Denny's — Restaurant in Maryland Heights

My family was visiting St Louis for the holiday. This is one of the spots we decided to eat breakfast at during our stay.

We were informed there would be a 30 wait for a table (which is fine and not out of the norm for a family chain sit-down place).

Once we were seated we were then told (matter of factly) that there was an additional 25 minute wait for any food orders. I figured we were invested at this point so we agreed.

The food was okay but the best (worst experience was yet to come).

We finished eating and the waitress handed us our check and disappeared. Normally at this point I would give the server my credit card to settle the bill and start heading out. However the server didn't come back around. So off to the front register I headed.

I hand them my bill and card. I get my receipt, head to the washroom, and then the car.

After getting the toddler in the car seat the wife heads back in to use the washroom. On her way out she's stopped by the front register and accused of not paying for the meal.

Our friend which also came along for the weekend comes out to the car to tell me they won't let my wife out the door. I head back in and standing there is the manager and the cashier that settled my bill.

It seems that the absent waitress made the accusation against the wife. However the cashier and the manager, both who were present while I paid (with my wife standing beside me at the time) didn't have the memory retention to recall that 5 minutes earlier we actually did pay the bill.

I ask how many times am I expected to pay for the meal? I hand them my receipt and they start scrambling to figure out what went wrong.

Seems they had someone new working the register and she rung up the wrong order (twice, once for the wife and myself and again for the friend that was with us) so our entire table showed as not paid (the friend had a separate check).

How two people could ring up the bill and a few minutes later have no idea that they did so is beyond me.

I don't visit St Louis often but i know of one place I'll never darken the...

Usually I cook at home, however this week we celebrated my 2 oldest kids birthdays and they wanted Denny's. Upon entering our greeting was very stale. The store was not busy so we did not understand why it took so long to be seated. We ordered 2 sodas and 2 waters. After drinking from my cup I noticed there was a piece of paper from a sugar packet inside my glass of water. Annoyed I tried to signal my waitress Jenna but she did not see me because she was hanging over the window/railing talking to friends in a near by booth. She brought our food, my son asked for A cup of hot water and she left. A few moments passed I signaled her again and told her about my glass. She took my glass but offered no apology or concern. Next my family and I could hear Jenna and several other employees discussing a smoke break. I interjected and said well before you take a break could we please have a cup of hot water, my son is waiting to clean his utensils to eat as well as some napkins. We also need to address the dirty glass. She dropped off the hot water and napkins then rushed outside. We continued our meal. Asked for the check. I inquired about the rewards program and asked for my bill to be adjusted for the dirty glass. A manager stepped in and said something to the waitress, again not acknowledging me as the customer or offering any apology. Then discounted my ticket $1. My bill was $33, I could have kept that in my account and stayed at home if I was going to have to eat from partially washed dishes on my kids birthday dinner. 25% off or free desserts would have at least made up for the lack of customer service. A dirty dish should have definitely been remedied beyond just a new glass of water. I am very disappointed with my...

Waitress sat me quickly but she was not my waitress. I was the only customer in the place. But she got my coffee and said my waitress would be right with me. It took about 7 minutes. I asked for water and the grand slam with Turkey bacon and scrambled eggs.

I was reading so I had not noticed it was nearly 15 minutes and my food had yet to arrive. I found the waitress, outside having a smoke. She came in and my food was waiting on kitchen counter. It got to me and was not hot. The pancakes looked like a kid was in back flipping them, they were a giant mess. When the cook put the scrambled eggs on my plate they were piled on top of the hash browns. I'm not picky but the food was not warm and was basically a mess on the plate. When I said something to the waitress she replied if I wanted a new plate. Yes. The do over took nearly 10 minutes, again, only customer. It came out hot and the plate did not look like my blind brother had thrown everything together. Granted it was Denny's, but their presentation is usually pretty decent.

In the 90 minutes I was there I was only customer. I got one refill and I never got my water. The other two refills came because I went behind the counter to the carafe because waitress smokey pants was lighting up again.

I have been to this store many times and I know this is not the norm. They are usually on top...