Garden Spot — Restaurant in Commerce

For the first time in my life, I feel compelled to write a review of an establishment. I work nearby the food court where this business is located and have been eating there most every day for the past 30 years. I have been ordering the bountiful salads from the Garden Spot on a regular basis and have enjoyed the food with extremely rare issues. If something were out of order they would immediately make it right.

Recently, I noticed they were charging me a higher price than that posted for the exact same salads I had been ordering for many years. When I asked why, I was informed that I had added items in addition to the listed ingredients. That made sense to me and I understood.

On my next visit, I asked the cashier why she didn't waive the extra charge for the one item I added since I did not want the pita bread she offered. She told me that it doesn't count since it was free. To me, that didn't make sense as it certainly has a cost. Most likely higher than the few olives they added. She again told me that it was their choice and it didn't matter what I thought. This didn't make sense but I was willing to accept it.

Today, I ordered a tortilla chicken salad and asked for cucumbers and broccoli in place of the onions and olives. I have ordered this salad in exactly the same way for many years and always refuse the pita bread. Again I was charged a higher price. I pointed out that it was the same number of ingredients and I felt like they were taking advantage. That was when the gentleman that was preparing salads, an apparent relation of the cashier, became aggressive and raised his voice. He yelled at me that if I didn't like it then not to come back. He was tired of me complaining and stated that McDonalds would charge extra if I wanted cheese instead of meat. I wouldn't know about that and he may be right, but this is not McDonalds.

In my 25 plus years of buying salads from this business, I have never had a complaint. As I mentioned, in the rare event something was not correct with the food, they took care of it with absolutely no argument and I was never unhappy. I completely understand the new policy of an additional charge for adding items to a menu item. However, in my opinion, substitutions should not incur additional charges unless they are premium items.

I will take the advice of the gentleman and find another establishment to give my business to from this point on. It just seems a shame to me that they didn't fully think their new policy through before losing a long...

Stopped here for lunch and got the beauty salad. It was sooooo good with chicken, avocado, egg, and tons of veggies. Got it with the lime cilantro dressing which was so fresh!!! Also the option size is huge. You can probably eat half or 3/4 and save the rest for dinner. Service was also super friendly!

FYI the restaurant is in a food court, so there’s tons of seating in an air conditioned room and clean bathrooms. There’s also outdoor seating for when the weather is nice. Support...

A garden of choices to choose from. It's going to be very hard to make up your mind but rest assured whatever you choose, you won't be disappointed. Portions are large, prices are low and service is great. I can see myself visiting this place very frequently. Well worth the drive for my...