Sugar Factory - Orlando — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

I recently had an incredibly disappointing experience at Sugar Factory Orlando Icon Park for my daughter’s Sweet Sixteen birthday. From the moment I booked my reservation to the moment we left the restaurant, the experience was a complete disaster due to poor communication, disorganization, and unprofessional service.

I made a reservation a week in advance for a party of 17, asking all the necessary questions regarding policies, fees, and arrival times. The employee who took my reservation assured me that everything was set, with no mention of additional fees or strict policies. However, when I called on February 14 to confirm, I was blindsided by new information. I was suddenly informed that, due to high weekend occupancy, we could face a 30-minute to 1-hour wait despite our reservation, that bringing a cake would incur a $40 fee (which covers music, singing, and fireworks), and that if we ordered dessert from the menu, there would still be an additional $5 service charge. This last-minute revelation was completely unacceptable—had I known in advance, I would have chosen another restaurant that values transparency instead of springing hidden fees on paying customers.

On the day of our reservation, we arrived at 5:35 PM, but despite 80% of our guests being present, we were not seated until 6:15 PM. Upon arrival, we were also informed that we had a strict two-hour dining limit, which had never been disclosed beforehand. Once we finally placed our orders, our food took 30 minutes to arrive, yet just five minutes after receiving our meals, our server handed us the check, stating it was “just so she wouldn’t forget to give it to us.” This was followed by repeated visits asking if we needed to-go boxes—while we were still eating! It was clear that we were being rushed, despite the manager I spoke to earlier assuring me that would not be the case.

Adding to the chaos, the staff abruptly brought out the birthday cake without asking if we were ready. To make matters worse, we were told they could not provide plates or cut the cake for us, only offering to-go boxes. By this point, I was beyond frustrated. I requested to speak with a general manager, only to be told Sugar Factory does not have general managers—only managers.

The final insult came when, at exactly 7:35 PM, we were told we had to leave because our reservation time was up. Some of my guests were in the middle of eating, while others were trying to order dessert, only to be informed that they were no longer allowed to place orders.

I will never return to this establishment, and I would not recommend it to anyone. The lack of professionalism, transparency, and customer service was appalling. The only positive aspect of this experience was the manager, Megan, who was at least apologetic and waived the $40 cake fee, acknowledging that I should have been informed of the policies at the time of booking. However, one apology does not make up for an evening that was supposed to be a special celebration but turned into a frustrating and disappointing ordeal. I strongly urge corporate management to address these issues because this level of service is completely...

So I want to start this review out by saying how excited I was when i found this place to go to for my son's 13th birthday dinner while we were staying in Orlando. Now that being said, this may be long but it's really for all my Mamas out there that try and find kid friendly fun places to take the kids. And if you asked my 13 year old he would tell you he had the absolute best time but that was solely because his father and I did the best job possible hiding our disappointment. So here we go, first I could tell right off the bat our server wasn't going to put alot of effort into us. Jokes on her because we are always very generous in our tipping. This Mama spent alot of time in restaurants. They were out of everything and I do mean everything. So our only option for an appetizer was these loaded fries they had. Which i was very excited for because i love some good cheese fries. Too bad they never came out along with the order of fries for my little one untill our mains came out 35 minutes later. Cold also by the way. And they were not busy at all, maybe like 6 tables. We all decided on hamburgers being the really only option they had. So most places that have a large variety of hamburgers usually have a standard of temperatures they cook the burgers. So when I asked her about that her response was I cant really tell you it depends on who's in the kitchen. Typically I would order it pink but to be on the safe side since she couldn't give any helpful answers we all got medium well. My sons hamburger was supposed to be plain with lettuce and mayo that's it. My hamburger came with mushrooms which I repeatedly mentioned please no mushrooms. When they came out finally with our appetizer as well and my little ones fries my son had a loaded hamburger with a ton of stuff on it. So I immediately told her, her response was , well they cant speak English in there anways so thats why its probably messed up. How very nice of her to say that. My husband is Cuban, with tan hair and green eyes and he was not amused. So she brings out the right hamburger for him, mine is loaded with mushrooms but I just kept it to myself and picked them off, not to mention how dry that hamburger was. But I was supposed to have Mac and cheese as a side and not fries so I told her. She says oh yeah you were, the kitchen just ignored the modifications I guess. I asked her to bring my little one a plain vanilla shake without the chocolate shavings because my little one is very picky , nope she said they wouldn't do that. Then its time for them to sing Happy Birthday, which heads up they charge 20 dollars for that, even though they dont tell you that. Don't ask for any extra ketchup or anything, that is asking for too much based on her attitude. My husband and I are big Foodies and I have no problem spending money on good food. But our 250 dollar check for bad food and bad service was beyond disappointing. So I do not suggest you visit the Sugar Factory in Orlando if you want to have a good dinner, maybe for just a milkshake for dessert. Never again. And to the server we had , your welcome for the 18 percent we gave you even though you did...

I attended the Sugar Factory in Orlando on Friday April 18th with seven of my girlfriends to celebrate my friend’s birthday. I had never attended before but always wanted to try them, more specifically the goblet drinks! The hostesses were great and I told them my friends were running a little late so they set up the table and then seated us once they arrived. We had a very sweet waitress Elaine. She got us water while we decided on our drinks. One of my friends had a bug in her ice cube in her water. She then asked for bottled water and they said they were out. Also when she ordered white wine it was not cold and the glass was dirty. Another friend ordered a smoked cucumber drink, the waitress told her they were out of that. Then she ordered another drink and they had the option for Sugar, Salt, or Tajin on the rim…she chose Tajin and was then told later there was no more Tajin. After we received our drinks we ordered two appetizers. One was the spinach artichoke dip and that was yummy but another friend ordered the sampler. They said they were out of the onion rings and would bring fries but it came with the onion rings but they were still frozen. Our waitress continued to be on it and was so apologetic. She really was so nice. The goblet drinks are cool and all but the dry ice poured in made the ice cubes a big block and we had to wait awhile to try to fit our straws in it to drink it. Another girl ordered a chicken Caesar salad and the chicken had wire in it from cooking it. Also be careful if you order Fajitas because they come out on a hot plate with a handle and the handle didn’t have a cover on it and she tried to move it and got burned. (She was not told it was hot.) Two of my friends ordered a club sandwich but only one came on time. One of them had pickles and the other the fries had black spots on them. My other friend and I both got the Ginger Sesame Asian salad she only had the cabbage, lettuce, carrots, oranges and sesame seeds. (Was missing the green onions, and more), I didn’t get oranges and more. Our server was very apologetic and told us about the dessert and picking a song with a sparkler on the dessert and the one dessert (Princess Make a Wish) the birthday girl asked for….. can you guess it? They were out of it. We asked for a manager and he seemed he did not care at all. He just looked at my friend talking and then said ok and walked away. We learned from our waitress that the chicken Cesar and appetizer was taken off and we all got a discount. I feel like this is crazy and hard to believe but after all that I went to the bathroom and there was only one stall working and they had no more toilet paper. I sat with all the girls before we left and made notes because we were all in shock at how bad it was. I have never wanted to walk out of a restaurant ever till then! We had all worked in a restaurant one time in our lives and the only reason we stayed was because of Elaine! We didn’t want her to get stuck with the bill since she was doing all she could and none of it was her fault. God Bless You Elaine! Oh and to top it off two of us were extremely sick...