Lancaster's BBQ & WIngs — Restaurant in Mooresville

Took my 8 year old grandson here for his birthday, thinking he'd be captivated by the racing memorablia. Surprise! The decor was the least important part of how much we loved Lancaster's! Definitely NOT gormet dining, but great fun, good food, and a super treat for race car fans! Unassuming on the outside, the fun begins as you walk past the greeter's station/cashier where signs proclaim such crazy yummies as "fried cheesecake." No waiting for a table when we where there on Saturday afternoon. Grandson's eyes got big as he took it all in: a real school bus, with dining inside, small and large parts of race cars, drivers' jumpsuits, row after row of racers' helmets, sponsor memorabilia (like a car hood tricked out with Skittles' logo). The menu is terrific with lots of variety and something simple but brilliant i've never seen before - a "Seniors & kids" combined menu. Our waitress was so cheery and down home and friendly. Couldn't help but love her. Got our drinks & complimentary, delicious hush puppies very quickly, and ordered our meals in no time at all. Food was delivered by a 21-year-old version of Matthew McConaughey who also thanked us sincerely for being there. The food looked and tasted great! The kids/senior brisket entree was a generous portion and came with two sides! The brisket was absolutely perfect. Tender, smoky, trimmed down to just the right amount of fat. Heavenly. The green beans, as well, were fabulous; the brunswick stew was pretty good with a nice zing to it. My guest got the 1/2 order of ribs and they were so tender the bones practically fell off the meat. Served with generous hunk of Texas toast plus his side of white cole slaw was memorable! As we ate, twice a very professionally dressed manager rounded to assure everything was great. We did have to ask for wet naps, which I'd think would come automatically with ribs. We passed on dessert but ordered coffee. Restrooms were immaculate and decorated with more race car kitch. Men's restroom had a weird and intersting feature: a floor to waist-high urinal! First time i've seen a urinal like this since the 60s! (See photo attached.) When the bill came it was exactly what we'd expected (cost of coffee in all restraunts is ridiculous, including Lancasters', but the food was very reasonable) and waitress handled credit transaction quicily and efficiently. Loved this place and...

Tonight WAS THE WORST/ROTTEN FOOD(which lead to extreme STOMACH PAIN) HANDLED BY THE WORST MANAGER I have ever experienced, out of 12 years of coming to this establishment.

I have been coming here for YEARS, always brought family to this restaurant for the fun experience and the good food.

I ordered a Cobb salad WITHOUT a tortilla bowl. $14.25 was the full price. I started chewing into the salad and many times I found myself biting into bad, ROTTEN lettuce. Tasted exactly like I was eating grass from my own back yard.

I called the manager, MORGAN, over and told her about the rotten lettuce. To be fair she did offer another salad or a replacement meal. Which I declined because I didn’t want MORE ROTTEN LETTUCE, and I lost my appetite, why would I want another plate of something? (Which-now, I’m a hour and a half since eating what little of my meal that I did and my stomach is completely ripped up, cramping and diarrhea.)

Let’s be logical. The best thing to do was to COMP the meal, for rotten lettuce that upset the stomach of the customer? Right? No. Instead a $5 manager discount, but then the RESTAURANT charges to use CREDIT CARD PURCHASES, which was $4.30. Now? Was there really a discount? Not realllyyy.

I called MORGAN back over and asked her why she didn’t comp the ROTTEN salad? She defended that I ate most of the salad? No I did NOT, the salad was soggy and I mashed it down with all the rotten pieces I spit out. Including the napkins that had my spit out lettuce in to. They’re gross- but please see pictures for reference. She then said I ate all the chicken-YEAH I DID, HALF A CHICKEN BREAST? Which was the only appetizing part of the salad that WASN’T ROTTEN! And since I did NOT TAKE HER UP ON HER OFFER OF A REPLACEMENT MEAL, THAT MY STOMACH WAS UPSET FROM-wouldn’t it be proper for a COMP?! But she didn’t sway her decision, she was actually VERY RUDE about it to me, my friend, and my mother.

Plus, it’s not like we were a party of two trying to get a free meal. WE WERE A PARTY OF SIX THAT SPENT $123 on the whole meal, that total is not including tip. But really, was it worth it Morgan? To be that ungodly rude and not comp a ROTTEN SALAD? Please, TAKE THAT measly $14 and head over to the FOOD LION and buy a NEW BOX OF SALAD. Please. DONT let the next customer who has a salad have my date of spending the whole night on the...

Soooo, ill say this... I've been going here for years, like 9, to be exact.... and this restaurant has always been very,very "portion controlled " and that's ok I understand the cost of food waste, maintaining a budget and allll that; but today 8-28-24 was just too far... I ordered the smaller portion of the bbq dinner which is a smaller portion of bbq and 1 side item and I added a 2nd side al e carte... which eneded up being the same price as the bigger plate with the extra side and extra meat...

Problem 1 my server does not mention that on Wednesdays (the day we were there) that there is a $10 special on the bigger plate...

2. my smaller size bbq has HUUGGEEE chunks of fat and gristle in it, I asked the waitress what this was bc it looked really weird like clear glassy pieces of meat ( I was pretty sure what it was but was hoping by asking this way she or someone would offer to atleast replace the ¼ cup of the fat ect. Which actual meat but to my surprise she gets the manager which brings the small plate back to me filled with the same nasty, loose your appetite 🤔 fat she took it with making nooooo effort or accommodation to fix the problem!!!

3. IF you split your payment half card half cash u still receive the saaammeeee credit card fee as if you paid the whole bill, or in my case I paid 20 cash and 5 on my card and still incurred the full CC fee, which honestly they shouldn't be charging in the first place

As someone who's worked in the service industry and management 🙄 I was truly embarrassed 😳 for them at the greed and unprofessional image bringing that plate of fat and gristle back gave of this place.... I know times are hard right now with the economy and election but cmon guys!!!!!! REALLY!!!?????? THIS IS SO UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!

That ¼ cup worth of good edible meat they should have replaced would have went a long way towards lancasters reputation and word of mouth/public review..... I wonder if the owners would have supported her decision or if they care about their customers more than this..... hopefully the owners read this and take the proper steps to ensure workers know, making things right, is more important than what...