Restaurant Depot — Attraction in Pasadena

As a business owner, I completely understand that every company has rules. But there’s a difference between following rules and using them as an excuse to provide poor customer service—especially when it’s over something as basic as buying a few items.

Every time I visit Restaurant Depot, the customer service feels cold and unwelcoming. The staff rarely greet you, and if they do, it’s with an attitude like you’re bothering them. Today was no different. I came in to get a day pass and was standing just two feet away from the desk. The woman helping someone else didn’t even acknowledge me—not a “hello,” not an “I’ll be right with you.” I waited for nearly 10 minutes, and not once did she look my way. For a company of this size, how is basic customer service not a priority?

To make it worse, I was denied a day pass because my ID was expired—over something as simple as needing paper towels for my business. Two weeks ago, I came in with the same ID and was allowed in without a problem. So clearly, this isn’t about policy—it’s about who’s working that day and how they feel. The inconsistency is frustrating, especially when I’m there to spend money, not cause problems.

I even asked if I could speak with a manager, thinking someone would understand the situation. The manager came out, said something to the employee at the desk, laughed, and as I tried to ask if they could make an exception just this once, he cut me off with a cold, “You need to have a valid ID,” and walked away without even turning fully toward me. No courtesy. No conversation. Just complete disregard.

This isn’t the first time their rules have gotten in the way of common sense. They stopped allowing kids with day passes, even though I’ve signed waivers in the past. Now they’re talking about getting rid of day passes altogether. Why would a business intentionally cut off income and alienate customers who are literally trying to shop?

On top of all that, their prices are usually higher than Sam’s Club. The only reason I ever go is for specific items like paper towels, and even then, I have to deal with unnecessary hassle and rudeness.

I would never treat my own customers this way. If someone came into my business, needed something simple, and had a small issue like an expired ID, I would talk to them, hear them out, and do my best to work with them not shut them down and walk away like they don’t matter.

At the end of the day, it’s not about the rules it’s about how you treat people. And this place has forgotten that completely.

I truly hope it’s just this specific team at this location causing the problem and not a reflection of Restaurant Depot as a whole. Hopefully, other locations are better and value their customers more. To be clear, this review reflects my experience with the front desk staff and certain employees like the manager, not everyone at this location. I’ve asked for help from the guys stocking shelves, and they’ve always been polite and helpful. Unfortunately, it’s the people who represent the front line of the business the ones customers interact with first that leave the...

I visited this Restaurant Depot location a few times, hoping each experience would be better than the last. Unfortunately, each visit left me more disappointed. From reading other reviews, it seems my experiences are not isolated incidents.

Shame on you, Restaurant Depot, for allowing such behavior to persist. It is apparent that customer care is not the company’s priority. The manager at this location has repeatedly displayed unspeakable behavior towards both customers and staff. Initially, I thought he might be having a bad day, but it seems his entire attitude is consistently negative.

On multiple occasions, I witnessed this manager belittling customers and staff. It’s disheartening to see such behavior from someone in a leadership position. Additionally, his inappropriate staring at female customers, including myself, made me extremely uncomfortable. The final straw was seeing him look down a woman’s shirt while she asked for help. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately.

I strongly urge the management to investigate this manager’s conduct and consider drug testing if necessary. No sober person should look as paranoid as he does. It’s clear from other reviews that this issue has persisted for months, indicating a lack of concern from the organization.

People deserve to know what to expect before visiting this store. If anyone in a decision-making position is reading this, please take action to ensure a safe and respectful environment for both customers...

This is one of the worse stores I have ever been. Never gets greeted at the door unless your are singing the “not responsible for kids accidents” waiver, you shop around and it feels like the employees are not happy to be there. Never asking if there’s anything they can help find, only the young guys in the meat dept in the forklift, they are nice! Once you get to paying, the cashiers don’t ask if everything was ok, or greet you, or even look at you. And you can’t walk out until your card clears the payment. I get it, that’s store policy and it helps with thieves and inventory issues but we are members of this place. We are all business owners that spend thousands of dollars each week if not more And they make you feel like criminals or like we are being watched every second that you spend there. Pam and Robert are the worse of the whole store. Pam called my husband an ignorant pathetic loser for trying to walk out with the cart before we knew this policy and when I talked to Robert about it, all he said was that was company policy and the he had no control of what she called my husband or the way she speaks to customers. They denied giving me corporate’s information so I had to walk back in to get this information from the greeter up front. Pam flagged my account saying not to let me walk out until fulled paid. We go there to pay, not to steal anything. We are business owners and members of this store, of course we are...