Chicago Williams BBQ — Restaurant in Frankfurt

1 STAR FOR SERVICE IS TOO MANY!!! I came here with a group of colleagues to the restaurant. I have eaten at Chicago Williams in Berlin many times and assume the quality of food and service are as good. BUT BOY WAS I WRONG! We first ordered the appetizers and a round of BOTTLE BEERS (non-mixing drinks, non-pouring drinks). We had to rush the waitress at our table several times and got promised “5 minutes”. That “5 minutes” went by for 12 TIMES. It was a bit more than 1 HOUR for us to get our first round of BOTTLE BEERS. When we got it, we finished our appetizers half an hour ago;) The waitress for our table got a “lovely” attitude as well. She handed our beers without even looking at our faces and just slightly slammed it on the table. Additionally, she got our beers wrong. Some beers were missing and some were wrong. We specifically told her that you need a piece of pen and paper because we can clearly see she can’t remember it right. It got so bad to a point we were so upset and pissed off, we lost our appetite. One member of our group was fed up and stood up, took off. Ruined our whole evening. Now comes the main course. SUB-PAR at best. Not to mention it took another hour AFTER the appetizers to come. Which was 1 hour + 2 times “5 minutes” more promises. It got to the point we were standing up ready to get our jackets and pay for what we ate and drank. Mind you, when doing the reservation, we ordered how many pax times the amount of meat on the platter that we would eat. They knew. The food came, not really hot or warm. Brisket was dry, BBQ sauce tastes a bit better than a Heinz bottles. The gravy for mash & gravy tastes more like a smoky red wine sauce with not proper deglazing and colour.

Overall, I feel sorry for the Chicago Williams in Berlin as the one in Frankfurt totally ruined its reputation. It was a horrible night for me and my team. No money in the world can make us eat there again.

P/S: we are all experienced in the hospitality industry with tens of years of experience. We show empathy and sympathy especially towards service people. But in this case, even we cannot take it anymore. And even if there is something wrong your system, or manpower, a simple warning to the guests that the items will come slow, will never hurt anyone.

NEVER....

One "star" just to post this comment and for ambienete. "+" ambiente

"-" arrogant and extremely slow staff "-" quality of food is bad "-" prices: quality/price ratio

Now a bit more details.

I know Chicago Williams BBQ from Berlin and it was one of my fav places there. Was very happy and fascinated that they finally opened a branch here. However, not for a long time.

Arrogant and extremely slow staff. We were waving, calling for them, etc. I got even an impression that they are hiding their eyes. At the end each and every time we had to go inside and ask for a help. The same was with all the rest of the tables. Guys sitting next to us were waiting for someone to pass by and take their order more than 30 mins :) Furthermore, in case of complaints the reaction of the waitress was awful, namely, she was abusing us. First of all, she forgot some of the food we ordered. When we told her this, she said that we didn't order anything else and our German is so bad that she partially doesn't understand us. All of us are more than 10 years in Germany and our level of German is C2, we work in German as well. Secondly, she didn't inform us about the prices. For example, we ordered water. In the menu it was stated 3.5 Euro. In the bill we had 7.5 Euro. Her explanation - you ordered a big bottle. All fine, but would be nice to hear that in advance. Thirdly, when we made complaints about the food, the waitress simply answered: "You just do not have any idea about good pastrami. Do you know what pastrami is?"

Quality of food: Pastrami was extremely salty and burnt. Cole Slaw in REWE is much better than the one we got. Separate words on cocktails. Me and my friend ordered the same long drink which was not on the menu list. There was no alchohol inside!!! We discussed this and decided that most probably this is a lemonade and we didn't understand the guy - the only nice waiter there. When we mentioned this to the waitress, she said that there was alchohol inside and we simply doesn't know the taste of rum.

To cut the story short, bad food for high prices and so...

My wife and I ate here (Chicago Williams) for the first time. Our server, a gentleman from Croatia, was very very good at what he does. Very accommodating, quick with our inquiries and followed up with "if there were problems?". Nice job. Enjoyed the service. That's why I gave it a four star rate.

The four star is a bit misleading. Only for one reason. The other gentleman who met us as we entered the restaurant and eventually took our payment. This guy is a shyster!! I didn't get his name but be aware of the front door.

Just so there is no confusion the date and time was 18/07/2023 at 19:47. Management can, if they want to, check this time to find out who it was and maybe take some action.

We had asked our server before leaving if there was a tip built in to the bill? We always tip good service. He politely said that yes it was. Great. We went to pay the bill at the front door and the shyster was there. Before paying he asked "Would we like to leave a tip?" . We told him that the server had told us it was built in the bill total. He quickly told us that "No it wasn't but it was okay not to leave a tip". Thinking we were wrong in what we heard we left a tip (we always do) for the good service. "Shyster" then quickly (very quickly) showed us the bill print out and cleverly had put his finger over the section showing the area where the gratuity was built in. WE DIDN'T SEE IT. But he drew attention to the portion we had added the tip and the total. Look for the word speisen on my receipt.

Not sure if the "Shyster" pocketed it for himself or not. Not sure if liar, thief, scam artist is the better description. But I wouldn't call him that unless I was in front of him.

I truly hope this review finds its way back to someone of authority at Chicago Williams in Frankfurt at Mainzer Landstrabe 167 and some corrective measure can be taken.

Tourists beware. Know your german reading skills before entering this place.

The food (ribs) unfortunately were way overcooked, dry as the Sahara. It was no pleasurable...