Jason's Deli — Restaurant in Florida

I dined in last night, around 5:45ish. My friend placed her order of a Manager’s Special with side salad, and I ordered the salad bar. We both also ordered waters to drink. As I was preparing to get my water, a group of three young teen aged boys came in and asked the cashier for two water cups each. The cashier gladly gave them to each boy. The boys each then went to the soda machine and filled their cups with soda instead of water. Then, each one went to the ice cream machine and filled the second cup with ice cream, and put three to four cones on top of the Ice cream. As I stood there in amazement, I glanced over to the employees who clearly noticed what was going on, as they began to whisper to one another. But, nothing was said to the boys. As I began to prepare my salad bowl at the bar, an employee whose name was Eve, I believe was refreshing the salad bar. I simply leaned in her direction and asked her if she’d noticed what just took place with the boys. Her response floored me: “yeah, they do this every weekend; we expect it, and there’s really nothing we can do about it now”…what the heck?… once the boys finished eating their stolen food, they walked to the door, but not until one made a trip to the salad bar and took an egg for one of his other friends who’d already gone outside. Still, nothing said to them… As I mentioned, I PAID for the salad bar, and if for no other reason than sanitary reasons, I knew that I needed a clean plate for my second round. Therefore, I went to the front counter area, and after waiting for about five minutes or so, was approached by a young lady who seemed to be a team leader of sort, as her shirt was red. I don’t remember her name, but it started with a “K.” I asked her for a clean plate. At that point she looked at me like I had three eyes, and I explained to her that I’d purchased the salad bar, and would like to enjoy another bowl of salad. She IMMEDIATELY informed me that she couldn’t give me a plate unless I returned the dirty one. Now, I understand the rules, and have absolutely no problem following them. However, I found it very disturbing that I, as a paying customer, was challenged about my purchase when I clearly saw that young lady along with the other employees watch those boys take anything they wanted from the restaurant WITHOUT PAYING. Today, I called the restaurant in order to express my concerns on what took place last evening. I spoke with “Andrew” who identified himself as the assistant manager. I retold the story of the events from last night. He listened intently, while I spoke, and then offered the excuse that it was the normal policy to require a plate exchange. I told him that exchanging a plate was not the problem, but being challenged about my purchase because I didn’t have the dirty plate in my hand was my, all while EVERYONE watched the young boys commit theft, yet no one said a word. His answer was that he would talk to them (the employees) so that they can TRY to stop the boys from doing this. His nonchalant demeanor leads me believe that nothing will be done or said to anyone, and those privileged boys will continue to do this until they are tired of doing it. I would like to challenge the thought that if those boys would have been from any other demographic, the police would have been called, they would have been issued trespass warnings, and they would not have been afforded the same privilege of openly stealing from an establishment on a weekly basis without penalty. And, these things would have been handled immediately! I walked away confused and offended by the events of last evening. And, I felt unheard when I attempted to bring it to the workers and the alleged assistant managers...

I REALLY wanted to be able to give a 5 ⭐ review for Jason's; We've always loved this place & were so excited when we heard that their salad bar returned! Unfortunately, our experience there last wk left a LOT to be desired...

I've had the salad bar twice in the last month when I came w/someone else, but only this time were we informed that it's now only ONE trip to the salad bar per person! 😲 They literally just handed us one plate each on 2 trays, along w/a tiny plate each for muffins or whatever, & that's it!

You'd think w/their one trip rule, they'd at least keep it stocked, especially when there were only 2 other tables of guests there, but I had to go ask for the eggs & the mushrooms to be filled. Also, we had to go ask after we ate lunch for a small container for ice cream (we didn't want cones) as they didn't give us one in the first place. They were even out of drink lids by the soda fountain, so I had to go back to ask for those as well. I even had to ask for our table to be wiped down, as it was clear someone w/kids must've been there before us! The staff was very kind & always immediately addressed our needs as we asked for these things, but I feel like all of this should've been taken care of without having to ask; I just didn't enjoy the feeling that I was constantly bothering them, but I kind of had no other choice!

My bf made a comment to me that Jason's used to be one of his favorite places to sit down & have some good salad the way he likes it, but he said he'll not be back, except in the event that I tell him that the service has gotten better & the salad bar goes back to unlimited trips! That really IS dumb about the salad bar restriction; It's not as though we'd go up several times for salad anyway, but it would be nice if we didn't have to pile potato salad, pasta salad & anything else we may want as a side on the same plate as our big salad now! If they're going to have this stupid rule, @ LEAST provide us w/an extra small plate for these things! The tiny muffin plate is not sufficient for all of that (not in one trip @ least)!

PLEASE do better, Jason's! My bf & I don't get much time off of work together, & we'd always loved being able to come by for lunch or a light dinner, & then swing by FaceTea for a Bubble Tea afterward, but now I don't see that happening anytime soon! 😩 Just very disappointed all the way around, as Jason's was the one place we could ALWAYS automatically agree...

My prior post noted below was still a horrible experience. I'm updating my thoughts (6/2/24) to advise people to NOT pull away from the drive-thru window without checking what's in their bag/bags. The past three trips there were botched orders, and I think their staff has become too apathetic to actually read the order (yes, I kept and compared what I ordered versus what I received). If a patron asks for one type of bread, then comply with the request (the price is the same). If the patron asks for the bread to NOT BE TOASTED, then please do NOT toast it. If you order a salad without dressing, don't stick a container of dressing inside the container. I've had these issues happen three times (since some of the prior staff left). If I'm driving through to pick up take-out and spending about $12.00 for a sandwich, or the same amount for a salad....why can't the staff take the time to check what they're handing you (and most of the time I have always spent at least $26.00+ per order). When I got home and called to complain that they had "yet again" toasted a sandwich I asked to not be toasted, the girl said "oh, yeah, I see that on your order, but that's entered at the bottom of the order so the cooks rarely look at what's written at the bottom." Well folks, I think they should read the entire order for the prices they're charging.

Would ANYONE want to eat these steamed vegetables that came with my to-go lunch today? I think NOT since many of the vegetables were utterly rotten. After taking this photo I tossed all of the container into the yard for the wildlife to hopefully eat. And the Reuben had very stale and dry bread. A real Reuben should be grilled, but this was just two slices of bread (I had turkey, not corned beef), but it was not grilled, and was probably the worst Reuben I've ever had. It was just some slices of turkey, with a pile of sauerkraut, and a small slice of cheese and a tiny amount of sauce. Nope, that was a waste of I think at least $11.00+ for food that ended up going out into my front yard. I am SURE that the people scooping the steamed vegetables out of whatever pot can see the rotten ones, so why include those in a person's food? And maybe go to other restaurants to order a REAL Reuben to see how they should actually be prepared and cooked. I have been coming here faithfully for over two years, but I don't think I'll be coming back again...