Shorty’s Deluxe — Restaurant in Alexandria

I worked in the food service industry for over a decade so I hate giving a restaurant a poor review. I've gone to Shorty's several times now and I have to rate it due to the poor customer service and hygiene of the staff. On the most recent visit, my son and I ordered our sandwiches and lemonades in advance and when we came to the store, it was not ready and we waited almost 35 minutes for our order. There were several other patrons who had ordered waiting too. While we waited, one teen diligently worked to get the orders ready while two teens listened to their music, laughed and texted, put their literal fingers in our lemonades and acted bothered to talk to several patrons who asked questions about the seating area and menu. This is attached to a child's play place and I can see that being valuable for the neighborhood but there were kids running everywhere without adult supervision and parents who didn't buy food at the cafe taking table space. The sandwiches themselves are very flavorful with high quality vegetables, bread and meat and extremely generous portion sizes. The homemade lemonade is tart and refreshing. However, as I watched the poor teen employee in the kitchen try to keep up with orders while the other teen employees put their shoes on the counter, talked and socialized with friends, and not keep up with orders. When I asked what the hold up was, they said it was for the online orders but only one person was making sandwiches. I love having different local food options and restaurant groups in the neighborhood, but the staff need training on food safety, hygiene and customer service and you may need to hire additional staff if people are guaranteed a time for their order and then wait. There was also no acknowledgement or apology to me and the other patrons about the delay in the order. This is the third time in a row I had this experience and the restaurant wasn't busy. There was only two to four other customers. Not sure if they were also fulfilling delivery orders or carryout, but my carryout orders...

Saw online that they were serving “muffaletta inspired” sandwiches, which should have been a red light for me. Usually when they say they’re inspired by something, you end up with a mashup of the thing they’re trying to mimick, albeit with a different set of ingredients. I’ve lost track of all the muffalettas I’ve had at Central Grocer and Napoleon’s in New Orleans, so I knew this was probably not going to be like theirs. Anyway, I gotta say the place was well run, the cashiers were fast and friendly, and I got my quarter Joey sandwich (prosciutto cotto, finocchiona, soppresata, mortadella, provo, olive salad, garlic aoli) promptly, considering they were getting slammed for orders on a Sunday afternoon. The fillings were generous and top quality, the olive salad had a pleasant vinegar tang that cut through the fattiness of the meats, but I did not care for the bread. It tasted like a cross between flattened potato roll and brioche, which I’m not a fan of. It also had a vague sweetness that didn’t work for me. If you’re looking for something resembling the original muffaletta, Bayou Bakery and the Italian Store make decent ones. As for regular Italian subs, I’m going to stick with Eddie’s Little Shop and Capo Italin Deli, both use nice seeded hard rolls with...

Place is connected the Mulberry Cafe so there’s children running everywhere. Adults were using this connection to essentially stop watching their own children.

Food took way too long for pre-made sandwiches that were just okay - bread was soft and just kinda mushy. Not much flavor. Was supposed to come with bacon and that wasn’t there either. There were two teenagers running the place and making the food so didn’t expect much. Housemate lemonade was delicious but wasn’t a fan when I saw the cashier put her hand all over the straw instead of providing one with a cover. She was touching the pad for the payments and messing with her hair constantly. She wasn’t unfriendly but clearly in over her head. My friend got the wrong drink and while they offered to fix it, we had already been there probably 30 minutes for two quick drinks and pre-made sandwiches.

While we were waiting to order, one toddler literally pulled the sign off the wall so a nail and thumb tack fell on the floor. The adult with the child was paying zero attention so I let him know she has a thumbtack in her hand. He then told the cashier “the sign fell off” and my friend let him know that she actually pulled it off because no one...