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The World's Rudest Restaurants

post #1 of 18
9/23/09 at 2:02pm
Thread Starter 
Just read this on MSN - don't think I'll be visiting any of these places.
The World?s Rudest Restaurants - MSN Travel Articles
If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME stuff, why didn't he just buy dinner?
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post #2 of 18
9/23/09 at 5:34pm
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.
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post #3 of 18
9/28/09 at 3:50am
That's a great article! Not been to any restaurant as bad as any of these, reckon it would be an experience!
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post #4 of 18
9/28/09 at 5:45am
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.
They have taken the oath of the brother in blood, in leavened bread and salt. Rudyard Kipling
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post #5 of 18
9/28/09 at 10:38am
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.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
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post #6 of 18
9/28/09 at 12:35pm
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.
They have taken the oath of the brother in blood, in leavened bread and salt. Rudyard Kipling
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post #7 of 18
9/28/09 at 2:10pm
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!
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post #8 of 18
9/28/09 at 3:55pm
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.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
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post #9 of 18
9/29/09 at 11:57pm
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.
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
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post #10 of 18
9/30/09 at 10:27pm
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.
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post #11 of 18
12/2/09 at 4:08pm
YES! Also, Ed Debevic's is intentionally rude as well. Some places deserve to get away with that sort of stuff. Reminds me of the old west.
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post #12 of 18
12/2/09 at 5:13pm
FriedZucchini...all in good fun ;)
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post #13 of 18
12/4/09 at 1:05pm
Cool article, they had me at "busboys throw down plates with the clatter of a Max Roach drum solo.."

If you can take things like this with a grain of salt, eating at a place with a rude staff can actually be quite enjoyable. It just requires a good sense of humor.
Kohler Kitchen Sinks
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post #14 of 18
12/5/09 at 6:15am
I used to work at Durgin Park. As a young, tender 19 year old it was really difficult to work with waitresses that seemed like they'd been there since the dinosaurs. As far as the food, they never advertised it as any more than 'plain old Yankee cooking'. Some of the dishes were pretty good - the prime rib was actually pretty excellent. It was hard, bust your @)(*$ work - no busboys, no servers, waitresses did it all. Hours were horrible; you worked 5 days full days - from 11 a.m. to closing, then one 1/2 day. It was, however, a great way to make money - in the early 70's, on a good night, I could pull close to $300 in tips - no sharing of tips, either. :) I lasted about 6 months and quit - umm, rather suddenly.
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post #15 of 18
12/8/09 at 1:13pm
^Whoa 300 bucks in a night?!?! That's some job for the early 70s...must've been pretty stressful.
Kohler Kitchen Sinks
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post #16 of 18
12/9/09 at 6:03am
We left Boston in '69, Marmalady. So you probably worked there shortly after we moved away.

they never advertised it as any more than 'plain old Yankee cooking'

True, But the emphasis should have been on the "plain." Even within the context of New England cooking, it wasn't particularly good, IMO. I've had some great boiled dinners, and Durgin Park didn't even come close. Plus the price structure was based on the philosophy that tourists are sheep, and God made sheep to be sheered.

All in all, what they charged for what you got was sinful, even putting aside the rudeness.
They have taken the oath of the brother in blood, in leavened bread and salt. Rudyard Kipling
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post #17 of 18
12/10/09 at 3:17am
"SIT DOWN THERE YOU ORDER NOW NO MORE DUCK!" its kinda rude though. I haven't tried being served by a rude waiter or i don't know what might happen to him/her. :peace: I am not fun of being getting rude.
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post #18 of 18
1/15/10 at 10:35am
I've been to Sam Wo's in San Francisco quite a bit. When Edsel Ford Fong was waiting there, people would visit the restaurant for the entertainment value as much as the cheap but decent food. Of course, everyone knew the game, and appreciated it for what it was .... no one went to be insulted or abused, but for the show. Edfsel was really a sweet guy at heart but he found a shtick that helped business and put the restaurant on the map. If you can't get a few Michelin stars, give the customers a good show <LOL>

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