It sucks, but the infrequency of ordering out is part of what makes it suck, yet doing more of your own cooking is something that points you in a good direction. I hope one day you get to the point where you can awkwardly remember "that time when $30 on some shitty takeout felt like a big deal" and laugh at it.
this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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the slop doesn't hit like it used to
No bread. No circus. Just misery. I love living in the imperial core!
Just like in andor!! 
I don't get take out anymore for this exact reason. So many restaurants are just small business tyrants who uses the cheapest ingredients and have like 1 overworked cook. The result is the world's shittiest food.
Overworked cook here. I hate when circumstances demand I send out Whittier food than I'd like. Where I am I can be a quality tyrant and get the line to slow down when things are too hectic. People can fucjing wait an extra minute or 2, it'll be worth it.
Thank you for your struggle against undercooked food
For most things if you're getting delivery you're food is gonna be dead on arrival. Pizza and salads are okay but deep fried stuff is gonna be a big gamble. If you're picking up yourself get there when you say you'll be there, I can't account for so.wtome being 10 minutes late to pick up. Dine in also takes qc priority over takeout cause frankly they tip more and are also I'm the same building when they aren't happy.
Bandaging bad delivery is the highest function of the countertop air fryer.
I've been a cook for 15 years as a job and me and the chef are huge advocates of getting an air fryer in the kitchen cause it actually covers SO MUCH MORE. You can make fries without blanching the potatoes! It makes great toast for when we need garlic bread and you can hold it at thar temp, it's a dehydrator, toss some whole mushrooms in oil and blast em in and you'll get amazing toasted mushrooms. A standard ass frozen waffle buttered on both sides and thrown I'm for 4 minutes is an amazing way to make a shitty treat great. I had huge doubts before getting one for Christmas cause basically my parents found one om sale for so cheap they had to get it for someone. Its not a glorified easy bake oven and it does have some serious utility. I have a bread knife and my good chef's knife and no other knives or peelers or wherever. I don't Iike gadgets generally. Air fryers deliver
Air fryer makes fries so consistently good I struggle when I get those limp soggy ones at restaurants
So many restaurants are just small business tyrants
What’s worse is a lot of the boot licking employees
Not every exasperated hexbear user could have become a treatler, but a particle of treatler is lodged in every exasperated hexbear user.
JK, I've had that happen before and it sucks
Have you tried complaining to the restaurant or doordash/whatever if you used that? Doordash type shit might give you a refund
Definitely leave a shitty review either way
Can't refund dd without pictures...which I didn't know until I finished the meal and checked 
yeah I left a poor review for them.
did you try the restaurant? like it might not help but it could maybe, it really depends, you have to wield the power of treat outrage like you're using the Force
Comrade that sucks. I read this post and just like instantly relate to the disappointment you feel. It sucks. It's not fair. Like if the capitalists can't even let us survive for the little moments like some comfort food delivery what the fuck is even the point.
When I treat myself, I usually just prepare something at home junkier than the usual slop I eat... like, for example,, I'll eat fried tofu and some vegan mac (w/ nooch) instead of chickpeas and spaghetti with sauce.
This kind of junk happening at restaurants is one of the reasons why.
If I were to eat at a restaurant and have the opportunity to be a treatler, I tend to stick with places I'm already incredibly familiar with.
when i get food, most/all of the time it's from places i've been before and know.
boring or whatever to "not try new things", but i've been burned so many times from overpriced, subpar food that i just don't care. unless i've got a trusted friend vouching for the restaurant, i'm gonna stick to the familiar, reliable spots.
especially delivery
you can get some idea what you're in for if you go in person but with delivery apps these days its like a 40% chance that restaurant doesn't even exist it seems like, so why would they care about the quality or quantity of the food (or has that ghost kitchen stuff calmed down? I haven't used those apps in a while)
I definitely try new spots but if I'm not getting dragged along by friends I usually only go for stuff thats on the cheaper end or has a really good vibe/comes personally recommended. Some of the only new things opening up lately are $20 cocktail bars and $50+ reservation-required restaurants though so might be break time from trying new spots
you can get some idea what you're in for if you go in person but with delivery apps these days its like a 40% chance that restaurant doesn't even exist it seems like,
I thought I was the only one who noticed that! I thought I was losing my mind! Around where I live, it's pretty much any place themed around chicken wings. There are like a dozen different ones, but all selling the same stuff with the same location, but with different prices, though they do have some weird differences in their menus, like some sell burgers but not wings, others sell wings but not burgers, despite it all being the same shop they're coming out of. And then the poor delivery driver gets fucked over because they can't find the right place because it doesn't exist.
Ghost kitchens exploded as a business model during COVID lockdowns
My partner and I generally try to pick it up ourselves so that we can give everything a quick double check, but yeah, even then it's not like we're tasting it before we go, so this shit can still happen. A recent example: we got takeout from a regularly visited pizza place to celebrate a new job, and while the pizzas looked nice, when we got home we found out they were thin and floppy as fuck. We found out the hard way that they only give you thicker crust when you order a specialty pizza like one with a calzone built in.
We try to go to the vegan places around us since in the last couple of years, veganism hasn't been as trendy (to the average treatler, I don't treat it like a trend myself) and vegan places generally have to keep their quality and quantity up to prevent going out of business. Several places around us that tried to downsize or raise prices have already closed down. A couple even reverted to food trucks since the costs are lower and customers tend to have lower standards while not really having to lower prices all that much.
I had a bahn mi yesterday and I was really looking forward to it and it sucked.
Soggy, bland, and the tofu was gross and tasteless.
I feel for you.
I remember having a moment like that, after a double-shift no less. Ordering in (or even picking something up on the way home) used to be an incredibly rare treat. When everyone gets their item but you and it's just like, "all I wanted with this tiny pickmeup." I hope you can get a refund or something.
Ah well, what are you going to do. At least I'm smarter now.
Yeah, that sucks. I do this all the time. I'm so hyper-fixated on saving money right now that something like this, which shouldn't be a big deal, feels like a major personal mistake. If you're like me, at least in a week or two you'll be less and less bothered by it.
I lost $12 on a bad Nintendo DS battery and I'm annoyed as fuck about that right now.
I stay away from takeout; mostly because they usually mess up the order, but also because it's usually not worth the 50% cost increase just to have it delivered
I have had that experience quite a few times because landlord didn't let anyone could cook because the smell reduced property value or something... 
I only took the option because it was cheaper in comparison and had a washing machine and dryer which others didn't. I didn't want to walk 15 miles with a laundry bag or switch 3 oddly timed buses. Hot water ramen and multivitamins ain't that bad if you are in that kind of situation.
Yeah unless you know the place it's a real big risk.
Some of those packaged meals in the freezer/refrigerated section aren't bad at all and can be had for $8-$14 And you can just microwave it so it's still a pretty lazy meal. Add on some fresh rolls or a loaf of bread like french bread or sourdough for $4 and you have a tasty comprehensive little meal and some left-over bread for $20.
Could you do a chargeback?
No unfortunately.
That sucks. 