The Real Reason You Might Not Want To Ask For A Substitution At A Restaurant

Dining at restaurants can be a fulfilling experience. Maybe you're exploring dishes that you've never tried before or are salivating over an old favorite. Or you're out with your friends and just want to unwind over food and drinks. If you are a bit mindful, some tricks can make your restaurant experiences a lot better. As per food legend Anthony Bourdain, Tuesday is the perfect day to schedule a restaurant visit because you'll have lots of fresh food at your disposal.

 "Generally speaking, the good stuff comes in on Tuesday: the seafood is fresh, the supply of prepared food is new, and the chef, presumably, is relaxed after his day off," Bourdain wrote in The New Yorker. He added that chefs like to prepare meals for customers on weekdays and are likely to be a lot more creative with cooking styles. 

Also, according to another chef, Eric Silverstein, it's wise to not ask for substitutions in a meal and order the dish the way it was visualized by the chef (via Insider).

Chef Eric Silverstein from The Peached Tortilla and Bar Peached believes that you're likely to cause disruptions in the cooking process if you ask for changes in a particular dish. "The muscle memory that goes into making that dish is now thrown out the door," he said, per Insider. "A dish is meant to be eaten how the chef envisioned it, not as how you envisioned it."

Plus, he believes that major changes can make things a lot more chaotic in the kitchen, too. "Try and have the dish as the chef intended it, or don't order it at all," he explained. And it's possible that you may not even enjoy the dish after calling for substitutions. Silverstein isn't the only one. Another cook wrote on Reddit that while they absolutely account for allergies, changing a dish in other cases doesn't make a lot of sense. "Most times, dishes are created in a specific way, with specific ingredients, because the cook/chef wants you to enjoy it in that specific way," the person wrote.