McAlister's Deli — Restaurant in Shavano Park

(Note, I have not been to any other location for McAlister's besides the one at NW Military and Loop 1604, so I do not intend for this review to be inclusive of all restaurants, just this location.)

I really wish I could give a better review of this place, truly - the food is great and to my recollection I've never had any issues with my orders. However the service here is absolutely horrendous. I work across the street from this location, about a minutes drive or 4 minutes walk, so from time to time I decide to give them yet another shot since they're so close. I order online to try to expedite things, but I found early on that trying to go through the drive-thru (which is marked as being specifically intended for call-ahead orders only) still often results in a 20+ minute wait of sitting in line. When I instead decide to park and go inside to pick up my order, I wait 10+ minutes without anyone even acknowledging my existence (yes, I've timed it). This is even when it's not busy.

I grew up in a restaurant. I've worked in restaurants. I've worked in retail. 80% of my life has been spent in the customer service industry. The idea of walking past a customer - especially one who's standing there, obviously waiting on something (I'm not on my phone, I'm not listening to music or actively reading the table cards or menus, and I'm trying to make active eye contact with anyone in the area or who walks by) - is just inherently wrong to me. I would rather be asked an extra 10 times if I've been helped yet, than to stand there watching person after person go by without a word. At least then I know I'm in a place where they appreciate their customers and want to ensure everyone is being taken care of...

Honestly if they at least had a better system in place for call-ahead and online orders I think this would be a much better review. The only reason I don't go to Panera (where I can literally walk in, grab my order from the shelf and walk out, hinthint* Mcalister's) is because the closest one to me is over 10 minutes away on a good day. Time is money, so having to leave work for longer than needed is a waste, meaning a 2 minute drive across the street and back vs a 20-30 minute drive round-trip is certainly appealing to me and has kept me coming back. But If I have to waste 10-20 minutes of my time standing next to your counter waiting for someone to bother to speak to me then it may as well be a wash...

TLDR: Wait times for call ahead/online orders negate any appeal to going here for "quick" a lunch break. Poor customer service, good food. Order to-go at...

I was originally going to put a 2-3 star review. But after this most recent experience, McAllister's brought it home!

I usually order my lunch by placing it online and picking up at the window. A word of advice if you order salads and do a pickup, MAKE SURE THE SALAD IS CORRECT AND COMPLETE. This has happened a few times to me where I ordered a Taco Salad and got a plain Jane salad and the crew had forgotten all the additions to the salad which make it the specific salad I had ordered.

Today I had called and spoke to a manager about the mix-up. They had worked with me and accommodated me very well. I was impressed. My sandwich I had also ordered had gotten cold and they remade it for me as well as giving me all the toppings for the salad and gave a little desert as an extra bonus. I was originally disappointed but they turned it around despite the fact I had lost most of my lunch hour.

I was going to remove this place as one of my lunch options for the future, but instead I have moved it to one of my top 3 places to go to lunch. Good job guys.

EDIT: We had ordered via pick-up again a few weeks later from my original post. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR SALADS IF YOU ORDER PICK-UP. I now skip the drive thru window so I can speak with someone and make sure everything is in our salads.

It seems the staff doesn't know what should be included in the salads. When you add anything "extra" that isn't on the salad, say, tomatoes, or onions, it throws them all off and the salad comes back wrong. But when ordering to eat in restaurant, the food comes in correctly. It seems by having the same food ordered via pickup is enough to cause a mix up.

We ordered 2 Cobb Salads and wanted to try the new peach salad dressing. After returning to the office, we found out we had been given barbecue sauce instead.

It's unfortunate that I, as the customer, have to make them stop and make sure everything is in when that should be something that is done on their own initiative...

The staff is polite and they do try, so no ding's for them on that. It's just unfortunate the product comes out wrong in the end after many...

May 13, 2018 Mother's Day

March 26, 2018 at 1:10 PM Ordered Online ... Via APP by McAlisters

Dateline October 14, 2017 Back Again ... Long Lines ... Ordered Online ... King Club ...

Dateline September 02, 2017 Half Reuben and Bowl of Chili Crew is 99 New Today

Dateline August 30, 2017 Late Lunch !!! See Google Maps Photos and "New" Video added ... Below !!!

Dateline August 12, 2017 Saturday ... Very Busy Should have used Online Shopping ...

Dateline August 8, 2017 Avocados BLT ... WOW

Dateline July 26 2017 Gotta have Some Iced Tea ... It's 97 degrees Out There !!!

Dateline July 8th 2017 Seeking a Reuben Sandwich with Pastrami ... Found it ... New Google Photos below ...

Dateline June 02, 2017 WOW !!! Craving Tortilla Soup ... And French Dip !!! New Photos below ...

Dateline 05-21-2017 Back again ... Craving a Warm Bowl of Soup ... And New York Cheese Cake !!!

Dateline 05-15-2017 BLT ... Old Fashion ... Lunch just add 2 Bowls Chicken Tortilla Soup for later !!!

Dateline May 4, 2017 Day Before Cinco de Mayo in San Antonio Online App "Shopping" ... Celebration of the 400th McAlister's

Dateline April 3rd 2017 New 🥗 ... See Photos below

Dateline 04-01-2017 Another Awesome Visit ... Magnificent "French Dip" ... I added Horseradish ... WOW !!!

Dateline 02-28-2017 Another "Awesome" Visit !!! Fantastic CEM (Customer Experience Management) by "All" Employees Got a French Dip Sandwich and Caesar salad ... Fully Recommend !!!

Dateline 02-18-2017 Awesome Visit ... Very Friendly ... Like Family !!!

Dateline February 17, 2017 Lunch Time ... To Go Please ...

Dateline November 10, 2016 Lunch ... To Go ... Very Pleasant Experience ... Front Order Counter ... Great Customer Experience Management ... Personnel...