My sister-in-law was a new "pescatarian," a word she coined to describe a vegetarian who will sometimes eat fish. So we let her line up dinner at a new Lake Tahoe restaurant on Memorial Day weekend last year.

I had checked out the menu online first - Asian-inspired California cuisine. I was practically salivating over the thought of the ahi tartare featured on the menu.

I have been out to eat in the Lake Tahoe area many times, and, unfortunately, have had many bad experiences. Tourist-area restaurants are incredibly inconsistent, in part because of transient employees, an ever-changing clientele and the seasonal nature of the area's businesses. Many restaurants rely on repeat business; the regular customer is their cornerstone. In tourist areas often the reverse is true.

We sat down in the minimalist-inspired decor, and I immediately noticed that the tuna tartare featured on the online menu wasn't there. In its place was a cervena carpaccio. The name cervena rang a bell, but I couldn't place it, so I did the next most reasonable thing: I asked the waitress.

I could have sworn she rolled her eyes.

"It's a type of tuna," she said abruptly.

Thin-sliced tuna instead of diced; it seemed a small sacrifice. I decided to check it out.

We ordered the wine, noticing that the vintage on the bottle and the vintage on the menu were different. The wine steward - although perhaps "wine guy" might be more appropriate - assured me the new vintage would be the same price

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so I accepted the bottle anyway.

While the wine guy was pouring the wine, the carpaccio arrived. I looked at the plate and realized that cervena isn't tuna at all. The plate was covered with bluish red raw venison sitting in a pool of its own bloody juices.

One pescatarian was going to be pissed.

I waved over the server.

"Miss, I don't think this is tuna," I said.

"Yes, it is."

"That is venison," I said, pointing at the blood.

"Oh," she said staring at the plate. "Do you want something else?"

By this time my entree had arrived.

I had ordered the tempura-crusted Chilean sea bass (which is neither a bass, nor is it from Chile), which, while not wholly environmentally friendly, is one of my favorite fish. Unfortunately for me (or fortunately for the environment) it is often one of the most expensive.

I bit into it, expecting the butterlike flakiness of the most delicate of fishes. Instead of the milky white translucent flesh, I encountered an almost dark gray flesh.

I waved over our server once again.

"I don't think this is Chilean sea bass," I said.

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

Finally, I called over the manager.

"I don't think this is Chilean sea bass."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

He finally acknowledged that it wasn't Chilean sea bass; it was blue-nosed sea bass, an interesting mistake considering that one is twice as expensive as the other.

"I guess they sent us the wrong stuff," he offered as explanation.

"I can take it off the bill, if you want," he said after a long pause in a tone that seemed to suggest that he didn't really want to.

"Please do."

"It might take a while."

"I'll wait."

When I finally got the bill I noticed that the wine was more expensive than the menu price and that we had also been charged for sparkling water that we never ordered.

"We can take the water off the bill and fix the price if you want," said the waitress in a tone that mimicked her manager's.

When we finally left the restaurant it wasn't soon enough. As I walked through the minimalist decor, I realized several things:

- Be sure to read your bill. It is not obnoxious, it is just plain smart.

- If you are a customer in a restaurant and you get overcharged, say something about it. So many people don't want to be seen as a problem. You should never pay for something that you didn't receive. The same goes for an item that is not cooked right or a drink that doesn't taste right. Make them fix it - that's their job.

- Sometimes complaining to the manager might not fix a problem, especially if the manager is the problem in the first place.

- Restaurants that don't appreciate their customers, even white-pant-wearing out-of-towners, don't deserve them.

Jeff Burkhart is an award-winning bartender at a Marin bar/restaurant and an author. His columns appear weekly in Here. Add your comments to the end of this story at www.marin-sonoma-here.com. Contact him at jeffb@thebarflyonline.com.