Bob Evans — Restaurant in Lake Wales

This was the worst dining experience l’ve ever had!! Epic Fail! We were sat in a booth that had greasy and filthy seats. We sat ourselves in the next booth with cleaner seats. It took 20 minutes to get drinks after we arrived. A team member from the kitchen walked by and asked if someone had taken our drink order yet. We told her no and she sent someone over. My diabetic husband has already had his insulin shot. We waited another 30 minutes to get our food after we ordered. Meanwhile we only got half of our order of banana bread. However, the table that came in after us got a complete order. When our supper arrived both of my sides were COLD as were my husband’s sides. The server offered to take the cold food back to the kitchen.

At this point my daughter was the only one in our party with hot food. I ate my fish. My husband tried to eat his, but his cod was drenched in grease and there was an empty ketchup bottle on the table, so no condiments. The general manager brought both of my sides back out to the table and only half of my husband’s macaroni cheese order. Still haven’t received the other portion of our banana bread order. I’m over our dining experience and just want to go.

As my daughter is eating her second chicken tender we notice it’s PINK!!! So I asked another server (ours never made it back to check on us) to send the manager back. She did. We showed her the uncooked chicken tender my daughter was served (Hope she doesn’t get SICK) and she offered to comp the meal and we left. Hopefully she’ll take care of any illness the uncooked chicken might cause her too.

Another thing worth mentioning, the last time we were there we had to get the same general manager involved because we were served cold sides then too. Evidently, that’s their process. I should’ve known better than to come back again for another cold meal. I won’t tolerate someone feeding my child...

Food was good. Hostess who sat myself and family down was sweet and wonderful. However, our waiter seemed too distracted and off a bit. Disorganized, maybe? Took our order but not all items were brought. When you have kids, this means, trying to avoid a meltdown due to one having something the other doesn't. But I handled it. Offered to bring more syrup, never did. Never checked on us. My daughter tried getting her attention a few times when she was around for those who was sat in her section, but just kept moving on. Was brought over the receipt with a sense of desperation, without being asked how was everything, is there anything else you'd like. Was going to order dessert for the kids but, I guess not, only offered to go boxes. She seemed annoyed and/or bothered when I mentioned the missing item and asked for another drink. After some time, another server brought over the missing item and the drink. All the while the other sections, I've noticed the waiters were more attentive and pleasant. 2 stars. 1 for the food. Second for the hostess. During these "hard" times due to covid, places being short staff, I tend to be understanding and grateful whenever I go out to eat. But if it isn't as busy, and you don't make an effort to provide excellent service, this makes the restaurant look bad in many ways. When I was sat, I want to say, there was one other table she was attending to that had already had their food and, then another came in after me. 3 tables and as I observed, all got treated the same way. Order was taken. She would run off, disappear. Come back with the food. Disappear again. Come back with the...

While the food was good, the service was incredibly slow. Morale of the evening staff seemed very low. They were not especially busy and seemed to have plenty of staff. It took more than 30 minutes to get our food. When we did get our dinner, the atmosphere was very much, "we are closing, so hurry up and get out." Now, I know people want to get home, and working in the service industry, dealing with the public can be a hard job for the money. I appreciate the cooks and servers. However, if you cannot get the food out on time and you need to close, shut the doors earlier and do not accept more guests. The server brought the check before we finished and did not ask if we wanted coffee or anything else. I asked for coffee and she said the "coffee is closed, but you can get a slice of pie." I ordered a slice, while the rest of my family was finishing dinner, and she brought out the dessert in a take away box. Had I wanted it for take away, I would have asked for it. The manager came to the table to collect the dishes, while my father-in-law was still eating. When I paid, there was no how was your meal? How was the service? Come again. If you cannot provide the service, then close your doors. The servers seemed to be trying, and the manager seemed incompetent. I like the Bob Evans chain of restaurants for good basic country food, but I will never go back to this restaurant again and I would not recommend it to anyone. If you are in that area, go to iHOP, Denny's, even McDonald's, but avoid that particular Bob...