O'Charley's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Christiansburg

In refernce to my visit to your Christiansburg Virginia location. There are several great restaurants in a close vicinity to visit, but since my wife and I haven't had Ocharleys in quite some time, we chose it. First off, the wait staff was exceptionally polite; which is a rarity as of the past several years. I was very impressed with the mannerisms and willingness to help us and again how polite and well spoken our waiter was. It was very refreshing. The appetizer was hot, fresh, and exactly as I hoped it would be. Our salads promptly arrived soon afterwards. They were cool, crisp, and again- right on the money. Last were our entrees. My steak wasn't cooked quite to the degree that I requested, and the issue was immediately handled by the manager herself. The way she handled it was extremely professional and attentive. While running a busy restaurant on a Saturday night and still finding the time to handle a customers issue was very impressive to me. Oh, let me mention- the reason she was aware of the issue is that she was walking around asking customers how their meal was. I was so very impressed by this. After my steak was cooked a little more to my liking, she brought it out (After taking it back and correcting the issue personally) and ensure that I was satisfied. After we finished our meal, I initiated a brief conversation and got her name. LaVerne Petty is the employee responsible for my excellent experiece. I will also be giving a stellar yelp and google review- which I do frequently. Thanks to Ms. Petty, I had one of the best dining experiences I have had in several years. I think it's largely agreed that customer serive has gone downhill the past decade or so. It was truly refreshing to have an employee that obviously takes pride in their job and position, and also has that old school work ethic we all miss seeing. I truly hope that somebody in human resources will take the time to commend her through her boss, as I have taken my time to type this email. I know that all too often people are quick to complain, but not as fast to commend when it is due. You truly have the right person on the job with Ms. Petty. I can assure you that your business is being ran to the highest possible standards and that people do pay attention to things other than their meals or cell phones while dining. Every single employee was hustling. I never saw one on their phone, or talking to their buddies... they were all hard at work for the duration of our one hour visit. The attention to detail was also very noticable, apparently Ms. Petty runs a tight ship and does not let her crew goof around... In closing, again I truly hope that this email reaches Ms. Petty and goes as high up the chain as possible. Good employees deserved to be recognized and employees like these make your business money. I will absolutely be back to visit soon and will as stated before be sure to spread my kind words through internet reviews and word of mouth. Thank you again Ms. Petty for such a great experiece! You were...

Our O'Charleys closed where I live. My GF and I had a gift card for here and were nearby, and I told her how much I love their Spicy Cheese Triangles, and we went for lunch around 1:30 pm. This location is near lots of other restaurants, and when we pulled into the place, there were less than 10 cars in the parking lot, but all the other restaurants nearby had what looked like nearly full parking lots. We said to ourselves this was not a good sign.

Upon entering the restaurant, you are immediately greeted with a friendly hello from the hostess and a very foul smell. Smells like sewage. It's very noticeable to me and even my GF, who doesn't have a very sensitive nose. The tables we were sat at were near the bar and were very sticky. The napkins with the utensils inside were damp to the touch. The inside of the lamp that was over our table had some sort of splatter inside the cover. The memorabilia on the walls was also caked in dust. There were wear patterns on the walls from chairs being brushed up against them. There were specks of crusty substances on the walls near our table, and the smell still lingered in our nostrils while we ate.

The food was cooked well and arrived quickly. The waitress was equally friendly and filled our glasses to the brim. The bread was ok, not great compared to Roadhouses, but edible. My GF got the Appetizer Sampler, which looked and tasted delicious. I got an All-American cheeseburger that was very messy but had an at home, off the grill feeling to it. Lettuce, Tomato, Dill Pickle with cheese are standard, I asked for Mayo, which was added and made the burger very messy. I got the patty medium well, which was excellent, but the Bun looked like someone sat on it. There is also no ketchup on the burger. The fries I got with my burger were a mix of small nubs and long pieces, and it felt like the bottom of the bag fries.

The Appetizer Sampler came with 4 Spicy Cheese Triangles, 3 Toddler sized Chicken Strips, 3 Potato Wedges with chives and dipping sauces, which included, sour cream.

The waitress visited us about 6X, start to finish, and we were even visited by the manager, but we were polite and did not mention the smell or the condition of the interior to her. My GF also used the facilities and said they were clean but not Buccee's clean.

Even with a $25 gift certificate for 1 water, 1 sweet tea, 1 appetizer sampler, and 1 all-American cheeseburger, plus tip, it would cost an additional $16 at lunch.

Despite there not being a lot of people in the restaurant, they sat everyone near everyone, so there was noise.

See my pics for a glimpse at what I am talking about. The pictures are luckily, not...

I've eaten at this location a couple times now, and it has been pretty disappointing. The food is of a good quality and decent price, but the overall experience has not been great.

The serving staff can barely conceal how little they want to be doing their jobs. Each visit I've overheard servers talking to each other about how little they want to be there, and it's not hard to hear when they complain about tables they don't like. The waiters I've had put very little effort into curating any sort of positive experience for guests. I've worked as a server, so I can understand the sentiment; what I cannot accept is letting it show to your guests.

This most recent visit, I had to send back ribs. They were simply too cold for me to eat. The server took my plate to the kitchen and returned with it a couple minutes later. The kitchen had decided the best way to warm them up was by microwave. The edges were scalding and the center was unchanged. In addition, it was obvious that a cook had just shoved their finger in my ribs to check the temperature and didn't have the decency to try to hide it. Using a microwave to reheat food like this is ridiculous and beneath any restaurant. I'm sorely disappointed and doubt I will be returning any time soon.

To her credit, the server I had today did her job well. She kept the table's drinks full and was attentive, and she handled my complaints about the ribs well.

The mistakes that led to a poor experience today could easily have been avoided and the back of house staff should be ashamed to...