Steak 'n Shake — Restaurant in Lafayette

The food is the same as it at every Steak 'n Shake. The staff is always friendly. My only complaint is that, regardless of the number of people in the drive-through line, it takes seemingly forever to get my food.

Yesterday, for example, there was nobody in the drive-through line when I arrived around 11:40 AM. Additionally, less than half of the parking spots were occupied, leading me to believe that they were not very busy and that this would be a quick process.

The woman who took my order was courteous, if not a little curt, in her speech over the intercom while I ordered for four people off of the written list I had prepared. She answered a few questions about menu items with which I was unfamiliar quickly and easily. She seemed to have a good working knowledge of the menu, which is imperative when working the drive-through window.

I drove around, and she accepted my coupons and was very helpful in making sure they all were taken into account. This coupon/ordering part of the process took nearly three full minutes, which was fine. She was thorough, courteous, and very helpful.

After I paid, I glanced at the time on my car's radio and made a mental note. Nine minutes later, I received my drink (just the one!) and waited nearly two more full minutes before receiving my food.

I live four to five minutes away from this Steak 'n Shake, and this trip to pick up lunch took twenty-four minutes, even though there was nobody in front of me in the drive-through line and the woman working the window was efficient in answering questions, processing payment, etc.

It seems to me that the delay comes from a lack of enough kitchen staff to keep up with even low-to-moderate demand during what I would think is a normally busy window (lunchtime on a weekend day). My family and I would eat here more often on the days we go out to eat if it didn't take as long as, or longer than, driving all the way over to Chick-Fil-A, which is easily another five minutes past Steak 'n Shake and usually has eight to ten cars in the drive-through line. THAT establishment has the drive-through line...

No longer the American Classic. Came during lunch time expecting to order at a register and told rudely I have to use a kiosk as there is no wait staff. Had to wait to pay using cash, as my debt card could not be read by their credit card reader... Error unable to read card. Only one of the four kiosk is setup with a cash reader, it actually seems to have two such readers under it.

No help from staff with the card reader, told rather rudely I can only order and pay through a kiosk... For a second time.

But the lack of service does not end and extends to the dining area. After finally getting my meal ordered and guess what, not one clean table. So I bussed my own table, and sat down.

Found the table and bench sticky with filth from previous guests. Sadly this seemed to be the normal for this diner as every guest that came in after I did was doing the same thing of wiping down their tables and picking up trash so they could sit down. From the time on my receipt, I was in the dinner 21 minutes yet never saw a staff member wipe down a table much less a bench.

Steak n Shake as a whole should be ashamed of themselves, every picture hung up through out the diner shows service by real people who are smiling. This diner has tired overwhelmed staff, and there is no diner experience as seen in the pictures hanging on the walls. There was nothing of the old American Classic left here.

As for the food, the burger and fries came out luke warm and the fries based on the color certainly...

I would give zero stars, if possible. We will not be back. The dining room was not even at 50% capacity, and it still took at least four minutes to be even greeted(I waitressed at a Steak n Shake in Evansville. Larger, and much, much busier). We were finally sat, our waitress took our order at 6:20. Our server wasn't the most cheerful person, but I thought that it's just a stressful job, it's fine. Ten minutes later, literally, at 6:30, we still had not even gotten our drinks(a water and a Sprite). Our server hadn't been back to our table in ten minutes. We left, and won't be back. I don't know how the quality of service could have gone downhill so much in the fourteen years since I worked for the restaurant. I have a genetic disorder that causes dislocations and severe chronic pain, and even I am ten times faster and more efficient than that. Even after my twentieth knee injury, coming back taped up in a huge, bulky knee brace four weeks post injury, I still provided exponentially better service. I am so disappointed. What is really disappointing is that the food is good, and I was really wanting the mint Oreo shake. Texting our friends while we were sitting at a nearby burger place, apparently the Lafayette locations are notorious. None of our friends will go near a Steak and Shake. And I...