Grill Marks - COLA — Restaurant in Columbia

I spent 7 years in the service industry, and to this day frequently dine out. Despite loads of both good and bad experiences this is the first time I've ever been compelled to leave a review.

Although the food and atmosphere was fine for the price point, me and my large party this afternoon were victims of one of the most rude, entitled, and condescending waiters I have ever had the displeasure of having serve me, his Name being Angle R.

To start our party showed up, ordered drinks, and received them without problems. After we asked for a minute to look things over, we did not see our server for nearly 15 minutes, which wouldn't be a problem if the resturant wasn't 1/3rd full. This resturant like many has both a custom burger option, as well as many questions with each order on specifications, right off the back our server talked Incredibly quickly and showed clear irritation when the two elderly lady's in our party asked to clarifity they had ordered correctly. I ordered a specialty strawberry cheesecake shake along with my meal, and he left to put the order in. Due to where I was seated I saw my shake get made, sit and sit in the bar window, for 30 minutes. At which point my server came up, and since the whip cream was melted, had him simply add more on top, to deliver me a room temperature Milkshake, that was not even the type I ordered!

Another 10 minutes, 40 total minutes to get our food(a party of 10, still a long for only ordering 10 different burgers+fries) we get asked if since the regular fries are out, the 4 orders with is are ok with thick cut fries, no problem. When in 5 more minutes we get our food, off to top of my head we:

Had 2 burgers come out with regular buns instead of toast Had a burger come out with a topping specifically not requested 7-8 of the orders involving a side of sauce, did not receive sauce Our server bringing all this out alone in 4 separate trips, taking a solid 3-4 minutes between each tray.

The two elderly lady's were the ones missing the Texas toast, and they simply asked for a side to be brought out, before the kid could get a word in about having onions which they specifically requested to be left off(and were added under cheese and very intertwined) the server sped off, meaning it was 5 minutes before the kids dad asked for it to me fixed. We all sat with our food getting cold waiting for sauces, and after additional time the fixed burger came out, and we had still not received the Texas toast! 20 whole minutes later! Both the lady's have eaten 75% of their burger without any bun and at this point told him not to bring the toast, to which we received a very loud and visible sigh accompanied with look of irritation, not to mention a more subtle irritability when previously asked for the sauce thay comes with out food! I didn't have anything missing, but I belive everyone in my party was patient and respectful when asking for fixes, and I cannot belive the attitude they received back, just asking for the correct order! When we finally all had everything(and half of us where finished) we got a very aggressive "anything else" at which point the daughter of one of the elderly ladies asked "Is something wrong? We haven't been rude at all and are just asking for our proper orders" "Nothings wrong I can't help that the kitchen messed this up"(anyone in the industry knows this is a shared mistake, and as the bill later revealed what was put in the system is what came out, sauce and all) "Your clearly giving my mom attitude" "Well that's your opinion" then he turns and leaves Very flustered at this point we ask for a manager and air our grievances to receive an apology and "ill talk to him" 10 minutes later our server, not the manager, comes to drop the check saying 25% was taken off and he will take it when ready. Literally 1 minutes later he comes back and asks if we are ready, despite no card out or indication we are, and yet again with lots of attitude.

Absolutely despicable behavior from Angel, and a dissapointly indifferent responce from management. 0/5...

I don’t know if it’s because I brought my child and she had a mini tantrum before our food arrived at the table but I literally ordered enough food to make up for her little episode. I ordered the hot honey wings, the salmon sandwich, sweet potato fries something I’ve always gotten because my daughter loves them (keep that in mind, it’s important) as well as the s’mores shake for myself and a banana pudding shake for my little one. I went to my car to get a toy for her to play with because it was taking a long time to get my order. Once we got back to the table everything was there covered with napkins with the exception of my salmon sandwich. The wings were excellent as usual but the rest was sadly disappointing. Our milkshakes were literally cold milk. There was nothing banana about her shake, it was vanilla milk with whipped cream on top. My salmon sandwich was perfectly cooked yet extremely bland but the kicker was her sweet potato fries. They were crispy and I’m being kind saying that because out of the whole basket she could only eat 4 because the majority of them were burnt. I literally told the waitress and she explained that’s how they serve the fries and from that point I asked for the check because we’ve had these fries over 5 times and they are NEVER BURNT!!!! I expect way better quality for the price I paid. The servers and wait staff aside from my actual waitress were outstanding. They brought me napkins and assisted me when my server didn’t bother to give me a bag for my takeout items. They quickly came over and bagged my things so we could leave. I’m patiently waiting for them to open so I can speak to a manager, the food I experienced yesterday was atrocious. I never would’ve thought I’d have a dinner date at Grill Mark’s that would upset me so much. I had to update once I got my food this morning to microwave. I was given raw wings. Imagine if I gave my child this to eat!!!! I...

Food: The sad part, is the food doesn't meet the price expectation. Very average, little seasoning and taste. Yet, The most mind boggling thing, is how the menu doesn't state everything is A La carte. That's right, that $14 burger you just ordered? By itself with no fries/sides. That's extra. For the exorbitant prices, you'd think it'd include sides like literally every other restaurant?

Service: I realize not every server is the same. Ours was probably the most "look down her nose at you" person I've met. We saw her literally 1.5 times. 5+ minutes after being seated, she came and took our order. That was it. The cook brought out our food after a very long delay and it seemed like he was frustrated (not at us but the food just sitting there I guess)

Our server literally ignored us the whole time. We tried to get her attention for drink refills/sauces that were forgotten but she , very obviously began to take long ways around the building to avoid passing our table. We truly watched her service her other 2 tables consistently. The ironic part was that it wasn't until the manager came to talk to us, that she immediately practically sprinted to our table! The manager seemed to notice us trying to get our servers attention all night. (I want to point out that we were nothing but polite and had simple orders, so I have no clue why she acted as she did.)

Atmosphere: the building itself is very nice and has both indoor and outdoor seating with heat lamps for colder months which is nice. No drafty feel either despite the open area.

-All in all, it's definitely not worth it. The overpriced, small amount of food paired with subpar tastes, and the roulette of potentially getting the rudest waitress. It all just makes for an unpleasant waste of time and longing for something better and...