Taco Bell — Restaurant in Eau Claire

If I could give this location a 0, I would. This is a long one, but needs to be addressed. Today on 4/19 around 12:30pm, I visited with my family to order something as simple as rice for my 4-year-old son, and the level of disrespect from the staff was unacceptable. Because rice wasn’t listed on the kiosk and a loud fan on the counter made it difficult to be heard, I had to raise my voice and call out “excuse me” for assistance. No one came at first, so I tried again. Eventually, a drive-thru employee walked over and responded with “what.” When I asked if they had rice, he said yes. I explained that the option wasn’t available on the kiosk, and instead of helping, he rolled his eyes, shrugged, said “I don’t know,” and walked away. A simple “I’ll be right with you” would have been fine, but instead I was ignored. After waiting, another customer even called out “excuse me” on my behalf. That’s when another employee, Natasha, came over. She insisted I use the kiosk even though I explained the rice option was missing. When I pressed the issue, she said it “should be on there” and that I’d have to wait for her to take my order. I told her waiting was fine, but there was no need for disrespect from either of them. At that point, the first employee interrupted and accused me of “screaming,” even though I was only speaking loud enough to be heard over the fan. Both employees continued to act dismissive and unprofessional—rolling their eyes, making faces, and even talking about me and my family within earshot. Another customer in the dining area later told me she overheard them making comments about us. I also witnessed the male employee treat another customer poorly, mocking them by shaking their food bag, rolling his eyes, and loudly saying, “OMG HERE IS YOUR FOOD.” As my family and I left, the same employee walked toward the door, smirked at us, and acted as if he was trying to provoke something. Another customer confirmed he smiled and made a smart sound as we were pulling out of our spot. So I went back in, and I asked the customer that I spoke about previously if she heard him say anything, and she explained exactly what he did “ he walked over to the door looked out at us, turned around, smirked and made a smart noise out loud” So I asked him if he needed me, he loudly said, “I was going to the bathroom.” I told him there was no reason to go up to the door and do that to us. It’s like he was trying to provoke something, and then he proceeded to wave me away like a fly and said, “BYEEE.” This type of behavior should never be acceptable in customer service. It reflects a serious lack of professionalism and courtesy. I strongly encourage management to review the cameras from that day and address how customers are being treated. I understand how overwhelming customer service can be, especially when short-staffed, but mocking and disrespecting customers is unacceptable...

This location used to be great but wow did it go downhill. Today I did a mobile order. I came in and saw my bag and no drinks (I ordered 2 drinks, a soda and a specialty). Nobody would give me the time of day. People in the back looked up at me then quickly looked down to ignore me. Finally I got the attention of one of the slackers there and asked if my order was ready. He said yes. I asked where the drinks were. He tossed two cups my way and said we don't have the specialty drink. Not at all offering me a solution or refund. I was in a great mood and didn't want to deal with drama of a lazy coworker so I just filled up 2 fountain drinks. Peeked in the bag and looked like everything. I got home, and our dessert wasn't in the bag (my bad for not checking every single thing in the bag). At my nachos Belgrade which I upgraded so it was about 8 bucks for just the nachos. Stale. Very very very stale. I could tell they were sitting under a heat lamp for over an hour. The other 3 tacos I got were very plain tasting and I could tell they were thrown together in a hurry (FYI, when I was there, there was me and another customer waiting and no cars in the drive through so they were not busy). Not only will I personally ban this location, I will tell my friends and family of this experience and tell whoever listens to stay away until they hire people who actually want to make customers happy. (For what it's worth, about a year ago I went there often. The service and food was great, so great that I gave the team a 20 dollar tip. But it's went downhill since). Taco Bell, either close this location or get some workers who have some pride in their jobs. Until then, I highly recommend not going to this location. There are plenty of local places to eat around the area, support them (I wish I did today but was in a taco bell mood.....). Usually the owner is working at local places so the workers have more pride and are eager to put out good food...

I work down the road, used to stop by after work every so often. For whatever reason, in the last month or two, I have never seen this place open after 10PM -- despite their hours still being listed as open until 12AM-2AM depending on the day. No idea why they've been closing super early, but the lights are never on when I drive by at night.

My last few experiences involved claims that they were out of various types of food (ground beef, chicken, beans, etc.), the fryer being broken, and even one night where they were having issues with the register. Actually, I think all three of the above were on the same night the last time I was able to actually catch them open after work.

Even prior to that, the wait times have always been horrendous (I'm talking a consistent 15-20min, whether you go in and order at the counter or go through the drive through, even when the lines aren't that long), and every other order or so would be missing items or have something incorrect. On one occasion, I received a bean and rice burrito filled with diced onions instead of rice, so basically inedible, and when I called in the manager told me that that burrito doesn't come with onions... no, really?

I do enjoy Taco Bell, just not from this location. Pretty much all of my coworkers have horror stories...