Restaurant staff redeems or aggravates bad customer service

With a sensitive palate, I risk special instructions being disregarded or not carried out. But how staff then handles it, makes a difference to my over-all restaurant experience.

Here’s a little lesson in how not to handle it, demonstrated by one Ashland eatery.

Having enjoyed hot fish sandwiches at other establishments, I was thrilled to see one included on the menu at this particular restaurant. I expected a fresh-grilled filet. Instead, I was served an overcooked, deep-fried fish stick on a bun.

Additionally, I requested that the fish sandwich consist of meat, bread and lettuce — nothing else. The resulting fish sandwich oozed a slimy, clammy sauce and I had to send it back.

Instead of preparing a fresh sandwich, someone merely scraped the sauce and replaced the lettuce and bun; when it was handed back to me I could see remnants of sauce stain on the meat. Poor service and poor food; my first visit will be my last.