re: Worst restaurant experience you've ever had?

Was about 7 or 8 years ago, so I can't remember which restaurant it was. Almost definitely either Vincent's or Austin's in Metairie, but it could have been a similar place in the area.

Anyway, it was Christmas eve dinner. Place was packed (we had been there the previous Christmas Eve, so we knew what to expect). We had a reservation for a large table around 7PM. Get seated around 8. Not too big a deal since a lot of the family is getting tipsy at the bar. The waiter takes drink orders fairly quickly. About 45 minutes later, he still hasn't shown up. We've told a few other waiters about the situation, but they're working their asses off to take care of their own sections, so we're not expecting super swift action. Finally, come 9PM, the manager comes out and tells my family (about 15 people) that our waiter had quit and that he didn't have enough staff to take care of us. Luckily my gamgam, who lived nearby, had quite a bit of finger sandwiches and whatnot to feed everyone.

If they had comped some of our drinks, we may have made going to the place a tradition. Manager basically said tough shite, so we stopped after year two.