Have you noticed lately that some restaurants are getting a little more scammy lately?
A month or so ago, GC and I stopped into The Honest Lawyer for a bite to eat while out Christmas shopping. I like lettuce, tomatoes, onion and mayo on my burger, but I forgot to ask for mayo, so I asked for it after the fact. When we got our bill, we saw that we’d been dinged 75 cents for the mayo.
The exact same thing happened once at Phil’s Diner, but it was 50 cents.
Another thing is coffee. Restaurants always used to include coffee in the breakfast special, but I’ve been to some lately that not only don’t include it, but charge you an additional $3 for it! The advertised $7.99 breakfast special turns out to be $10.99. It’s not a scam exactly, but neither is it entirely honest. Especially when they ask you, as they’re seating you, if they can bring you some coffee. This is before you’ve had a chance to see the menu and the fact that the coffee is not included and is exorbitantly priced. (The Buzz, I’m looking at you. You make a delicious brunch, but your overpriced coffee sucks.)
I’m getting used to the coffee thing, but every now and then I encounter a surprising new restaurant scam.
A couple of days ago XUP and I met for brunch. All the stores were open, but our first three choices of restaurants were closed because it was, apparently, a pseudo statutory holiday or something.
We ended up at the Arrow and Loon at Bank and Fifth.
The breakfast special looked good on paper – eggs, bacon, toast, fresh fruit, baked beans, homefries.
XUP looked at the vegetarian breakfast special on the menu.
“How come,” she asked, “You get all that stuff for $4.99, but I only get half as much stuff for $8.99?”
True enough, the vegetarian breakfast special seemed pretty pricey for such slim pickings. I think it included eggs, toast, fried tomatoes and fruit.
XUP decided to order the regular breakfast special and give me her bacon, thereby creating her own vegetarian breakfast special for half the price.
Breakfast was delivered and we ate most of it. It was okay. The “fresh fruit” was cantaloupe and it was slimy around the edges. XUP had a tiny bite and declared that it tasted like mildew.
Later, after we’d eaten, we were just lingering and talking, when a family came in and sat at a nearby table. We eavesdropped as the man ordered for himself, his wife and his daughter. (He allowed their son to order for himself.)
His style of ordering was more of a negotiation. For example, can I get the regular breakfast but with grilled tomatoes instead of bacon? And can I substitute something else for the baked beans.
It was at this point that XUP perked up.
“Hey!” she said, “We never got our baked beans!”
When the waitress came by again, XUP informed her that we’d never gotten our baked beans.
“Oh I know.” she said sweetly, “We don’t actually include the baked beans unless people ask specifically for them.”
XUP and I were not expecting this answer. We were expecting, I dunno, something like “Oh dear, I’m so sorry, the cook must have forgotten.”
We looked at her, semi-incredulous, waiting for more.
“I know on the menu it says they’re included,” she explained, “But unless you specifically say you want them, we don’t put them on the plate.”
“Oh, I get it,” said XUP. “It’s a trick.”
“Would you like me to – ” asked the waitress.
“No,” said XUP. After all, we’d already eaten breakfast and paid for it.
But then we speculated that if only we’d thought to specifically ask for the fresh fruit, we wouldn’t have ended up with the slimy cantaloupe. We’ll keep that in mind for next time.
(There will probably only be a next time if all the other restaurants are closed.)
So. Is it just us, or are you noticing an increase in little restaurant scams too?
Wow. That is crazy. I haven’t noticed much of that sort of thing but only because money is dictating that we not eat out so much. My tried & true greasy spoon breakfast of choice is John’s on Richmond Rd, where coffee *is* included. And I’m pretty sure that a standard bacon & 2 eggie (with beans!) comes to under $5. Good efficient service and they never rush you out even though they are pretty busy most mornings.
I fell prey to something similar when I was breakfasting with coworkers a few weeks ago. They all had $5 breakfast specials (toast, eggs, meat, homefries) but I don’t eat meat or eggs, so I ordered homefries and toast only. My breakfast came out to $9!
The Man of Science and I, seeing as we rise with the birds, often end up at The Mayflower for Sunday breakfast. I’ve found that the staff there will often enter in my homefries/toast order as a breakfast special and just leave out the eggs and meat because it is cheaper that way. They do this without us asking them to, which is quite upstanding, I think.
Oh, I wish I had known you were thinking of going there! It’s my least favourite place for breakfast. In the city. They have nasty food and they play bad little tricks with their service. They should really get their act together – I rarely hear of anyone going there and having a good experience.
