Denny's — Restaurant in Kyle

Went last night with my wife and a friend. No less than 15 minutes before meeting our waitress, Jacie, who was sniffling the whole time and barely making eye contact or speaking loudly enough to communicate. Then another 10 or so before we got drinks. It was 45 minutes from entering the building until food was on the table and then the order was wrong (in fact my Slam Burger didn't even make it out with my group's food and she claimed to have to go back to yell at the kitchen staff to get my order). While watching several tables of fellow patrons get up and leave after not being serviced for equally insulting times, we decided we'd passed the point of no return, so we stayed and ate. Some of our food was cold, the coffee was cold and stale, and Jacie, who never checked on our experience unsolicited, had to be flagged down several times during the meal (or other staff instead when she was M.I.A.) for simple things like drink refills or more napkins. The entire dining room seemed plagued with similar experiences as the looks of disappointment were painted on most every diner's face in the building. The comedy of errors didn't end there, however. Once we were done struggling through the meal, we went to pay at the register. While the receipt, which we'd already checked, had everything correct, once scanned to collect payment, their computer showed a bill with nearly twice as many items and twice the amount due. So, the apparent shift manager and two hostesses collectively spent the next 15 minutes or so trying in vain to "correct" the ticket so they could split it for us to pay. Given the computer glitch, they were unable to remedy the ticket as it was and FINALLY the shift manager told the hostesses to simply void the ticket and recreate a new one. However, it was apparent that the manager wanted a paper trail associating the catastrophic experience with Jacie and so the two girls spent another few minutes making me wait before handing me my receipt because the computer had associated the new ticket to one of their names instead of Jacie's.

All in all, this location clearly opened ridiculously prematurely and the GM is obviously not competent --- a problem made clear by the staff's abundant willingness to pass along those consequences to guests.

Until this place is entirely re-staffed, it's likely a...

This is a new restaurant. And they very much needed a month of soft opening to get their system worked out. It was obvious that this was the very first job (much less first restaurant job) for most of the staff, and they were struggling to perform their designated tasks out of sheer inexperience. For example, the night we went, there were two hostesses at the stand. One was taking customers’ names and phone numbers and telling customers they could wait in their cars, the next hostess would then come up behind her and call out names on the list rapid fire. If the customer didn’t show up, she would just mark them off…never called any of the numbers. So I know that we ended up being sat before multiple parties that were waiting out in the parking lot for the rest of eternity.

The rest of the night was a comedy of errors…food going to the wrong table, we were handed the wrong ticket…we could have gotten out for much cheaper, but we advised our server that she might need to check again…after the night she was having, I didn’t want her to get stuck with our tab.

The food was good, not nearly as greasy as the standard fare at the local IHOP. Give them a month or two to get their sea legs. And it should be up to par with the Denny’s corporate experience.

In the meantime, to the managers at the Kyle Denny’s. Please number your tables, so that the waitstaff can clearly see them. And teach your hostess to pay attention to how many tables a single, new server can actually handle. I agree you want to minimize wait time for your customers, but managing the experience and expectations of your guests will solve SOOOOO many of your service issues.

I completely respect what y’all are trying to do, and I totally believe that everyone should work at least one year in the service industry. It would teach us all a little more about grace and humility. Keep up the hard work. It will get better, and loyal Denny’s customers will...

Being that I work in the service industry, I do not normally leave reviews unless it’s been a terrible experience. This one takes the cake. I would say it left a bad taste in my mouth but I didn’t even receive my food. I ordered on the Denny’s app for a curbside to go order. Upon arrival I was told they didn’t have my order in their system. I was told I would have to come in and reorder and repay for food I had already paid for a second time. Being that I showed them that I had paid and already been charged I asked if they would compensate me for the second order since I had already paid through the app and been charged and was told no. Given my knowledge of how management works in the service industry I know for a fact a manger has the power to handle situations like this and know for a fact she had the ability to make things right for me. This lady acted like she didn’t even care that I had paid for food I hadn’t received and acted like it was my fault. Kept telling me there’s nothing she can do to help me since they didn’t have my order in their system. I then asked for a regional managers number to call and talk to about my situation. To which she gave me a number for someone named Debra. Debra has yet to answer the two times I tried calling her and doesn’t have enough room in her mailbox on her phone to even take voicemails. This place seems poorly managed and from the majority of 1 star reviews I’ve seen, that directly reflects on the people running this place. I get that the initial problem was not on the management due to technical problems with the app. But the fact that management at the store were not even apologetic or even attempted to make things right was just extremely frustrating. This place is poorly managed, don’t waste your time...