Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen — Restaurant in Huntsville

If I could I would leave zero stars. My family ordered almost $100 worth of food from Cheddar’s online for curbside pickup today for a late lunch, and after the way we were treated by the staff we will never be returning for either dine in or to-go. Our order was scheduled to be ready for pickup around 3:15, and when we arrived a couple of mins after that time we still hadn’t gotten any kind of confirmation text or anything like they said we should, so I parked in one of the to-go spots and called the number listed on the curbside pickup sign…when they answered, I explained that I was in one of the curbside pickup spaces to pickup a curbside pickup order and I gave them the name on my order. First they put me on hold for over 6 mins, and then when yet another person answered the phone and I explained my reason for calling, they spewed something very quickly that we could hardly understand about helping me at the “pickup line”…when I attempted to inquire about where I might find this pickup line I didn’t see any signage for, I was immediately hung up on. After coming inside of the restaurant and looking around for any signs that might indicate where the “pickup line” was located, as I am accustomed to seeing in the other local restaurants we have ordered to-go from, we went to the hostess stand and explained our situation and were informed by the young ladies there that we could find someone to help us with our curbside pickup order at the bar…their attitude and tone was that of annoyance, as though our very presence was an inconvenience for them. Upon arriving at the bar, we were then ignored for a short period of time before the gentleman behind the bar acknowledged us and asked for the name on our order, which I gladly gave…then we stood there awkwardly for another 10 mins or so while he tended to other customers, after which he approached us again and again asked for the name on our order, which I gladly gave AGAIN…then he stepped out from behind the bar after a few more minutes (with the same air of annoyance at our presence as the young ladies at the hostess stand also seemed to share) and retrieved a large bag off of a shelf that had been sitting there since before we entered the bar area. So our food was sitting there that whole time on a shelf getting cold…until 3:40. I noticed when he handed me the credit card slip to sign that he had circled with pen the part that shows different tip amounts and what percentage of the total they each are, and when the order was originally placed online we were pushed to tip 15% or more, so I’m assuming all the games and attitude that kept our order sitting and getting cold for almost a half hour were related to the 0% tip we left on the order when we placed it. I will say that I was prepared to tip in cash when I arrived to ensure that the employee who hand delivered my curbside pickup order would receive it, but after that whole show I changed my mind and opted out of tipping altogether. I work in the service industry and am 100% in support of tips where tips have been earned and a tip is deserved, but a tip is meant to be extra payment above and beyond the cost of the product we purchased, and that tip is meant to be based off of the friendly service we received…this was nowhere near friendly. It was rude, unnecessary, and incredibly unprofessional. And after all of that and driving all the way home with our curbside pickup order, we found that we were missing most of our sauces and other “fixins” for our meal. What a disappointment. Cheddar’s really needs to do better, but they’ve lost my business for good. Nobody should ever be treated that way at any establishment, regardless of how much they may or may not tip…especially when they are picking up their own order for to-go. I’d been really looking forward to finally trying Cheddar’s after all the good things I’ve heard about the food, but all we ended up getting served was a bunch of cold attitude and some...

(WARNING!) RACIAL PROFILING AGAINST WHITE FAMILIES! My family has enjoyed Cheddars for their food and prices since they came to Huntsville. Unfortunately, it seems the management changed and has lost all interest in actually managing their employees to make a better experience for their customers. He showed exactly how he wants his employees to treat white people. This was the worst experience that we have ever had at any restaurant, EVER. I have traveled the world and eaten at multiple restaurants, so I do not say that lightly. Our experience began with a very polite young lady that was attempting to be helpful. She went to speak with the servers to make sure they were ok to take additional tables, which we understood due to all businesses having low staffing. However, her coworker came and started what would become the most horrible experience we've had. To begin, while the other girl was checking, she came and told us it'd be at least 15 minutes for a table. When the other girl came back and stated the table was ready, the coworker became upset that she had to seat us. When we thanked her for her help seating us, she said "whatever" and walked off. This was the first indication we should leave, but we didn't want 1 person to ruin our evening. Unluckily for us, it only continued to get worse. The rude worker that seated us then stood by our table talking with another coworker loudly, while on her phone as customers walked in. (I have photos) As we sat, we noticed that tables with white people (There were 3 that we could see directly) were not being acknowledged, while all the black families (There were 4 that we could see) were attended to right away. This was including our table, of course. The entire time we were there we watched how they treated black families, compared to white families due to this. The manager went to every black family table to ensure their experience was going well but did not check on even 1 white family. Every table with white families had to wait for an average of 20 minutes longer for any service than black family tables. We timed it! We have photos and videos to prove this. Not only that but the manager and staff stood around having very loud conversations that had absolutely nothing to do with business. We know because we could hear everything they were saying as did the rest of the restaurant customers. We waited for an hour for our food, only to receive it cold. When we asked for the manager that had been standing close to the fish tank not doing anything, he walked off and never came to us. We finally paid our bill and left. I will never come back to this restaurant as long as those staff members are still there. I will include photos of the manager and problem staff that made our experience...

I'm not sure about others, but when I go sit down inside a restaurant, I expect the server to provide service to the table/at the table. Our server Daymeion waited on us Sunday afternoon. We picked Cheddar's because all 3 of us wanted Philly Cheese Steaks. we now know it's ONLY a lunch menu item

To set the scene for you.... Was the dining room around us full??? NO. The 2 tables closest to us were empty the ENTIRE TIME. We were sitting at a 4 top table, and there were only 3 of us.

Back to the real story. In the pictures I've added, you can see a rather tall wooden ledge. To take our drink order, Daymeion stood behind the ledge. To deliver our drinks, Daymeion stood behind the ledge, and my daughter and I had to have drinks handed to us over the ledge. One of the drinks was a very full hot cup of coffee. To take our food order, Daymeion stood behind the ledge. At this time, I made the comment, "I guess I'll have to completely turn my chair around so that I can see you to order." He was standing right behind me, on the other side of the ledge. Food finally came....YES, he again stood behind the ledge and passed out hot plates to the table. Yes, my daughters plate was very warm, as were the baked potatoes. You could tell they had been sitting in the window a while her burger was also burnt. It is time to clear the table as we are done eating. On my plate, I have stacked numerous empty dishes. Daymeion appears behind the ledge. I ask for the check. He asked for my stack of dishes. My reply, "If I have to hand them over the ledge to you, then they can sit right here." For the very 1st time, he came around the ledge and picked up the dishes in front of me. The bill arrives ONLY to be delivered over the ledge.. I still don't know how his arm was long enough to make it to the table with that tiny slip of paper.

For drink refills, it was almost as if we had to raise our hand to get his attention. He never once asked about the food or if we needed anything.

For many years in my teens and twenties, I made a good living waiting tables. That doesn't mean that I have extremely high expectations of servers, HOWEVER, I do expect to be treated with respect and for the server to provide service to the...