Denny's — Restaurant in Gurnee

Went here to have a birthday breakfast with my sibling. The place was packed from 11am-noon while we were there. Our server was amazing and bubbly. Always made sure we were having a good time. The other people around us all were laughing and chatting having a good time creating a very positive atmosphere. I ordered a build-your-own burger which was delicious but was already falling apart before I could pick it up. Parts of the bun were already breaking away as I tried to handle it. My sibling got the premium chicken tenders figuring that would be the safest option. They normally love the tenders but the ones they received were not great. The breading was very dark and some parts didn't even have the breading on them. The taste wasn't very appealing either. On a brighter note, they did provide plenty of fries. When checking out I was called up to the counter by what seemed to be a manager. I was using some birthday gift cards to pay which accidentally stuck to the receipt from residue glue on the card. I was having a difficult time balancing everything in my hands and separating the receipt from the card so finally she helped pull the receipt from me and seemed very irritated. I proceeded to put my tip amount in and go to swipe the card which wasn't registering at first. The manager stared off into space irritated ignoring my struggle. Finally, an employee took over the transaction and the cards went through. The employee finalizing my transaction was very sweet. We then left with no other issues.

Update: Went back on a Thursday at around 2pm and had a much more pleasant experience. The staff was nice and the place was obviously way less busy. Got a different dish and it came out much better. I plan on choosing the time I go there more wisely in my...

Edit today: January 22, as of the date this review and no one has reached out to me at all after I emailed the picture of review as I was asked to do! This is ridiculous!! No general manager from this store has reached out it is very telling of this establishment how they don’t reach out nor care for its customers. So expect no reaching out from these people they don’t care. Guess I have to send Dennys an email directly to see if anything can be done with this establishment, maybe a little reply and help as we working people spend money here. Today was the most horrible food I have ever had I have been here more than once at this location and never had a problem with anything, front desk young lady was very nice greeted us, our waitress was in a bad mood I suppose older woman, my food that I ordered for the third time was not the same as I always do I was very disappointed for how much it was, it was not worth it, $60 bucks I always spend here when I go for this, usually it is great today it was not, I don’t know what the difference was, the portion was not the same and there was almost no cheese on top and it looked like it was just placed on top, I was eating potatoes instead of what the skillet was supposed to have, the Santa Fe skillet, it had very little chorizo, no sweet peppers and like three sliced mushrooms I lifted the eggs that where on the top of whatever they served me and of course the most empty space of no food down there, so I paid $13 to eat fried potatoes and two eggs on top, the waitress was not great either, it was the most ridiculous experience I have had, it was not worth the money I payed for. I am posting pictures...

Probably the only not-so good experience at a Denny's I've ever had.

Summary:

¹Clearly short on staffing ²Hostess took our name and said we would get a table as soon as they were "cleaned"- we weren't called for another 30min. How long does it take to clear a table? ³When we got a table the waitress was an older lady. She looked overworked. That's probably the reason she throws/tosses straws on the table instead of placing them down or handing them to diners. ⁴Same waitress rolled her eyes at me when I asked for a refill on my drink. ⁵From the time we walked in to the time we were served it was over 1hr. Really? ⁶Plus: we sat next to a wonderful older lady, she was with her friend. She was telling us how she only gets out once a week when her friend drives her (she can't drive anymore since she's on a walker and has vertigo). She was very sweet and kind. Negative: That same lady was being reprimanded and talked down too by the cashier/hostess over a $15 tip she accidently left and was requesting back. The poor woman was a little confused and it was awkward to see her being attacked like that by a Denny's cashier. C'mon guys..

Be better.

2 stars only bc the food was good and the waitress didn't toss the take-out containers at me and instead handed them to me. 🥴

I doubt I'll be coming back here. Shame, I'm a Denny's fan but this was just a...