Country's Barbecue — Restaurant in Columbus

Man I don’t want to leave a bad review of a place I have loved since childhood but I’m so frustrated. What happened to Jim’s once amazing restaurant? Does he know what’s going on anymore? I went to eat at Country’s on Mercury Drive on a date with my wife. Things have really changed there (we normally go to the North, or Downtown location). I went to the hostess and asked to put my name on the list. I was told that there wasn’t a list and that we would just need to wait in line to seat. Unless recently changed, this policy seems to differ from their other locations. Since most of the parties ahead of us were large and were waiting for larger tables, I asked how they would know to seat us if a small table came available and the hostess looked at me with a blank stare. She then reiterated that they only serve in order of the line. I was a little confused but since I have loved this place, I quietly took my place in line. After being seated, I told the waitress that I had recently had bariatric surgery and that my stomach was reduced to only a half a cup capacity. I asked if I could please order off the children’s menu. I was told that it was for 12 and under only. I presented my medical card from the doctor and my hospital to her. This card asked the restaurant to please allow me to order a smaller portion. I thought this might add some legitimacy to my request. After checking with her manager she again told me it was against policy. She offered that I could order a large portion and “just take the rest home.” Disappointed at their unwillingness to help, I said ok, and ordered al a carte off the menu. She asked if I wanted to speak with the General Manager, Jason, who was on duty. I told her no. She then asked if I was sure. I told her that I had already ordered and that I didn’t really want to speak with him. A few minutes later the General Manager, Jason, appeared anyway to discuss the matter further with me. It was awkward but I asked him to help me understand why they had this policy. Jason told me that they were a family restaurant and that they really didn’t have a kid’s menu. He told me that they serve a reduced portions (at half price) for kids. I told Jason that I could only eat a reduced portion (4 oz). I explained my condition and he told me that they would not accommodate me. He then told me the worst thing I heard all night. I asked him why. He reiterated that they were a family restaurant and then said that they did not make any money off of the kid’s plates. I was shocked by his answer. Guys please understand that I have probably been here hundreds of times before my surgery. I have hosted many family events there. You have made plenty of money off of me. I sincerely hope that someone from Country’s (maybe Jim) reads this and helps the staff there to understand that this is probably not what you want to tell customers (even if it’s the truth). I did not want to cause any kind of scene so I quietly returned to my meal. As for the food, my wife enjoyed hers but I was too upset to enjoy mine. I understand the need to make money but they were unyielding in their policy or unwilling with their empathy to help a customer with a legitimate medical condition. They simply restated their policy. Even thought I did not want to discuss it further, they brought the manager to my table anyways (which ended up being awkward and only further frustrated me). Although I felt belittled, the Country’s staff should not worry though, because we paid full price for our meal. Unfortunately for them, they have received my last dollar. Tonight they lost a life long customer. I am sad...

I use to love this place but now I will never recommend this place or give them my business again after this week. My son and I arrived at this location while it was fairly empty and we were placed in the back of the restaurant with just one other couple. Then another family of 4 was sat, and then another couple. The server walked by 3 times and looked at us before I discovered that she was our server including the time she asked the other tables if they had already been helped and offered to get another table's server... needless to say, she never came over and asked if we had been helped and the other tables had already gotten their drinks and placed their orders. Finally after everyone kept walking by looking I had to stop someone and ask who our server was...I had to ask to be helped... when our server arrived I realized she was the same server who asked everyone else if they had been helped. Well everyone else there didn't look like me so maybe since I didn't she didn't think I was going to tip her well... who knows what the case was, and the supervisor was just a kid as well and instead of fixing the problem for "the customer" she said "well each server is responsible for their own section"...clearly neglecting to listen when I told her our server walked by looking at us 3 times and asked the other tables if they had been helped and went to get another table's server for them and took the other table's order...absolutely NO customer service from the server or the supervisor what so ever!!! Well when you treat customers like that and neglect to be apologetic, then you don't deserve my business period. You don't pick and choose your customers and decide whether or not you want to be courteous in a place of business... it's your job to treat every customer good... hints, that's how you earn your tips! I chose your place of business after my hard day at work and was treated insignificantly. My son and I left and went to Smokey Bones where we always get good service and food and left the server a $30 tip. Our server had no clue that we just had a terrible experience at Country's, so its apparent she treats her customers well. Even when we walked in the door we were greeted by several people passing and we were assured that someone would be right with us. We definitely did not get that at Country's. My son is a server and I was a server when I was younger so we both know how important it is to tip and not to run the server ragged...and we always clean up after ourselves and make sure not to leave trash scattered all over, so we always tidy up a bit. We ALWAYS TIP WELL. My son and I both agreed that we had never treated anyone the way we were treated at Country's. Common courtesy just isn't so common anymore... well, at least, not at this Country's location

No gift card is needed. I wanted a good experience and dinner at the time of my visit, I'm not looking for a free meal. The server's name was Savannah, but the Supervisor working that night also needs guidance as well. The incident happened on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021 at...

Food was just OK....service left a LOT to be desired. We have visited Columbus frequently for the past few years for our kids sports events and somehow we had not stumbled across Country's BBQ until this trip. First, atmosphere - very quaint restaurant with really cool decor. Great vibes as we walked in! We also very much enjoyed the live music! Service - maybe we had a server in training, maybe she was just inept...idk. But the service from the start was not good. We came in as a group of 4 families (14 in total) - it was NOT a busy night...lots of empty tables. We asked the server to split the orders from the get go....she declined. Anyhow, in the end, I received only half of my order, no sauce for my chopped pork, no cornbread, no BBQ egg roll. Drink refills were slow to happen as well. Food - it was average. The pork was well executed, if a little dry - it would have been nice to eat it while hot (more on that below). The sides were under-seasoned and quite bland. Back to service - I waited for over 10 minutes after the food was delivered for the server to come back to check to see if things were right/ok...I needed the "sticky sweet" sauce on my pork, which was delivered with no sauce and completely dry. This was the case with everyone at my table... Not an isolated "oops". By the time she came back, the meat was stone cold.... Yum 🙄. I also had to go on a search for hot sauce, as my collards were very bland. The server never bothered to ask about deserts, additional drinks. Nada. Lost sales for you all. We were all in the mood for Peach Cobbler (we had some hungry teen athletes ready to chow down!). Back to the splitting of the checks - as mentioned, we wanted this to happen from the onset... But, we were all asked on 3 separate occasions about which parents were paying for which kids.. THREE. And each time, there was no, "pardon me" or "excuse me", just interrupted conversations and food in mouths. No apologies. No concern for the guests. As I mentioned, she must have been either new or totally inept. No excuses though..

Needless to say, I don't plan on returning. Disappointing, as this comes down to poor execution of the BASICS - food...