1 /5 S N: I would have given more stars, however that became impossible due to both the overall experience and the completely inappropriate way it was handled at the end.
To start, we called ahead to ask how busy the restaurant was and were told it was not busy. Based on that, we brought our family, including two young children, for dinner. When we arrived, our table was not clean and we had to wait for staff to come clean it. There were multiple other tables in the same condition.
We ordered our drinks and food. Our children ordered a grilled cheese and a cheeseburger. My husband and I ordered prime rib with mashed potatoes and gravy, along with appetizers, mozzarella sticks and beer-battered fries. It took quite a while for the food to come out. When the appetizers arrived, we were also offered clear glass plates that were visibly dirty, to the point where we had to wipe them down with napkins ourselves. We chose not to complain and instead gave grace.
Our son did not like the fries he ordered, no issue there. The waitress asked if we wanted more drinks. Everyone except me ordered another, as I wasn’t ready at that point. For reference, these were simple drinks: two bottles of root beer, one can of Pepsi, and one can of Sprite, nothing complicated.
Silverware was sitting in a dusty communal cup on the table, open for anyone to touch, and there were only two forks available for a table that seats six. Again, we did not complain and made it work.
My husband’s and my salads came out next. The salads themselves were a decent size, however there was barely enough dressing for two bites. I ate those two bites and, once again, did not complain.
Mine and my husbands dinners were then brought out, while our two young children were still waiting for their meals. I ordered my prime rib medium-rare and it came out rare. The seasoning was not good in my opinion, and I was only able to eat maybe five bites before boxing the rest to take home for my dogs. The mashed potatoes contained chunks of skin that were hard and plastic like, and the gravy tasted like it came straight out of a can of chunky beef stew.
At this point, I finished my drink just trying to get through the meal and wanted another. However, the restaurant had cleared out even more and despite several empty tables, we did not see the waitress again until we were ready to leave, so I never received another drink.
Throughout all of this, we remained polite, said thank you, and never complained. That is simply the kind of people we are. When the waitress was present, she was nice. For that reason, she was tipped 10% of our bill, which we felt was more than fair given the experience described above.
As we were leaving, she came back over, showed us the money we gave her, and scoffed when we confirmed that the amount was correct. We then left.
She proceeded to follow us, including our two young children, into the parking lot to further confront us about not tipping more, stating that she has to tip out the kitchen staff and continuing on about how she gave “exceptional service.”
Being polite does not equate to exceptional service. Additionally, the kitchen staff, whose food was poorly prepared and served on dirty dishes, are not the customer’s responsibility. We also observed our food repeatedly being placed on a wooden shelf next to the bar and bathroom doors, with people constantly walking by. Hair was visibly loose and not properly secured by kitchen staff around food.
Despite all of this, because of the type of people we are, my husband kindly gave her additional money in the parking lot. Even then, she was still not satisfied and continued to speak negatively as she walked back into the bar.
I will reiterate: this entire interaction happened in front of our young children, who were visibly scared by her behavior. They are raised around respectful, appropriate adults, not ones who chase families into parking lots and behave irrationally over tips, especially tips not deserved.
This experience was uncomfortable, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.
