Country's Barbecue North — Restaurant in Columbus

If I could give less than 1 star I would. We had one of the worst experiences ever tonight at this restaurant. It was not overly late in the evening and the restaurant was out of several items. They brought our appetizer to our table and then proceeded to tell us that our other appetizer (a dip) would be an additional 20 minutes. We cancelled that because by then we would have had our food already. Then, they brought our meals. Three of our party had ordered sweet potatoes with their meals and not until the meals arrived did we get told that two of the sweet potatoes would be an additional 20 minutes because they were still in the oven. Again, we cancelled those and requested other side items. Two of our party had ordered the nightly special. Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of the side (sweet potato chips) that comes with that special, so we substituted for another side item. At this point, we were frustrated with the supply issues but we accommodated easily. However, when one of our party tried to eat their ribs, they were so overcooked that the ribs could not be eaten. They were dry and tough and not at all like BBQ ribs should be. Instead of comping the meal, the restaurant comped the ribs, but charged us for the individual side items. Again, okay...a little petty, but ok. Then we got our bill. We had 2 specials...one was charged $4.70 more than the menu price. The other was charged $6.50. We were told that this was because the drinks were included in that price. When we tried to inquire further (drinks are only $2.45-2.70), we also discovered that we were charged for the sides on those Nightly Specials because those sides are not included in the special. When we pushed further because we shouldn't be charged extra for a side item when they were out of the included side, we were told that they couldn't do anything about it because of how the system rings it up and then we were called rude repeatedly because we were pushing the issue. The manager on duty/Haley was extremely rude to us. She would not let us speak, would not let us finish a sentence while we tried to figure this out, repeatedly called us rude and escalated the issue to the point that the kitchen manager had to come out and send her away. The only positive thing I can say is that the Kitchen Manager, who's name I did not get, was extremely professional and tried to fix the problem. Unfortunately though, coming home and adding everything up, we were still overcharged based on menu prices even after this Kitchen Manager tried to remove some of the extra charges.

I have never before been to, or worked for a restaurant (and I have worked in plenty of restaurants and my parents owned one!) where I have had an issue with a meal and they only comped "the part of the meal that you didn't eat." Nor have I ever been in a situation with a restaurant manager that has left me seething an hour later over the way I was treated. I can only hope that she receives some big time training on how to treat customers...

My wife & I went into the Whittlesey location to eat dinner on a Sunday evening about 5:30 pm & it was our first time eating at Country's. We drove all the way from Valley, Alabama just to eat there. We ordered our food & I asked for my pork plate to be inside & very lean. Our food came out & my wife's food was ok but my pork was covered in fat. I motioned for the waitress & she came over to our table & I said this meat is suppose to be inside & very lean. She said I'll take it back & get them to remake it. A lady came out & said she was the kitchen manager & very rudely said, "since your not satisfied I'll remake it"!!! Fifteen minutes later my food was brought back out & placed in front of me. It was covered in fat even worse than the first time. I told the waitress to just take it back. My wife finished her meal long before they brought my second fat plate back. We went to pay our bill up front & the kitchen manager took my money at the register. She said to me, "Sorry you didn't like your dinner but when you go out to eat you can't always get what you want nor get it the way you want it!!! My wife & I were stunned!!! Then I was still charged for my meal!!! I paid over forty dollars for this one dinner & I didn't get to eat anything!!! I had two beers, that's it!!! I had to eat somewhere else when we left.

I called Country's Corporate office to complain about our visit & some lady wrote down everything I said, she even said that she was appalled by the behavior of the kitchen manager, she said the name of the kitchen manager & I said yep, that's her. She assured me the General manager named Henry would be contacting me. I never heard anything from anybody. It's been over two months!!!

My question to you Jim is:

Why did Country's BBQ Steal over forty dollars from my wife & I??? Actually about $47.00 after tipping our waitress. We tipped her, it wasn't her fault that her kitchen manager is a thieving barbarian!!!

I would greatly appreciate an answer. If you choose to answer my question please call my home # first

UPDATE: The general manager of this location contacted me after several months. He told me he would send me a gift card or refund my money for our terrible visit. I gave him my home address & it's been almost two weeks & I haven't seen hide nor hair of a refund check. My opinion is clear, not only does this prove they could careless about their customers but it also proves there not honest business people. I wished I would have never taken my wife to eat here. We were robbed!!! We drove by three different bbq restaurants because we wanted to try country's bbq. BIG BIG MISTAKE!!!

ST

UPDATE!!! We left our waitress a $6.00 tip. You can actually call what your kitchen manager said to us "striving for 100% customer satisfaction"!!! PLEASE!!! It took management 5 months to contact me us. I've read A LOT of negative reviews on this place, some a lot worse...

By far the worst establishment I have ever eaten a meal at. Let me explain, my husband and I stopped in for an early dinner and upon arrival the atmosphere was fairly decent and expected, country scenery and country music seemed pleasant. However they had new employees working and at first I had absolutely no problem with a new employee taking our order I was excited that they were giving people jobs. We ordered the rib platter and the greens with pork meal and two adult drinks with wings as our appetizer. Our wings arrived quickly and they were awful in taste and quality. They were extremely undercooked due to the wings being baked. When our food arrived we had to ask for silverware, our new trainee brought only 1 set of silverware to the table where there were two parties eating. We still made no fuss even after receiving under cooked wings, and 1 set of silverware brought to a table of two. After several minutes of us having our meals we still were not checked on to ensure we had no further questions or requests. For the entire time we were brought no waters and my husband eventually had to ask a different waitress walking by for another drink, her immediate response was “I’m not your waitress” as if we had asked for to much from their restaurant. Moments later a third person approached us with yet another new waitress beside her and rather then ask what is was our table needed they informed they are cutting us off from drinking. As a reminder we never received water and only ordered 1 adult beverage within a 30 minute window of us sitting down. Now this third and new individual that we had not seen for our entire visit proceeded to advise she was responsible for our table however a trainee was working with her (trainee came alone when she took our order) and since my husband asked a different waitress for an adult beverage they were cutting us off. The food quality was less then satisfactory, under cooked wings, very poor service, and no one checked on us after our food was delivered to the table, we were provided 1 set of eating utensils for a table of 2 and because we asked for help from someone else they choose to cut us off completely. I do not complain and I have traveled all over and provide credit where credit is due however I will NEVER return to this poorly ran establishment, unfortunately their staff are all so very young that customer service is not something they strive for and for the first time in my life I did not leave a tip because I was treated so rudely! For both meals equaled to about $40.00 not bad for price however I would rather pay more at a long horn or elsewhere just to receive their customer service, I will tell all of my family and friends to stay away from the Country’s Barbecue because I would be ashamed to promote such awful service and zero hospitality with equally...