Ford's Garage Wesley Chapel — Restaurant in Land O' Lakes

I wasn't going to leave a negative review just because I am not that type of person but we had high expectations on this place and I want others to be very weary of this restaurant.

We went to the carnival in Wesley Chapel Sunday (10/29/2023) evening and remembered that a family member said that the food at Ford's was really good and a neat place to eat. We had a bad feeling when we first walked in and the hostess was nowhere to be found and then we saw that she was at the bar talking to the bartender. The manager had to seat us and we explained that this was our first time there and had heard nothing but good things about their food. He proceeded to talk to us and was VERY pleasant but then we our server showed up and things just went downhill from there. She constantly disappeared and was short at the table. When we received our nachos there was little to no toppings on them and before we could say anything when she brought our plates for the meal she dropped and ran. My wife's Blackened Chicken Mac N Cheese had NO flavor, the chicken was freezing cold and there was no sauce to the pasta at all. My chicken sandwich was over cooked and full of grease...the tater tots were at least tasted fresh. When the server finally returned to the table she dropped the check and went to take off, I tried to explain the food was VERY subpar and she had a blank stare to her face like she had no idea what to say...I asked could we get the menu to at least see if their desert was edible; THAT WAS A MISTAKE also!! When she returned to the table with the Caramel Apple thingy it was overcooked so badly that we were not able to eat it at all...and then she FINALLY returned again with the check. She said nothing to us just dropped the check and walked away seeing that we had pushed the desert away barely eaten. We sat for 20 MINUTES waiting for her to return to take the check so we could just leave until another server/bartender walked by and asked were we alright, I believe her name was Brandy who worked at the outside bar. This young lady was the only good experience that we had that evening, except for the manager sitting us, who constantly apologized when we explained what had happened and she asked if we wanted to speak to the manager. I explained I just wanted to leave because it wasn't going to do any good anyways. Brandy then pleaded for us to come in again while she is working and she will have us sat in her area, waive the fee for our meal and make sure that we have a good experience like we are supposed to have...also I want you all reading this that the whole time we are talking to this server, our server was NOWHERE to still be found. We told Brandy that we appreciated her hospitality but we were unsure if we wanted to try this again. She genuinely seemed very sad and asked us to just consider her offer but she doesn't work on Wednesday and Thursday.

I will say once again that I normally do not leave a bad review but I want people to understand that sometimes what people say about GREAT experiences is not what to expect when you walk into this...

Put my name on the list for a table for 4, arrived just before 4pm on a Saturday. I was told it would be 10 minutes, 25-30 minutes later we were seated. What was confusing is that there were so many EMPTY TABLES/BOOTHS available but for some reason they were not sitting customers and making them wait. OK...I don't understand that but I will move past that. We ordered and by the time our food arrived the wait from name on the list to meal on the table was over an hour. The food presentation was great and looked good. I had fish and chips and my fish was undercooked giving me that mushy uncooked taste. I will say that, WOW!!!, what a HUGE piece of fish, but please, lets cook it all the way through. My wife had the Blackened Chicken because she saw it was marinaded in wine and butter. However, if your going to use the blackened seasonings by smothering the chicken then why bother to use the butter and wine...it only gets lost in the blackened seasonings. My wife had to scrape the seasoning off the chicken to make it edible. Don't drown the chicken in the seasonings! Pease! The waitress was pleasant and attentive so no issues there. I went to the restroom and my first impression was MY GOD! it smells like an out house. I am serious, the smell of urine was over powering. I did find the reason prior to leaving. The tallest urinal, which I use does not flush. If you have ever been to Ford's Garage you know that the urinals are beer kegs. My thoughts are because of this they probably hold a lot of urine from others causing the overpowering smell. CALL A PLUMBER, he could have it fixed within an hour! It really is that simple! I will say that I loved the fixtures in the bathroom and it did play to the theme of the restaurant. It's the first time I took photos of a bathroom. I did this to show my wife. She went to check out the woman's restroom, she chose to wait to use the restroom until we got to a store. Again, a restaurants restroom should be clean enough to use. The overall theme and look of the place was great and I liked it. The food looked good but had issues as mentioned. Staff was friendly enough. In closing, don't make me wait for a table when there are 15 or more tables unused/available, don't drown the food in spices, cook the food thoroughly and PLEASE, for god's sake, CLEAN YOU RESTROOMS & FIX THE PLUMBING when it's needed. I walked away with mixed feelings, wanting to say great things about the place but finding too many issues not to...

To be fair we loved the food. We loved how this place is set up. It was our first time so we were intrigued. We were greeted with kindness so we was like okay. Now we are seated & we’re being patient . Well after a few minutes we were greeted by our server. Let me just say she wasn’t friendly from my perspective. We ordered drinks. I ordered a blue oval margarita . When I saw the picture it didn’t show salt or sugar around the rim so I didn’t bother to ask & the server didn’t bother to ask. So fast forward I get my drink & I see it has salt. I explain that I don’t like salt around my rim. Could they put sugar? Or can I just get a new cup. I wasn’t trying to be funny it’s just that maybe she wasn’t thinking & I didn’t think to ask so no biggie. I can clearly see this girl has an attitude because of my complaints. She rushes to the bar to change the drink. I mean I’m thinking to myself it’s not that serious. I can wait . I’m also thinking we are ready to order so why the attitude… at this point I’m feeling uncomfortable. The manager does walk over introduces himself & ask is everything okay. He said he knows it was an issue with my drink. I said yes it’s just that I don’t like salt around my rim. Honestly wasn’t aware it had salt being the picture didn’t show. I also express to him the server seems a bit agitated or maybe she doesn’t feel like being bothered. She doesn’t seem too friendly. I won’t post her name because I am not here to bash anyone. Overall the food was amazing. The drinks were mediocre. Nothing special honestly. The manager was polite . Besides the service I can’t complain. I will say next time we do not want that server. We will more than likely go to the bar or order...