Steak 'n Shake — Restaurant in Murfreesboro

Dave (the business owner) is a genuinely fantastic owner. He cares about his guests, and I honestly believe his ownership of the Murfreesboro Steak and Shake brings nothing but benefit, prosperity, and inspiration to the community. Dave is a pillar of Murfreesboro, and we're lucky he owns and operates our local Steak and Shake.

My gripe is exclusively with the decisions that the holding company, Biglari Holding Inc. and their supreme leader have made, sacrificing the heart and soul of Steak and Shake on the altar of profit and greed. Decisions that, unfortunately, franchise owners like Dave are powerless to resist.

Steak and Shake is fully committed to the dystopia, that is, the post Covid American Service economy. The essence of Steack and Shake, where you could go out, have a nice full service dinner, and not spend a fortune, is gone.

There are no more waiters. There is no host. There is a single employee who cleans the tables and restocks the bar where you service yourself for everything. The inside of a Steak and Shake, and the inside of a Wataburger are the exact same now.

Going to Steak and Shake, and going to Chick-fil-A have zero difference. (Aside from the food choice, obviously)

You scan your receipt to fill your drink at the soda fountain like it's the inside of a prison; where you have to prove to the machine God that you've made your appropriate blood sacrifice to get your soda. I felt like Oliver Twist with my head bowed in subservience asking "Please sir, may I have some more?" If I go back and get a second Coke Zero. Why does Steak and Shake put its customers through that? Because they're too greedy to hire a server that they already pay something insane like 2 or 3 dollars an hour.

My gripe is not with the food, it's not with the staff, it's not with the owner. It's not with anything that anyone at this location has or has not done. It is ONLY with the decisions forced onto them by their greedy corporate overlords who purposely sold the heart and soul of an amazing family restaurant purely for their own greed.

I write this review, not so that Dave, or his staff can correct or change anything. But in the hope that a representative from Biglari Holding Inc. will see this, and realize their decisions are destructive and counterproductive to the long-term growth of...

If you want Steak n Shake hit one further up or down I-24. This location should be avoided. The "magic tricks" are from the franchisee/manager and he will absolutely interrupt your family's dinner - And he'll continue to do so even after you tell him "My child is non verbal so they won't respond like you are asking them to and we are trying to AVOID over-stimulation."

If that were the only issue, you could just avoid going inside. Alas, this is not the case. This location routinely skips processing online orders. By routinely, I mean that during 50% of our visits we see them dealing with a pick-up order that wasn't completed.

This week, after a few months away, we got dinner here. After making sure the rude "magic guy" wasn't there, we ate in. Surprise, we see staff telling an Uber Eats driver that their order was lost. That should have been a warning, but two days later we went back for garlic steak burgers. We ordered online. Guess what happened - the order was supposed to be ready at 12:46. I was in the restaurant at 12:46. 3 people came in after I arrived and not just ordered their food, but had started eating while I waited - kitchen staff clearly able to make the food on time. Another pick-up order came in and her food was late too. I ended up leaving after 30 minutes of waiting with no food AFTER the agreed pick-up time. The upside: I was able to tell "magic guy" to keep the money, and that this keeps happening in his location.

TL;DR - Skip this place - they need less "magic" and more "order fulfillment."

Edit to respond to Reply: If you're going to apologize, maybe read the full comment and see that the issue is that you keep doing it after we have asked you to stop. I did tell someone on your staff that I was there - they didn't reply or follow-up with me. If food is being stolen, then focus on that issue before trying to do extra...

This location had gone downhill as far as service, cleanliness, order accuracy in the previous few years. This was our first time back in about a year.

When you come in the door, there are multiple kiosk to place your order. Then you take your receipt w your order number, choose your own table, get your own drinks napkins etc and wait for your number to be called. Actually a better system than, wait to be seated, handed a dirty menu, wait to order, watch your food sit there and get cold while server is texting in the bathroom...yes this actually happened before 🙄

There were many people in drivethru, dining room almost full, yet they were cranking out orders very quickly, served still hot and the orders were correct. We did not witness anyone going up pointing out that something was missing or incorrect.

The tables were constantly cleaned and dishes removed from the trash areas...by the smiling manager, who hustled around overseeing the dining room and kitchen and checking on guest. Then I saw the cutest thing. Tables with kids...he would just drop by and interact and offer to do a magic trick! The kids loved it! Meanwhile, he was scanning around, using his earpiece to talk to staff... there are alot of milkshake glasses just dropped off, lets get these cleaned up.

I was really impressed by the turnaround in this location. Yes the booths are getting a little sat out, some paint could be touched up, but it was clean, the food was quick and good most of all, the service was a little extra special. Oh and the cheese fries are now served as proper cheese fries, cheese on the fries, not in an unnecessary plastic cup!

Overall, a big thumbs up to the great manager, who has obviously had a good impact on the business and it's employee morale and customer experience. We will see you again...ready for another...