Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi — Restaurant in Peoria

It's rare that I complain about a business as I have owned one for over 20 years and I know the struggles of trying hard but sometimes missing the mark. However, there are those rare instances where management is the issue and they can't help themselves from doing the wrong thing and try to piss people off.

Unfortunately, I had one one those Tueaday night at Headquarters in Peoria.

My rant is a little long but worth the read to see how little a manager values a customer who has frequented this place weekly literally since the day they opened their doors.

Yesterday my wife called Headquarters to book a reservation for family event (12 people) for later that evening. All went well as a pleasant staff member took her info and booked the reservation. Later, my wife received a call from the staff member indicating she was told by her manager to contact her and cancel our reservation because he has a policy of NO reservations and the restaurant is a "first come seating facility". My wife was surprised with the call but we decided to go anyway given that we have always enjoyed the place and the food.

Upon arrival, it was busy as expected and the staff member who greeted us was pleasant and helpful indicating they could seat us but we'd have to vacate the table in about 60 to 90 minutes as they had a RESERVATION for that table. We questioned the fact that our reservation was cancelled earlier because we were told "they don't take reservations".  She had no idea what was going on and recognized us as regulars apologizing for the issue. With a group as large as ours, a restricted time frame was not going to work as it could take 30 minutes or more just to get our food from the kitchen once ordered. Our only option was to split our group into 2 separate booths which obviously made for a less enjoyable evening with the family now split up.

So now the real issue... I asked to speak with the manager and we got one of the founders who had no idea what happened. He returned later to inform me the manager had changed a policy and he did not know about it. Still no explanation as to why they cancelled ours but took another. At this point I was clearly upset but NOT looking for anything FREE, simply an explanation as to what happened and a simple apology from the manager who cancelled our reservation yet took one from someone else.

The answer I got was that the manager in question did not have time to speak with me and could call me on Wednesday.  Clearly this manager had no interest in even speaking with a customer who his staff and one of the founders recognized as a regular.

This is a manager who created the issue by allowing his staff to take a reservation, then making them call back to cancel rather that doing it himself, and then refusing to address the issue when we were in the place and told they do take reservations.

He clearly needs some help with customer service skills and some clarification that customers who frequent his place weekly are what keeps his place open.

Obviously, they have lost a customer for good. Maybe he should calculate how much his refusal to address the issue with a simple "I'm Sorry" cost him. I'll help....4 visits x 12 months at an average of $40 to $50 per visit.  I guess he figures $2,000 to $2,500 a year customers walk in the door all day long.

It,s a real shame for his staff who work hard and count on him to make sure they are a successful business.

GOODBYE HEADQUARTERS....

Tyler... you have missed the entire point. It was not that the manager in question could not make it to my table to offer an explanation or apology he FLAT OUT REFUSED. I can see not visiting tables on a busy night to check in but there is no excuse for finding a way to NOT address a customers concern. There was no beakdown of communication here. The manager made the decision to cancel our reservation and clearly communicated and instructed your staff to communicate to my wife that our reservation was cancelled. Where do you think there was a...

The service was deplorable. My wife and I walked in right behind a mother with two kids. We waited several moments for a hostess to even come to the front. The place was not busy, there were plenty of open tables but only one booth left. When the hostess finally approached she asked the mother and kids where they wanted to sit, and the mother replied ‘anywhere is fine.’ The hostess then asked us where we wanted to sit, and I replied that we would like the booth because we were there to watch the Colts game. The hostess replied that she would have to ask if the mother and kids wanted it ‘because they were first’ despite the fact that the mother had just said she didn’t care. Then, after we had been standing at the door for several minutes without being seated by this point, the hostess answered a phone call (and it was not like the phone was ringing off the hook). She continued to make us wait as she spoke to the person on the phone for a couple more minutes while FIVE people continued to wait to be seated. As she was on the phone another waitress walked up, rummaged through the hostess podium, and then walked away, AS FIVE PEOPLE WAITED TO BE SEATED. Then the hostess ended her phone call, turned to the mother (who said she didn’t care where they sat) and asked ‘would you like that booth?’ as she pointed to the booth I specifically requested. That was enough for us. Clearly Headquarters felt they had enough customers already so they didn’t need to seat us, so we left. Headquarters doesn’t think they need your patronage or your money, so you don’t need to go there. I have never walked out of a restaurant prior to being seated because the service was so bad so quickly. Headquarters reinforced the colloquialism “there is a first time for everything.” My wife and I went up the street to The Moon Saloon, where the service turned out to...

Wings better than BDubs (Buffalo Wild Wings).

Fight me if you must. I got stood up tonight. Never fun, but life goes on. I figured nothing can fix a hit like that like some beer, wings, and fries. I've been here before, and the food and service has always been great.

But the wings I've never had before. Y'all know that scene in Ratatouille when Remey is eating the cheese and strawberry and swirls are flying around the screen? That's how I feel about the Honey Hot wings I had tonight. The batter? Cripsy, yet soft. The wings were juicy and tender. The sauce was integrated into the wing, it didn't just coat it. I felt so cheated from what I got from BDubs.

(Granted, I know they make tons per day all day. But I often got wings that were the bad kind crunchy. Sometimes hard, with little chicken to them, and that weren't fully coated with sauce. Once up in Flagstaff, I even had wings that were cold in the middle.)

But HQ wings? They were big, crispy, and tender. I didn't think 10 boneless wings would fill me up the way it did. I usually get more at BDubs because I know they measure by weight, not by count. HQ put TLC in each wing to make it count. Definitely will be going here again. Their wing game is strong, and I highly encourage any wing lovers to give them a try.

Alright, enough ranting about the wings before I start getting sponsored 😂 I'm just being honest, as a review should. On a last note, My server (Izzy L.) Took good care of me. She was patient while I waited for my +1, but then was speedy with service after I found out I had the whole booth to myself. Beer never ran warm, my food didn't run cold, and I never had to hunt her down. 12/10 👍

My only regret is that I have but 5 stars to give. I'd give more...