Unhappy with our visit, $38.25 later...

Please handle issues like that at the time of the incident. It does
not help you or the store to postpone and send a letter. Too late
IMO. Ask for help then instead of avoiding the issue and you would
help the company more.

First off, this matter should have been dealt with then and there.
Second, I wouldn't care who Sean was talking to and respectively
interupted to report the error. P.S. A bit of pink meat won't kill
you. Less carconegens (sorry) to worry about.

for food to be cooked to specification, I'm a little confused as you
state the burger was "dry," yet it was apparently undercooked.

All the meats and burgers I have ever cooked have been dry when they
are "well" done.

Was this a very thick burger where the very deepest center might have
stayed a bit pink, even though the burger appeared "crispy" on the
outside?

Sometimes very thick burgers are hard to really cook them well-done.

Sorry but I am one of those "speak up now" people when it comes to my
food and trust me I understand the whole uncooperative/tired/grumpy
child thing too. I am helping parent my grandchildren and they can be
less then ideal when they are in that situation. However, I will not
allow myself to get less then I pay for. If you felt that you were
getting less then steller service then you should have said something
then and there. I agree that you have the right to do it here, but I
am thinking that your comments would have carried more weight at that
moment rather then now.

I hope that all works out for you.

It was a birthday celebration for one of our principals. And the
restaurant's co-owner is a teacher.

The only two things I asked: That my drinks be replenished regularly,
and that my food be cooked through.

I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich. I cut it in half and proceeded
to eat the first half. Then, for some reason, I actually LOOKED AT
the sandwich.

The interior of the "grilled chicken" was, even in the dark of the
bar, definitely uncooked. I did not bother to wait for the server to
come back.

I went straight to the bar and showed my raw chicken sandwich. It was
replaced almost immediately with a properly cooked sandwich, and the
whole thing was comped.

If I'd mentioned this after I'd paid and left, it could have been a he
said/she said issue. It would have been unlikely that I'd have gotten
any type of satisfaction.

I agree with you, the service you received was poor. It sounds like
both the kitchen staff and wait staff both dropped the ball. It is
always annoying when servers make socializing with their coworkers a
higher priority than making themselves available to the guests they
are currently serving.

I agree with the other replies below, the best time to resolve these
issues is on the spot, usually by getting their attention. You
shouldn't have to, however when places are poorly run, sometimes it is
necessary to flag people down.

This is very valuable feedback, and hopefully the restaurant manager
can take action to prevent future occurrence.

Personaly I don't see why you have to wait for the waiter to ask if
everything is okay to speak up. As soon as I realize something is
wrong with my meal I flag down the waiter and say so. If they are with
in sight but not paying attention like you mentioned I have been known
to go up to them and say something nicely. I also tip according to
service and that guy wouldn't have gotten more then a penny based on
your discription.

I agree that management or waitstaff should be walking around making
sure everything is OK.

But since they weren't doing that on this visit, you should have
flagged down any employee to mention the degree of doneness. And the
onions and mayo.

Should have been pretty easy to put some onions on a plate and some
mayo in a little cup for you.

Fixing the burger would have taken a little more time, but you should
have spoken up.

Isn't this considered speaking up?

You are certainly persistent.

Here's my view:
I personally could make do without the onions. I LOVE onions, but
probably wouldn't make a complaint about that.

Mayo, or whatever sauce--I'd speak up. I do like a sauce of some type
on my burger.

Degree of doneness--I would DEFINITELY speak up at the time. OP's
burger was "not done enough" for her. Perfectly reasonable concern.
Perfectly reasonable preference. So make sure that the burger is
properly prepared.

But once OP leaves, especially after paying, there's no real way for
any manager or waitstaff to verify the complaint or rectify it.

I can see being fed up and wanting to leave, especially with a child
in tow. But I'd at least show the burger to waitstaff and wait for
some type of "compensation".

But right now, all we have is someone who claims to have been served
an underdone burger. Nobody from the restaurant can verify this. In
fact, the customer paid the entire bill and left without saying a
word.

What is a restaurant to think about this?

The best thing to do is not engage, not give him/her an audience. If
someone is going to consistently make unreasonable claims and
arguments, what's the point in engaging? Do you think that person
suddenly change his/her attitude, character, and personality? I didn't
even read hizzer post with the subject line "I apologize" (or whatever
it was) because I knew there wouldn't be an actual apology in there,
just some lame defensiveness that didn't address what I'd actually
said.

Look at all the back-and-forth posts with this person.

The best thing to do is to not read it, not respond, let him/her have
his favorite thing int he world: The last word.

The pub burger doesn't seem to come with onions or mayo:

"Ale-braised onions and mushrooms, creamy peppercorn-ranch, melted
Cheddar and Swiss cheese, and fresh tomatoes. Served on a toasty onion
bun."