FOOD ADVENTURES
I have been bothered by the lack of crunchy noodles at the fast food Chinese places I usually eat at. I really like to have them when I get hot and sour soup. I complained about this to a buddy at work, and he suggested I go to Chinatown and find a grocery store.
I took the T over to the Chinatown stop, and I walked around for about an hour...looked in several grocery stores, and was about to give up when I spotted a place that was small and looked like a convenience store. It turned out to have these good-sized bags for $1.50, so I bought 3 of them. Woo-hoo!
If only dinner had gone as well. I went to a local Cambridge Mexican fast-food place, Boco Grande. Anyhow, this place specializes in large burritos. However, they do have other stuff on their posted menu. I try to ask for the taco plate, and the server/order-taker basically skips me for 2 or 3 people before actually turning in my order. Already, my friends are upstairs eating.
Meanwhile, these corn tortillas take quite a while to heat up. I am getting excited. After servering three more people who were behind me, he puts my tacos together. I notice that he doesn't put any cheese (called for in the menu). I mention this, and this is a big mistake. They get another worker to go to the back and search for the cheese. This goes on for another 3-4 minutes (we're at about 7-8 minutes waiting. Average serving time is 45 seconds to 1 minute. I wait for a minute and say, hey, don't worry about it. The cashier gets kinda excited and says, "No, we'll get it" to which I reply (in a little louder tone) "I'd like it right now, just give me the food, it's ready". The cashier didn't move, and I said (agitated by now, and its showing), "come on, its been twenty minutes already" (Okay, it has NOT been 20 minutes, but I was cranky and hungry.) The cashier still resists and I say, JUST FORGET IT I don't know what the HELL I meant by this, but the cashier took this as a sign for me to leave. I say "Hey, I want my food, I paid for it". The cashier just points at the door and tells me "LEAVE".
I guess I could have stayed and tried to "stand up for my rights", but I figured since I had raised my voice, I had better leave, lest she call the cops. I darted upstairs where my surprised friends (surprised because I STILL didn't have my food) were and told them, "Okay, they couldn't handle my order so I'm leaving". Then I took off.
On the way out, I stooped to a new low and said "This place sucks!" and the cashier got her parting words in "Don't come back"...
Needless to say, I was angry because of the way I was treated and the fact that I lost my dinner. So I tried to reach the BBB of Cambridge, but there wasn't any. However, the Chamber of Commerce told me of a "Cambridge Consumer Council". The nice man on the other end of the phone listened to my complaint and offered to help me get my money back. I said no thanks, I just needed to vent.
Silly, eh?