Waffle House — Restaurant in Georgia

This waffle house was not great. The servers were very friendly and sweet, but they kept messing up. We were there at 2am and there was basically no one there yet it took ages to get the food. And when we got the bacon it looked like a mass of burnt meat so we sent it back. We were very nice about it, it happens and we weren't mad. But the person on the grill started throwing a fit about it and then spent like the next hour complaining about the bacon situation. And the hash browns didn't have onions on it like we ordered. We also ordered white gravy and the waiter went to the next table with our friends and they order the gravy as well but he told them they were out but he didn't tell us that when we ordered it. So we called him over and asked about the gravy to confirm that it wasn't available and substituted it for chilly. We could tell the waiter was new though, he was still learning the menu and was still a bit rough at things. Completely understandable and we hated making thing harder for him since he was quite nice. But the whole experience was clumsy and seemed no one on shift was experienced to help direct things. And the grill guy throwing a fit was just immature. But the saving grace at the end was watching a female waitress see a customer left their waffle they were talking to go and she seemed lost on what to do. She checked out the window, grabbed the waffle and went out in the freezing cold night trying to find the guy. She didn't find him, but most wouldn't go through that effort. It was very nice. Everyone seemed genuinely friendly except the grill guy still going on about bacon by the time we felt. Legend has it, he is still going on...

The very good: food and excellent service from Benita. Thank you.

Specifically for Melissa, the manager, consider: -- avoid having loud and wholly negative conversations about employees -- within hearing range of customers and employees. Do not talk behind the backs of employees -- especially with other employees. As the manager, no matter the frustrations (in the conversation I overheard, complaints about scheduling and time off) you are responsible for treating all employees fairly. If an employee is not a good fit, either help them improve or eliminate them from the team. Georgia is a RtW state so you can remove team members if they are not a good fit. But consider not running them down to other team members, inside the restaurant, when they are not there. -- customers enter your restaurant with needs to be met; food, warmth, safety, companionship, whatever. Consider that perspective when you turn away a customer with harsh rules-based reasons for not meeting those needs. No excuse is necessary. It is perfectly acceptable to say something like; "we are unable to (in this case, provide takeout service) right now. I'm sorry. Please come back another time so we can take care of you. May I offer you a free cup of coffee to take with you?" I suspect you may have received a different reaction than the one you got from a guest you rudely turned away, who exclaimed; "god willing, I'll...

Horrible service! The waitress didn't greet us when we came in, even after we sat down. She kept on doing her own thing and ignored us. We sat there for a few minutes before she finally came over, ready to take our order, but never gave us the menu! We ordered our meals, mine came and my husband kept waiting for his waffle. I was half finished with my meal while he was still waiting when he finally asked which is when the waitress got up to make it. She then left the building after putting in the batter and didn't come back for a long time. After waiting forever again, my husband asked the only other waitress there about his waffle who checked on it and said it's gotten hard. My husband took it anyways because I was done with my meal and we couldn't bear this ridiculous service any longer. The first waitress finally came back inside and started doing her own thing. We got up and waited at the register for a while for someone to check us out. No one came. We were the only ones in there so it's not like they couldn't see us. We asked them to check us out. The first waitress finally did and overcharged us. My husband, the nice man he is, didn't say anything, paid the bill (including for the hard rock waffle which she forgot about) and gave her a 20% tip. We know waitressing is not an easy job. But seriously, PLEASE, manager, fix this! This was the most horrible experience...