Saturday morning we woke up and hit the road to head to Destin, FL for a little house hunting. Who wouldn’t want this as their backyard?
voted one of the top ten beaches in the world, yo.
Too bad the house hunting was for our house guests and not us. C’mon, I can barely afford my Nikes let alone ocean front property. But it was really fun to help my parents’ friends find a new house/place for us to visit on the weekends 
In between looking at houses we grabbed some lunch at AJ’s:
Parmesan and herb broiled mahimahi sandwich
This was fantastic and huge. AJs is *the* nighttime spot in Destin and has plenty of outside deck seating for food but we opted for inside seating since it was frigid outside (50 degrees and windy=frigid to us Floridians FYI)
We headed back into Tallahassee and decided to grab some dinner and watch the UM v Duke basketball game at a sports bar, Tomahawk. As soon as Matt and my father saw “The Chief” on the menu, it was ordered:
Loaded Bloody Mary
Yep, Bloody Mary with celery, blue cheese stuffed olive, spicy green bean, lime, okra, bacon and a cheeseburger slider. Matt was in Bloody Mary heaven. Too bad that was the only positive experience we had while we were there. One waitress was dropping f-bombs at other staff, slamming menus and silverware on tables and snapping at any question thrown her way. Our waitress was slightly more pleasant but anyone compared to the raging waitress is a ray of sunshine. Then came our meals. Everything was cold, some of our orders were wrong, and everything was downright pathetic. Matt ordered fried gator bites that were nothing more than a dozen greasy bits the size of a penny. When we complained that the meal was no where near edible, the waitress said that once the food is brought to the table, they do not take it back for any reason. I’ve been eating at restaurants for 27 years and this is the first time I have heard this. So we asked for the manager. He told us the same thing. It took us way longer than necessary for him to realize that we would not being paying $12 for the sorry excuse for food that was placed on our table and sat there untouched. You could not pay any of us to return to this place.
Do you complain/send food back at restaurants or just deal with it?
I am super easy to please and have sent food back a handful of times in my life. It has to be raw or inedible for me to complain so when I do complain I expect the restaurant to do what they can to fix it.
Where would your dream house be?
ski in/ski out in Aspen, CO
eharris29
/ March 4, 2013I am the same; I rarely complain about food so when I do it has to be pretty bad – like it seems your food unfortunately was!
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 4, 2013It was awful. But at least we now know to never return.
Her Happy Balance
/ March 4, 2013I can only think of once or twice when I complained and the service/food was downright terrible those times. It’s a shame that you had a bad experience but that is crazy that their policy is never to take food back and fix it! That just sounds like bad business.
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 4, 2013It was def the worst customer service I’ve ever had. Zero respect for the paying customer.
The Classy Bee
/ March 4, 2013omg ew. I would have lost my shiz on that manager!
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 4, 2013Bad food I can handle but I can’t stand bad customer service.
Lauren @ Powered by Oatmeal
/ March 4, 2013I have been wanting to set up a weekend trip to destin after the marathon but have never been! Any tips for cheap housing?
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 4, 2013The best affordable places I’ve stayed are the Inn on Destin Harbor and the Holiday Inn on the beach (it’s a big round hotel). Neither offered anything fancy but the customer service was great. The Inn is walking distance to AJs which is great at night but you’d have to drive to the beach. The Holiday Inn is on the beach and has an indoor and outdoor pool but is def a family hotel so there are lots of young kids everywhere. The Hilton on the beach is absolutely fantastic but on the pricier side. But honestly you can’t go wrong anywhere in Destin
pickyrunner
/ March 4, 2013I loveee house hunting whether its for me or someone else. I’ve only sent food back if it has ingredients I simply cannot eat. Usually if my steak is overcooked a little or something I just suck it up.
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 4, 2013I agree. I only complain if its beyond terrible. Which this def was. I wish I took a picture of the garbage that was served.
Alex @ therunwithin
/ March 4, 2013whoa that mahi mahi looks bomb! I haven’t had mahi mahi in ages.
blonde hair blue eyed runner
/ March 4, 2013That’s horrible, sorry you had to experience that. Glad you got some tasty food earlier, looks so yummy!
Molly
/ March 4, 2013I have NEVER heard of a restaurant saying they won’t take food back for any reason. That’s absolutely ridiculous & just an excuse. What a horrible experience
At least that bloody mary looks BOMB. I hope it made up for the ridiculousness of the evening, at least a little bit!
allisonhayes91
/ March 4, 2013I totally agree with you…I never complain about food. It has to be absolutely awful if I do, and I totally don’t blame you guys for saying something. That is ridiculous! Ugh, I want to live on the beach. I used to love the show Summerland with Jesse McCartney in it..the house on that show is my dream.
Alex @ Cookie Dough Katzen
/ March 4, 2013Ugh that’s the worst when you go to a restaurant like that with poor service. Oh well, at least the bloody mary was enjoyed!
cleaneatingveggiegirl
/ March 4, 2013I don’t like to complain because I have worked in retail, but if something is not cooked appropriately then I definitely send it back. I just try to ensure that I do it in as polite of way as possible!
Amanda
/ March 4, 2013I hate bugging my waiters or waitresses about this, but I’m lactose intolerant and I usually ask for no cheese if I get a dish that has some cheese in it that isn’t a huge part of the dish. Sometimes they forget, and I have to send it back. I always leave a nice tip if they don’t get huffy
Leslie @ TriathleteTreats
/ March 5, 2013My dream house is on a beach. I love Costa Rica! I love the Caribbean! As long is its crystal blue…I am there!
Sarah
/ March 5, 2013Oh I used to live in Tallahassee..I don’t remember that place tho? I worked at Women’s World…is that still there? Anyway, I LOVE Bloody marys and that one did look good! And ocean front property is the dream…..
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 5, 2013It is fairly new…Maybe a year or two? It in on the edge of campus where the Loop (the pizza place) used to be. The bloody mary was good but not worth us returning.
Sarah
/ March 5, 2013I lived there about 6 years ago actually, and I just googled it, I think it closed down! It was owned by Golds, so maybe they have another somewhere, I dont know, it was a long time ago!
Rachel @ Undercover Diva: A Sitcom
/ March 5, 2013The only time I send food back is when it comes and there’s meat in it that either wasn’t specified on the menu or was included in my dish after I ordered it without. I sent a drink back at a restaurant a few weeks ago because it tasted like straight up syrup (it was a margarita). Otherwise, I just suck it up.
ksvirtue
/ March 26, 2013Sorry you had such a bad experience… I’m the same way. I very rarely complain unless the service/food is completely awful. Funny, a similar situation happened to the hubby and I… we bought a matcha green tea latte mix only to find out it was expired over a month ago. Eww! We returned it and told the manager and he was pretty inifferent about it & just told us we could get another one. We did…only to find that all of the 3 remaining mixes were all expired. The manager was still indifferent and just reluctantly refunded our money. Smh… and we really wanted that green tea latte mix. : /
Runner Girl Eats
/ March 26, 2013Poor customer service is the WORST!