Sonny's BBQ — Restaurant in Marietta

(UPDATE: 06/10/2021: Since Sonny's chose to respond to this review in comments below, I thought that you would like to know that I did indeed contact them. I received an email a couple of days later requesting my phone number so that a member of their team could call me and to date, there has been no follow up email or phone call.

I suspect this is just a way to collect information and mitigate the sting of an honest, but negative review. I am just a dataset of 1, so obviously it would be good to hear from others who have had a different experience.

Anyway, because they made a public display of empathy, which turned out (from my perspective) to be a cheap marketing ploy, I am lowering my rating from 2 stars to 1...)

When in Atlanta on business, I stay in the Marietta area and frequent Sonny's bbq for lunch, mostly because it is a great way to get clean protein.

The food is typically okay, not great, but not the worst. The only caveat to that being the salads, which probably should just be removed from the menu.

I think for me the biggest problem at the Marietta location is service. Some of the servers are wonderful, one in particular is difficult to deal with. Having worked in the industry, I try to be a good customer, which to me means that I know what I want, I order quickly, I don't chat up the staff (No your server likely does not find you charming, they are being nice so you don't stiff them on the tip.) I eat, leave a minimum tip of 25% - I try to make the table easy to bus by cleaning up after myself and I am always respectful to my servers and staff.

Today I had the unfortunate experience of having a server who has waited on me in the past and been very pushy about requesting that I write a review and mention her name and I would describe her has just trying to ply me with charm to enhance her tip rather than just focusing on doing a great job.

Today she was coughing and sneezing into her mask and took offense when I asked her if she was sick. She raised her voice and told me that one can not infect others if they aren't running a fever and that the store took her temperature when she came to work so I had nothing to worry about.

She then made a very minor error in my order that I only mentioned because she asked about it, which again, she took offense to, instead of taking responsibility, she escalated the issue by lecturing me to "order correctly next time."

She lobbied other tables to take her side in the perceived dispute. it eventually escalated to a manager who, seems competent, but also felt fine losing a customer.

I won't name the waitress, because maybe she was just having a bad day. What I will say is that if you experience poor service, you should speak up. It is actually doing the store, the store manager, the excellent waitstaff, your fellow customers and yourself a favor by pointing out opportunities to improve the training and the...

My elderly family traveled all the way the Philippines to visit. One of their favorite restaurant to eat at when the visit is Sonny’s. We had large party and called ahead of time to inform them that we were coming in as a large party of 11, just as a courtesy. Staff informed us that they will be ready when we arrived. I was extremely disappointed and offended by the way management treated us when we arrived. When we arrived the restaurant was busy. We waited in line about 20 minutes before we spoke to a host, understand they are busy. The manager on duty, Lou, was working the host station. When it was our turn, the Lou asked us how many. We said, “11, we called…” She interrupts us and say, “30 minutes. Next!” While shooing us away as if we were a problem. Lou never asked for a name or made a note. So after the line was gone, my mother returned to the host station to explain to her the situation and ask about how long. Then Lou asked her, “How many?” Mind you we were just at the stand 20 minutes prior. Lou rudely tells her with a sarcastic attitude, “We don’t do reservations!” Which we already knew. We just wanted to be courteous. Then she continues on to tell us, “That the restaurant must have filled up between the time we called. Look, we are short staffed like every one of the restaurants in Georgia! Y’all are going to have to wait!” Then walks off. I wanted to go off, but dug deep. My grandparents felt hurt that we were treated like that. But thank God for our waitress Shanita. We were going to leave and she came to us and said with the biggest smile, “Hey y’all. I am so sorry about your wait. My manager is getting your tables together now. And I will be there to help you all in a few minutes.” Once we sat down, Shanita was one of the best servers we’ve ever had. She saved my family’s visit. At this point, I don’t know if I would bring my family back to Sonny. I don’t appreciate being treated as if my family and I were an issue for your...

Decent experience yesterday at this location. It was my first time eating inside. Our waitress was MK. She was friendly, nice, very attentive and made sure we received our food very fast! She definitely gets 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ As far as the food, the smoked chicken tasted a bit tough and dry . I think it had been cooked and sat up for a long while before we ordered it. However all the other food items we ordered was great! This location needs to do a much better job keeping their bathrooms clean. Toilet tank had this huge plastic substitute covering over the tank that prevented women from seeing the flush handle. Paper was all over the floor, smell wasn’t pleasant and overall, it just looked very unkempt. Lastly the light bulb at each table lamp is way too bright. Feels like an interrogation lamp to torture your eyes and gives you a headache while just trying to eat there. If it’s your first date or two, the light is so harsh it will kill the mood especially if you’re date is not all that good looking. It’ll make them look worse. Please consider a lower wattage light bulb that won’t blind people or gives them a headache. Other than these issues, it was a decent experience. But honestly, I could only give it 3 stars because of the dry chicken, nasty bathroom and interrogation...