Chicken Shack Clarkston — Restaurant in Independence Charter Township

Update: Previously I said that I waited for 40 minutes. After I submitted this review, I received a call from the manager attempting to make the wrongs right - he offered me my meal for free. He also said he watched the video, neither confirmed nor denied the health issues I complained about, but did say that I was only there for 20 minutes. Which is still too long to wait. However, I'm updating my rating from 1 star to 3 - because they fastidiously made attempts to correct my terrible experience - which is a kudos for Chicken Shack.

Terrible experience. The chicken was under cooked, they now charge for everything (even basic condiments). The customer service was atrocious, the cashier was lost. As we sat for 40 minutes (I actually fell asleep for five minutes or so towards the end) waiting for our food to be cooked, half of my order sat there getting cold, and mushy. Watched one employee leave the bathroom with garbage, walk to the back (never out of sight), then rang someone up, and finally, put their dirty hands all over several boxes with food, and brush butter onto the potatoes with no gloves, nothing. The presentation of the store was awful, the floor was dirty and sticky, and all of the employees look like they had spent the day dumpster diving in food and hadn't washed their "uniforms" for several days. Despite the several health violations (improper food handling, such as touching raw chicken, then cooked food, packaging, and money handling without washing hands, or wearing gloves), I paid $40 for food, that tasted horrible, the chicken was rubbery and pink (not normal pink, but under cooked pink. I've been here many times over the years, but I will never, ever step foot in this place ever again - and I'm not sure if I'll ever visit another chicken shack a day in my life. I'm appalled...

So we decided to place an order from our Clarkston Chicken Shack today since it had been years since we've ordered from here. It took about 30 seconds to remember why we do not eat at this restaurant. I called in to place the pickup order and was directed to the website if I wanted it to be curbside. Went online and placed the order (not realizing that it was through GrubHub so the cost was more to order this way), placed the order and when my 16 year old went to pick it up, she found out that there was no curbside pickup. She brought our order home to find that the large potatoes' were not in the order, the sauces were missing and within four minutes of picking up the order, and arriving home, the onion rings & mushrooms that we ordered were cold (not warm). They must have been waiting on a shelf for a minimum of 20 - 30 minutes. They onion rings were soggy and inedible and the mushrooms were at least edible. The chicken was slightly warm and our order was due to be ready at 6:30 and my daughter arrived at 6:10pm. When I called to receive a credit, this is when the 'manager' Matt (the owners son) informed me that the website is actually a GrubHub website and directed me to contact them for a credit card refund. Apparently, Tristen didn't know this when I originally called the staff member at Chicken Shack. Tristen also didn't inform me that we would be paying extra to place an online order for curbside pickup that didn't exist. This location has always been a bit of a mess and i should have known not to place an order but it has literally been years. I was hoping for improvement and it's...

Came in today to get lunch for my son and I. Immediately when we walked in we were greeted with a smile and asked how our day was. In the past (it’s been a few months) I’d walk in during the evening and there would be a few people behind the counter who just looked miserable. They were only there for a paycheck and that was it. You could tell. I remember leaving pretty annoyed because of how rude the workers were.

Anyway back to today, we walked in and were greeted with a smile. The person behind the counter was very helpful and we were making small talk and I had mentioned that I was a single mother just getting lunch with my boy. Without hesitation the person behind the counter said “you’re doing such a great job.” And it just melted my heart. It’s so hard to find kind people these days and just a small sentence made my entire day. I called the restaurant not too long after to call and get the name of the worker.

So Taylor from the Clarkston location, thank you for being you. The world needs more genuine people like you and I really hope that I’m not the only one acknowledging how great you are. The world is a better place with you in it and your job is lucky to have you as an employee. Thank you again so much for being you!!!!

Attached photo of our food because we love...