Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen — Restaurant in Ocala

Having gone to Cheddars at different locations over the past couple of years, I invited friends to join my wife and I at this store in Ocala. There were 6 of us and upon arriving we were told the wait was 35 minutes. After about that much time, my name was called and we were taken to a table. Unfortunately, there were still people sitting at the table. The manager intervened and told us to wait again in the lobby and that it would be just a few minutes. (Oddly, this was the second time at 2 different Cheddars that this happened in 2 weeks!) After another 10 minutes passed, the manager escorted us personally to a section of the restaurant that was closed off. A waitress finally appeared after 5 minutes and informed us that they were "very busy and short-staffed" and that she would return as quickly as possible in a few minutes. After another 10 minutes, she reappeared and said she would take our orders, drinks and food. Having enjoyed the croissants in the past, I requested that there be extra of the tasty glaze put on them. A short time later, she returned with the drinks and croissants. She had brought an extra diet drink and a glass of water that no one had ordered. She had not mentioned the "Pain Killer" that had been ordered, but responded she would bring that shortly when we asked. More sadly, 4 of the croissants barely had any glaze and 1 had none at all. When she returned, we asked for some additional glaze. Indeed, she brought along a small bowl of glaze, but also an additional full plate of heavily glazed croissants. After a bit longer, the server came back and without explanation or emotion, stated that the restaurant had run out of ribs, something 2 of us had ordered. She seemed surprised that the manager had not informed us this. She left and returned with the menus so we could select something else. I immediately noticed she brought the wrong sides with my meal. She simply walked away when I informed her of this, returning with the correct sides, not saying anything. The other substitute meal was the chicken pot pie. This dish was undercooked. The server came back much later and cleared the table, not inquiring of everyone if they wished to have dessert or wanted anything else. We had requested 3 checks, which she returned and gave to 1 person and told him he could hand them out. I am embarrassed that I had invited friends and that the evening turned out so badly. I don't have any plans to return...

I don’t usually do reviews of chain restaurants but I felt like this one being very new to the Ocala area deserves one. We came in a few times before I decided I should write a review. This place is super packed since it’s the newest place in Ocala. We usually come in and get told it’s a 30-45 minute wait when we give our names. Now that what we get told but the longest we’ve actually ever waited was 20 minutes. The first visit I had the chicken tenders and shrimp with broccoli and a house salad. My boyfriend ordered the chicken buffalo wrap. I was really blown away with the shrimp. It was only a few pieces but they were good and didn’t have a frozen taste which, even though it’s a made from scratch kitchen, I was honestly not expecting it to be that fresh. The chicken tenders were just as good. They had a flavor of their own but not like a weird kfc or overly peppered friend chicken tender it had flavor without having to be spicy. The buffalo chicken wrap was just simply devine. I have to confess I hate the left over later that night and I wasn’t hungry I just really liked the flavor of them. We came back a few days Later for lunch and I had the lunch buffalo wrap and my boyfriend had the burger and half Monty Cristo. The burger was great and juicy. The Monty cristo was different. Not bad by any means just different in the sense of it’s deep fried, usually it’s not deep fried so it was just kind of unusual to see. It tasted great and came with a raspberry sauce to dip it in. The third time we came in we had a coupon for free queso and salsa so we wanted to use that before it expired. The queso and salsa were good but nothing to really write home about. I ordered the salmon and broccoli while my boyfriend had the chicken tender Parmesan. The Parmesan was okay and he salmon was great it was the lighter side salmon so it wasn’t dressed up but still had a great flavor. This place is good for different things but I think it just has to find its bearings. I do have an issue with the service though which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. When this place first opened I was a little put off when we called with a few questioned and the girl hung up mid sentence which turned me off when it first opened. Now the dinner service is perfect but the lunch service is definitely not their A-team. Overall it’s worth the food...

I was a bit taken aback by this location. I've been the Cheddar's in other places, they are almost all always busy but they usually handle it very well. This location however struggled. I took my mother here the day before mother's day as a gift and to avoid any actual rushes on mothers day.

We called ahead and took advantage of their 30 minutes call ahead check in option. I strongly recommend this! Our wait after arriving at the restaurant was only 6 minutes.

Our order was taken right away but immediately I could tell the server was in a hurry. She wanted to get our drink, appetizer, and entree order all together. We obligated but it went down from there.

Our croissants took 30 minutes to arrive. The waitress came pass the table multiple times asking if they came yet then saying don't worry it's coming out soon. They were great when they arrived.

I understand free bread is a large expense, especially given the quality of their croissants but if you are not going to have something to fill the time between the order and the meal then it is even more important to ensure that wait is short.

An hour after we ordered the waitress again told us the food would be coming soon and not to worry that there were two tables ahead of us. Still no appetizer had come out yet. We ordered the chips and Spinach dip and cheese curds. I can understand a delay in fried foods if the kitchen is backed up, but chips and dip? Seems like that would have been a easy one to get out to at least cover for the long wait.

Finally an hour and 10 minutes in our food came. No appetizers, just the entrees. They also didn't provide or offer any condiments or the sour cream we requested for the potatoes.

We asked the server and they brought the appetizers out to the small table AFTER we had started on the entree's.

The food was great but the wait was too long and the way they handled the appetizers and entree made it feel like they wanted us out of here asap. The whole thing was rushed and the uncomfortable.

The server was very nice, I commend her, she checked in regularly and the slowness was out of her control but the experience...