The World's Rudest Restaurants

American_Suisse · #1 09-23-2009, 04:02 PM

Just read this on MSN - don't think I'll be visiting any of these places.
The World?s Rudest Restaurants - MSN Travel Articles

KirstenS · #2 09-23-2009, 07:34 PM

I read this post and I immediatley thought about the Wierner Circle here in Chicago. And then I read the article and noticed they made it in there. I've been there a couple of times after a long night of drinking and it's an amusing place, as long as you know how to order and talk back to the workers

All in good fun. Pretty tasty, greasy, fast food.

kermit · #3 09-28-2009, 05:50 AM

That's a great article! Not been to any restaurant as bad as any of these, reckon it would be an experience!

KYHeirloomer · #4 09-28-2009, 07:45 AM

More than 40 years ago, when I lived in Boston, friends insisted on taking me to Durgan Park to experience the trained rudeness of the staff.

I didn't understand the appeal then, and I understand it even less now. If I want rudeness I can just eat at my sister's house, and not have to pay for the "honor."

You can justify it all you want by the quality of the food, as the author of that article tries. But, the fact is, there are fine restaurants all over the world that treat their guests well and provide great eating.

Don't know how it is today, btw, but based on my Durgan Park trip back in the day, the food wasn't all that good to begin with. Overpriced, yes. Worth going out of my way for? Not hardly.

The amusing thing to me is that if you judge by previous threads here, one of the things we, as a group, most hate is rude FOH staff. Yet we're now discussing how much fun it can be to be treated that way.

Not me. I don't like it when it's unintentional, and like it even less when it's on purpose.

Pete · #5 09-28-2009, 12:38 PM

The rudeness at most of the places, in the article, is so over the top that it becomes amusing. It's part of the gimmick of these places, and I don't mind it at all. It's like going to an all night diner, when drunk, and being waited on by some surly older woman who takes no nonsense from her customers. This is a far cry from the rude service exhibited by servers and hosts who truly think that they are better than you or that you are wasting their time. I just don't see how you can compare the 2. Places like Durgan Park and Ed Debevic's are as much about the "entertainment" as they are food. If it is not to your liking then don't go, but I really don't think you can compare these places to places that are rude or haughty because they just don't care.

KYHeirloomer · #6 09-28-2009, 02:35 PM

Mebbe so, Pete. But would you go more than once?

Seems to me the entertainment value of being treated like crap would get old awfully fast.

shelta · #7 09-28-2009, 04:10 PM

Seems to me you have to separate the restos who are doing this as part of the "entertainment" if what amuses you strays into the bizarre, from the restos that are actually rude with no humor intended.
The one that comes to mind here in L.A. is "Nozawa", owned and overseen by the aptly named "Sushi ****". Many customers seem to revel in his rudeness, not something I get and so am not one of them...
A shrink would have a field day enumerating the reasons why there are numbers of people who will put up with abuse and pay for the "privilege" and others that won't 'play the game'.
Yes, I'm in the latter category and make it a point of giving more than I get in a rude resto situation as I hope I'm doing my part to let 'em know they can't get away with that kind of behavior with impunity and maybe they'll think twice about it the next time they try it on.
LOL, yep I know, it's a losing battle!

Pete · #8 09-28-2009, 05:55 PM

I've been to Ed Debevic's a couple of times, not necessarily my choice, only because there is much better food in Chicago, but I have fun each time I go. Again, it's so over the top rudeness that it becomes more amusing than anything. It's almost like going to your own Roast or having Don Rickles serve you. And again, I find this to be a gimmick and it is quite obvious it is. I would not tolerate anything resembling rudeness at other restaurants.

DC Sunshine · #9 09-30-2009, 01:57 AM

Good servers can be great, but I can see the buzz to be had by going somewhere you KNOW you are going to be "yelled" at or "mistreated" as part of the entertainment for the night. Actors and Actresses have to start somewhere ...and as long as you can yell back - all the more good fun. Not that you'd go there all the time, just as a novelty when you are in the mood. The food (and actual service) would need to be good though.

It's no worse than simpering wait staff....you can get as equally as annoyed at that.

Oro · #10 10-01-2009, 12:27 AM

Shopsin's immediately leaps to mind. I used to live near his restaurant in the West Village. The food was creative and delicious, buy his vitriol and animosity to anyone he didn't approve of was more than enough to ruin any meal. Unfortunately, his misanthropy was not a "gimmick" - it was palpable. It's a shame he's turned it into such fame.