments below what the worst experience you’ve ever had when ordering food was. Then, if you’d like to check out another Bored Panda article featuring similarly disappointing photos, look no further than right here!
#25
Ordered A 1/2 Cheese, 1/2 Pepperoni Pizza For My Kids. The App Defaulted To No Sauce And No Cheese
#26
Ordered Domino’s Mac & Cheese
I will admit ordering pasta from a pizza place was mistake #1. But how did they forget one of the only two ingredients?
Ange Marsden 9 months ago
Yep, I've had times where I was working 3 jobs and spending an hour cooking one meal would be an hour less sleep - and damn, I needed sleep.
Load More Replies... #27
When They Said It Was An "Elevated Dining" Experience, I Didn’t Think They Meant This $19 Vegan Burger
#28
What I Ordered And What I Got
The original dish was described as yellow tomato sauce, confit cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, dried chillie flakes and garlic confit. I got 3 almost raw yellow cherry tomatoes and some garlic paste at the f***ing bottom. Violife coconut feta is insane.
#29
I Can't Stress Enough That The Egg Rectangle Is Completely Homogeneous
April Pickett 9 months ago
That's a block of cheese. 2nd picture -that little white thing near the top of the bun is the egg, then the bacon, then the cheese.
#30
Ordered Avocado Toast From Panera Because The Photo Looked Really Good. Here’s How It Actually Came
#31
First And Last Time Trying Taco Bell’s Garbage Nuggets
#32
Hotdog Meal While On Holiday
#33
$12 Crispy Scallops
#34
Taco Bell Nuggets
I knew better. But, I always try new things, and I’m a sucker for limited & special items.
The box was larger than I expected so I had high hopes. But it was light and upon opening, I was greeted with chicken marbles. They wouldn’t qualify for boneless wings let alone nuggets. These are the extras that get thrown in your chicken strip meal at other places.They were crispy, but that doesn’t make me any less of an idiot for ordering them.
#35
What I Ordered vs. What I Got
Shoopyfloop Roundbird 9 months ago
I worked at papa johns for 6 years. The wings are ok. Oven baked and decnet enough. Tbose are chicken tenders. Not wings. And those are gross.
#36
Ordered A Bagel With Cream Cheese. Thanks?
#37
Ordered Mozzarella Sticks At Ruby Tuesday And Half Were Hollow
#38
Ordered A Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad
#39
Friend Paid 10 Extra Dollars For Meatballs
#40
Panera Toasted Garden Caprese. Is This A Joke?
#41
How Does Papa John’s Actually Sell This? My Wife Ask Me "Why Did You Order A Box Of Raw Potatoes?"
#42
Pizza Place Salads Be Like
Sara Frazer 9 months ago
If you're in Houston TX Big Ben's pizzeria has amazing pizza and amazing salads.. I'm not from there but I am down a couple times a year, their Greek salad is LOADED and amazing 🤤 sorry I just wanted to defend them against this allegation, cuz their salads are actually really good 😅🤣
#43
Ordered Vegetable Fajitas At A "Mexican" Place. Didn’t Expect This
#44
Ordered From Pizza Hut And I Ended Up With More Crust Than Pizza
Kabuki Kitsune 9 months ago
App mistake. When ordering online, always check to make sure you haven't inadvertantly checked the wrong box, or caused the app to default to some weird setting by your changes. IF you do find you've done that, and the order has already been sent out, call the location that's completing the order and explain the mistake to them.
#45
The Sandwich I Ordered For Dinner Was The Same Size As This Coffee K-Cup
Haven’t eaten in days due to medical procedure and medication that caused severe nausea. First time I was able to get out of bed and pickup some food that I’d be able to keep down so I was starving and very excited to get home and eat this sandwich. It looked positively mouthwatering on the advertisement window at the restaurant. $8 for only the sandwich (no sides). Bun is the size of this K-Cup and the meat inside is would have fit onto a teaspoon. I’m going back to bed.
#46
Finally Ordered The Vegan Ramen From One Of The Most Popular Ramen Spots In Socal
Kathrin Pukowsky 9 months ago
This looks like you're supposed to add boiling water to dissolve the paste and re-heat the noodles.
