Steak 'n Shake — Restaurant in Battle Creek

TLDR: Reminds me of a vending machine, but for cheeseburgers. Go to Denny's. Their food is still alright and the service is 10x better.

I don't think this place is horrible because of the staff, but I really don't know. I get the sense they're all tied down to corporate policies, and it completely ruined the experience.

This place REEKS of a private equity takeover. I don't know what the hell happened in the past few years, but I'm gonna summarize my last two experiences, separated by a few years.

Years ago:

I walked in, went to the counter and was greeted by a human being, ordered my food, got my drink, and sat down and waited. The food was always damn tasty, and prices were fair. Shakes were delicious too.

This time: I walked in and immediately noticed they didn't even have a register for a human being to attend. Everything is kiosk self service.

I wanted an Oklahoma-style onion smash. Because of the kiosk system, and the lack of a "message to the cook" text box, I had to ask the cook after ordering. For those unfamiliar, an Oklahoma onion smash is a simple change to a traditional smash patty: you put a small pile of onions down on the griddle before you smash the beef into the onions. Everything is already behind the counter and it would take a few seconds of extra effort at worst, but I was taken back when the cook said "I don't think we can do that" in a nervous voice. He turned around and kept cooking up burgers. Mind you I paid as much for this meal as I would at Denny's or Applebee's. Everything is cook to order. I can't see how this is unreasonable.

I asked another associate for a manager, and was given a manager to speak to in prompt fashion. I explained what an Oklahoma onion smash is and asked if it's something they could do.

"No we can't take any custom requests, it's against the company standard."

What the heck does that even mean? It sounds like white collar jargon.

So after being utterly disappointed by the complete inability to fulfill a simple request, I grabbed my cup and went to the pop machine. It didn't work. I had to get an associate to help. That's the fourth person I had to talk to in order to get all of my order. Apparently there's a receipt that got printed off somewhere and I never noticed, and it got thrown out. The associate had to fill it in the back for me. I wasn't the only person to have this issue while I was there either, I watched two other people struggle and need to get their drinks filled in the back.

On the plus side, the food was really good. After humiliating myself because I didn't understand the unspoken "we don't talk to the customers" rule, I sat down and enjoyed exactly what I expected from Steak N Shake. No complaints about the food. This alone is the only reason I'm not one-starring this place.

Should the store get fed up with corporate and instruct them to pound sand and block the regional manager's number, I might make another visit. Strict adherence to "company standards" makes this place absolutely miserable. The workers look miserable, the manager talks like he has to say the same thing that he said to me 100 times per day, and it's clear that corporate treats it like a vending machine for cheeseburgers. And given the size of the building and the cost of employees, it's not...

I am sorry that I am giving a lower score for my review and here is why..

My sister and mom were on a girls day and we stopped for Steak N Shake for our lunch. When you walk in...hmm There is no one to greet us and thinking where is the register.. Well NO you have to got to a computer and order your own food on a Kiosk. Ok... We will give this a try. Well for starters. My mother is over 70 and she if she had went by herself she could not have ordered food and would have left. So, I order our food through the kiosk. We pay and get the receipt and an extra ticket. We preceded to find a spot to sit. The booths were disgusting. So I go up front to the counter where you can see the cook cooking to ask where there is a wait staff to clean the tables or if there was a washcloth as I am never opposed to clean the space I want to sit in. His response "oh she is somewhere just look over by the pop machine and she should be there". Ok go over to counter by pop machine, girl is running everywhere and I asked her if she could clean the table or had a cloth to wipe down the table. "I will be right there". She did eventually come and clean the table. We get sat down. My mom had ordered a pop. Grab a cup and try to work the pop machine. Would not work. Again had to fine the wait staff. She states " oh when you get your receipt there is a little code that you have to put under the scanner and then the machine will turn on". Ok there again no communication of that was a thing. Get the code and filled up my moms cup. Then preceded to wait for shakes and food. Here my name called. Got up and went to the counter to get food and shakes. We ate our food and had conversation. While we were eating NOT ONCE did see the wait staff to check on the many other customers that were having the EXACT issues especially with clean tables and the pop machine. So unfortunetly the wait staff did not get a tip due to that we had to keep asking for help and no communication from the wait staff and to boot there was only one person. But that should not matter when clearly in the back was several more people.

My problem is that I understand making things supposedly easier. But where is the customer service experience. There is none. I am a firm believer that as a customer and going out to eat regardless of where I am eating I love to be greeted and helped. I went there for the food and for the service. That was not a service. I feel that I worked for my food and did not get a service from the wait staff when clearly 80% of it was done by myself.

I will go again, but just know that I probably will not tip the wait staff. If they were delivering my food and making sure the areas were clean. Then yes I feel that is a need for a tip, but if I have to get my own food and...

I love this place. I moved to michigan four years ago and since then I have been visiting this restaurant. The environment is always friendly and I have made great memories here. I remember the first time my boyfriend's dad took me here. I was hesitant because at that time I was not a big fan of burgers so I tried their chicken tenders and oh boy didn't I fell in love with them. They are the right consistency neither to dry or too wet, a good piece of chicken that taste even better with the ranch that they have. After that I remember begging my boyfriend to take me here often. After about 18 years I finally liked shakes too. The best one on my opinion is the cinnamon shake. It's sweet but it melts in your mouth. The chili is really good too. There used to be a time in which they have a double steak burger for 3 dollars and that was a great deal, but since then they removed it. When my cousin came from Canada, I brought her here and she loved the place too. The waitress are always really nice so they make the experience even better. This is a really friendly place in which anyone from kids to elders like to come spend time with their families and have a good meal. The prices are not bad at all. I would range them into the low - middle price overall. As soon as my grandparents come to visit me I will make sure to take them here. I even had an uncle from Canada fall in love with their shakes too. He tried the cinnamon crunch and he ended up loving this place. Most of the people I have brought here have ended up loving this place and this is why this is always my first option when eating out. It's always a great experience eating here, that's why I keep coming back...