Old Grist Mill Smithfield — Restaurant in Smithfield

Let me tell you about the experience I just had at Old Grist Mill, Smithfield. What a joke! I ordered the usual, combo #1. I realized about 3 minutes after paying that I didn't receive my drink cup. No biggie. I just went and asked for one. No problem. I fill my drink, and wait for my sandwich. And wait. And WAIT. I notice the 3 girls and 1 boy behind the counter eating what looked like heel ends of bread and turnovers and I even witnessed a selfie being taken! First of all, employees shouldn't be eating behind the counter. If they want to eat they should be eating at a designated table or break area. And I promise you....your Instagram can wait until your customers are taken care of and you are off the clock. I decide maybe it's time I approach the counter or at least get closer, so that is what I do. I stand there with my drink cup in hand and finally one girl realizes I'm standing there (I'm the only one in the store at this point who is waiting for a "to go" order and there is only one other table with customers, and they already have their food.) She realizes my order ticket by the cash register and makes my sandwich and as I'm standing there, I over hear "We don't have any yellow peppers." (Not spoken directly to me) The reply was, "Ya. I know. I'll go write a sign." So...I don't have yellow peppers on my sandwich but I only know this because I over heard it, and not because I was told in a professional manner that "I'm sorry, we are out of yellow peppers." But as you can see, I did get my pickles. #Letsnotoverdoit! I'm just glad I finally got my sandwich. GAH! This isn't the first time I've had very bad customer service at this location and it seems to always be between 5 and 6 p.m. I at least got meat on my sandwich, unlike my friends husband. :( True story. Some training needs to be done at this location, ASAP or sadly I don't think it will last. I think I've given the Smithfield location my last...

I like the food at Old Grist Mill. I used to get lunch there a lot when I worked in Logan so I was excited to see one come to Smithfield. But, good food or not there are some issues they need to get resolved and I'm a little surprised they haven't already figured this out.

It seems like every time I go there on days they should have sugar cookies, they're out. I'm not going late in the afternoon or just few minutes before closing time. This is happening during the lunch hour(s). Today I asked the kid taking my order why they don't just either make more or buy more (however they get them...from what I understand they have to get them from Logan). He looked at me and said, "They just sell really fast." Exactly my point. This isn't new. They know this is happening so why doesn't whoever is in charge order/bake more? It only stands to reason. I could understand it if it was every once in a while, but every time? That's insane.

On top of that, they really messed up our order today. We had to remake our sandwhiches because it looked like they threw everything in a bag a shook it up to see if the various elements would fall into place. The cheese was half on and half off the bread and so was the meat. The lettuce was past its prime and my swiss cheese had a provolone taste to it. Because they didn't have sugar cookies, I ordered two cream cheese brownies...which I was certainly charged for. Well, we got home and had 1 pumpkin chocolate chip square. I'm not sure what they were thinking, but somebody couldn't get it together. The kid at the window looked like he'd just woken up from a nap to take the order.

I like their food, I really do. However, if their service remains this poor I don't see myself going back. It's just not worth the...

I love Old Grist Mill. Don't get me wrong, but I feel like they've been struggling in the service department lately. We went in today and ordered two #1 combos to go. They'd forgotten our drink cups, but no biggie, it happens! We then waited about 15 minutes for our sandwiches. Once we got them, we realized both sandwiches had been incorrectly made. We then brought them back up to the counter and explained the situation, and the staff kind of just looked at us and didn't really say anything, so I asked if they could fix them. One girl then came over and was super kind and asked exactly what needed to be fixed and started talking to her co-workers about what had happened and how to remake the sandwiches. We went and sat back down to wait and noticed that all the staff started to gather around the individual remaking our sandwiches. A staff member with blonde hair and a blue baseball cap then made a snide remark about how she'd clarified something with us when we hadn't spoken to her at all. We then overheard some complaining and just additional rude remarks. It was a little disheartening because I'd felt we were calm and cool about the situation, but then just hearing the snide remarks over the counter was upsetting. There were probably only two other parties in the restaurant at the time, and there were somewhere between 5-7 employees behind the counter. My husband then noticed how the tables hadn't been cleaned and how most of the staff were younger and just hanging around behind the counter. I get it 100%, everyone is short staffed, and when you are staffed, you're overworked, but I just think some customer service training could help. I still love Old Grist Mill and their soups, sandwiches, and pastries, but we just didn't have a great...