TGI Fridays - Walsall — Restaurant in Walsall

My partner book a table for my birthday for our family of 3+ a pushchair we arrived and were left waiting at the door waiting to be seated for around 5 minutes despite the restaurant being less then a quarter full. We were asked to wait at the bar to be seated by a server passing by the main door. we then waited another 10 minutes at the bar to be seated. Another employee walked passed us (who had a mouth full of food) and asked if she could help like she hadn’t even been informed we had already been told to wait at the bar to be seated. I told her we were waiting to be seated and she found us a table promptly in an area where we could fit in our babies pushchair.

We sat down and the tables were very sticky and appeared like little effort had gone into cleaned it from the previous occupants. A young server came to the table around 5 minuets after we sat and asked to take drinks order. the server was miserable and appeared less than enthusiastic. These drinks arrived in good time.

Around 10 minutes passed and the same server came back and took our food order. we selected food to then be told it was out of stock. She didn’t ask how the steak was to be cooked it took my partner to intervene before she disappeared to state his request. We ordered only mains and sides.

15 minutes passed and we had one of our sides placed on the table by a different server to the one who took out initial order. 10 minutes have passed and still no sign of the rest of our order. My partner Flag Down the server who placed the chips on the table and informed him we were waiting on the rest of our order and the chips were about to go cold. We informed him we wanted our food to be served together as we’d only ordered mains and sides. He appeared unaware of what was going on and apologised, and said he would have them replaced. another 30 minutes past before our whole meal was placed on the table to then Realise no cutlery has been provided, so we had to flag down another server and ask for knives and forks so we could eat our meal.

The food was of a good standard although is a little overpriced.

upon general observation during our visit, staff looked unimpressed and appeared lazy. A lot of the staff congregated around the main bar and were laughing amongst themselves, despite people waiting to be served and attended to.

we ordered another round of drinks and the person who took our order appeared like it was an inconvenience with ask him for another round of drinks. These drinks took another 10 minutes to arrive at the table and our meal was already finished by then and we were without drinks.

I could see other customers were getting irritable after asking for bills and staff being very slow at Delivering them. we were then approached by another staff member who explained that the server who initially took our order had left her shift and all the receipts had been mixed up, therefore she was having to bother all customers to ask them what they had ordered it, so it could be re-entered into the system.

we could no longer tolerate the slow an appalling service, so decided not to stay for dessert, and we ate this elsewhere. No staff appeared to be sufficiently trained in hospitality and management is diabolical.

My partner accessed the ladies restroom before leaving the main door to enter the space was grinding across the floor and was very difficult for somebody who is disabled or less physically inclined would not have been able to open the door. The doors to the main stalls were without a lock. Apart from one door. The toilets were not the cleanest and look like they hadn’t been attended to...

The service here is bizarre, to the point you feel like your custom is a burden.

When we arrived we ordered 2 x 2 - course set menus - 1 startermain 1 maindessert. We shared the starter which was fine. The empty plate stayed on the table for 10 minutes while the restaurant was empty but the manager and his staff hung around the kitchen on their phones and chatting, laughing. Weird, but no problem, we thought.

Once the table was cleared, little time had passed when we noticed a dish come out on the pass next to where the staff were congregated. There was only one or 2 other customer tables in the restaurant, so it was a good bet that it was our garlic chicken dish. It sat on the pass for 15 minutes under the hot lights before more food accompanied it - which sat there for another 10 minutes, until both dishes were brought to our table, one at a time.

Indeed, the chicken dish - with what was once a side of salad, was dry as a bone and we politely asked the server to take the food back, as explained above. We didn't want to endure a wilted salad and a bone dry chicken piece.

Once we had finished our one starter and one main - we told the server we wouldn't need the dessert so to cancel it before the kitchen made it and in our polite disappointment, we asked for the bill. This is when events turned ludicrous.

Initially we were presented with a bill which had 4 set menus put through - when there were only 2 covers. While completely nonsensical and ridiculous that this mistake had reached us (the customer), I stayed polite and pointed out that we had only been a table of two, not 4, and in fact had only had one set menu. The MOD - who had taken the chicken from the table, cancelled the dessert, now took our bill with an eye roll and came back shortly after.

This time we were paying for 2 set menus. I kindly reminded her that we had only had one main and one starter - not to mention that it was the restaurants lack of customer focus that led us to refuse their initial chicken dish. The MOD fought back, Rachel said that "she", my partner, who has a name and doesn't need to be pointed at by a 'customer service' representative, had eaten the starter and I had eaten the main course and that DESPITE we'd cancelled the other dishes because of the numerous fallibility in the service, we should still pay for the two set menus.

We couldn't really understand where else we would be required to pay for food we haven't eaten. It then became so completely ridiculous that all we could do was laugh at the situation that we had gone through several bills and still weren't paying for what we actually had. That was when Rachel scolded us for arguing with her, which is when it went too far. I don't have a problem if you don't understand what is going on, but when I come on to your establishment I expect to be treated with customer respect, nothing less.

We will never subject ourselves to this chain restaurant again, and we recommend any other customers reading this to do the same.

In a time when restaurant dining is in decline and huge restaurateurs are posting tens of millions of losses, every customer is keeping those staff paid and should be respected as such, especially when we do not cause you any grief. We will happily spend our money elsewhere. What's more is we were hoping to relax before a long journey back to Kent from this place, but all this place did was sour our day.

We...

We booked online, explaining one with a wheelchair and one with a nut allergy but then got there and there was no booking showing, they found us a table though, and it was a bit awkward as I was on the end of a booth and I use a powerchair so couldn't get my legs under, but they moved us to a better round table out of the way as soon as they could, which was perfect.

One of us has a nut allergy so the server explained that the manager would take that order and it would have a flag on it to say nut free and prepared in different part of kitchen under her supervision.

The manager's name was Zowie, and she was fantastic. I cannot praise her enough. She explained everything and I loved that the nut allergy was treated seriously and professionally. She checked on us at dessert time too for nut free alternatives and a make your own sundae was ordered.

Our server was a young chap who was very nice and friendly but he didn't listen, he may have been new though. He got one of the drinks wrong, then he forgot one of the drinks so we had to ask again 15 minutes later, and he said he had forgotten, then he took our dessert order, and as everyone had theirs bought out, he told me mine was out of stock after 15 mins, too late to order to eat with everyone else's dessert. To add insult to injury he charged me for the missing apple waffle dessert even though it wasn't available! I had to get a new bill made up as it was wrong, but as I say he was very likeable and polite but just didn't seem to be listening even when orders repeated.

I'm still giving 4 stars though as the nut allergy was the most important issue to us and I felt that our family member was safe as taken seriously as the manager explained everything in detail. We really enjoyed our visit, in spite of the little issues, which may be because of inexperience so will give benefit of the doubt.

Most of us had sesame chicken and we had chicken fajitas too, nice big freshly cooked portions. A brownie dessert, a cheesecake and make your own sundae with white choc buttons (nut free dessert) all a good size and quality. The espresso martini cocktails here are the best you will get anywhere! They are powerful, but that's what I like about them!

The restaurant was accessible with wide front doors, the aisles were mostly clear and accessible and the disabled toilet was clean, and large enough to turn round in a wide powerchair, so I could lock the door myself without knocking anything. Easy to use for transfer purposes.

Nice atmosphere. May be a bit loud for some, but that may be because I'm getting old! Will definitely...