Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ — Restaurant in Harrisburg

Well this visit our first visit started out so wonderful. We were greeted by the manager. It was 11:22am please remember that important information. We reviewed the menu board which was facing the kitchen so you had to turn your backs to the cashier to read. Not sure why Crave does that??? But neither here nor there we order my husband the smoked brisket combo with a side of beans and sweet potato tots. My husband got down to the bottom of his brisket and he was unable to eat it. It was like shoe leather so obviously old at the beginning of the day. I ordered a Chicago-ish dog single combo with sweet potato tots.We also ordered a Sampler my exact words were please put it in a TO GO box but we want it with the rest of our food. So my husband’s food and my hot dog came out first about 5 mins later my tots came. I assumed the sampler would so follow. Well we began to play UNO all of my hot dog had been demolished which was AMAZING. So I went up to see 4 other customers waiting on their food. At this time it’s 27 mins after we first were seated to eat our food. I speak to the young lady that assisted the cashier with my taking out order I suppose she was new. Hopefully that was the case to have such horrible customer service that she gave us. I asked the young lady what the status was of the sampler she said oh the manager is working on it. I said wait working on it as he placed the fries in the oven to cook them for my order. I said to him if that is for my order to just cancel the sampler and refund my money. He never asked me what he could to do to fix it just whatever you wanna do is what he said. At the very end he gave a very quiet and timid sounding I’m sorry. No accountability before that at all. Otherwise I was a little disappointed because we came by for ax throwing which this location did not offer but we saw no where that it was at selected stores just like their breakfast that was shown on the website but it’s okay we may return to Crave again just not...

Update: Tried it again, and the place was absolutely falling apart, to the point they had to stop taking orders and turn people away. No owners, no managers on-site according to the staff. Dropping a star until they train their team. The restaurant shouldn't even have been open with the level of preparation I encountered, and this was my second visit. You've been open a couple of weeks at the very least by now.

Perhaps if management spent more time training staff and overseeing store operations, and less time responding to social media posts, the service issues would resolve and positive reviews would come naturally as a result. Crazy idea, I know.

I'd really like to see this place succeed, but I honestly think the concept can't decide what it wants to be exactly. A hot dog place? A BBQ joint? A cozy little hangout with a craft beer wall? I suggest picking one and doing it well, rather than try to be a jack of all trades and master of none. Streamlining options would make success easier for staff, keep costumers from being so confused, and give the place a much needed core identity. (Hint: the hot dogs and beer are good. The BBQ options not so much.)

Previous review:

Friendly folks, nice Starbucks-like environment. BBQ sandwich was good, not great. Delicious beer cheese. Beer wall was not yet functioning, was told it'd be up tomorrow.

Posted menus are cluttery with little flow, didn't seem to be any named hot dogs with topping combos, or really any indication of how to build a meal, slightly overwhelming trying to figure out what to order or what items pair with what.

Will probably try again at some point. Employees could use a little more education on the menu items, several basic questions seemed...

We have ordered three times, and the food is good but this time it took a very long time to get the order. The driver from Grubhub called and said she had been waiting at the restaurant for 30 minutes and they manager was rude to her. I called and spoke with the manager, and she was very rude to me saying I'll just have to wait and to get over it! There were three orders ahead of mine. Really, three? How long does it take to make a hot dog? When I said that to the manager, she hung up on me...! Finally we got the order and the minute I picked up the bag I knew it was wrong. I opened it and yes, I was correct, we received someone else order that was nothing we ordered! I called and the same very rude manager refused to do anything about it! Looks like I will be forced to dispute the charge and get my money back that way! Pretty sure we will not be returning! *ADDITION: Less than two hours of posting this the owners reached to me via a phone call and offered a very sincere apology. They know who the manager was that was rude and assured me this would be addressed with her and said they do not tolerate this type of behavior whatsoever. They invited us to come in for a meal on the house and we are going to accept their invitation. It is rare to see a business owner today to care like they do. We need more people like this because most owners do not care and think oh well, it's just one customer.... Thanks...