Buffington's — Restaurant in Milledgeville

I don't normally write google reviews, but decided I should do so (at least in the interest of consumer awareness) in this case after a bizarre and surreal experience at this establishment this weekend. My Girlfriend and I were looking for a nice place downtown to eat while we were visiting Milledgeville to see all the sights associated with author Flannery O'Connor. Buffington's looked nice and the menu looked good so we stopped in. It looked great inside and was not crowded at all. We sat down and ordered our food. Everything was fine. I ordered a burger and my girlfriend got wings and fries.

First, however, it started taking an extremely long time to get our food. It was probably close to half an hour. People around us that arrived well after us were being served. Our waitress then came to us and told me that she had lost my burger. She said she believed a new employee had gotten confused and served it to someone else. She informed us my girlfriend's food was ready but mine had to be started all over. She said it would take about 15 minutes. I was extremely confused by this, as I don't recall ever hearing anything like that before, but because we are on a time crunch I told them to just serve my girlfriend's food and I would woof mine down as soon as I got it. I wasn't mad, just confused.

They served my girlfriend her wings but without her fries which they promised would be coming. Our waitress then came back in a bit of a panic and basically said she had to go help others because they were overwhelmed( the restaurant was not crowded) and basically abandoned us. I didn't know what to make of that. Someone else eventually did bring my food (which was of very good quality) but my girlfriend still didn't have her fries. She was waiting on eating most of her wings because she wanted to eat them with her fries.

At this point we had been there over 45 minutes, everyone around us was getting plates of food and my girlfriend still didn't have her fries. I asked several times and was promised they would be coming. I finally started to feel that we were being taken advantage of slightly and started to lose my temper. I called my waitress over and stated that unless she got her fries that I would not be paying for my girlfriend's entree as she has waited for her fries until the wings got cold. Our waitress reacted to this very badly and became aggressive. It was shocking, because I don't ever recall a situation like that in a restaurant. I asked to speak to the manager about our eating experience and my desire for a refund of my girlfriend's food due to the long delay and fact that they didn't deliver half of her food.

She came back several minutes later and told me that the Manager would not be coming out to speak to me anytime soon and that there would be no refund. She also questioned why my girlfriend ate any of the wings at all if the experience was so bad. The entire experience was, honestly, pathetic. I've never been in a situation where I've been served so bad and then chided for expecting better.

At that point I told my waitress all I wanted to do was leave. I gave her my card to run up our check. When she came back for the receipt to sign, she slammed them on the table and walked off. The receipt was not line item so I can't be sure, but it looks like they charged for the fries we never received.

All in all, I have to say that this was actually the worst experience in a restaurant I've ever had. Obviously, mistakes and delays happen with food and everybody has experienced that several times in their life. I don't really consider such mistakes a big deal and don't really get worked out about them. But the poor treatment by our waitress and the staff here was what sets it apart. I've never been treated like that in a restaurant. They reacted with aggressiveness and shock when I questioned why we were being treated so poorly. There are obviously severe issues with staff and management here in the Customer Service area. There just isn't an expectation that customers should be treated...

When Mike sold Buff’s to the owners of The Brick, or the original founders of Buffingtons, how long did they own it for again, I dreaded the day I’d have to rewrite my review of the first bar and grill I called home after moving to Milledgeville. Deep down, I hoped that not much would change, but my gut wrenched knowing that it would.

The first time I came here, I was greeted by Callie’s southern charm and the friendliness of her regulars. The fried mushrooms had a crisp bite yet somehow melted in your mouth. There were enough burger options to try a new one every day for weeks, or swap in a thick, crispy chicken breast. Even the quesadillas, nachos, and loaded potato wedges were standouts. The menu was expansive and a true reflection of Milledgeville’s southern character.

Gone are the days of being able to eat here a few nights a week. Gone are the days of dropping in for a quick appetizer, unless you like pickles (literally the only thing left on the appetizer menu). Gone are the days of coming in to watch the game at the bar with good company (yes, they even took the TVs down at the bar).

When the new owners took over, they said one of their goals was to: "Bring the food & drink menu back to its original roots.”

If the original roots were boring and spiritless, then I guess they nailed it. Your only choices now are well-done smash burgers (no pink to be found) or chicken that reminds me of lightly breaded Perdue strips, a shame to call it fried chicken (see the skimpy serving on my “William Nelson” sandwich photo).

And while Buff’s didn’t always have a defined cocktail menu before, alcoholic milkshakes were definitely not what it was missing, especially when the bartenders were already great at recommending or crafting something to match your craving.

They ended their takeover announcement with: "We’ll be back soon. Can’t wait to welcome y’all home to Buffington’s.”

I’m sad to say that after going a few times in the past couple of weeks, for now, I don’t know if I can call this home anymore. I get sad every time I leave here, remembering the food I used to get versus what’s put in front of me now. It’s just a shell of its former glory.

Whether their goal is to make it trendy with the current smash burger fad, fill the place with college kids like their other bar, or run it into the ground to justify a full rebrand, I couldn’t tell you. Hopefully it will always remain the home of live music in Milledgeville, as it was this weekend, and thankfully they kept the bartenders from the previous era, but that’s about all it has going for it right now.

Their new focus is apparently on “speed and freshness.” But Buff’s already offered quality food, speed and freshness were never the issue. This isn’t (or wasn’t supposed to be) a fast-food burger chain or the next Shake Shack. The food certainly doesn’t taste better or fresher; in fact, I’d rather wait three to five times longer for a real burger than get a plank of one in three to five minutes.

For a place to go back to a menu that might’ve been offered over 20 years ago when they last owned it doesn’t feel like a step forward toward something better, just backward. Welcome back another basket and fries restaurant to...

Well, to start off, it took literally 2 hours to get our food. And we watched several tables come in and get food. One table got nachos while we were waiting on nachos. And when it finally came, nothing was even worth waiting for. The fried mushrooms weren't good. The chicken wasn't done. One person said no bun on their burger...it was on a bun. It wasn't just that they didn't want a bun, they have Celiac Disease. The waitress was told that there wasn't supposed to be a bun, so she took it back to the kitchen and they took it off the bun and put it back on the tray. 1st of all, it's already cold...but 2nd - with Celiac, it cannot TOUCH the bun. You can't buy a sandwich and just not eat the bread. If the bread has touched the insides, it is contaminated. Truthfully, with this level of incompetence most likely contaminated anyway...but seriously, make an effort. Also, we asked for a to-go order. I know - at this point, we should have checked it...but it was late and we needed to go. Got home and the to-go order wasn't even what we asked for. It was a rough night. I guess they DID take off the...