honestly, after working in a few restaurants, i can say taht i have never witnessed any overt damaging of food in retaliation for a guest sending it back. Normally, it's just a matter of the guest having a different notion of what they ordered in mind. It's not a big deal most of the time and not something the kitchen gets bitchy about.
hell, even things that come back several times (some people are just that picky) go out w/out an incident, mostly bc the kitchen staff doesnt' wanna deal with that order anymore.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but in restaurants ranging from applebee's quality to fine dining, i haven't seen it.
As for me, i'd probably not bitch unless it was just BAD. If my gf didn't like it, i'd ask if they could do something about it/get another/anything like that bc she is pickier than i am and i normally have a disarming voice/face. otherwise, i would probably just pay and not return. I pretty much only go where i know i like the food, anyway, and i'm fairly happy with the unknown places as well. Keep your expectations low and you'll be surprised more often
