O'Charley's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Marion

Okay... Sooo. Without trying to ramble here we go.

I visited this Marion, IL location roughly dinner time. Between 6p-8p.

At this time the restaurant and bar was completely dead. My service stars reflect that of my server which was the bartender Ashley. She was great. Attentive. Did her job well and as expected. It is NOT the fault of the server/bartender if they put the order in to the kitchen correctly but the kitchen comes up short.

The first thing I noticed was a substantial increase in prices on the menu. This was fine because this world is just expensive anymore.

BUT... with that said, higher pricing comes with higher expectations. The food should come out PERFECT.

I ordered a 12oz Ribeye and double side of Broccoli.

The steak alone was $30.00. Im a Veteran so they did apply a vet discount, which I appreciate but that's still a high priced item for a 12oz steak.

Upon receiving my meal after about a 30min wait. My food was cold. The steak looked great before cutting into it only to find that my Medium ordered steak was closer to beef jerky. My Broccoli was also served cold with clumpy halfway melted butter.

This is a work week so I just wanted to pop in and eat and get out of there. I didn't make a fuss about it. I just tolerated the meal as is, paid and tipped about 25% and left.

I understand mistakes. They happen in all industries and other types of businesses. I was just highly disappointed because as I stated earlier it was DEAD in there and this meal should have been pristine.

I have a large background in the food industry and I understand how restaurants should be ran and how kitchen operations work. I graduated from culinary school while in the military and also managed restaurants in previous jobs.

This reminds me of a lazy kitchen. Most likely they were bored because it was so slow and they didn't cook the meal as it should have been prepared.

Im not sure what hapnd exactly as I wasn't in the kitchen but I had to write these thoughts somewere in hopes someone at this location would see this and maybe relay the message to the kitchen staff and hopefully have a better performance moving forward.

I will give this restaurant another shot at a later date, but this evening was not a...

Let me preface this by stating I DO NOT write reviews. Ever. So, you know by reading this something spectacular must have happened. That something goes by the name Cindy.

My date and I went here last night and Cindy was great from the start. She had our drinks and orders down nice and quick. We both ordered the filet. I had a side of rice pilaf (delicious, by the way) and my date asked for a side of broccoli before changing her mind to asparagus. The first thing Cindy did to wow us was actually very simple, when she brought our steaks she made sure we were happy with how done they were before leaving.

The second thing requires some set-up. When Cindy brought our food, she specifically said to my date "If you don't like the asparagus, let me know and I'll get you the broccoli." Not only did this display an attentiveness to remember my date changed her mind from broccoli to asparagus, it turned out to be a prophetic offer as my date found the asparagus to be sour. Now, my date would not so much as mention any complaint short of a completely inedible entrée, My date is, in fact, so self-conscious that she specifically forbade me from saying anything on her behalf (like it would stop me). I was ready when Cindy came up to our table... but Cindy was more ready. Before I could speak, she looked at my date and said "how do you like the asparagus." Note, -said-, not asked, as her very next line was "you don't." That moment made our night. Never mind how quickly she brought the broccoli out, or that she also offered us (read "forced us to accept") a free desert. Just that absolute talent of being able to spot a potentially bad dish, and the ability and attentiveness to read the customers attitude towards it at a glance, AND cut through a self-conscious customers desire not to cause problems.

This was a dining experience for the books, and should be taught to all servers everywhere. I will definitely make it a point to come here again, just for the chance to get...

The workers have little attention to detail, and show no concern for making dishes correctly. Not just ingredients, but presentation as well. I can go 40 miles to the one in Paducah and bam.... Hardly do they ever disappoint. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich last week, and they gave me a grilled chicken sandwich with very little fries. I called and complained about the switch up. The manager made it right by making me a whole fresh order and gave me a coupon. So I go back the next week and order a chicken tender salad. What I received was a salad with maybe half of a chicken tender, shredded not sliced, with a quarter cup of bacon bits wrapped in a piece of tin foil. When you look at their online menu it clearly shows more than just a little piece of chicken tender shredded up. I know that the dishes that I was served could not fetch the dollar amount that they were asking, any day. I went back in immediately to complain, because I opened the to-go container and didn't see chicken tenders on top. The lady explained that they were wrapped in the tin foil, and I was thinking "How could you fit multiple chicken tenders into a small piece of tin foil"? They didn't.... Won't go back and I'm in the process of contacting corporate management. I've seen workers on Snapchat and looking down at there phones after returning from the back. Then immediately click out and process my payment so obviously wasn't on break. Just do your job correctly as a cook or don't cook, simple. Many other places...