Shoney's - Powell — Restaurant in Powell

We ended up here after looking for a while for somewhere to eat breakfast. Having never heard of it before, we didn't know what to expect. They advertise breakfast, but it's primarily a buffet - I think there's like, three breakfast meals on the menu aside from the buffet, and they all looked pretty generic.

The breakfast buffet had a lot of options on it. Eggs, meats, waffles, french toast, and pancakes, as well as grits and biscuits and gravy. Most things were warm, if not particularly hot, and had decent flavor. Nothing was super bland, but nothing really stood out, either.

My biggest frustration was the set-up of the buffet and how crowded it was. It wasn't laid out in such a way that you could easily get in and get the specific things you were looking for, if you wanted something like eggs or biscuits and gravy. Pretty much every time I went up to get food, there was either a line or a group of people just standing in front of that part of the buffet, so I had to wait for them to move. Since there wasn't a lot of space on that side of the buffet, there also wasn't a lot of space for them to get out of the way. It just seemed very congested and like the space wasn't designed well for it. As someone who gets overwhelmed in crowds and busy places, I found it really difficult to tolerate and would probably...

We had a nice time, with an attentive waitress. The food, not just compared to other Shoney's, but to other buffets, was remarkably fresh, especially considering the time of day, and only three other couples there. The only complaints are 1) no vegan proteins besides sunflower seeds and Chinese buckwheat noodles, and 2) the price reduction for vegetarians used to be significant, due to the large cost of meats. They have reduced the difference to .20¢, and begin dinner prices at 4PM (which is ridiculously early). The largest complaint is, I have been told by employees of various Shoney's that all breakfast items are cooked in bacon fat, including the eggs and sautéed mushrooms. We vegetarians and vegans dine with omnivores. It's not unreasonable to expect a shared experience to be enjoyable for everyone. Vegan places usually attempt dishes to cater to omnivores, even if those have no animal products. Cross contamination also makes the breakfast bar not kosher nor halal, nor suitable for Hindus, and many Buddhists. It's also a possible allergen issue. A truly great salad bar does help, but people want calories, and strong proteins, not a salad and side...

This review is based on my experience Doordashing. This morning the service was very slow until 10am.

My first 2 pickups ordered at 7:05-7:10. I got there at 7:20. It took almost 10 minutes for someone to come out and ask about my deliveries. I waited a total of 35 minutes for the food to come out. One order was just a waffle, the other was a pancake with 2 meats. Each had one small drink.

I understand everyone has been short staffed lately, but i don't understand why these simple orders took so long to prepare. The breakfast items they serve should take no longer than 15 minutes to cook except bacon, depending on how it's cooked (at most 20 minutes if raw).

One customer cancelled their order, thankfully the second was not in a rush. I had another order to pickup around 10 and it was ready as soon as i got there.

Maybe today was just a bad morning, things got behind and they couldn't start orders on time. Whatever the case is, i hope it does improve so their customers ordering doordash/togo orders don't continue to...