Wendy's — Restaurant in Mishawaka

In summary: They're out of everything ~ food, drink, enthusiasm, work ethic, initiative, and manners... based on other folk leaving reviews. The peak of Wendy's was when they still served food in the yellow containers and Value Menu actually meant something. I'd say close this location. It's hogging prime real estate. Migrate the staff elsewhere. (/summary)

It's rare I'll ever opt for fast food and even more rare to choose a Wendy's location, especially this one. Think 'lunar eclipse on a Friday the thirteenth' kind of occasion. What everyone else in the review section has stated has to be true to some extent but it's me being a casual observer.

The last time I actively chose this location had to be sometime around 2018 when things were "normal" and only because it was on the way back to my destination after coming back from a long road trip and a burger had been on my mind all day long. A particular other chain famous for their chemically enhanced wafer-thin burgers wasn't (and never is) in my best interest so here I came. Miraculously they fulfilled the order on the coupon. Victory.

Fast forward to October 2023 when I was meeting with someone at the UP Mall and she just wanted something 'cheap' and fast compared to the overpriced garb in the surrounding area. We walked across the street and I tugged on the door handle. Locked. Minutes before 6PM. Oooh, it's one of those places full of lazy or neglectful bums. Don't tell me the reason is 'staff shortage' or some nonsense. I worked for a HUGE dining hall in 2005 and had to clean the tables/chairs daily by myself just before getting the essentials out 3x daily then headed to dishwashing.

At the time of this comment, we're about halfway through 2024. I gave up trying to physically go to burger places because they refuse to open the doors. Reading other reviews, it's apparent the staff may have an attitude problem and that's drama you and I don't need. With that in mind, I utilized the Amazon collaboration with GrubHub and placed three orders in a week. Guess what? All three were cancelled. I'm not ordering anything cryptic or making weird substitutions. Biggie bag. Double burger. Chili. Y'know, the usual things people ask for. I could ask for a water and kid's meal and they'll cancel it. What DO they...

Two weeks ago, my family and I went through the drive through at Wendy's on Grape Rd. in Mishawaka. After we got home with our order, I discovered to my dismay that they had forgotten to include my sandwich, a Double Pretzel Bacon Burger. When I called them to let them know, (after all the sandwich was $6.49!!) the manager took my name and address, apologized and stated that I just had to give my name and information to replace the sandwich. So this evening, we went back to that Wendy's location, partly because we were in the area and partly because I was owed my sandwich. Lo and behold, they refused to give it! When I gave my name the manager was on quick as a flash stating my name was NOT in his books. When I stated again the conversation, he said "Oh, he would have sent you coupons, there is nothing I can do. Sorry." WHAT?! Are you serious?? Coupons was not mentioned in the original conversation! So, on top of terrible service from this location, you will have to deal with a skeeving manager that really doesn't look at his "books" if an item is missing. If this had been a $1.00 sandwich, I wouldn't holler so much, but this is a sandwich that is darned near $7.00, and I know I won't see that sandwich nor my money again. Everytime in this location, the service has been terrible, especially in the drive thru, the servers are either indifferent, not paying attention, or act like they are harassed. The food, if they give you everything, is rubbish. Fries are always cold, baked potatoes are hard, and the sandwiches are vastly over-priced compared to some places and don't taste that great! In future, I will stick to going to the Wendy's on McKinley, the service there is far and away better, friendlier, and the food is hot and fresh just the way you order it. Wendy's on Grape Rd? You can go boil...

Okay so. Wendy's is one of my top fast* food places. I have my go-to meal combo, it never fails. But this time I decided to get something new. Me and my partner spent almost $30 on 2 combos for pick up. After ordering via mobile I went immediately to get the food.

Upon pick up, I was given the wrong drink, she gave me 2 orange cream sodas when the one I picked was cherry. I asked about it. I was told the drink I wanted wasn't available so I cheerfully said "Oh okay". When given the food, the girl double backed and took it back in before giving it to me. Returned to the window with the bag fully sealed, I didn't say anything although I always check my order there to make sure everything is correct before going home. So I took it and drove to the Wendy's parking lot. I quickly checked and saw everything was indeed there.

So here's where the problem actually kicked in. I got the new fried mozzarella cheese burger with garlic bread bun and fries to go with my incorrect drink. I could deal with the fact that my drink was wrong but the fries were not even warm, they were straight room temperature. So the only thing I ate them for was the potato texture within. The burger was room temperature as well and the patty was super overloaded with salt. And I'm young, I'm not old so my taste buds aren't fragile to salt. I tried everything on the burger individually to see what it was. The burger was super dry as well. Me and my partner swapped to taste each other's and his was chicken instead of beef and his was even dryer than mine was.

This experience kind of scared me and I'm pretty much set and never going to get anything from Wendy's again other than my go-to. I was really...