When dining at Tampa restaurants, we hope that our experience is one that meets and goes well beyond our expectations when dining there. However, there may be times when those expectations are not met because of circumstances or factors that we have no way of anticipating.

For example, there may be sick servers, and they may find it difficult to keep up with the demand for the number of diners that night. There may be a problem with the suppliers, and they may not have the food item that you’ve been craving all week.

There are all sorts of reasons why something bad happens while you dine out, and you may find the urge to complain about it when you dine out. However, how exactly do you complain about something at a restaurant without coming off as entitled or a jerk? Here are some tips to help you out.

Don’t be rude

This is very common among people who constantly complain about their dining experience at restaurants. If you have a major concern about the food, whether they mixed it up, it wasn’t cooked right, or one of the servers messed up your order, always explain your concern in a calm manner.

Throwing a tantrum in the middle of the restaurant is going to make it difficult for management to take you seriously. Keep your cool, and explain to them exactly what your concern is.

Make sure that you have a valid concern

Make sure that you have an actual concern to complain about when you request to talk to the manager of the restaurant. Remember that any good restaurant takes complaints seriously, so if you complain about any small thing, it’s going to make it difficult for management to handle complaints properly.

Concerns like problems with the food like being served something that you’re allergic to is a valid concern. Complaining because you didn’t know what a dish was, ordered it anyway, and didn’t like it isn’t

Don’t wait until the end of the meal to complain

If you have an issue with the food such as it wasn’t what you ordered, or the doneness isn’t to your liking, then you should inform the management as soon as you notice.

Don’t eat your entire meal and then make a complaint to the management. This is tacky and makes it seem like you’re just looking for a free meal. Speaking of…

Don’t complain for the sake of a free meal

Most people who complain to management about any issues with their food have actual valid concerns about their meals. However, there is that very small percentage of people who wreck it for everybody else by complaining just for the sake of having their meal comped by management.

A good restaurant can tell the difference between someone who has a valid concern about their dining experience at Tampa restaurants, and someone who’s just looking for a freebie.