Denny's — Restaurant in Mississippi

( 4-1-'21, approx. 4:40pm )

My Wife, adult handicapped Son, and I were greeted & seated right away, and our Server was very friendly, however, she came by twice rather hurriedly to take our order before we were ready. She took our drink order - I waited on my drink to order until I decided on a meal.

Then, we had about a 30-minute wait before our food came - our Server maybe ONCE came by to make a comment that our food would be out soon.

Only my Son's order came out at first, at which time we had to ask for straws, napkins and silverware. I tried a taste of his fish which was slightly overcooked but edible, and he ate it without complaint. The Server had to come back to ask what my drink order was ( it was a Coke ).

After my son had finished his meal, another 20 minutes or so later, my Wife's meal and my meal had arrived - however my Wife realized her chicken fried chicken had white gravy while her mashed potatoes had brown gravy ( every other place and time we have ever ordered this meal it has always been white gravy on the meat and the potatoes! ), and she brought this to our Server's attention, who offered to get more mashed potatoes, to which my wife declined because she did not wish to wait for more food.

My turkey sandwich was slightly crispy but otherwise edible however I had an order of rice on my plate when I had ordered french fries! And my Wife had realized her chicken fried chicken was actually overcooked/ burnt. We called the Server over again and pointed this all out, to which she said she would bring me an order of fries, and my Wife thought she would try to eat the rest of her plate - yet found that her zucchini and squash where overcooked and dried and she could not eat that. I asked my Wife if she wanted to eat my rice while I was waiting on my fries, and she took a bite and found that my rice ( which I didn't even order ) was cold! So she didn't eat anything.

As I finished my last couple of bites of my sandwich my French fries arrived - my Wife had to go to another table to get me ketchup, since our Server never brought any. At least my french fries were fresh and hot.

Our Server apologized for the issues that we had and was otherwise friendly and nice. As we went to the register, we pointed out these issues to the Manager, who had lamented that he was short-staffed and always had a difficult time keeping employees, but he did comp our meals for us ( we did not ask nor expect that, and would have paid - minus my Wife's uneaten order! ), which we did appreciate.

As we walked to our vehicle we noticed two Cooks standing outside the car next to us, with another individual inside that car, and all three were smoking. We wondered at that point who was watching the food inside since my Wife, who has had many, many, years as a Waitress/ Server/Manager, noted that two Cooks was probably all they ever need in a restaurant this size especially given the number of customers at the time that we were there. Perhaps this was the reason the food was overcooked or burnt?

After we had left we had realized with everything that was going on, we had forgotten to leave a tip for our Server. It may not have been much but we felt she did deserve something since not everything was her fault.

We felt that the mixed orders, the cold rice, and the overcooked/burnt food was on the Cook. However, our Server should have come by and checked on us more often and anticipated our needs for silverware and condiments and napkins and straws. We felt that she seemed to be new, inexperienced, and/or not well trained. Hopefully that will be addressed.

We felt badly for the Manager, who seemed to be having a bad day as well - however, I trust it was an isolated incident and he does not comment to his customers on a regular basis as to his issues with personnel.

We have dined in this location several times over the last few years, and always had a pleasant meal and/ or experience - this was the first time something like this has happened in this store, and, hopefully, it will be...

I normally won't change a review, I went to Denny's on Feb 14th. When I got there it wasnt really that busy. I got there around 6:15pm. Was seated quickly, got my coffee placed my order. Refill on coffee stepped out smoked a cigarette. Received another refill of coffee and asked how much longer before my would be up. Well needless to say come 8pm still no food. I finally told my server I wasnt waiting anymore. So I gathered my stuff and as I stood waiting to pay for my coffee management came up said she was comping my coffee and making my order herself right then. I asked for her to please just make it to go. Okay. So I asked for ranch and extra butter. Which I asked for when i placed my original order. Yes I should have checked my order before I left. But.... Isnt it all part of their job especially given the circumstances??? Yes 100%. So I get home, eggs were totally over cooked, no bacon, no butter let alone extra. I was totally disappointed with not only the service but the staff. If your customer is sitting there and the quickest item on the menu isnt out in 30 minutes your other customers have come and gone. Dont you check on their order???? A good server would. A good manager would have noticed also. Nope over an hour n half I waited and no one checked until I asked.... 2 hours at Denny's, and still couldnt get what i asked for. I am entirely disappointed. I cant say I would return at this point. Do I think they should reach out and attempt to make it right? 100% do i think they will? Most likely not. Am i going to send a complaint to the Corp office. Very much so. Sad & Absolutely Disappointing. I was a loyal...

So my experience started at the door. I am currently on a knee scooter because I broke my ankle. When I roll up to the door there were 4 staff members in front of the entrance smoking, a woman opened the door for me with a backhanded comment to follow saying "I only did it because you are on that thing." Walking in you could smell and see how much the cleanliness of the establishment was not a priority. The smell of stale cigarettes and old grease, while dodging whatever spills and messes where on the floor. After getting to our booth near the kitchen you could hear the staff being fairly loud in the back so it drew my attention to the service window behind the bar. The only thing I noticed was how the cook was drinking a beverage above what I assumed was the prep table, definately unsanitary, atleast from what I remember of my days in fast food. So me and the guest I was with both ordered a double cheeseburger after taking forever for the waitress to take our order.... but you can't blame her she was young and seemed to be a product of her environment. Our burgers got to us fairly quick with puddles of grease coming from them. I pick up my burger to get rid of the half a head of lettuce that was put on it the only realize there was still wax paper under the melted cheese. I took it off because I can understand mistakes happen and the cook might not have seen it. So the whole time we are eating all we here is the staff talking over each other, and only a couple waitresses actually working. Didn't take us long to get out of there, and I don't see myself going back in the near future unless the establishment...