McAlister's Deli — Restaurant in McDonough

On June 11, 2023, my family and I dined-in for lunch at the McAlister’s located at 1605 GA Hwy 20, McDonough, GA 30253. The host, Keyana, was pleasant and took our order. However, the customer before us requested to speak with the manager about a refund because her order was made incorrectly twice. Keyana went into the back to get the manager to speak with the customer about the refund. The manager, Melinda, came to the counter and was rude with the customers requesting a refund. They tried to explain that their order was made wrong twice and they no longer wanted the food. The manager, screamed at Keyana, “Just give her the refund!”. Melinda walked into the kitchen while Keyana informed her that she “doesn’t know how to do a refund.” About ten minutes went by and the customer was still waiting at the counter for a refund. The customer asked Keyana to get the manager a second time. Melinda stormed to the counter and irrationally exchanged words with the customer. I, along with dozens of other customers witnessed this incredibly distasteful exchange between Melinda and the customer. Melinda finally gave the woman a refund but never even apologized to the customers for their order being made incorrectly. I remained seated, awaiting my order to be prepared. I quietly asked Keyana for the manager’s name when she brought over drinks. Keyana appeared frightened, and said, “I don’t know her name.” I reassured Keyana that I promised not to get her into trouble but please find out the manager’s name. A few minutes later, Keyana went into the kitchen and asked another associate for the manager’s name and was told that her name is “Melinda.” Keyana walked back over to let me know that Melinda is the shift lead and Mark is the store manager. As Keyana was telling me this, I noticed the associate who gave Keyana the information walk to Melinda and whispered something to her. Melinda began gawking at me with her eyeglasses positioned at the end of her nose. I immediately noticed her rude stares at me and returned stares. We continued to wait for our food and patrons who ordered after us received their orders. After waiting 30 minutes, my spouse noticed that our order was completed but the manager took our order into the back. My wife was extremely suspicious that our food was taken back into the kitchen after it had been fully prepared. We suspect Melinda contaminated the food. My wife requested a refund but the cashier said she’d need to get the manager for authorization. I walked to the counter and demanded a refund. We saw the food get taken back into the kitchen per Melinda’s orders. Melinda appeared to the counter screaming and yelling that we would not be getting a refund and to leave the store. Melinda then was confrontational towards Keyana. She said Keyana “started this” and told Keyana to “clock out and go home.” I became outraged calling Melinda a bully for abusing the young kids working there. Keyana clocked out as she was told. We contacted McDonough Police and two patrolmen arrived. The officers informed Melinda that she had to provide us a full refund. She gave the $ to the police and the officer provider us our money back. I feel partly responsible for Keyana being bullied. Keyana provided me with Melinda’s name although she was extremely afraid to. We left a cash tip but feel terrible about the manager’s retaliatory actions towards her. I would like to provide this Keyana with the full amount of the hours she lost today after being sent home by Melinda for no apparent reason other than to be spiteful for Keyana providing me with her name. @Mark, store manager, this incident occurred today around 3:12pm,...

The food is tasty, but the issue lies with the service, which up until this point has never been bad. I picked up an order for 5 people. Got back to my shop to which I was told that several items were missing. No big deal, I called to let them know there were some things missing and they asked if I could come back. I responded yes I would be there in 10-15 minutes. I arrive at the drive thru window and let the employee know I was there to pick up some items that were missing from my order. She asked me where the food was and I explained I had taken it back to my work where I was then told some things were missing. She left and came back asking where the receipt was, obviously irritated with me. I explained again it was with the food. She left again and came back asking for my name, to which I gave it to her. She left AGAIN and come back saying I had no order and just overall speaking to me like I'm an idiot. I'm getting ill at this point by the way she is treating me and tell her I didn't wait 45 min in traffic get back to my work and drive 30 min back for nothing. She asked what was missing and I told her "a potato salad, mac and cheese, a chipotle spud, and 5 pickles". She takes my name again and comes back with a duplicate receipt of my order and tells me "there's no spud" and I made the mistake of taking her word on that (because i checked the receipt when i got back to work and it was very clearly there) but said alright well if that's the case what about the other things I said that were missing that ARE on there? It's getting heated at this point and we are bickering back and forth. She leaves and comes back and asks what flavor chips. I tell her and she comes back to give me some "advice" about coming inside if I want to pick up and order and to actually check first to make sure all the food is there. Normally I would, and I should have been better prepared, but I was sent to pick up food for a bunch of hungry technicians and I did not know exactly what was supposed to be included in the order. Then, when she FINALLY comes with the bag of most (not all) of my missing order, when I reach to take it, she refuses to let go and snatches it back. At this point I lose it. She's telling me "I was gonna apologize and tell you have a Happy Thanksgiving but you can forget that." I never initially came off rude or angry. I work in customer service and I totally understand things happen. Here I was thinking they just left a bag to the side, I'd pick it up, and then be about my way. I was NOT expecting to be treated like absolute trash. But if you want to talk to me like that, you best believe I will match that energy and deflect it right back at you. She should be ashamed of her behavior. The food is good, but not good enough to deal with this type of attitude for what was just a simple and what should have been an easily resolved mistake. Order # 22745104235888646 for reference. Phone call was made at...

My family and I absolutely enjoy Mcallister's Deli. However, every time that we have patronized this particular location (online, delivery, pick up) has not been a very pleasant experience. We keep trying with this location in hopes that it will get better but it never does. As much as I hate to write this review, it is necessary.

Before visiting the store, my husband and I made several attempts (via online and through the app) to apply our gift card to the order. Our attempts were unsuccessful. What is the point of having a gift card, if you cannot use it online towards your order? We prefer to place our orders online so that we do not have to wait when we arrive. We decided that we would visit the location to place our order in person.

When we pulled into the parking lot around 8:10 p.m. it did not look as if the store was open. It was very dark inside. However, when we pulled into the parking slot, we noticed a couple of people inside. When we walked into the restaurant, we weren't greeted properly. The clerk was on her phone. After standing at the register for a few minutes, she asked if we were there to pick up or place an order. During this process, she remained on the phone. Actually, she remained on the phone from the beginning until the end of this process.

Eventually, we placed our order. After placing the order, we attempted several times to scan the gift card QR code. She stated that it was not going to work. She asked if we could read it to her because she could not see it. During this time, she was still on the phone and continuously laughing during this interaction. We read the card numbers to her at least 5 times before the card was finally accepted. This type of customer service is unacceptable.

While we were waiting, the customer that was waiting on his order when we arrived was called up to the counter to pick up his order. He stated to her that he originally thought that the restaurant was closed as well because it was so dark. The clerk stated that she had the lights down low all day because she prefers for it to be dark inside. Really?????

The atmosphere at this location is never welcoming and something is always wrong with our order. The food was okay but items were left off from our meal. I am hoping that with a new year upon us things will change for the better at...