Biggest Restaurant Fails That Customers Had To Snap A Photo Of

Fine cuisine is marked not only by how the food tastes but also by how it’s presented on the plate. And while innovative plating may get you promoted by foodies on social media, bad plating can get you the kind of Instagram fame no one wants. From visually blah assemblies to downright painful obstacles, few things are more frustrating than a plate of food that's more trouble to eat than it’s worth.

Overdone

Imagine waiting 45 minutes for your $13 bar-food appetizer to show up, and it's cold and eight wontons vise-gripped to a clothesline. The guys in the background crossing their arms just wanted fried cheese puffs, not laundry.

Slurpy

"Stick out your hand! Hope you washed it. I'm going to squirt a bunch of condiments on there and you can lick 'em off" were apparently the chef's instructions at the most expensive restaurant this Redditor had ever visited.

Crunch Crunch

When the server sat this plate of arancini down in front of Reddit user swflmeli, their words were "don't eat the rocks"... to which we'd say, don't serve us rocks! What is the point of the rocks?! We like our arancini without an emergency dental visit.

Too Far

Ladies and gentlemen, today's chef's special is Eggs Benedict, without the English muffin, served in a milkshake glass! Sounds a little too gooey. We hope that's a fork sticking out the side, and not a straw.

Long Boy

We're sure the dessert chef at this restaurant thought they were being clever, but what's the use of a dessert bowl — dessert receptacle? — so narrow that the spoon won't even fit?

Dinner Bell

Ostensibly that's some kind of beef hung up on this...bell. Maybe the restaurant was making a play on the word "cowbell" but blech, way to make sure the food gets cold fast.

What In The Nashville

Pasta in a guitar case! That's what's been missing from our gastronomic Bingo board. We can dine out the rest of our days in peace, knowing we'll never have to deal with the cheese and marinara gunking up those tiny hinges.

Unhelpful

"Deconstructed food" was a cute phase, until diners realized that "deconstructed" meant presentations as awful as this. You'll need to delicately scoop the onions down from their perch before assembling your salad, sir.

Safety Hazard

Pause with us a moment, close your eyes, and hear the sound of fork and knife scraping against glass. If that doesn't turn you off to this dish, imagine the meat juice seeping down into the cracks of this picture frame.

Just Exhausting

This Reddit user shared a photo of spaghetti dumped onto a table, saying the restaurant — Bunky's Cafe in Madison, Wisconsin — serves it like this on purpose. To enjoy, you just grab a clump of spaghetti with your hands and tuck in.

Trapped & Moist

Look at these nice, crispy sweet potato fries. Look further at those nice, fresh slider buns. Then look again, because all that condensation inside this goblet destroyed both "crispy" and "fresh". Good luck getting the food out, too.

Just Bury It

Welcome to the Cards Against Humanity diner. We can offer you some *spins wheel* burned hot-dog bun ends, served on *spins wheel* a bed of uncooked rice, inside *spins wheel* a tiny Hobby Lobby craft casket.

Mojito To Go

Wine in a bag is great when you're a college freshman on spring break, because the rules don't matter. Everywhere, and every time, else, the rules explicitly state NOT to serve alcohol in bags. Grocery cart: three extra demerits.

Earthy

The phrase "shoveling food down" takes on a whole new meaning at this breakfast place. Food itself seems dry, but at least it looks like they clean their garden implements before using.

More Rocks

See, it's better, 'cause this steak is served on a big rock on top of the small rocks, so the delicious steak juices have two levels to go through before getting lost forever in a sea of gravel.

Not Thought Out

At first glance, this mini side salad looks almost cute, but then you have to think about the dressing. Better eat it quick, or you're going to get lovely globs of ranch running out of all those holes.

Oops?

Everything's bigger in Texas, including this Houston salad spread where the mixed greens were so hefty that the caterer decided to splay them out like a cornucopia. Tip: don't take the greens from the front of the pile.

Grubby

When we order "everything but the kitchen sink" nachos, it doesn't mean we want them in an actual sink, but then again you can't always get what you want. How does the dishwasher even clean that?

Low Effort

Messy, messy, lazy, lazy. No cheese, no meat, and no spring of vague herb atop this penne dish makes us think it all came straight out of a box and jar. Looks a little overcooked, too.

Think Before You Speak

Choose your words carefully when you dine out, because for all you know, you might have a dry-humored waiter taking your order. If you decide to order "nothing," you might get just that. And with how elegantly it's written, we bet the kitchen staff has done this a time or two.

Fancy Dining

At Sentrim Hotels and Lodges in Kenya, bar snack orders aren't a request they get often. When this customer ordered a dish of cheesy onion rings, the plate that was brought out had...onion slices and cheese bits. The cooks likely didn't understand, but maybe they could've at least melted the cheese.

