Red Dirt Social — Restaurant in Fate

I decided to see what all the hubbub was about with this new place in town. So I took the family here for Father's Day lunch. Walked in and the place was packed. Not an open table to be found. While waiting in line I noticed a table of 4 getting up to leave. I went to reserve it while it was being "cleaned". I got my daughter's order & asked her to sit down while I went to place our order. This place has counter ordering. Turn off #1 - I'm always turned off by a place where you have to order at a counter, and then they ask you for a tip. If I'm standing up while I'm ordering, I'm not leaving a tip. I ordered two pizzas (one cheese & one pepperoni), a meatball sub, and biscuits & gravy. Order placed at 1:05pm. Also ordered 3 Dr. Peppers & 1 lemonade. Turn off #2 - Then I was handed 4 cans, and 4 glasses with 3 ice cubes each. Cans of soda in a restaurant should be embarrassing. Join the rest of America's Restaurateurs & get a fountain system. They are far more cost effective AND profitable than cans. Even with free refills. It'll take up far less storage space, too. I've done it myself. Turn off #3 - returned to the table to find food stuck to the sides, and food on the chairs and bench. Turn off #4 - It's 1:50pm, 45 minutes later and still no food. A couple minutes later the 2 pizzas came out. I could tell just by looking at it that it was a pre-made cracker or tortilla type of thin crust. My wife offered me a slice while I waited for my meatball sub. I took a bite. Predictably, it was underwhelmingly bad. Turn off #5 - The rest of the food came out 5 minutes after the pizza. My meatball sub was about a 3 out of 10. The hoagie used was soggy, and in no way should ever be used on a meatball sub again. What little marinara was used, had soaked into the bread. Leaving the meatballs & cheese quite dry. The meatballs were tasteless, yet still spicy. Turn off #6 - No silverware on the table. The two pizza eaters were doing fine with no silverware. But my daughter would've struggled with those biscuits & gravy without it. I had to bring it to the attention of someone. Which brings me to Turn off #7 - Nobody asked us how we were doing. Or asked if the food tasted good. Or if anyone would like a refill. Not one person stopped by once all the food was delivered. In this type of setting no one person is responsible for the table. Employees were buzzing by our table from the kitchen during our visit. Yet nobody stopped to check on us. I was mentioning to my kids as we first sat down (one of which works at an unnamed restaurant in Rockwall) that I don't tip if I'm standing up. But, that if the meal was good and deserving of a tip, who would I tip? There's nobody tending to us. I feel that the counter ordering set-up, and using the help to strictly run orders & clean tables, leaves a LOT of potential tippers wondering what the heck they just walked into. I'm a great tipper. My wife gets mad at my generosity sometimes. I feel that if we've had a great meal & great service, I'm going to tip our server well. I know they usually don't make a decent hourly wage. This place is kind of a head scratcher to me. The food was not good. The cleanliness was not good. My son said he saw a guy handling the waffles with bare hands. And we saw a LOT of chicken & waffles coming out during our wait. The service was definitely not good. Maybe if the employees had potential tip incentives, by being directly responsible for certain tables, they would care to check in on the customers instead of running by to run the next order out? Maybe if the counter ordering went away, people would be more likely to tip? That's like going through self check-out at Walmart & tipping the machine for doing nothing. And lastly. Get a soda fountain system. That's a no brainer for any successful restaurant. I wish our experience had been better. I was excited to come eat some good food. $72 ticket total. Just being honest. Terrible...

Update on the food - I came back out of curiosity for the food and found it worthy of praise. I had the Italian panini with fresh fruit (seemingly freshly cut & served, not prepared at a different time and allowed to sit & wait) and a side salad. Even the salad was fresh & crisp. Everything was tasty and the service good. I will certainly return to try other items on the menu. Also, their TV seemed to be tuned to programming better suited for a dining establishment than cold hard news. Thumbs up for that too!

We didn't get a chance to try any food because of a situation made awkward by the manager. 3 of us came in, eagerly, to try this new restaurant. One of our party is in a news media blackout right now and politely asked them to change the channel on a TV that was facing us to something other than the news. For some reason that didn't sit well with the staff of this restaurant. A person I presume is the mgr came over and said "We'll do it for you this time, but normally our customers like having the news on". Did he forget that the 3 people sitting in front of him were intending to be some of these customers he spoke of? Apparently. And, honestly, who wants to watch the news at a nice restaurant? The news is often massively upsetting or depressing, not what you want when you are trying to enjoy a nice meal. A simple request from 3 potential repeat customers (we love good food) was responded to with an almost snarky attitude and for what? I've a feeling there's a tribal element in the management of ownership of this place and asking for any changes to their chosen presentation, if even for less than an hour, is seen as an affront to them. I hate that, I live here an really wanted...

Red Dirt Social has potential, but my experience today was underwhelming. The atmosphere is clean and inviting, and I appreciated the warm greeting upon arrival. However, the ordering process—placing an order at the counter, taking a number, and tipping before service—felt a bit forced.

I had the adult grilled cheese, which was overloaded with greasy, lower-quality cheese, making it more heavy than enjoyable. The waffle fries, served in a cute mini fryer, were unfortunately cold. My avocado was oxidized, which was disappointing. The French onion soup had a strong vinegar taste, almost fermented, and was only lukewarm. The grilled sourdough crostini was decent but drowned in greasy cheese, which made the dish overly oily.

Cathy had the big breakfast and was confused by the veggie medley, which didn’t appear fresh. The ham was good, but the potatoes were cold and lacked seasoning. My coffee was acidic and not very hot, with no Splenda option—only stevia and sugar in the raw. We also waited nearly an hour for our food, which was frustrating.

On the positive side, the staff was friendly, and Savanna, in particular, was sweet and made the experience better. I also liked the communal sink concept, but its placement in the middle of a busy walkway made it uncomfortable to use.

I understand the restaurant is still new, and I’m rooting for them to improve. A few key changes—better food temperature, fresher ingredients, seasoning adjustments, and a more streamlined service experience—could make a big difference. I plan to return in six months, hoping to give a five-star...