We hadn’t actually thought of going there at all Stella. Like Zoom said, it was the only place open that was serving breakfast on Monday within walking distance of where we were. The baked beans, which the wife at the other table ordered specifically came in one of those tiny paper cups they give you for ketchup at fast food joints. The husband at the table seemed quite disturbed by the tiny portion. I mean, really, how much do baked beans cost that they’re rationed out so stingily? Now I know why we were only one of two tables there not just having beer for breakfast.
Oh! And another little restaurant scam — I’d wanted to check out the newish Saigon Pho on Bank. They had a nice selection of vegetarian choices..some curries, some fake chicken/shrimp stirfry stuff, tofu and veggies, etc. EXCEPT if you wanted rice or vermicelli with your meal you had to pay an extra dollar…for like a tablespoon full of rice/vermicelli. That’s like charging you extra if you want water with your tea bag.
Not so much on restaurants but another ‘scam’ that is occurring is at Starbuck’s. I tried to take advantage of their Christmas Blend coffee where at a Canadian Deals Website for ONE day only (December 12), a 25% discount. I went and they attempted to charge me full price and I asked how come when there is a discount advertised online…the answer….”Oh you didn’t ask for it”.
One day, a couple of months ago, a friend and I went to bkfast to a place that charges extra for its dishwater coffee. I knew this, and so brought my thermos mug, popped into Bridgehead first to get it filled with their excellent drip. It cost me less than what my friend was charged for her nasty cup of java at the diner.
The coffee things kills me because, 90 per cent of the time it’s dishwater/barely drinkable coffee. And really how much does it cost? And why are they charging me $1 to $2 for salad instead of fries… and that goes double for onion rings. Do you know how many onions you can by for $1? (Fil’s looking at you.)
It’s shame about the Arrow and Loon when it first opened the food and service were really good. Can’t say I’ve been there recently. Probably won’t.
When management changed at the Arrow and Loon, quality and service plummeted. It used to have great food, sourced locally and staff that remained for years. Now – exactly the opposite. I have not set foot in the place for years.
Oh and here is a good restaurant story. Two friends and I had a reservation at Gastro Pub and were made to wait for 20 minutes for our table. We complained and then took our drink orders right away (and apologized). When the bill came – our drinks and apps had been comped. They totally won me over (and of course, everything was excellent).
I almost never eat out any more …because it is expensive … This year I spent $578 in restaurants, and one of those meals was a special dinner while traveling in London where prices are truly exorbitant; where one pound buys you as much food as a dollar does here. But, that said, I love our new restaurant in Wakefield, Le Hibou. Excellent service, ambiance and food … not cheap but the experience seems worth the price. They do not, however, open till lunch time.
>> “…prices are truly exorbitant; where one pound buys you as much food as a dollar does here.” <<
Yikes. It's called an exchange rate. This site is funny for all the wrong reasons.
Dave and I don’t eat out very much any more and one of the reasons is that his favourite meal (chicken caesar salad) at our favourite restaurant seemed to be shrinking. When we first started going it was a full meal-sized salad, but noth after noth is got smaller and smaller – less chicken and less salad. We spoke to the manager about it and he basically told us we were imagining it, so we stopped going.
One thing that irks me is the McDonalds by my house. Whenever I order McNuggets, I get them with honey sauce, but unless I specifically specify “two honey sauce” I only get one. Once again, I asked the manager and her reply was “We only give one sauce with six nuggets – it’s the same with the other sauces, it’s more than enough for most patrons.”
That’s fine, but the sweet and sour and the honey mustard are TWICE the size of the honey packet!
I don’t know how it is where you live, but at most fast food places you have to ask for condiment – ketchup, salt and pepper etc, I can live with that – but once I through the Drive thru of a Burger King. I got my order, got around the corner and realized I had no napkins – so I went back, and said “I think the drive-thro operator forgot to give me napkins,” to which I got the reply “No, you have to ask for them.” WHAT?!?!? There are also several places around here that will only give you one napkin per value meal….
Oh… and about that bake bean thing… if it’s specifically listed on the menu – why would you think to ask for it???? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard – next to “you have to ask for napkins”
Someone mentioned coffee. The worst coffee story I heard was in the hotel in Beijing. While the breakfast buffet was excellent, it seems the hotel staff were all tea drinkers (insert “all the tea in China” joke here), because when the coffee maker got low, they’d just fill it with more water!
