We tried a new place for most of us, Martini’s, an Italian place known for their pizza. Being a self-dubbed N.J. “pizza snob” I was only planning to get pizza if we ordered one to share, but no one was interested in pizza, which was fine by me. I was low on Points anyway.

I know this sounds lame, but I usually tend to order a salad because our dinners are always on Wednesdays and frankly, I’m usually out of Flex Points by then — I never seem to plan appropriately.

That said, I try to be flexible and have some extras like bread and olive oil, or some dessert, etc., when we go out to make it feel special and “normal” — a fun night out with the girls.

Not a disordered eater dining out.

Well, I enjoyed some tomato-mozz salad and bread as a shared appetizer. Then when we all ordered, I chose a grilled chicken-topped salad for my meal, and asked for oil and vinegar on the side.

The waitress told me they didn’t have those condiments separated out, and that the salad comes in a vinaigrette, so I asked for the dressing on the side. No big deal, right?

WRONG.

She looked apologetic, sheepish even, and told me, “Um … We can’t do that.”

I stared at her. “You mean I can’t have my dressing on the side?”

“No, the manager won’t allow it here. I could get fired … it’s the manager’s policy, salads are served tossed with the dressing.”

I –and my non-disordered-eating-friends — looked at her like she was nuts.

I was seriously stunned. I’ve been a server before, in college … and I know that when someone goes out to eat, they get what they want if they ask for it — the customer’s needs are to be met; that’s the golden rule.

And I know that there are people with all kinds of real food issues (not weight-related, such as allergies, sensitivities to salt, diabetes, etc). There are a multitude of reasons why someone might request dressing on the side, weight-consciousness being the furthest down the list.

At this point I was mortified. I hate drawing attention to the fact that I’m weird around food, and I’ve been trying, really trying, to be less weird.

(Anyone that’s been following my blog might recall mypicky-or-prissy Cheesecake Factory incident back in August. I did not want a repeat moment.)

I didn’t want to start something, and didn’t want to cause a scene, so I just told her to please go light on the dressing and gave her a little ‘tude when I handed me my menu, something I’m not comfortable with, but was totally warranted given my frustration with the situation.

She left with a curt apology, and my friends were floored. Every single one of them was incredulous. I worried I’d been making a mountain out of a molehill (something I tend to do — catastrophize) and they assured me that I most certainly was not over-reacting.

I picked at my salad, ate the chicken (which hadn’t been drenched in dressing) and dunked some bread in tomato sauce.

Fortunately, the company more than made up for the awful dining experience.

I’ll be writing a letter to the manager of Martini’s. I’ve seriously never experienced anything like this before.

I can see why, maybe at a fancy high-end, fine dining establishment, the chef might be adamant about cooking something as he/she intended (no substituions, perhaps not dry, not with sauce on the side) but usually they still accomodate …

Let’s be real — hello, this is a local pizza joint. There’s simply no excuse for not meeting a customer’s request.

In addition to my food being so bad, the service was craptastic even before we had ordered, and it was reflected in her tip from all of us–something I am loathe to do, but it was warranted in this case.

Knowing my friends were on my side helped a lot — they know me well enough and are honest enough to tell me if I am being ridiculous; we were universally appalled.

I didn’t feel like a disordered eater tonight … just a disgruntled customer.

How about you? Have you ever heard of this kind of service? Would you have been upset, too, or was I being oo high-maintenance?