#47
The "Pizza Americana" I Ordered In Slovakia
#48
Ordered A 3 Piece Combo At Raising Canes. Came Home And Opened It Up To This
#49
Ordered A Regular Sausage Biscuit. And I Received This Sausage Blueberry Biscuit With Icing
#50
Chicken And Waffles At My Local Bowling Alley
#51
Ordered Spinach On This Pizza. There Is ¼ Of A Spinach Leaf On It
#52
$10 Salad
BlackCatWithWhiteSocks 9 months ago
They should pay you $10 to eat that. Although it wouldn't be enough....
#53
Bj’s Brewhouse Potato Skins Online Photo vs. Reality
#54
Valentine's Pastry At My Local Coffee Shop
TotallyNOTAFox 9 months ago
I feel remote shame for that since I regulary made those back at the bakery I worked at
#55
The Size Of The Pasta Dish I Ordered At (What I Am Told) Is The Fanciest Hotel In Gurgaon India
#56
I Ordered Pizza From A Local Pizza Joint, And This Is How It Arrived
I legitimately don’t understand how this is possible. When I called the restaurant, the cook said he “cut it weird” and was completely dismissive.
#57
This California Roll My Girlfriend Ordered Through Doordash
#58
Ihop, You Better Count Your Days
#59
Some Pieces Of The Chef's Choice Sushi Menu I Ordered
#60
I’m Extremely Disappointed Dunkin’ Donuts
Biytemii 9 months ago
I used to manage a dunkin' donuts and every sandwich person I knew during a rush if the bagel slicer messes up the bagel and cuts it like that that's the way you're getting it. on the other hand it usually means the bagels are soft and fresh because they cut awkwardly in the bagel slicer sometimes. I always use stuff to hate dealing with it when my sandwich makers would send them out like that and people would complain which is totally understandable. when I had it happen I would just put that bagel to the side but most employees won't
#61
I Ordered Pizza From Bare Naked Kitchen And They Weren’t Kidding About Being Bare Naked
#62
Ordered "Pacific Veggie" From Domino's
Sue Ellen Jensen 9 months ago
I guess my Domino's is one of the best. Always good, nearly always fast. They've told me by email several times that the delivery didn't meet their standards and compensated me with enough reward points for a freebie when it just took a little longer and I didn't even complain. And no, my standards aren't low. I worked at one many years ago.
#63
25+ Minutes One Way To 5 Guys- Got Home To No Meat On The Burgers
#64
My Friend Ordered The T-Bone Steak At Ihop
#67
Paid Extra To Make One Medium Pizza A Large, And They Just Gave Me 2 Mediums With 1 In A Large Box
#68
My Taste Of Expectation vs. Reality Today
#69
Ordered Half Cheese Half Pepperoni And They Didn’t Put Any Cheese On The Pepperoni Side
Kabuki Kitsune 9 months ago
Folks, how hard is it to check and make certain your order is correct in the app before you send it? If for example it says "add pepperoni", make sure it also says "add cheese". Because with those "add this", or "select this" type of apps that pizza places use, it's one topping at a time. Not "Add pepperoni AND cheese".
#70
Ordered Takeout From The Lowest Rated Wing Place In My Area
#71
My Sister Ordered A Foot Long Chicken Teriyaki From Subway, This Is What Was Delivered
#72
I Ordered "Fish & Chips" From A Local Food Court And This Is What I Received
#73
So I Ordered Orange Chicken In A Chinese Restaurant
#74
Ordered Rare Filet Mignon. Received Grizzly Well-Done Beef. Still Got Charged For The Filet Mignon Though
#75
Nutella Calzone
#76
A "Cheeseburger" Served In My Closest Dining Hall Tonight
#78
This Big Mac Was My First Mcdonald’s Meal In Six Months And It Did Disappoint
#79
When Chefs Hate Their Vegan Clients
A few weeks ago I went to the renowned Boschendal Wine Farm, outside Stellenbosch, and ordered their vegan aubergine pizza. One would think that they would take pride in what they do and make aubergine the star of the dish. What I got was so dissapointing, and made me feel that they really hate their vegan customers. My husband, who is not vegan got a beautiful presented plate of food. I wrote them a polite letter about customer experience, etc. but to date got no response, hence I now name them for their bad pizza and arrogance. How hard can it really be to have made this a great pizza without too much effort? For my part it wasn't even necessary to replace mozzarella with bad vegan cheese. How about a great Napolitana sauce, grilled aubergine, a few Kalamata olives, some red onions, rocket or basil pesto perhaps? I am also a professional chef, but I would never treat my vegan or vegetarian customers with such disdain. I won't recommend them, nor spend my hard earned cash there ever again.
