As a professional chef, who has worked in many restaurants, some of which would be considered fine dining, the we don't have time excuse doesn't cut it. I have led a staff of 300 cooks and 1500 servers for 15 restaurants and any of my chefs that said they didn't have time were cut from the company pretty quickly. That said, I personally like the membrane on for a rib that doesn't fall off the bone but I understand that peoples opinions differ greatly in regards to food. In my time being a chef, had someone addressed a person of the food with your question I would have expected them to bring me out of the kitchen to answer your question personally, and I would have stated that we didn't do that because its personal preference and that I would keep that in mind so I could make sure some racks had no membrane so you could request that on your next visit. I've worked shifts for holidays where I went in at 5 am and didn't leave until 5 am the next day to make sure I was prepared for the holiday and the following day to make sure there was time to hit every aspect possible and make sure prep was done properly. Not every cook is cut out to be a chef, last new years was an instance where I went in at 5 am knowing I had 175 tables reserved and had another 200 walk in and kept my restaurant open to serve them. Asking to speak to the manager was the wrong choice, you want to talk to the head chef/executive chef/sous chef as they can make those changes happen for you. Cutting corners in food service doesn't help anyone. We use all fresh ingredients and make everything from scratch, even our salad dressings and complimentary bread. Not every place is the same though, if you're paying $20 a rack you do expect proper service and quality, and a true chef respects that and takes your criticism to heart. When you are unsatisfied with food, make sure you address the chef in charge though, they hold the power over food.
