Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen — Restaurant in Austin

Very bad experience at this restaurant today. When I arrived, there was a couple waiting for a host to be seated. Before he returned, two young ladies came in after me. When he returned, I was standing where he would see me first before the ladies. Well he completely ignored me and acknowledged the ladies and took them to be seated. He then serves a few tables before returning back approximately 10 minutes later to finally ask me how many is in my party. I then told him I just want to order to go and was directed to another area. After placing my order there, I was told it would be ready in 20 minutes. It was more time than told, but I got an apology and left for home. When we were preparing to eat, my wife asked who ordered what and where is her order. We realized then we were given someone else's order. My wife called the restaurant and someone finally answered after about 35 minutes. She explained to the person what happened and was then asked to hold. 25-30 minutes later, she speaks with a manager. The manager was already aware of this because she had already spoken with the customer that received our order. She said would have contacted us if she had our information. She asked my wife to hold while she goes to the office to get her information there because it was hard to hear her while she was on the floor. About 25 minutes later, someone picks up and asked how can they help. My wife explained that the manager put her on hold and said she was headed to the office to speak with her and get her information to because we were not coming back tonight. The person put my wife on hold again then returned back to tell her that the manager stated she got busy and will call her back later. My wife stated that to that person she doesn't know how since she never gathered any information from her yet. My wife gave that person our information and asked to be contacted tonight. It is now 11:10 pm and we have yet to receive a call.............????? I would not have given any star, but I guess you are forced to give one in order to...

Where to start… We called Cheddar’s with two simple questions: do you have outdoor seating and are dogs allowed on it? Somehow that turned into a phone call where I spoke with 3 people before receiving a yes and yes to both questions. Under the belief that that was true, we showed up with our dog looking to sit on the patio and when we arrived we were told there’s no server for the outdoor patio. You have a 10+ table patio during the summer and don’t have a server for it? Instead, we were told to speak with the bartenders and ask them if they could run it. Spoiler alert, they could and were far more friendly. I’m not sure what’s going on with the hosts and servers in the front but you may want to figure some things out because less patient people would have left at that point.

More about the restaurant: parking is good, setting is okay, service outside of the initial interaction was good. For food we ordered the Monte Cristo, Dijon Chicken & Mushrooms, Kid’s Alfredo pasta, a strawberry lemonade, and raspberry lemonade (free refills). Before any of that came out we were given some rolls with glazing on them which was pretty good. Our food took a bit to come out but when it did it was good. The Monte Cristo is delicious but can probably clog an artery or two on the way down. Crispy, savory, and sweet with the jam. The dijon chicken was good, a good mix of savory and bold from the mustard and mushrooms and a nice bed of rice underneath. The sides of broccoli cheese casserole and mashed potatoes were olay though, nothing too great. Lastly, the alfredo pasta was good. A simple dish that they executed well, cheesy and the texture to the pasta good as well. As for the lemonades, they were good but not too standout from the rest of the meal.

By the end of the meal we felt it was good enough to return to another location but definitely not this location. The food was solid and the price was fantastic, but as it stands they definitely have some things to figure out in the front of the...

We called 2 hours in advance to be put on the wait list as it mentions to do so on their website. To call to be put on the wait list if party is larger than 6 people. We had 16-18 people. I called around 3 p.m. to be put on the waitlist for 6-6:15 & the guy "Danny" initially hung up after saying they don't do reservations over the phone or we dropped the call. I called back to better understand what he meant and informed him of what their website says. He says "I got you" and reassured me we would be taken care of. We got there about 30 minutes early and told there's nothing they could find regarding the reservation. I showed one of the hosts proof of the phone call etc and I unfortunately had to press the issue more after being told they are sorry it would be a 1.5 hour wait. As customers who called in and your employee drops the ball, I refused to make my other family members wait that long after it was my responsibility to make that reservation. We couldn't have walked in as suggested we should have done prior to make the reservation as we are not local to the area. The host offered to make it right but I believe this issue shouldn't have the opportunity to be messed up. The other issue is it was very hot inside the restaurant and the large oversized leaf fans have a unstable fan arm over the main center seating area as of August 17, 2024. Also looks like some sort of tape or securing material is being used on it but it is not safe in it's current state. Lawsuit waiting to happen if it fails and falls on a customer. Where's the aquarium as I've seen in my local Cheddar's and other locations? We were disappointed this location does not have one. Food was pretty great. The cooks were a bit heavy on the black pepper for my ribeye to the point it left a hot after feeling in my mouth. Server was awesome and busted his tail tending to us. Big props to him! Can't remember his name, though. I don't know if I would return to this...