#80
Ordered "Caprese" Sandwich At An Italian Restaurant At A 5 Star Resort In Mexico. Now, I'm No Italian, But That Doesn't Look Like Caprese Sandwich To Me
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Lee Gilliland 9 months ago
This is probably the best "why the name of God's Green Earth are you ordering this junk instead of making it yourself?" posts I've ever seen.
Surly Scot 9 months ago
Not only that, but people still paying for it when they can push for a refund on it. If you keep paying for garbage, the establishment will keep serving garbage. Forcing them losses by having to remake food/not earn anything from it will either cause the management/owners to fix things or the place closes.
Load More Replies...
Pink kitty 9 months ago
To think, that at all these places, someone making the food has thought "meh it's fine. Just send it out". 😞
The Doom Song 9 months ago
As someone currently binge watching "hell's kitchen" I can picture Chef Ramsey yelling "look at this s**t!"
Load More Replies...
Damned_Cat 9 months ago
Sad to say, there's just so many lazy inept people working in food service these days which i why I cook at home more than ever. Yesterday, I went to get a blended coffee with whipped cream. The guy made the blend but handed me a drink with no whip. I pointed out the error and he said, "we're out of whipped cream". The other person working there said no, they weren't out, he just needed to make a new batch. The barista just sighed and said, "it's too complicated". The other person made the fresh whip in less than a minute and finished my drink. Some people just don't care about doing a good job anymore.
Cydney Golden 9 months ago
I wonder what part of the country most of these are from. The Paneras in my area are great! And why are people finding this acceptable.
Kit Black 9 months ago
And this children is why you shouldn't believe everything you see on the internet. Most of them were clearly staged, and some of them were deliberately deceptive - the top voted picture right now is a meal that doesn't come with a cookie, but does come with a coupon that looks like a cookie on one side... the dude who posted that even got called out on reddit for it, but it's not like BP is the slightest bit bothered by lies.
Tyranamar Seuss 9 months ago
I am bothered as f**k by the stupid lunch box that comes with a coupon for a cookie instead of just giving me the damned cookie. I’ve already waited in line. I’ve already gotten my food. I don’t want to go back up and wait in line again for a cookie they knew they were going to give me in the first place. What an annoying rip off.
Load More Replies...
B 9 months ago
I haven't eaten at a restaurant or ordered fast food in over a decade - I cook every night with fresh ingredients. Costs less and tastes better, and this post proves it.
MotherRobinson 9 months ago
That's good for you but most of us have busy lifestyles and don't always have time or energy to cook every single day at home.
Load More Replies...
Robin Lajoie 7 months ago
As someone who has never been to or tried Panera, after seeing what people are receiving from them, I now highly doubt that I ever will. They don't seem to have a great track record from what this showed!
Uncle Schmickle 9 months ago
Well, that was a good post. Haven't laughed so much in ages. Pity the poor buggers who paid for all that c**p.
chickpea me 9 months ago (edited)
My friend once went to China. She is rather a fussy eater so she was delighted to find a Deli where they served Western food. The burger was OK but for desert she asked for an ice cone with 2 scoops of vanilla. They served it with a big dollop of mayonnaise on top. It was very popular with their Chinese customers. 😆
《¤Pookie¤》 9 months ago
Panera is not that f*****g bad. Neither I, my family, my friends, or anyone I've ever met has experienced these meals. I have, however heard that European Panera's are s****y.
Beak Hookage 9 months ago
My two takeaways (pun absolutely intended) were a) Thank goodness we don't have Panera in this country and b) Some people REALLY aren't doing their jobs. Or have been replaced by incompetent robots, which is worse.
R Dennis 9 months ago
I worked at Panera years ago before it was sold to a bunch of German billionaires (JAB Holdings)... it was never like this. The last year, they started shrinking items a little but I guess that was to inflate the numbers before selling the company. Looks like that wasn't enough.
