'AITA for blaming my pescatarian friend for accidentally eating meat at a restaurant?'
"AITA for telling my pescatarian friend it's her fault she ate meat"
bittergoblin- writes:
I (23F) went out to dinner with my friend (25F) over the weekend at a restaurant in our town. She's been pescatarian since she was 14 and is a huge advocate for eating less meat. I am an omnivore, but I respect her lifestyle choices, especially as she doesn't shame me for my decisions.
We've never been to this restaurant before, so we were excited to try something new. She ordered a squid dish and I ordered a beef dish. When our food arrived, we noticed her squid looked a little strange as it had pieces of what seemed like dark meat in it.
She took a bite and then called the waiter over, asking if there was meat in it. The waiter confirmed the wrong item had been given to our table and apologized profusely (he didn't serve us), taking the dish away and promising the food would be remade correctly and taken off our bill. My friend, at the time, accepted this and said that she understood mistakes happen.
I asked her if she was okay, as she seemed a little thrown off (understandably), and she said she's fine but obviously disappointed. Her correct dish arrived and the waiter again apologized to us, and she seemed okay from that point on. At the end of our meal, the restaurant brought us complimentary desserts as an apology and, when we paid (just for my dish and drinks), she left a tip.
The next day, I looked at the restaurant on Google and saw she'd left a bad review (1/5 stars) in which she detailed how they brought the wrong item, how distraught she was as a result of their mistake, and demanded compensation (even though the item was taken off our bill and we got free cake).
I'm not defending the restaurant, as this lack of care is definitely a serious fault, but when the waitress who seated us asked for any allergies or dietary requirements, she didn't mention she didn't eat meat. She only brought it up after the wrong dish was made.
I texted her, asking why she left such a poor review, and she said that the mistake was "unacceptable." I then told her that it's partially her fault that she ate meat because we both noted that her dish looked like it had meat when it was first brought out and that she should've asked the waiter first before eating it.
She then retaliated and said I was being insensitive and is no longer replying to me. I just think it's odd that she said everything was fine AND left a tip, only to then complain on Google. Am I the a^#$ole?
OP added some context:
I also want to add that we are in the UK, where tipping is optional. There was no service charge already added to the bill, so the tip was entirely her decision. As many of you have suggested, I've posted my own review to clarify what actually happened.
Here are the top rated comments.
Catracas says:
NTA. I've been a vegetarian my whole life. Not that it gives me authority over how other people feel, but anyways. From your description, the wrong dish was a simple mistake. If she suspected there was meat, she should have asked beforehand, or (what I usually do), asked a meat-eating friend to try it first.
capmanor1755 says:
NTA. You just learned that this person is a jerk- and maybe an ex friend. I'd leave the restaurant a good review- they made a mistake with our order but promptly fixed it, comped the dish and threw in a free dessert - very classy.
AnimeAngel614 says:
Post your own review and call her out on it. Set the facts straight and thank the restaurant for taking the item off the bill AND giving you BOTH free dessert.
xalazaar says:
Well, what do you think of a person that accepts compensation already, then punishes and demands more? I'd be side-eyeing the girl, but she's acting like she had anaphylactic shock when all she had was meat from a different animal.