I don’t drink coffee, but those in our group who did had a really hard time waking up that trip!
– RG>
Coffee has always been a scam. Decent coffee in a restaurant costs less than a penny to make a cup. At a hotel convention (Crowne Plaza), with 400 people being charged $3-6/cup, at two cups per, that can mean $2400-4800 in pure profit to the hotel… just for breakfast. If that convention is an all day thing, with three servings, that’s up to $14,000.
The Crowne Plaza paid for $11M in renovations back in 1996 or 97 by increasing the cost of a cup of coffee by a dollar.
Vegetarian food is always more expensive than normal food. Once a vegetarian walks into a restaurant they’re trapped. Especially if they’re surrounded by normal, meat eating people. What are you going to do, walk out? Personally I think the solution to high vegetarian food costs is eating bacon… you can buy a pound for, like, $4.
Most restaurants are losing money hand over fist right now. There are no tourists, and local attendance is down as well. My little brother has worked in hotels for twenty years, and he says it’s just a wasteland out there. The “service industry” has been hit a lot harder than most industry’s in Ontario.
A penny a cup? I don’t know what kind of coffee you drink, but no “good restaurant” is selling anything that costs a penny a cup.
It is so funny you mention that because I took the kiddo to Bob Evans for breakfast on Christmas Eve and there were no home fries on my plate. I asked the waitress to check and she said the home fries are not included in the breakfast I ordered, but she had already taken the menus so I couldn’t double check…but I know I would not order a breakfast without their delicious home fries! That’s the biggest reason I go there! So I had to order mine seperate and pay and extra $2. Sneaky, sneaky…next time I will keep a menu on the table until after my food arrives.
And you couldn’t ask for a menu to confirm your suspicion before assuming they ripped you off? They serve plenty of breakfast items that don’t include home fries, and yours was probably one of those.
Livefrom161, GC used to be a regular at John’s when he worked in that neighbourhood, and agrees it’s a good breakfast. I’ll have to check it out.
Jo, $9 for homefries and toast!!!! That’s insane. You didn’t pay it, did you? That’s the craziest restaurant story I ever heard.
Stella, what XUP said. It only got our business because everywhere else was closed. We tried to go to the Clocktower, Von’s and Irene’s before we reluctantly entered the cavernous, disturbingly empty Arrow and Loon.
XUP, I agree, rice should be free in Chinese restaurants. It’s ubiquitous, like tea, or fortune cookies, or MSG.
Kat, that’s interesting about Starbucks making you ask for the special specifically or else they charge you the regular price. I found the same thing with Coldwater Creek. They send me email offers of free shipping, but they charge me for shipping (because I’m Canadian) unless I email them and say hey. Then they cheerfully refund the shipping charges.
DeBeauxOS, I love that idea. I’m bringing my own coffee to The Buzz from now on.
Nat, yeah, it’s the nickling and diming, the sneaky ways they get an extra dollar here and there. You shouldn’t need to be vigilant against getting ripped off in restaurants.
Laurie, I hate when a good restaurant goes bad.
But I like your Gastro Pub story. I haven’t been there yet…saving it for a special occasion.
Oma, how do you know you spent $578 in restaurants? Do you track all your spending?
Valerie, I know, you shouldn’t have to specifically ask for a napkin or two! These cheapo fast food joints like to justify their increasing stinginess by saying they’re doing it for the environment. Ha! As for the beans, yeah, it was ludicrous. We were joking afterward about placing our order like this: “I’ll have the breakfast special with two eggs, bacon, toast, homefries, baked beans and fresh fruit.”
RealGrouchy, oh, that’s awful. I wonder if they just didn’t understand how coffee works?
8th Favourite: Bacon? You’re suggesting that vegetarians eat bacon? Hmmm. I’m not sure that would go over so well. But as for the coffee, I had no idea they could make that much profit on it. Are you sure?
Krista, that sounds like a bait and switch to me.
Yes, I do.
Our coffee – fairtrade 10.00 a lb means it costs about 75 cents. a cup when you factor in cream and sugar – way more than 1 cent a cup!
This post will make me more aware when I order things at restaurants that for sure. The coffee thing really makes me angry. coffee doesn’t cost anything to make, especially at places such as Fil’s Diner.
You are not entitled to anything for free. Coffee most certainly costs “something” to make, and it isn’t a penny as a previous whiner posted. Besides the coffee, you get to pay for the water, the electricity, and the SERVICE. It’s a business, not a soup kitchen.