'AITA if I ask my wife to stop sending food back so often at restaurants?'

"AITA if I ask my wife to stop sending food back so often at restaurants?"

It seems like between 1/4-1/3 of the time we go somewhere, she sends something back to be remade. In her defense, she is never rude about it and always both thankful and grateful to the staff.

Now don't get me wrong, I'll send something back if it's burnt or wrong, but I feel like most of the times she sends it back for things that I personally wouldn't and I'm forced to either wait for my food to get cold or eat alone then wait for her to eat. Here's a few examples of reasons she's asked for her food to be remade in recent memory.

1) Hamburger wasn't seasoned enough.

2) Fries weren't as crispy as normal

3) Less sauce on her pasta than normal.

4) Not enough cheese on her cheesesteak.

In my mind, I don't expect food at a restaurant to be perfect every time. I honestly wouldn't care about her doing this if it wasn't happening as frequently as it is. At the same time, I want her to be able to enjoy our nights out. Would I be the ahole if I gently brought it up?

Here's what people had to say to OP:

WestStrength2719 said:

NTA - My mom does this and it can be embarrassing at times.

NowaGAgirl said:

NTA, but your wife should perhaps order fries crispy or ask for extra sauce on the side or mention that she likes her pasta saucy. If she is vocal when ordering things like this won’t happen as often. Also, salt and pepper from the table will remedy the burger issue.

Sparklingwine23 said:

NTA, if she's that picky she should make her expectations known upfront so the kitchen can know if they can accommodate her requests. Also, asking for more sauce just means getting a side of it, she doesn't need to send her whole meal back. If this is a common problem I'd stop eating out with her. I eat out regularly in my very busy home city and all over the world and have legit sent food back maybe twice?

No_Break_6660 said:

I’m 49 years old. I’ve maybe sent food back once in 25 years of eating out. Your wife sounds difficult or is very bad at communicating expectations. I would 100% have a conversation with her.

Equivalent_Lemon_319 said:

NTA. I understand that she isn’t being rude about it, but the examples given feel more like not living up to her personal preference that she should be requesting when ordering rather than something actually wrong with the food.

JanetInSpain said:

NTA, she's probably on every server's "please not my table" list. They hate hyper-picky people like her. She's treating all the staff in the restaurant like her personal servants. None of those reasons are worth throwing a monkey wrench into the restaurant's operation. Honestly I'd refuse to go out with her any more. I'd be mortified if she sent food back for such petty reasons.