Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen — Restaurant in Georgia

If you're familiar w my posts (see "my contributions") you'll know I never give 5stars unless it's absolutely perfect which is hard to attain. I believe people abuse the rating system & carelessly post anything. They're also not as aware of their surroundings as I am.

We'd been to Cheddars in Mansfield, OH 10+/- yrs ago. The Brunswick, GA store is a righteous one. I don't recall much for the OH store except it's vibe & food. Our experience at Brun, 12.16.19, was just the same as we recalled for the one we had in OH, apart from 1 minor issue, which we forgave.

A snotty teenager approached. We hadn't even gotten our jackets off or sat before she asked what we wanted to drink (DIDN'T EVEN GREET US OR INTRODUCE HERSELF). We directed her to return after we've had a minute to relax, get comfortable & breathe. She returned in an appropriate length of time & took our appetizer & drink order, by asking, "Are you ready for your drink order now"? Then it took forever, without an update, to get a H2O & a tea. Right before she returned w drinks (no appetizer) the manager asked if we'd been helped. We explained & she took Miss Impolite's order book & took our order. During this, Little Miss delivered our (extra) croissants (as an app) with much attitude: raised eyebrows, attitude-y head tilts, nasty looks, slamming the croissants plate down. Even if I was mad at my customers, I still don't think I would've caused such a ruckus - but ESPECIALLY not in front of my manager! Little Miss was rude & disrespectful. No name to give as she never introduced herself. She was very tiny, messy hair & ponytail, dirty blonde hair, round face, pretty sure she had blue eyes, very young. Manager stated she would take this as an opportunity for more learning & training, which I loved her response to this situation!

We both have worked in restaurant industry so we know what it feels like to wait on a variety of ppl. We weren't rude, simply defined how we need to be taken care of, when to approach, & then to receive normal items (drinks - NOT from the bar so it shouldn't have taken that long for just a water, without a crowd!) in a reasonable amount of time (which is when mgr came to help after she saw what seemed to become an issue). I really don't see any issue with this except Miss Attitude's own issue with it.

The mgr sent a wonderful gal. This is why we had such a great time: effective mgr & replaced waitress was awesome!

New waitress was on par for everything. She was nice, sweet, did everything in a timely manner, she even joked & laughed with us. She was perfect which is why she received a 20% tip. I dont recall her name, though. She had a tan, short poofy hair, brown eyes.

Our tipping guide usually works as follows:

• 18% - expected service provided (nothing over the top or extra energy provided during interactions)
• 15% - ok service (for bad service, we call manager because the world will not change one iota if not addressed!)
• 20% - service being above & beyond our expectations Again, we know how a restaurant is supposed to run. We know the challenges wait staff face. We know it's a horrible job sometimes.

We know good rewards & bad reviews are what keep society on a moral obligation to keep the world balanced. If good isn't recognized then one doesn't know to repeat that behavior. If bad isn't addressed then you don't allow for improvement opportunities!

I had a dirty knife rolled up inside my napkin. The dishwasher isn't perfect, though! Everything else was near end of night so I don't know how it would look during dinner rush. I can only review based on no crowd: the fact they were clean during our visit was nice & appreciated.

I had the lighter fare 6oz steak with southern green beans & cooked baby carrots. My steak was cooked exactly to order. Delicious! My partner had the variety meal w chx (wait staff shorthand for chicken) tenders & ribs. I am EXTREMELY picky on how ribs are cooked, presented. I tasted them. They were perfect - just like I remembered from the OH store.

Kudos,...

We went tonight sometime around 6pm on July 8th and had mixed feelings about it. Hostess was really sweet and there was a really short wait, which was wonderful considering how busy they were. We were seated in a booth by the bar. Our waitress seemed less than pleased to be there from the start of our interaction. She had short blue/black hair, but didn't catch her name because everything she said was relatively quiet, quick, and with a slight attitude. Appetizer of chips and queso was okay, and admittedly not what we expected. Meals (shrimp Alfredo and Buffalo chicken wrap) were delicious. I ordered a coke and eventually needed a refill. I was brought back a diet coke which is a very distinct difference and honestly not what I wanted and my husband even confirmed it wasn't regular coke. My husband asked that it be fixed and the waitress did her best to brush it off and convince us it was in fact regular coke. She eventually took the cup to the back and immediately came back, set it on the table, and she demanded I take a sip to "make sure" it was regular coke. This was EXTREMELY unsettling, rude, and demanding of the waitress. I took a sip to try and ease the tension because I just wanted it to stop. It literally tasted like someone poured a little off the top of the diet coke and put some regular on top. I agreed just to try and ened the tension and she walked off. My husband refused to try it because he honestly felt like she spit in the drink or something with the way we were treated. When she eventually circled back to do a final check on us, she was surprisingly sweet for the brief final interaction to probably to try and ensure she got tipped. It also sounded like the waitress messed up an order for the table next to us. Also, the entire time, there were two couples at the bar who were extremely loud (full on yelling) to the point me and my husband struggled to hear each other at all from across a table whioe conversing. It was just an unpleasant experience and we likely won't be back. We did not talk to a manager while there because we were honestly so uncomfortable the entire time that it wasn't even worth...

UPDATE to Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen response to my original review on 100924. Just saw your response, Google did not notify me that you had responded.

Response such as “…Please reach out to us at xxxxxxxxx with your name…what went wrong during your visit, and your receipt…” is a common response to brush off a customer and deflect from what took place on September 26th, the time frame was from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. What went wrong you ask?? I think my description was very clear, Rachel’s customer service was not friendly, she was terrible! She served everything; the water, the Honey Butter Croissants, and our main meals. Her job is to make sure that the dishes are prepared to customers’ satisfaction. And if they don’t look good, send them back to the kitchen and don’t serve them to customers. Period!

My husband got very sick for over a week from food poisoning with the Chicken Tender Platter. This is unacceptable!! 😡

Good food and good customer service are very important and this location failed!! 😣

122224

Original review October 2024 below ⬇️

On Thursday, September 26th we stopped in for dinner. We were so looking forward to their signature Honey Butter Croissants. Everything started off right but unfortunately went south rather quickly. Rachel was our server, she wasn’t friendly. She didn’t tell us her name when she approached the table…I asked her what’s your name?

I ordered a Grilled Chicken Pecan Salad and my husband had the Chicken Tender Platter with Fries and a Salad. He was very sick all night with food poisoning. 🤢 Everything points to the Chicken Tenders as we shared everything during the entire day except the Chicken Tenders. More than five days later he is still having serious stomach issues.

Overall service was subpar: I asked for no lemon in my water. There was lemon in my water! Honey Butter Croissants were not fresh and were reheated in the microwave! I asked for no tomatoes in my salad. There were tomatoes in my salad! I don’t know if our server was having a bad day or whatever her reasons were, but we were very dissatisfied with her service and the...