Steak 'n Shake — Restaurant in Joplin

Where to start: We got sat shortly after we walked in, only to wait 10 minutes to be greeted. She was nice. Fine I suppose. We ordered and it went down hill from there. We waited a decent amount of time to get our food but not horrible. Our food came, brought to us by another waitress who took more care of us than our actual waitress. We enjoyed it, not thinking much about the experience...until we waited 15 minutes AFTER being done with our meal. “They’re busy” I thought...... NOPE. The server was behind the bar just doing outs (what she does before she leaves). She was focused on getting out not us. So I looked around for a couple minutes until she finally noticed me. Then she suddenly came over. We ordered shakes and waited more. Then we waited. Then we waited. Until another server came up and asked if we were waiting for something. We said yes (quite frustrated with the current situation but still trying to be polite) she went and found our shakes being made (apparently the drive though was backed up). I was happy she at least she checked for us. Then our shakes were brought to us by that same server, not our server. She apologized for the wait and was beyond nice. We enjoyed our shakes and she checked in on us again. She was beyond great at being our ‘not our server‘ server. After she checked on our shakes, I asked to speak to a manager. I didn’t wanna start trouble, but wanted to say something. I didn’t want free food, just sympathy for the worst service I’ve ever received and some explanation. So the manager. I explained to her what happened. And this is where it went weird! She shrugged her shoulders and said “yeah I’m pretty disappointed too. She’s more concerned about leaving then doing her job”. And she stopped. She stopped there! No fixing it, no making it right, just kind of shrugging it off! She asked if I needed anything else and I said no because I didn’t think she meant that question. We left and as we were paying, we saw our server (who we hadn’t seen in 30 minutes doing her outs... still.) she forgot about us and was not even going to close us out. She was done. This is awful. I’m a server, I get it. You get really busy and distracted. But the carelessness and laziness from our server and the manager are two things I’ve never seen before from a restaurant. I love steak and shake. And May go back. But I truly hope this is read and something is done...

This place gets two stars only because the food didnt taste half bad but this location will always leave a sour taste. First i went with my husband and another couple. We were down in joplin doing some shopping and decided to grab a bite to eat while we were here. Not only did the servers constantly put most of the food in front of my friend because she was overweight, they even avoided my husbands arm and hand when he reached for the food, and even avoided mine! The waiter that was originally serving us was nice and polite, but he was put on register and a young woman brought our food. Not only did she outwardly, and loudly complain that we were rude to her (all we asked was for our food to come out correctly and for her to take it back please), but she said it to the original waiter, who then backed up her statement and started to whisper and giggle about the entire situation to three other staff members and those on grill duty. After all of this, the young woman waitress then was overheard whispering to other guests that were sat down behind us that the 'trash' didnt think the food was good but we really shouldn't listen. I could not have been more flabbergasted and shocked by what was coming out of her mouth! Our food came out wrong, we were polite and respectful and got nothing but a b*tchy attitude and rudeness i have never experienced in my life. I will not be going back to this location ever again. I will point out that the manager knew who we were talking about the moment she stepped up to the table, which tells me this isnt the first incident that this waitress has created or been a part of. They took my burger off the ticket and my friends shake, but nothing else. Utter ridiculous service so again, i wont be going back to this location and wont...

My family has visited this location on multiple occasions while traveling. We will not be going back. On our last visit, the waitress accidentally dumped a glass of ice water on my mother. She half-heartedly apologized, but no compensation was offered. Service was also extremely slow.

Being the eternal optimists that we are, we tried again on this trip. There were 4 available tables that had not been cleaned. The floors were dirty and sticky. Once visited by our waitress, we started by ordering water. One came, two came later, but with no straws. Had to ask twice for straws. Waitress then gathered all of the ketchup bottles from the tables, while occupied by customers, to fill them. Food finally came, but there were no utensils. Waitress had to go fetch some, and only brought one set for a party of 3. She never topped off our water or checked on us after our food was delivered. The food was good, but not worth the hassle it took to get it.

Oh, and I want to mention the women's restroom. It is the WORST restaurant bathroom I have ever seen! It felt dirty, and the toilet seats are cracked and elderly. That just adds to the stellar dining experience.

As mentioned earlier, we will not be visiting this location again. I enjoy Steak 'n' Shake and will happily visit...