Mistakes happen in restaurants. No one is perfect, and if you're turning enough business, occasionally something won't turn out right.

I think "make goods" are potentially the most important part of being a good restaurant; how your staff and management react after something unsatisfactory happens, and how they make their customers feel good enough to return for another visit.

But in recent years, the art of making good seems to have fallen by the wayside at many places, and I find that disappointing.

Scott and I were out for brunch the other morning, and my meal was awful. Usually, I won't say anything because, for the most part, I'm actually a pretty low-key diner, and because I worked the industry for so long, I understand and I forgive and forget quite easily. But this time, my food was so disappointing that I wouldn't have eaten it at all if I hadn't been so hungry.

The dish had appeared layered with a white sausage gravy that wasn't in the menu description, and my over-easy eggs came cooked solid (which I hate -- I like a runny yolk). When the server came over after a few bites and asked how things were, I said, "You, know, my eggs are overcooked, and this gravy over the top is really bitter."

"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry." And then she walked away.

I was stunned.

But then I started thinking about it more and realized it's unfortunately a sign of where more and more Milwaukee restaurants are heading. The art of lagniappe, or going above and beyond, has really gotten lost in our new generation of restaurants. That's not to say that all of them aren't making good, but it's becoming rarer and rarer.

Another one that stands out in my mind was during a review dining visit when I dug my fork into a plate of pasta and came up with a piece of a plastic cooking glove. Back in the day, and still at many well-run restaurants, this would have merited taking the entrée off our bill completely and bringing me a new dish. At this particular establishment, the owner apologized and bought us two glasses of HOUSE wine. I'm glad he thought we were worth the dollar or two that house wine cost him.

I hear the food and service at said restaurant is quite popular among our friends these days, but I won't go back there. And it's not because of the plastic. Quite frankly, it could've happened anywhere that a line cook wasn't paying as good of attention as he or she should have been.

What turned me off so much was the "make good." I didn't feel an ounce of goodwill towards that restaurant when we left. I just felt like they didn't care enough about me to want to make me feel good about their restaurant.