Macaroni Joe's — Restaurant in Amarillo

Whoa! I can’t even believe what just happened. We go to Mac Joes for special occasions. We had a special occasion and my teenager chose Mac Joes. We usually go as a party of 5 about once every 2 months or so. It’s “our place”. We usually have or see the same servers such as Jaime. We usually love everything about it from ambiance to service to food. Tonight we didn’t even find a remnant of that. We had a reservation for 3 on a Monday night. We arrived 10 minutes late and were the only ones seated in the main dining room. Our first surprise was that the menu had changed quite a bit. Basically, several items are no longer being served and although there are supposed to be lots of new items, the menu simply listed the name of the dish and “coming soon”. Ok. Not a huge deal. We ordered appetizers, salads, and entrees, and 1 glass of wine. Just 3 of us. We do like to dine, but it took us over an hour and 10 minutes to get our entrees. Well, my husband and son anyways. Mine took about another 10 minutes after theirs. I told them not to wait on me so they began to eat. Well, both had asked for potatoes. My son had an incorrect side, but my husband was flat out missing a side altogether. We are waiting for our waitress (who we’ve been told is making my entree….is she the chef too? 🤷🏼‍♀️) so they begin to eat and their risotto and steaks are cold. Not just lukewarm, but cold. At this point they’re starving since it’s been almost an hour and a half since we sat down so they just sent their risottos back and asked for their sides of potatoes so they could eat some of their steaks while waiting. Now my lasagna arrives that our waitress prepared and I finish that before they ever get their sides back. If was a nightmare. Eventually, the manager stops by and apologizes and offers a free dessert which we don’t want bc now we just want to leave. At the 2 hour mark my husband has to leave for a business call. I kind of thought maybe 1 or our 2 appetizers or a drink or something might be comped, but nope. We were charged the full $158 dollars for 3 of us. We would have had a much better experience at the Olive Garden or Outback. I’m not saying that lightly. Something is awry here. I truly expected to check reviews and find similar problems. If this were Chilis or Olive Garden, it would get 3 stars but this is what is usually 4.5 star Mac Joes. We will think very very long and hard before we ever return and I’m warning you to...

So I never post about reviews and go on about my day but this one really disappointed me, I have used Macaroni Joes for many years for date nights, family outings and more. I have always spoke very highly and recommend this restaurant to anyone who would listen for the high quality in service, food and atmosphere. But this time I booked a reservation for Saturday the 15th for a Valentine’s Day dinner with my better half and can’t explain full enough of the disappointment. We where lead to a far back room of the restaurant that had no decorations and had felt like we were no longer in the restaurant, it felt as though we had been stuffed into a spare room for profits for the restaurant rather than to dine in a high class environment. As we sat at our table it was incredibly small and up against the wall, with the slightest touch the table was very unstable and would slam into the wall over and over. We were also seated right next to the waiters cart so every time they needed menus or silverware we had to listen to the metal clinking together and the waiter almost bumping into us to get these items. As we sat near the doorway to enter this room I watched as they brought more guests in and the reactions on their faces were all the same nor did they try to hide the disappointed look, as I recall one couple walked by us and I could hear him say to his wife “what the hell is this”. One woman had walked in, looked around and said absolutely not and walked out. The food was very mild and bland the menu was extremely limited and not what I have previously expected from past experiences. I will say the one and only decent experience was our waiter, I believe his name was Aaron, I remember he worked for AISD as a couch. He was a delight and was extremely professional and friendly. But as far as the atmosphere and food experience we were very...

This review isn't about the food, the ambiance, or the low prices but all of the above are true. I want you to know about the kind of business you are supporting. My son, Liam worked for Mac Joe's through high school and beyond. He had dreams of being a chef (among other things.) Tragically, he passed away at age 20 last May. I had to call his boss and break the news. Immediately, Shannon and Jeremy, reached out to find out how they could help. They truly meant it. I was obviously useless in any sense. His death was unexpected and Mac Joe's knew that Liam worked hard and he helped me and his Nana when we needed it. They'd even allowed Liam to keep veggies that weren't used or going bad for my pet pig. They all knew Liam's story. I waited a while before holding Liam's Celebration of Life. When I asked Shannon for venue suggestions, she simply said, "We'd love to do that for you. We just bought a new venue and Jeremy (head chef and caterer) will happily make finger food." That took the world off of my shoulders. It was a beautiful service. They've hung Liam's photo over his station in the kitchen. I've never known of another business to do such personal and loving things for an employee. I wanted everyone reading this to know that this business not only pours their hearts and souls into the incredible food, they empower their employees and truly love them like family. You should feel good about your decision to give them your patronage. You're never just a customer to them. You're a guest. -Carrie-Anne...