Salata — Restaurant in Jersey Village

Had an experience today at this location that changed my perception that I had previously held. Before today it had always been a good experience; staff friendly, service prompt, even offered a free drink once or twice if I had to wait a few minutes to pick up an online order. I always order online because Vintage is a 10-15 minute drive from my work and my lunch break is an hour, so I enjoy being able to skip the line and go in and out.

Fast forward, my wife bought me a Salata gift card for Christmas and soon after, I went to place a pick-up order online, only to find out they don't accept gift cards as payment online and there is no "pay at the store" option. No problem, I paid with my cc. When I got there to pick up I asked the girl if I could pay with a gift card for a pick-up order. She said it's not the norm, but I could call in my order and pay when I got to the store. Great. The next week I did this, and it was a smooth process and the staff seemed more than happy to accommodate.

Today, I called to place an order and the girl on the phone said that they don't take orders over the phone. I said it's what I was told to do to place a pick-up order with a gift card, and she said they "stopped doing that", but (and with no further prompting) that she would do it "this one time". I didn't ask an exception be made for me, but if she was going to make one, ok. I placed my order.

When I got there to pick up the order a man asked me my name, I said John. He replied "Oh. You have to pay first. Then we'll make your order." I paid with the gift card, and then the order was then placed. I'm a little annoyed at his attitude but hey they made an exception for me (even though I didn't ask for one) so I just let it slide and stood there for a few minutes while my order was made. But then when the order was ready the same guy took my bag and tossed it on the counter, in my general direction. Didn't say here's your order, there ya go, thanks, or even just some kind of eye contact to confirm it was even mine. I wasn't rude or impolite at any time to any employee. I deal with customers all the time and realize how it can be sometimes, but tossing their product at them without any acknowledgement wouldn't ever be tolerated where I work. There's plenty of places between work and Vintage that I can go to for lunch without being treated as an inconveniece. And if you don't want to take an order over the phone, then simply say...

Awful. I started ordering through DoorDash a year or so ago, and was so impressed at the way the food was packaged, the freshness of everything, and the options available for salads. I have ordered numerous times since then, sometimes two times a month, but gradually, the quality of the food has started declining, the packaging became less efficient with things/food/dressing spilling out as well as various things I ordered to go on top of my salad were starting to get left off. I don't know if new management took over or what, but the taste and freshness of the food has gone downhill. On two occasions, I contacted the store to let them know that 5 out of 8 toppings I ordered had been left off, and only 1 of 3 salad dressings I ordered had shown up. On one occasion, the manager was nice, offered to give me a free salad when or if I came in next, and offered to send me out another order. The second time I called to speak with a manager they were very rude and hung up on me. Tonight, I ordered the same thing, a salad with pesto chicken chunks on top, fruit on top, and numerous toppings. The 4 side salad dressings I ordered had been thrown into a separate paper bag and the lids on each little container were off spilling dressing all into the bag leaking into the main bag where my salad was making a huge mess and staining my clothes. The pesto chicken tasted spoiled the strawberries or complete mush and there was a bitterness to the whole salad and lettuce. I contacted the store and demanded to speak to the manager but was informed that there was no manager on duty, only a team lead, so I agreed to speak to the team lead. Who ever the team lead was that came to the phone, was completely unprofessional, with slurring words, never stating their name but instead gave a rude "hello" instead of a "Hello this...I'm the team lead, how may I help you?" Their mannerisms and attitude are completely unprofessional, and unacceptable, and the managers or employers need to do a far better job of training these young kids how to be more professional in the business world. I'm done with this location in...

I arrived about 7:55 an hour and 5 minutes from closing. I went through the line all the younger female servers were very polite and attentive. Bar was well stocked and what ever wasn't the younger servers rushed to refill them. They were out of bacon but one server was able to get me enough from the pan to satisfy my take for it. I paid for my food alone with 2 drinks for myself and my husband. The raspberry lemonade was my deciding factor for coming here over Chipotle. However, it was out and I asked the manager if she could make more and she acted like it was a problem eventhough it was more than an hour till close. The young gentleman on duty grabbed the mix and the jug to go to the back and make however he didn't return with it. I asked if he was making some and he said it's some in there pointing to the almost empty jug. I was charged for a drink I couldn't event get. The foam left was watery and lacked any flavor. The manager went into the bathroom with her phone and never returned. When I was leaving the young gentleman asked oh u want some more. Nah lol I tell you this young generation is going to sink a lot of these restaurants. Next time I'll just chose Chipotle since it's was such a problem to get a drink...