Denny's — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Denny’s management,

You have a problem waitress and her name is Shannon. This is what happened on July 1 around 9 AM:

When my dad asked to have some thing that was on sale, she replied, nothing was on sale, but showed us what was in the menu. We have been coming to Denny’s since I was little and my mom was still alive, so over 20 years. Sometimes you have grand slams on sale other times you don’t. But let us get the order out before correcting us.

Then she gets to me. After talking to my 80 year old father, like he has a 12 year old child. I say I want a slam as well. I have Asperger’s. In the morning, I have trouble communicating what I really am asking for. What I really wanted was three items à la cart: eggs, grits, toast. She explains that the cheapest she can do is $9.99. I request her go to our favorite waitress who is from Jamaica and ask her what it was I needed. Instead, please understand that I have hearing impairments and could read that woman’s lips, she starts explaining how we are wrong, and she the waitress is correct instead of asking her what it was I was requesting. And she had a huge attitude when she was talking to her coworker! Trust me. I saw her facial expressions and she wasn’t even letting her have a word in edgewise. So you are telling me that these three items a-la cart are more expensive then a slam?

Also, way before she went to talk to our favorite waitress, she raised her voice to me. And then, as we were leaving, she had the audacity to tell me I was yelling at her. I’m sorry, were the windows shaking? I know because when I have had to yell because something was going on in my classroom that is what happened. Did that happen at Denny’s? I may have raised my voice after she raised hers, but I guarantee you, I was not yelling. My former coworkers have heard me yell to make sure that my students were safe to get them to safety and away from what was going on.

Oh, then she asked for the manager Randy. I don’t want to talk to Randy. I want to talk to Josh. Josh will actually deal with the problem. It needs to be dealt with! You don’t yell at your coworker where other people can hear because you’re mad at a customer! And the customer was trying to get you to get help so that you understood what they wanted! Great job on the misunderstanding. I can see why the Denny’s, where she worked is no longer in business. I’m sorry, I have Asperger‘s, so I’m blatantly honest. Josh, deal with this...

I want my waitress Liz to know how much I appreciated her tonight. She was the only waitress handling an entire restaurant of guests at the 2am rush. I observed the cook giving her a hard time and in fact, refusing to make my pancakes for her until I asked him myself to make them. I appreciate the manager for helping Liz as well, but I want her to know especially that I saw her doing her absolute best to handle a crowd of impatient and sometimes ungrateful guests, while the cook was also giving her a hard time (I was sitting where I could hear every interaction between them), and she still kept working with a smile in her face to mask her frustration and stress over the situation. I want her to know I gave her that $20 tip on a $16 order mostly for putting up with that cook, but also because I knew other guests would not tip her as well as they should because they had to wait longer than they expected for their orders. Liz showed up for work, probably knowing that she would be the only waitress on her shift, and possibly having previous difficulties with that cook, and she still came to work and managed not to let the guests see the pressure she was under. I appreciate the manager too. I know he was helping her where he could and also waiting for the right time to address the cook's behavior because he couldn't risk making their only cook mad when there were still other guests to serve. Liz needs to know how much she is appreciated and I look forward to letting her serve me again soon. I was the guy that made the joke about my AARP card to another guest who was asking for an "ADP" discount. He thought he was being funny and she entertained his poor humor like any great server would, but she will remember who I am because I flashed my AARP card and broke the ice on that situation so we could all laugh together and she could keep working instead of pretending to be amused by a mildly obnoxious drunk person who was overly demanding of her attention at a busy time of night. Thanks Liz, you're doing great...

Considering it was a Denny's and just past midnight on Christmas morning, I suppose it should get five stars all around. My stars are primarily based on a comparison to other Denny's and to a smaller degree some establishments of a similar variety. That just seems fair to me.

They were out of one or two small condiment/sauce items, and the staff was a bit inattentive and didn't offer to refill coffee... but they were very friendly and kind, especially considering it was the overnight shift between Xmas Eve and Xmas.

I liked that it was quiet because they let us sit away from other people as well.

They had a special brief, two-sided holiday menu. I appreciated the simplicity of it, because I, personally am overwhelmed with the typical over abundance of options. It just complicates and overwhelms, in my opinion.

My 7 year old boy only ate one bite of his cheeseburger, and although he seemed clearly hungry before-hand, he said he was full. In our experience he just says that when he doesn't really like his food.

I had a sampler mixed platter and shared it. It was as good as one can expect from Denny's. Actually, it was likely better than usual.

My wife and older child ate their food. I don't recall if they really enjoyed it or not I'm writing this too long after being there.

The reception area seemed less than inviting compared to other Denny's I've visited, and our table and portion of the restaurant may have been dimmer than preferred.

I was especially impressed with the expediency of service all the way around. Almost all visits I've had to Denny's overnight were very slow... seating, waiting, service, food, drinks... everything... so much so, I just expect it as part of the experience... so I was rather shocked and pleased that was not the case on our visit. My family had just arrived on flight and were hungry, but had next to no other options, so it was really wonderful we were able to get in and out expediently.

Overall it was better than expected for a Denny's at the...