Perkins American Food Co. — Restaurant in Marshalltown

I'm still shaking with anger and humiliation as I write this review. My experience at Perkins was an absolute nightmare. What was supposed to be a nice dinner out with friends turned into a public spectacle, all because I refused to accept a gift card as a refund for a meal I never ordered or received.

Here's what happened: we were accidentally charged for an extra meal that we never got. When I brought it to the server's attention, they offered to refund us with a gift card. I politely declined, explaining that I'd rather have the cash back since we didn't receive the meal. Simple enough, right? Wrong.

The manager got involved and things quickly escalated. They became condescending and argumentative, insisting that the gift card was a "generous offer" and that I was being unreasonable. I stood my ground, and that's when things took a turn for the worse. The manager literally threw the cash at me, shouting "Fine, take your money!" in front of the entire restaurant. I was mortified. I ended up in tears, feeling belittled and disrespected.

But that's not all. The restaurant itself has some serious issues. The area outside the bathrooms, which is conveniently located in the foyer right in front of the counter, reeks of urine. It's overpowering and disgusting. How can a restaurant not maintain basic cleanliness and hygiene?

Needless to say, we will never be back to Perkins. The way I was treated was unacceptable, and the state of the restaurant is a health hazard. If you value your dignity and your stomach, stay far, far away from this place.

UPDATE: I've tried to contact the restaurant to discuss this incident and have received no response. It's clear that they're not interested in making things right or providing decent customer service. Avoid this place...

Walked in and no one to seat or greet us. Stood there for a few minutes until someone yelled something into the kitchen. I believe he was the manager on the shift. We had an older gentleman as our waiter. He ordered appetizers and he tried to take the menu after the order. We had to ask for them back so we could order the meal. We got the pick 3 and for the most part all of it was cold. Then our main meal came out. The silverware was dirty. My spoon looked like it was used for coffee and stuffed back into the napkin. For my main meal the mac & cheese was watery, lukewarm, the taste was subpar, the mashed potatoes were room temp and the country fried steak was the only thing that was warm. My girlfriend got the hibachi chicken stir fry. The rice was soft and soggy, the broccoli tasted like it microwaved in water (it was soft but the taste was like it sat in room temp water. I don't know how to explain it). The sauce was salty, the chicken tender/ strips were room temp. As we were waiting to leave we watched the waiter sitting at a table across the restaurant rolling silverware and he proceeded to lick his finger and then rubbed the back of his other hand (not totally sure what was witnessed here either), he continued to roll the silverware and looked to not be grabbing the utensils by the handles but near the end that goes into your mouth. At this point we went up and paid $57 for what would be considered to make my list of top 5 worst...

Went there yesterday with a good friend of mine. It was freezing cold at the table we were seated at, they said when we asked about it that it was due to frozen pipes, but said the heat was on. It felt like air conditioning was on! I was so cold even with my hooded sweatshirt and winter coat on, that my hands were freezing to the point I couldn't feel my fingers and had to put my gloves back on! My friend's 4 year old daughter was shivering and shaking. We had to ask to be moved to a different table, and were told the waitress had to ask the manager, as there were other people waiting to be seated. They did let us move, but we had to move our drinks, silverware, and salads ourselves. It wasn't until 15 minutes after taking our order that the waitress actually put our order in, so we had to wait nearly an hour just to get our food, which was lukewarm, not hot. Yes, we got our meal for free, but the waitress was rude the entire time we were there! There were even elderly complaining about the cold and asking to be moved, but were told by the waitress "I'm sorry, I'm not maintenance and I'm not the cook." She proceeded to tell them they couldn't move, as there were no more tables. There were, but they hadn't taken the time to clean them! They just kept piling dirty dishes on the same table! Very disappointed with this experience, and have NO intentions of ever returning to this...