Sillywaster Stayalone 9 months ago
I don't know about Panera, but it will do well if it explicitly say that they sell practical jokes and not food.
Tyranamar Seuss 9 months ago
What? What are you trying to say? These are take-out orders. There is no tip.
Load More Replies... Lee Gilliland 9 months ago
This is probably the best "why the name of God's Green Earth are you ordering this junk instead of making it yourself?" posts I've ever seen.
Surly Scot 9 months ago
Not only that, but people still paying for it when they can push for a refund on it. If you keep paying for garbage, the establishment will keep serving garbage. Forcing them losses by having to remake food/not earn anything from it will either cause the management/owners to fix things or the place closes.
Load More Replies... Pink kitty 9 months ago
To think, that at all these places, someone making the food has thought "meh it's fine. Just send it out". 😞
The Doom Song 9 months ago
As someone currently binge watching "hell's kitchen" I can picture Chef Ramsey yelling "look at this s**t!"
Load More Replies... Damned_Cat 9 months ago
Sad to say, there's just so many lazy inept people working in food service these days which i why I cook at home more than ever. Yesterday, I went to get a blended coffee with whipped cream. The guy made the blend but handed me a drink with no whip. I pointed out the error and he said, "we're out of whipped cream". The other person working there said no, they weren't out, he just needed to make a new batch. The barista just sighed and said, "it's too complicated". The other person made the fresh whip in less than a minute and finished my drink. Some people just don't care about doing a good job anymore.
Cydney Golden 9 months ago
I wonder what part of the country most of these are from. The Paneras in my area are great! And why are people finding this acceptable.
Kit Black 9 months ago
And this children is why you shouldn't believe everything you see on the internet. Most of them were clearly staged, and some of them were deliberately deceptive - the top voted picture right now is a meal that doesn't come with a cookie, but does come with a coupon that looks like a cookie on one side... the dude who posted that even got called out on reddit for it, but it's not like BP is the slightest bit bothered by lies.
Tyranamar Seuss 9 months ago
I am bothered as f**k by the stupid lunch box that comes with a coupon for a cookie instead of just giving me the damned cookie. I’ve already waited in line. I’ve already gotten my food. I don’t want to go back up and wait in line again for a cookie they knew they were going to give me in the first place. What an annoying rip off.
Load More Replies... B 9 months ago
I haven't eaten at a restaurant or ordered fast food in over a decade - I cook every night with fresh ingredients. Costs less and tastes better, and this post proves it.
MotherRobinson 9 months ago
That's good for you but most of us have busy lifestyles and don't always have time or energy to cook every single day at home.
Load More Replies... Robin Lajoie 7 months ago
As someone who has never been to or tried Panera, after seeing what people are receiving from them, I now highly doubt that I ever will. They don't seem to have a great track record from what this showed!
Uncle Schmickle 9 months ago
Well, that was a good post. Haven't laughed so much in ages. Pity the poor buggers who paid for all that c**p.
chickpea me 9 months ago (edited)
My friend once went to China. She is rather a fussy eater so she was delighted to find a Deli where they served Western food. The burger was OK but for desert she asked for an ice cone with 2 scoops of vanilla. They served it with a big dollop of mayonnaise on top. It was very popular with their Chinese customers. 😆
《¤Pookie¤》 9 months ago
Panera is not that f*****g bad. Neither I, my family, my friends, or anyone I've ever met has experienced these meals. I have, however heard that European Panera's are s****y.
Beak Hookage 9 months ago
My two takeaways (pun absolutely intended) were a) Thank goodness we don't have Panera in this country and b) Some people REALLY aren't doing their jobs. Or have been replaced by incompetent robots, which is worse.
R Dennis 9 months ago
I worked at Panera years ago before it was sold to a bunch of German billionaires (JAB Holdings)... it was never like this. The last year, they started shrinking items a little but I guess that was to inflate the numbers before selling the company. Looks like that wasn't enough.
Sillywaster Stayalone 9 months ago
I don't know about Panera, but it will do well if it explicitly say that they sell practical jokes and not food.
Tyranamar Seuss 9 months ago
What? What are you trying to say? These are take-out orders. There is no tip.
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