McAlister's Deli — Restaurant in Fenton

I have been coming to this location for years and have always enjoyed the food, convenience, and atmosphere. Last night however, my family and I were very disappointed by our experience. When we walked in, we immediately noticed that the restaurant is in the middle of a renovation. That shouldn’t be a bad thing, but I noticed right away that the tall walls surrounding the booths had been cut down. I’m assuming this was done to make the dining area more open, however, it took away all privacy. Now, with the main isle right in the center there is absolutely no privacy while you are dining. People are literally right next to you while you are dining and they’re standing in line to order. They also did away with the menu board behind the counter and you have to either pull a menu up on your phone or plead someone in front of you to hand you a menu that is sitting on the counter. I thought that the large menu behind the counter was much more efficient as it allows customers to decide what they want well in advance of when they actually have to place their order. Another thing that disappointed me was that they now put a “self serve” drink station right in the middle of the counter. It takes away space to order and requires more work by the patron. They also did away with metal utensils and now supply you with a very poor quality plastic fork when they bring your food to you . If you need a knife or spoon, you have to ask for one. I had to ask 3 different staff members before someone finally gave us some plastic knives. Lastly, they now are playing very annoying 50’s Diner music very loudly throughout the restaurant. We felt the volume was too loud and would prefer some kind of lighter more modern genre of music such as jazz or soft rock. Needless to say I was very disappointed with the changes and probably will not visit McAllisters again. I was a loyal patron, so this really...

I really really hate to give businesses 1 star reviews but our visit here on 7/25 was less than astonishing. I ordered one of the club sandwiches (with roast beef) and a side of mac since Google said it was a popular order and I hadn't been here before. First off the mac was absolutely horrendous, no flavor and noodles were soggy and mush. Now I understand they probably make it in the morning and keep it in a warmer all day which continues to cook the noodles and cause this issue but idk it was terrible, I'm sorry.

Now the sandwich... it was toasted but they toasted it to the point that the bread was as hard as brick and it seemed like the bread was old. My husband immediately took it back inside and politely asked for it to be remade, explaining the problem. The girls working obliged and when they handed him the sandwich again he did the "squish test" and it was as hard as a brick again. So he politely advised them again of the issue, the girl working the register was nice but the girl that was making said brick sandwich sighed and rolled her eyes. She whispered something to the other girl shortly afterwards also. Not sure what her problem was but who would want to eat a rock hard sandwich?

Third time was not a charm unfortunately. The roast beef on the sandwich was more fat than meat. The girl who made it I think was pissed over having to remake it again and she slathered mayo all over the sandwich almost as if to purposely make it not enjoyable (normally I wouldn't care as I love mayo but girl come on..)

We don't live in the area, we live 90 minutes south of here but we unfortunately won't come back ever again. I'm bummed cause their food looked amazing in pics but I guess it doesn't translate over...

I absolutely love McAlisters. I actually worked at the Arnold location for a couple years. Today I ordered at Fenton after leaving the gym down the street. I forgot a t shirt so I called in to see if my order was ready so I wasn’t standing around in a sports bra and athletic shorts. When they answered they asked if I was at the right location as they couldn’t find the name of my order. I repeated back the address as I was looking at the app where I placed the order. She said with a bit of an attitude that was correct but they still didn’t have my order, and that if I actually placed it then I would get a confirmation email. I told her that I don’t have the correct email tied to my app and that I won’t receive an email but that I was staring directly at my order with the address. I then remembered that it might be under my mom’s name because she once picked an order up for me and that I may have forgotten to change it back. Once again, with an attitude, she said “ oh so now you want to see if it’s under a different name?” I told her yes that it is my mom’s name. “Well she just finished bagging it so it’s ready”. When I went inside to grab the order, the manager and two coworkers were standing around talking and laughing about the situation.

My feedback: when you can’t find an order, you always suggest if it’s under another name as this commonly happened when I worked here. Also, it is VERY disrespectful for employees, let alone a MANAGER to be laughing about a phone call situation in front of a register, knowing the guest is about to walk in to pick it...