Single Life

Ordering a plain hamburger is a simple request: a plain patty between a bun, with no condiments or toppings. This cook went all-out on the "plain" part, though: it almost appears more like a morning sausage patty than anything else.

Self Made

Everyone knows what a lemonade is...right? Well, almost everyone. But to kitchen staff who didn't grow up running a own lemonade stand on their neighborhood sidewalk, the drink request might be a bit confusing. When these customers asked for lemonade, they got this dish of lemons to squeeze into their water.

Sweet Tooth

Asking for extra frosting on a cinnamon roll seems like a harmless request, but if you get what this customer got, you'll likely have to schedule a dentist appointment after devouring the cavity-causing, incredibly sugary treat. Is there even a roll under there?

Burger Flair

The dining experience was going so well for Twitter user JCMills6 — until their chili burger got a little warped. Their burger didn't come out as advertised: instead of a top bun, an entire chili pepper was simply laid across the meat. Hopefully they had a glass of milk standing by.

Bread Bites

Whomever was running the ice cream machine forgot to drink their morning coffee! If the restaurant didn't have any actual ice cream sandwiches to offer, maybe they should've just had the customer order something else. They get bonus points for creativity, though.

Spice or Nice

Getting some mango salsa to go with your leftovers seems like a simple request — but make sure you tell your waiter how much mango salsa you wish to take with you. Asking for "only a little" could have you end up with this singular, sad-looking cube.

Lean Cuisine

In Brazil, a tomato salad isn't quite the familiar dish, as this Twitter user sadly found out. There's no actual salad here — only tomatoes, as far as the eye can see. If they added mozzarella and basil, they could make a caprese! Hey, at least there'll be room for dessert.

Cup or Cone?

If you don't want to eat wheat products, ordering at McDonald's can be frustrating, but when this fast-food lover ordered "two ice creams in cups," they thought they'd cleverly avoided the cone problem. Sure, they didn't ask for the cones, but now they don't have to worry about a mess — and their ice creams have nice little hats.

Health Crunch

Eating healthy has many different meanings. One person's "healthy" could mean dabbing off the grease from a pizza slice. Another person's interpretation might be more like this chef's, though. They made a customer's lettuce burger on, well, two halves of a whole lettuce.

Less Than a Pint

When you head out to the pub, most of the time you aren't there strictly for the appetizers; beer is on your mind. So here's a fair warning: avoid establishments like this. The bartender poured this mini pint that's more suited to an afternoon tea than an afternoon beer.

Darker, Please

At Holly_Wood1012's local Tim Horton's, they either have a problem with their toaster, or one absentminded employee who interpreted a toasted bagel to mean "a charcoal bagel." Hopefully some cream cheese should cover the taste?

All the Pickle Jars

At the local Subway, Redditor rafaugm wanted a healthy sandwich. Instead of teriyaki chicken, though, they went with some additional pickles. Perhaps they should have stuck to ordering something off the menu instead. You live and you learn.

Pick Your Glass

After this Twitter user ordered a Bud Lite with lime in a glass, either all the beer glasses were still being washed, or the bartender figured it was a good night for a prank. Either way, this lineup at the counter definitely got a few chuckles.

Taco Kit?

Remember college dining hall food? There were some treats to be found, but plenty of uninspiring dishes, too — made by cooks who were clearly fed up. After this Imgur user got their "taco" order, they realized maybe the cooks should stick to making traditional sandwiches.

Bacon Life

We've all encountered stingy cooks, and there's nothing more annoying than paying extra money for an added ingredient, and then not getting a bang for your buck. This Redditor couldn't help but snap a photo for the Internet after their much-anticipated bacon chicken sandwich had nearly no bacon.

Double Up

Sleepless night last night? Boring meeting ahead of you? An espresso can go a long way toward keeping you awake, and most patrons know what they want when they order a double espresso. In this case, the barista didn't know, and the "double" part was taken too literally.

Pizza Supreme

These pizza guys take their meat seriously. When Redditor andreamarie44 ordered a pepperoni pie, she got this monstrosity — which, for a meat lover, might just be the most beautiful sight in the world. For a vegetarian, it'd be a nightmare!

Marg Night Special

At this bar, the cocktail of the night was a strawberry, pomegranate, and mango margarita. What was delivered to the table, however, was each one as a separate drink. Something was lost in translation for sure, but it looks like the customer still enjoyed her evening.

Immune Booster

Fries served in a little car? How cute! But wait, what's that label on the front — is that the price tag still stuck on? It's water-damage-free, too suggesting this cute car has never been washed. A vehicle for germs.