Steak 'n Shake — Restaurant in Saint Charles

the manager of this location along with her staff are incredible unprofessional, disrespectful, and lack communication with their customers. i arrived to pick up a doordash order and waited over 40 minutes in the drive thru, only to be told to go park out front and “someone would bring it out as soon as it’s done.” there was no apology for the long wait time or any sincerity in the employee’a voice. i parked outside the door, where i waited for an additional 20 minutes before trying to call the store. i called three times and no one answered. i finally decided to go inside (after over an hour of being there) and was “greeted” by the manager and another employee. i felt so welcomed by their eye rolls and the disappointed looks on their faces. i was told “we’ll be with you shortly.” i had had enough of this, and told them i was picking up a doordash order and gave them the name. i explained i had been at the restaurant for over an hour and that my doordash was suppose to be ready THIRTY minutes ago. (of course i was in constant communication with my customer, as that’s how EXCELLENT customer service is to be conducted and executed). the manager got very snippy and complained how they’re short staffed. i understand how that goes, as i’ve had my fair share of fast food experience, but that is NEVER something you try to guilt the customer into feeling bad about, as a way to cover up the lack of urgency. after all, quick hands make quick work! i got an attitude right back, because as a customer, you will not speak to me so poorly. the manager threw the bag of food on the counter and told me to get out. her attitude became even more aggressive when i asked if she was the manager and when i told her she lacks good customer service. i asked if that was it, expecting some sort of apology for the time delay/inconvenience along with an apology for her poor attitude. she gave no remorse. when i stood my ground, more so to defend my doordash customer than myself, she threatened to call the police and told me i needed to leave immediately. so, in conclusion, this establishment is 1) not worthy of your money and 2) not worth your time/stress/anger.

not to mention, upon entering the building, the door handles, foyer floors and lobby floors were STICKY and there were crumbs all over their high top counters. (not only is customer service not any sort of priority, apparently cleanliness isn't too high on their list, either!)

regardless if a “stay at home” order is in effect (as this happened during the pandemic time) or not, i’d stay far away from...

HAIRS IN OUR FOOD Me and my girlfriend have eaten here often. Typically with very few problems. But tonight was another beast. We ordered online and everything was fine, picked it up with no issue. But as me and her were eating I discovered a hair. I discovered this hair as I was swallowing a piece of the burger and I pulled the hair and burger OUT OF MY THROAT. The hair was imbedded into the burger, I had gotten almost to the end of the burger with about 1/4 left. At this point, I called the location on my phone. I waited over 10 minutes with no answer. As I was calling, my girlfriend was picking her burger apart to see if it was salvageable. As I was waiting for someone to pick up I noticed something in her burger. Guess what, another hair! So they had gone 2/2 with messing our burgers up. After waiting on the phone for far too long, I decided we should go back up and ask for a refund, since both of our meals, and appetites were ruined. We arrive back at the store and I wait for another 3-4 minutes at the counter with a bag in my hand containing our burgers. One of the employees finally noticed us and asked us what was wrong. I told him and he supposedly told his manager. At this time they started to remake our food, I told them that I did not want it remade and would rather have a refund of some sort. At this point the manager, from across the restaurant told me that he “did not have the access to give me a refund”. Which makes 0 sense. What manager at ANY chain is not allowed to give a refund. He then claimed that I already ate most of my burger so I was lucky to be getting a remake. At this point I asked him if I should’ve started from the other side to make it easier for him. He again stated he could not give me a refund and we promptly left. $30 wasted for hairs...

When there used to be more Steak 'n Shake locations, this location was known as the bad Steak N Shake that we don't go to, because we go to the good one instead. It was busy because of it's location right off the highway, but it was never good. I'm sad that, of all of the old local Steak 'n Shake locations, this is the location that survived the great Steak 'n Shake purge. Unfortunately, being the only Steak 'n Shake in town hasn't improved the place at all. The only Steak 'n Shake we have left is the bad one. The place smells moldy. The buns taste stale. The fry containers are only half full and the burgers are wet with what I can only hope is grease. And now they've gotten rid of the service staff. Dine in guests now order on a Kiosk. But guess what, the kiosk still asks for a tip! They replaced the tipped employee with a machine, but still have the audacity to ask for a tip. The kiosk prints a barcode that you have to scan to access the soda machine. The soda machine stops dispensing in the middle of getting your drink because your time expired. You can only scan the barcode like twice before it stops working altogether. Food items often missing from the order, or the food was made wrong. Still, for some reason I keep coming back every few months. I don't know why. I'm always disappointed. Maybe it's nostalgia for what Steak 'n Shake used to be that keeps me coming back. I wonder how much longer...