Malt Shops — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Today was our first time eating at the Malt Shop.

We liked that the menu was visible even if you are the second car in the drive-thru queue, super handy for those that can't make up their mind on what they want and helps keep the line flowing. The ordering process was pretty efficient with a person coming to the car window to take the order while payment and drinks were picked up at the window and larger orders/food were picked up at the backdoor.

Tonight our order was: Pizza burger, Footlong Cheese Coney, and order of mushrooms, and order of waffle fries with a side of mayo for them, a Heath flurry, and a sugar-free butter pecan shake.

The order was placed and we were out of there is about 5 minutes. We received our ice cream first which was nice as it gave us something to eat while waited for our food items. We parked nearby to eat our food since we didn't want it to get cold or melt. So for the food...

Foot Long Cheese Coney: "Bun not steamed or toasted so the wet footlong dog and combination of copious amount of melted shredded cheese made the whole thing soggy mess."

Mushrooms: "Were well done, but had a bitter aftertaste like they had been cooked in old grease. Not horrible, and there plenty of them, just wouldn't order again.

Heath Flurry:"Good. Good price point for the size that you receive."

Sugar-Free Butter Pecan: Just excited to see a sugar-free option. '

Waffle Fries: Not waffle fries. They were more like the unholy offspring of steak fries and a ruffles ridges potato chip. If you don't have your heart set on traditional waffle fries then these are at least something different than crinkle cut fries. Unfortunately, they forgot our side of mayo for the fries and there was no ketchup in the bag. We ended up feeding them to the squirrels.

Pizza Burger: Where to start? If you order a pizza burger you'll get a plain hamburger with no toppings. We figured this out the hard way. Long story short it has nothing to do with a pizza.

We ended up taking it back thinking that we had been given the wrong item. We actually called to see what a pizza burger was supposed to be, but were placed on a "hot mic" hold (and could hear everything being said while we waited) so we were able to actually drive back to the shop before we were taking off of hold. The rest of the story is also a video now on Youtube, but I'll try to summarize it the best I can.

When we arrived at the window to exchange our pizza burger the staff was courteous as we tried to clarify the issue; they offered to remake the burger as well. We stated we had received a plain burger, and they responded with "you had to tell us what you want on it." Okay, that's not normally how that works when you order something as specific as a "Pizza Burger" but I'll play along. I asked for the new burger to have pepperoni, cheese, and sauce. The woman at the window can be heard asking, "do we have pepperoni?" At this point an older woman approaches the window and states that the plain burger we had received IS a pizza burger. What? We explain that it was our first time dining there and that when we opened the item it looks like a plain burger:two bun halves and a piece of grilled meat. At this point she takes the burger that we have returned and pulls apart the meat patty in an attempt to show us that the ingredients (cheese and pepperoni) are inside the patty. She further states that the only topping they have for the pizza burger is sauce.

This isn't some big juicy burger, it's the size of a Wendy's single so no pepperoni or cheese is visible and had we actually ate it probably not tasteable either.

We stated that it should be clear on the menu and the woman agreed and stated that they had also informed the owner of this particular issue. Whether this is true or not I don't know, but if it is true then the blame falls on the owners of the establishment not the employees.

At this point I didn't want a plain hamburger with a imaginary pepperoni and cheese and asked for a refund.

Overall the service was efficient and the quality of the food...

I used to love this place, I even left a very positive review a year ago.. Every experience has gotten a little worse each time I've went the last couple times. It started with minor inconveniences- no big deal. But tonight was it. It's storming so badly- the girls were just playing around in the window taking my order- I'm all for having fun at work, but make sure you're doing things correctly. We pull around to wait on our food, 10 minutes. She reads it off to us when she brings it out. I ordered mushrooms, not onion rings. She asked if I wanted to keep the onion rings and they'd bring out mushrooms. Sure 🤷 she comes back and says I need to go back through the line bc I wasn't charged for it. WHAT?! AND THATS MY FAULT HOW? Lemme get this straight: you didn't charge me for onion rings OR mushrooms, but gave me Onion rings when I actually ordered mushrooms- but I'm to be punished for this?? I'm not waiting another 15 minutes in line while the rest of my food gets cold for YOUR mistake. Suffice to say, the onion rings I wasn't charged for we're...

As I ordered everything seemed to be okay. There where two gentlemen that were in the dining room. They left out the side door to the picking area. The works were complaining about last shifts workers not "doing their jobs" before leaving. I ordered a foot long a small fry and a coffee. They ended up having to make everything and then handed me a box full of creamer and sugar. The food was good but while workers stood around complaining and texting on their phones. It was obvious the two young men that had stepped out side. Was the workers boy friends, only because while I was eating. They were catering food and drinks to them. Unprofessional staff but the food was good after waiting 20 minutes...