Never be afraid to ask for what you want at a restaurant!

Never be afraid to ask for what you want at a service establishment. You are paying for a serving & you have a right to get what you pay for. If a service establishment refuses to provide you what you request (as long as it's not unreasonable -- don't ask them to go fetch a fish out of the deep sea that they don't even have on the menu) calmly get up and leave. They'll get the hint. Now onto a scenario I stumbled upon this Valentine's Day:

So, my boyfriend and I stayed at a hotel on the beach yesterday for Valentine's Day. We got a great Groupon deal which came with a $10 credit to be used at the hotels restaurant (which we have eaten at before and I knew there was 1 dish that I really enjoyed -- chicken kabobs). When we got there, the chicken kabobs were no longer part of the newly revised menu (which is not reflected on their website BTW). So being the stringent WW person that I am I asked if they could tell me the sirloin weight in ounces (so I could justify the points because even 3 years in I'm not good with judging portions -- the hand thing doesn't work for me because I have BIG hands - damn those Jamaican genes lol). I was told 8 ounces and I felt that wasn't worth it ... so I asked if there was any way I could have just a plain ole piece of grilled chicken with a plain baked potato and plain steamed veggies (instead of the mashed potato and sauteed chicken monstrosity on the menu that I would be so uncomfortable trying to eat). My waitress walked outback, came back like 5 minutes later and was like "No. You have to order off the menu."

Now, mind you, there's a plain ole piece of chicken on a SANDWICH bread on the other page, and she tried to tell me different seafood dishes (lobster mac and cheese) was delish. Okay, I don't eat seafood, aside from an occasional piece of fried fish, and I'm asking for grilled chicken and you're telling me about mac and cheese? I looked at my boyfriend (who was starving btw lol) and he said "C'mon lets drive around we can find some place that'll give you what you want." I wanted to squeeze him. So we got up and left and after walking by the front desk the girl was a little surprised because she knew we had reservations. So I asked her if there was any restaurants around that were open (because it's winter and a lot of places shut down for the winter months) & she asked me what happened. I let her know I was told I HAD to order off the menu and she said that's not true so she got the big guy who runs the restaurant and the hotels food. He came out and told me that grilled chicken is not an unreasonable accommodation and told me and my BF to please come back in and dinner would be on him.

So with this, I say, never be afraid to ask for WHAT YOU WANT at a restaurant. You are paying for a service and if they won't accommodate your request -- simply don't give them your business. Pre-WW I would have said "Screw it, I'll get this and swallow it down" but now? No thanks. Give me my grilled chicken, it's what I planned for LOL!!