Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen — Restaurant in McAllen

Let me just start off and say that I have never in my life felt the need to speak with a supervisor, LET ALONE LEAVE A REVIEW ABOUT ANYTHING !!! but the service i just had has led me to do one. so i am going to be briefly be detailing all the experiences I've had at this location specifically at Cheddars.

I went to this cheddars and my friends and i went to the mens restroom to wash our hands and i saw one of the busboys not wash his hands after taking a leak.

I went to cheddars on another occasion and one of the waiters in the middle of taking our order walked away to go chase a butterfly or something. Lord only knows. We don't have a consistent waiter, served wrong drinks, served croissants - well atleast i thought they were under the MOUNTAIN OF GLAZE ON MY CROISSANTS !!!

On another occasion when the restaurant was near empty, I went with my friends and asked for a booth, we were given a half booth half seats and when I politely asked if I could get a booth. ANY other booth that was available (all of them). she (the hostess) groaned and said well "why don't YOU sit on the booth side!"

Another thing. There's always like 4 hostesses and they all don't do anything. The customer service here is non-existent.

While Cheddars has always provided sub-par experiences, I will say that the food wasn't (PAST tense) that bad quality for the price. This was the day that Cheddars had truly outdone themselves.

My friend and I ordered a 6 oz steak each. I ordered mine medium-well and he ordered his medium rare. We were served our steaks and let me say that my steak looked like a piece of the floor, but not only that it was way too overcooked. They also used so much salt I am still tasting it almost 12 hours later.

My friends steak on the other hand was completely RAW. completely RED with WHITE FAT all around the steak. I wish we took a picture of that but we aren't the type to complain. We asked the waitress if we could get it cooked more and they offered to make a new steak. fine. it comes out and looks almost the exact same except this steak looked old and had the worst texture you can imagine. My friend tried not to complain and ate a chunk of the steak, as he was very hungry, but is now sick and has stomach pains. After looking more closely I told my friend that we need to let a supervisor know. We were concerned that this complete lack of care in the kitchen could get someone sick and needed to be addressed and showed the steak to the supervisor. The waitress as well as the male supervisor both looked at this steak and said it was a "perfect" medium rare. He said that they use "state of the art temperatures." Complete bologna.

We had been there for what felt like an eternity. We paid and left defeated. I showed these pictures of the steak to my friend and he told me that he wanted second opinions, so we started calling people and asking for their opinions. They all said it was raw and we should ask for a refund.

We went back inside with our receipt and asked the General Manager Jennifer, who had the biggest forced smile on her face while having the nastiest tone. I asked her politely what she thought of the picture of the steak (if she thought the steak was medium-rare.) she says absolutely and that we should've asked for our steaks to be cooked more when seated. the only problem is that WE DID AND WERE SERVED NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE POORLY COOKED STEAKS. (if including mine!)

before we can ask for a refund she states in a very nasty tone "you should have ordered medium." i told her that wasn't the problem. my friend always orders a medium rare steak and we know what a medium rare looks like. this is RARE, or more possibly BLUE RARE !!! YUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she then goes to the back and comes back with 15 dollars in cash and says the same thing in a nasty tone and big nasty smile. "next time you should order medium!" i then had to tell her "we would take our business elsewhere, goodbye!"

May my Lord and Savior please forgive them for what they did...

Definitely a 5 star experience from the moment you walk in.....the mouth watering smells of the food dancing in the air sure to wake up any appetite,,to the friendly smiling faces of the staff that make you feel VERY welcomed!! The waiting time varies naturally.. However even on busy days or evenings its WELL worth the wait...trust me!!! Omg!!OMG!! from the honey buttered complimentary basket full of heavenly rolls that make you forget your no bread diet and as you wait for your food to be prepared !!!! I swear my palette is salivating at the memory of its tastes...yummy!! .and that's just the rolls...MOVING ON TO their perfectly enticing combined selections of delicious foods on their menu FRESHLY COOKED AND THEIR CRISPY SALADS THEIR dessert so DELICIOUS IT MUST BE SIN !!!to the variety of drinks from SODA POPS ,COLD ice tea's all the way to their bar drinks( like the dirty martinis) its a win ,win deal and it gets better..the booths are long EXTREMELY SPACIOUS VERY clean and comfy the dining tables are spaced OUT nicely ALSO VERY clean the lighting is perfect the service is fantastic!!!! . as the stress of no longer having to find a wonderful place to dine in suddenly leaves you...you NOW KNOW you have definitely arrived to a place where you will soon be re visiting ..NOT ONLY IS YOUR TUMMY going to be HAPPY BUT YOUR POCKET BOOK IS TOO!!!WOW!! I'm DELIGHTED TO SAY I HIGHLY recommend IT FOR ITS FINE dining experience and affordable prices you won't believe it until you go in and see for yourselves definitely well worth it!!!/it's true !! All the great things you hear about cheddars!!! O...!!!!! And one last thing THEIR BATHROOMS ARE ALSO NICE AND CLEAN...ITS INCREDIBLE HOW MUCH EFFORT THIS PLACE PUTS into MAINTAINING its appearance from the outside in !!! its cleanliness and table services the best!!My compliments to the managers the staff the cooks The waiters and waitresses and the bus boys keeping all clean and pleasant...just everyone!!! Happy Holiday's everyone and I'm so glad the pandemic has nothing over you cheddars!!! My favorite new place...affordable!! Amazing !! Immaculate and impressive!!! Thank you!! THANK you!! Thank God for YOU!!! WE LOVE YOU CHEDDARS I CAN'T SAY IT enough!! THANK YOU!!...

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen has a great location in the Palms Crossing Shopping Mall on the north side of Expressway 83 (I-2) in McAllen by the intersection of the expressway and Ware Road. It sits facing the expressway in between Saltgrass and PF Chang’s. There is easy access off the highway, and plenty of parking, including spaces for the handicapped and for online pick-up orders.

The building is well maintained and landscaped, pleasing to the eyes. I was greeted as I entered and asked what size table I would need, and shown to a booth. There was no wait at 12:15 PM on a Friday.

The décor is nice with some sparse faux greenery, brickwork arches separating the multiple dining areas. I particularly like the unusual palm leaf fans in the central dining room. The atmosphere is casual but nice. It can get a bit loud in peak hours.

Cheddar’s is known for “country, home-style” cooking. From scratch. I have been to Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen a few times before, and each time I ordered the New Orlean’s Pasta and loved it. The pasta has a great flavor with shrimp, chicken, smoked sausage, peppers, onions and penne pasta in a spicy homemade Cajun alfredo sauce and served with garlic bread.

This time, I was meeting some friends for lunch and decided I would try something else, and ordered the Chicken Fried Steak which comes with two sides, gravy, and Texas toast… To be honest, I was it was OK, but not exceptional; I’ve had much better. The servings were not very generous for the price, the green beans were flavorless and not evenly cooked.

My friends seemed happy with their choices of a burger (which looked great) and some chicken wraps.

The server did very well, and kept our drinks full. He was bilingual and did an excellent job.

Overall, I’m glad I went, but next time will order what I know I will enjoy. If I am hankering chicken fried steak, I’ll go to the competition across the highway with the...