Denny's — Restaurant in San Fernando

Horrible Thoughtless Careless Service UPDATE: On Sunday 4/28/24

Waitress with long thick straight black hair in ponytail, chunky build.

She did not introduce herself, otherwise I'd have her name here. She gave me a glass of water that smelled like sewage. I had her replace it.

I told her I'm dining in, yet she asked me if I want to eat out of a to-go box.

She had me waiting over 30 minutes wasting my valuable time messing up my schedule, without bringing my food nor my check I requested be brought in advance. Her manager (I assume, since she didn't introduce herself) came up to me asking if everything is okay when she knows is not/that I'm being ignored &;still waiting, that the waitress abandoned me. Her manager then put my order in for her, though my waitress said she did over 30 minutes ago, and SHE then gave me my advance check. I told the manager I've never waited more than 10 minutes for my meals at Denny's restaurant's.

I moved tables & had the manager answer to why the other tables r being used where I was, when she knows it smells like sewage back there (the booths by the washrooms). She said she doesn't bother spraying Lysol which would get rid of the smell, & that they fixed a sewage problem that had the smell lingering.

She shld NOT have guests eating in that area until she gets rid of the toxic air.

The waitress asked me if I want PLASTIC knife/spoon/fork after she brought my food & left without ever placing a napkin wrapped eatery set (knife/spoon/fork) on my tables.

ORIGINAL DATE: Saturday 4/20/24 Location: 1041 Truman St., San Fernando, CA

Waitress (red hair, Hispanic) asked me if I'm ready to order as she followed me from the ladies room to my table, & as she knew she had just sat my menu on table as I was headed to ladies room.

I told her that I'll wait to order the pancakes that come with my menu meal because they get cold fast, &that i'll let her know when I'm ready to have them cooked hot. However, she ignored that request& brought me cold pancakes before I requested my pancakes. Her & I touched them seeing they're cold. Instead of her throwing them out & telling the cook to make fresh pancakes (though still before I was ready for them), she stupidly gave them to the cook to throw in the microwave & smack a new ball of butter on top of the area where her germ filled hand was.

I requested ice water; she instead brought me water with no ice in it.

After she brought the check before I requested it; she went ghost on me. Didn't return at all. I had to ask another waitress if she left for the day. SHE said that she's still there, & asked her for me, to bring a new cup of coffee &another ice water. Waitresses/waiters should not abandon you after giving you the check.

I went ahead &tipped her anyway, to be nice; but obviously she did not earn a tip at all, she should have given me the pancake meal for free. I am a Denny's regular & am accustomed to the one's that I frequent doing a good job, honoring my requests, remembering my preferences, & righting wrongs or at least attempting to. Otherwise the staff at locations where it may be my first visit doing all the same, obviously. I'm also accustomed to not being rushed, taking my time whether it be 30 minutes or 3 hours, & if a Denny's that doesn't have both outlets for guests,the staff gladly charging my phone for me behind the counter where they charge theirs, while I dine.

I will be reporting her to the Manager. & I expect that if/when I visit that location again, that she'll do much better.

Though the pancakes were nice &kind of fluffy, & light colored unlike most location's where they're darker; the hash browns were over cooked &mainly hard. The food barely had taste. I ordered this same meal at other locations. There r unfortunately always difference's though there shouldn't be as Denny's is a chain, with a recipe of instructions on all menu items all cooks should follow. Some locations season quite well, some bring me large servings of items others bring smaller servings...

The three stars are due to the great food. Most definitely. Everything else was a let down. The manager, (gray, long sleeve dress shirt) looked upset and unwelcoming. Anyway, we got sat down by the kitchen entrance/cashier. Fine. We'll deal with the noise clatter. But oh boy was it hot in there. Not sure if management is cheap but this Saturday morning, 10-27-2018 was a scorcher. Anyway, so we got sat down. We were not asked if we wanted anything to drink. Not coffee, water, nothing, until about 10 minutes later, all the while the same people walked around, back and forth, pretending to be doing something. We didn't get asked if we wanted any coffee until one of us got up to ask for crayons for our child. Guess it finally sparked a reason to ask us if we wished for a drink. Ok. Fine. But once we got our coffee boy oh boy it did NOT taste the same as it used to. The coffee is bad now. Again, not sure if only this Dennys or what but they may have gone with a cheaper brand expecting coffee lovers not to notice.

What else? There were a couple of baby ants, near the end of the table attacking unopened sugar packets, but luckily this didn't disrupt our stay. Our waitress Myrna was probably the only high point, besides the food. Although she goofed one of our orders, it was fixed right away. Like I said, food was great. But it was hot, the sugar holders and standing table menus were filthy and looked as if a mechanic had his way with them. I couldn't wait to finish my food. I was starving or else we would've left. But this had to be one of thee worst experiences at a Dennys. Not sure I will ever visit this place again. Whether it's conveniently close to home or not, it was such an uncomfortable experience more than...

It just takes one bad experience to justify a terrible review. I walked in this morning and Carlos was closing someone out. Okay. No problem I waited for that to finish so I could be seated. I've eaten at this Denny's over 30 times and know the drill. However, this time was different. After Carlos finished he looked at my like "What do you want?" I raised my eyebrows waiting for him to ask "How many?" like happens every other time. But instead he stared at me and said "Picking up? Taking out?" but his disposition was such that you could tell he didn't even want to be there. As I was beginning to reply "I want to eat." another customer walked up to pay and he started closing them out. Needless to say, that upset me so I asked his name and learned it was Carlos. I then left telling him that he should have seated me. I was so taken aback by his terrible service (I've worked in restaurants my whole life) that as soon as I got in my car I called that Denny's. I could tell Carlos answered. I asked for the manager. He gave me the run around like you wouldn't believe. It was clear he knew it was me, the guy who just left. He didn't even put me on hold. I could hear what was happening with the restaurant and a minute later he said "He's not available. Call later." Very abruptly and rude. I said "This isn't going to end well for you Carlos." And it shouldn't. If Denny's cares about the carefully crafted image they've created they should get rid of this guy who puts his own feels above what is best for the company. Afterward, I drove to the other Denny's nearby and asked how to reach the...