McAlister's Deli — Restaurant in Marion

Food was great, but the service at this location was just terrible. We had a to-go order, and had been waiting for at least 15 minutes. (Probably more - my husband had enough time after we ordered to go a half mile down the road to fill the car up with gas, then come back and wait in the parking lot at least another five minutes). The kid at the register heard me complaining to my son about how long it was taking, and he told me he thought my order was sitting over on the pickup shelf. I went over, and sure enough, it was mine. It had been sitting there for 10 minutes and was even missing all of our chips. There were cups with the order, even though he had given us cups when we paid. Someone besides him brought the order out, but the register kid never once apologized. I asked to speak to a manager, explained what happened, and told her my biggest issue was the lack of apology. She confirmed that yep, that shelf was for pickup orders, and that she’d talk to the worker who was standing right next to her. Then she gave me a halfhearted “sorry about that, have a nice day.” And that was it. She clearly didn’t mean it, was obviously just humoring the unhappy customer. We left, and a woman in the parking lot asked me how long I had been waiting. She said she’d been waiting 20 minutes for a baked potato, and that this location was always like this. For the record, maybe three customers came in between the time I ordered and when we left. It was 2:15, and not busy at all. Only give this deli your business if you have the time for a very leisurely lunch and the tolerance for...

The food is pretty tasty, although a soup and salad will give you your entire days suggested serving of sodium. The problem lies in the service.

I called ahead, and then waited while six groups of people were waited on in the regular lines. That's how long it took the girl at the call ahead pick up line to take an order she shouldn't have been taking in the first place.

Next, they inform me they don't have one of the soups I ordered, and I need to order something else. No, I'll just take a refund. Here comes the manager who tells me she has to go into a different system, and she'll issue the refund after she comes back from lunch. Besides being floored by this response, I say I'll need something in writing because I don't know her and what if she forgets? This sets her off, and very huffily she tells me she is the manager and it's her job not to forget. Yeah, I'll take that in writing if you don't mind.

The online app made me wait 20 minutes for the order to be prepared, then it was an additional 20 minute wait at the store, 40 minutes total, which in no way was faster than if I had just come in and ordered. The woman waiting behind me chimes in about midway asking about her order. She's on a 30 minute lunch hour. I felt bad for her having to wait all that time.

Overall, if you can get past slow service, managers with attitudes and lots of sodium, the food is actually...

The first and last time I will ever try McAlister's Deli. I ordered a Angus beef sandwich and a cup of potato soup to take back to my hotel room. It took about 25 minutes to prepare. I checked my order before leaving. What I got was a ham and cheese? and a cup of soup with NO spoon. They tried to find out what went wrong as there was only 6 people in the entire dining room. I decided to cancel, get a refund and go elsewhere. A young lady with heavy make-up, I think her name was Elvira or Olivia said she was the manager and would call her district manager to get this resolved. She did not know how to do a refund, nor could she ever get a manager to answer her call. She became rude and another employee said she had just returned to this location from another store. I am astounded that she works in customer service as her demeanor...