The Evil Foodie

As much as I love my previously mentioned IHOP, I have a great fondness for the fastish-food chain Denny’s. Realistically, I do not think anyone knows a person who has not been to a Denny’s at some point in their life, and would even to hazard that NO ONE knows a post-secondary student who has never heard or eaten at Denny’s at some point during their current college career.

Being that I eat a lot of food, and I study a lot of classes, and I am considered an individual who never sleeps - Denny’s is generally the answer to most of my questions.

• Hey are you going to study later on tonight? -Denny’s
• Are you doing anything? -Denny’s
• How on earth did you pass that exam? -Denny’s
• What’s the deal with your lizard? -Denny’s

Okay, alright, maybe not exactly the last one but (!), nevertheless, I enjoy Denny’s more so than your average fat person. With cheaper-than-most-places food, that greasy sustenance that can cure almost anything, and their amazing 24 hours openness, there isn’t a single soul who dislikes Denny’s. In fact I have converted many a new comer into constant patrons. Just last week before traveling, myself and the partner, went to Denny’s three separate occasions in a row. THREE DAYS OF DENNY’S. And when a big gathering is afoot, DENNY’S!

Anyways, this isn’t just a long exaggerated love sonnet out of its normal form about my love for the restaurant: this is also a horror story.

I have acquired a long list of servers who recognize my face, and some who even know my personality and name. And there are a select few who have dedicated a nickname to me, but then again I have a tendency to acquire those.

This particular time, Early June, the partner and I experienced the following during dry/non-busy hours:

• 9:36pm - Arrived and was seated at a table of our choosing which is not extremely out of the ordinary.
• She took our drink order and brought us the drinks in unusual cups - which was not the part that bothered me but rather that the cups were soaking wet! These cups were of the type that slides when they are wet, and these ones in particular had accumulated so much water on the bottom that they were constantly moving or sliding. Which is irritating for most people who do not enjoy slight movement in the corner of their eyes or being soaked because the glass toppled. These cups in particular were not the standard Coca-Cola Glasses that are normally served with soft drinks.
• The thing that I have noticed on numerous occasions, which does not really bug me but I will mention it anyway, is that there are no creamers on the table. I have thought long about this and have decided that Denny’s seems to be the only place I frequent that does not have them so note to you coffee drinkers that you need to ask.
• 9:58 - Server finally arrived. This particular server the partner and I have had before and she has never been particularly friendly to us since our first encounter, when we tipped accordingly because of her awful attitude and rudeness, so we try to go out of our way more so for her because we don’t want to feel the awkwardness of leaving.
• This particular time Server “MO,” as we shall now call her, was extremely angry - which I tend to blame on a bad day because I am a little bit of a devil’s advocate with servers. I was a server for a few years and can understand certain things but nevertheless she was horrid. She simply said “Eating?” and took our orders. The entire time she never said anything else except to offer the chicken finger meal which we couldn’t find on the menu so that was semi-helpful.
• Besides the chicken finger meal offer, MO did not say anything for the rest of our visit, and even threw the menus into the holder which happened to be attached to our table.
• 10:06 - We finally received our creamers, and began to drink our teas. The partner’s tea pot was only half full, but mine was three quarters full.
• 10:14 - Food arrived promptly as per usual but was dropped heavy onto the server before leaving to the table next to us who had just been seated and talking to them as if they were a server’s dream table. MO did not say anything.
• Upon notice, my toast was quite soggy for some reason and as such I did not eat it after the first bite. The bacon was extremely undercooked to the point that the one piece looked raw so I cut off the raw bits. This is raw for me but I took a picture for you to really decide.
• 10:15 - NO WORD OF A LIE, MO dropped off the receipt by dropping it onto the table and walking away.
• When we were finished the partner half suggested that if we did not frequent the place as we do then we should just leave without paying. Which we would never do, and definitely did not in this case either.
• Waiting at the front desk another server asked MO if she was going to help us and she responded with a quick “No, you can” before disappearing out a back door - to kitchen or outside I am not aware. I believe this other server was taken by her comment but came to help us quickly and thanked us, I asked for a manager briefly if it he had a moment to grab one and I shared brief words with her including a note that I would be writing to head office in regards to the incident and she said she understood.
• My letter was mailed out one week after the incident: I sent one to head office in Toronto, one to the district office in Vancouver, and dropped off a courtesy copy for the GM at the store. I have yet to hear a response, but do not expect one.

We have been back since and haven’t had any problems with any other servers, and MO has seemed to lighten up a little bit towards us but whether or not that is in regards to my letter I do not know. I did, however, have one of my favorite server’s walk up to me and thank me for my kind words - apparently he been told about the letter. I try not to be overly negative towards someone without a basis for comparison so I threw his name into the letter congratulating them on his excellent service and how he remembers my name, my regular order, and is great at multitasking. I asked them to some how commemorate him on his quality, whether it be small with a certificate or larger with a raise.

All and all I leave you with the following recommendation: Every place has its quarks, try not to let them get you down. Am I going to stop going? Probably not until I get hair in my food.

• Ambiance: 9/10 due to generally fairly good, no reason not to go really, even with the occasional sticky spot!
• Food: 8/10 due to lack of supply of creamers, food being extremely under or over cooked, and half full glasses that slide everywhere.
• Service: 2/10 due to MO’s lack of conversation with us, abuse of items around her to manipulate the atmosphere, blatant displeasure towards us versus other customers, and lack of… idk, maturity?

Farewell Evil Foodies.

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