Denny's — Restaurant in Gretna

My husband and I have been coming to this location, weekly, for 2 years. After the remodel, it has been horrible. So bad that we haven't been back, until last night. We decided to give them one last shot. So 1st, we arrived and wait to be seated. There were maybe 5 tables seated in the store, 3 waitresses and the manager. All but one waitress was sitting at the bar eating, including the manager. We stood there a few minutes, when finally the manager came over to seat us, with his mouth full of food and covering his face with a menu, while he asks us if we want a table or booth. Then we make our selection and sit for a good 10 to 15 minutes watching the staff goofing around at the bar, in front of the kitchen. They are eating and laughing and doing nothing. Finally a waitress walks up, still eating, mouth full of her food and asks if we want something to drink. We told her that we were ready to order. We placed our order, and she drops our drink off at the table. Then proceeds to go back to the bar, to hang out and eat in front of customers with the entire staff including the manager, while only one waitress, the oldest of the group, is actually working. We waited for an hour for our food, watching this entire time while the staff still does nothing but talk, hang out and finish their food. Our drink empty, the restaurant only has maybe 8 tables seated, and that is being generous. At one point, our eating, mouth covering, non hand washing waitress comes over After finally noticing that we are watching ALL of them and informs us that their cook is new. Funny, there were 2 cooks and only 2 tables had been seated in the hour we were waiting. We had only ordered 2 grilled cheese pot roast sandwiches. This is exactly what happened last time we were in. Always excuses. Never a solution. After my meal, my husband tells the store manager how bad everything has gone down hill. He did care at all. As we travel here every week, we see what has been happening. Many times, they just turn people away and say they are short staffed so they cannot seat people. But there are still staff in there hanging out. Our last time we were in, it took 2 hours just to get salads, which is why we didn't come back until last night. This is unacceptable. Horrible management. This place needs to fire the ENTIRE staff, besides the older waitress last night, and start over. The manager is not experienced enough to handle this and he himself is a mess. Clean it up Denny's or another of your stores will be closing soon. This is by far, THE WORST Denny's I have EVER encountered. It is sad because this location, with the RIGHT staff, could be a major money maker. I want to make this very clear. They were not having a manager meeting. They were not discussing work. We were sitting close enough and they were speaking loud enough for everyone to hear their bantering. These employees and their manager were just hanging...

Directing this to the Denny's in Gretna inside the Flying J. I have never been so disappointed in a restaurant in my life. To start off with our visit we sat and waited for seat for 30 minutes in a store that was occupied with only seven customers. There was 7 tables open, 4 booths and 5 seats at the breakfast bar. Mind you there were 5 waitresses visible standing in various areas of the dining area. When the host finally did come to the front, mind you having already seen us earlier he walked by us and seated a man who had just walked in and was standing close to the host desk. Once seated it took 15 minutes for the waitress to take our order and another full 30 minutes to get our meal. I am not exaggerating at all. The food was ok at best. The floors were filthy, we walked on and around paper, food and just basic muck, several tables left with dirty plates, not cleaned behind other customers in a timely manner. And again no more than 7 tables with customers 1-2 at each and at least 5 staff standing around talking, walking back and forth accomplishing nothing. Not cleaning tables or the almost empty store that's for sure. After eating my meal, well half of it, I then I went to the bathroom - OH MY GOSH 🤯 it was worse than I've seen ever with the exception of Porta pottys. As soon as I opened the door you could smell a, strong smell of urine, the toilets were stained with black and rust streaks on the inside. The floors were stick and slippery at the same time and you can CLEARLY see a dirt film on the ENTIRE floor. The sinks were filthy as well. I did not use the restroom for obvious reasons. There is no excuse for a restaurant or a restroom to EVER look and smell so disgusting. Never going back and I strongly do NOT recommend. I wish I had...

As a trucker I do love truck stop Denny's. It's predictable and reliable, far better quality food that all these truck stops who think the nation's vital truckers remain healthy on a steady diet of "super-size me" fast food. I always find their hospitality outstanding (well, save in a few East-coast locations!). But the Gretna location is stellar. Their engineers built the facility with a conspicuous lack of electrical outlets in the main seating area of comfortable tables and booths and they gladly facilitated this by letting me use the quieter back room where I got MORE than a week's worth of business done. A particular shout-out to Mendy, who kept making the long trek to the back room to see if I was wanting for anything.

But the wifi is dodgy -- with frequent pauses that makes some apps run poorly or not at all. Plus there's NO Pilot/ FlyingJ wifi for backup if the Denny's wifi drops out. There is NO wifi in the parking area, even when parking close to the building. This is 2025. That's something both Denny's and Flying J should address. MANY single-location mom-and-pop truck stops boast fast, stable wifi blasting out into the truck parking area. A nation-wide chain should not have to resort to offering wifi...