Cook Out — Restaurant in Albemarle

I was in town visiting family and recently visited the Cook Out in Albemarle, NC for the first time and had a disappointing experience. I ordered through the drive-thru: a 1/4 pounder, a cheeseburger, and another burger tray on the 2nd order. After paying nearly $25 for all orders, I checked the bag and found that two of the burgers had nothing on them—just the meat between the bun. The third burger had a tiny bit of cheese and onions.

I went inside to ask about it and was told that the burgers I ordered don’t automatically come with any toppings. That was surprising, as I assumed standard condiments like lettuce, tomato, or mustard would be included unless requested otherwise. Instead, I had to pay 21 cents for condiments and was handed packets of mustard, lettuce, and tomatoes to add myself.

As I stood at the counter dressing my own burger, I questioned why I was doing this after spending money. After looking over the menu, my cousin and I decided to order different burgers that came with toppings already, but we had to pay again. I politely asked if the change could be made as a courtesy, but the staff said no, citing Cook Out being a private company with strict policies. They ended up taking our original burgers and adding toppings to those instead, which made me a bit uneasy after everything.

To his credit, the drive-thru employee did come over and apologize for not asking if we wanted anything on the burgers, and I appreciated that. However, as first-time customers, we simply assumed our burgers would come with basic toppings unless otherwise specified.

To top it off, we accidentally left the third burger and didn’t realize until we were back in the car. I didn’t feel comfortable going back in, so I ended up explaining to my aunt why her burger was dry and I added condiments at home for her.

Overall, the confusing ordering process left a lot to be desired. I don’t see myself going back...

I am a very frequent customer at cookout. I work front desk at a hotel across the street and I am very familiar with customer service and exactly how things should be done. This cookout absolutely lacks these skills. The kitchen is filled with people who don't care. This is not the first time I have had a bad experience but I chose to give it another chance after I already spoke to a manager. I ordered one thing, was served something completely different, my hotdog was basically nothing but onions. I feel like my food (even though not what I ordered) was thrown together carelessly with my sandwich soggy and falling about, hotdog with onions everywhere and my fries/hush puppies were scattered all over the box. I will not be returning, I would rather pay extra for the other local restaurants than spend another dime at this particular...

This used to be my go to for fast food in albemarle because it’s the best bang for your buck. However our food has been wrong the past 3 visits but haven’t said anything because mistakes happen. This week we had sides completely missing out of a tray and the other try had nuggets that were pink inside. Tried to call to make them aware no answer so we drive back up there for them to not believe us about the missing sides. They didn’t replace my raw chicken nuggets. When we got home again the tray they remade for me with the missing sides had the wrong quesadillas in it. We called and manager refused to do anything. My child went without a hot dinner and had to eat cereal instead the rest of food went in garbage after 2 trips and things still not correct and no sympathy, where has customer service...