KINGSWAY — Restaurant in South Laurel

I placed an order yesterday morning (8/16) around 8am for large tray of jollof rice and gave advance notice that I will be picking up at 4:30pm. I was told I could pay when I pick up the order and that it should be ready. At 4pm I called and told them I would be picking up at 6:30pm instead and to be sure the food would still be ready, whoever picked up sounded like the first person I talked to and she confirmed that it wouldn’t be a problem, I believe her name was Mavis or Mavel. At 6:30 I called and told them I would be 10 min away, whoever the second woman was that picked up this phone call told me the food was not made and would not be made until after I pay for the food. Mind you I called since morning time and called again in the afternoon to confirm and nobody mentioned I had to pay in advance in order for the food to be ready, I was told I can place the order and have the food ready and pay when I pick up. I was driving all the way from falls church Virginia which is over an hour drive away. Why wait till I’m 10 minutes away to say the food was not made and I had to pay in advance. What is the point of ordering food in advance if it would not be made until I arrive? O was trying to clarify with the lady that I placed the order in the morning and that it was never expressed to me that my only option of having the food ready was if I pay in advance, and whoever that lady was on the phone (I wish I got her name) was so rude, unapologetic, condescending, and made slight remarks under her breath maybe she thought I couldn’t hear her but given that the mistake was on their end and not mine, I don’t understand why she had to be so disgustingly rude. I arrive and was told I what to wait an hour plus for them to make the jollof rice, again I’ve already driven over an hour just to get there and had to drive all the way back empty handed. I couldn’t wait and had to leave and ended up with disappointed guests who didn’t get to eat the main dish which was supposed to be the jollof rice. I have been supporting this business since they first opened when I was still living in laurel. Since I moved to Virginia a year ago, I continued to support the business. Although I’ve had other negative and disappointing moments, I remained loyal. However, after this last interaction, this was the icing on the cake for me to stop patronizing this business completely. Two of my sisters have been having similar issues and have decided to also stop going to this business after this last incident. I will no longer recommend them to anyone. It’s one thing to mess up an order but to also be rude about it took me aback. The staff needs a lesson on etiquette and customer service. It must suck for the owner of this business to know that the enemy of progress for the company is its...

Unfortunately, after my experience today I just can't deal with this place any more. The customer service is terrible and they truly don't care. Maybe it is because the community seems to be used to it and accepts this service. I will say when they have the food available or ready it is good however on the customer service end needs serious work and maybe even how things are managed. They consistently fail to do better. There are other restaurants with this same food and better service. My friends have even given me other restaurants that are better with their service but Kingsway is just closest to me. I thought that I could avoid most of the disorder by calling in advance to place my order and to see if what I want is available. It had been working for a while until these last few visits. Today, I called in advance made the trip out after I was told that my food was available. So, after waiting in a long line of upset people waiting for their own orders when I got to the counter 30min later I am told my order is not available. After, I said I called on the phone her responce is that she is not the one that took my order on the phone then she shows me a list of the orders she took. There many other disappointing visits but a few other previous experience have been placing catering orders in advance only to be told they are not ready or on another occasion I was told that the person that took my order for a pan of jollof rice should not have agreed to having it ready at that time. Another time, was when I went with a friend to pick a graduation order and it was not ready, there was also one order that was so poorly executed that a guy came out from the back to apologize and say he would personally deliever the food himself to my location. Even today there were other people in the store complaining about the service and how it is always like this. The two ladies in front of me were even discussing eating elsewhere. Kingsway something needs to be changed on the management side because this is not good at all. I like the food but you can't treat your...

It was my first time going to this restaurant today and It was so disappointing. Their customer service is wack. The lady who served me was acting like I was bothering her or something, just frowning at the fact that I was asking her some questions about the food, mind you its my first time there. She made me feel like I had come in to stress her or something, she told me they have four different assorted meats, and when I asked her to give me, she then said no they just have two kinds of meat she can give me, and when I was about to decide on which I want, she just cuts me off and says lets just do beef and stripe, without my approval, puts it in the bowl and turns her back to me like I am not even standing there. I just stood there in shock and disbelief, trying hard not to react like the angry African woman. I go to pay, she keeps me standing there while doing other stuffs and talking to her colleagues, then she remembers I am there and says I should wait she is trying to figure out something . The whole experience was like they are doing us a favor rather than us doing them a favor to come in and buy food. The portion of the food compared to what you pay is so small I was like seriously, added to the bad customer service just put a really bad taste in your mouth. Their mediocrity just baffles me, I guess they don't care because they cater mostly to Africans who are used to mediocre standards. The food was ok nothing to write home about.. Needless to say I wont be going back there. It was my first time and will be my last. The reason why you have a review page is not to come and feel good about the good comments, it's to help you improve on the complaints customers are making, so you can attract more customers. But if customers today are still making the same complaints as customers a year or two ago, then I guess the reputation of your business doesn't...