Waffle House — Restaurant in South Carolina

On September 20 my family and I visited Waffle House #939 in Columbia, SC around 12:00 PM. Upon arrival, there were only two customers present, both awaiting to-go orders. We seated ourselves and waited approximately 10 minutes before being acknowledged. The dining area was visibly unclean—our table was sticky, and the adjacent table was cluttered with dirty dishes and leftover food, indicating it had not been cleared after prior use. We sanitized our own table and menus due to their condition. Our drink orders—a water and a fountain beverage—were served promptly, and we ordered three All-Star breakfasts and a side of hashbrowns. We waited over 30 minutes before receiving any food. One customer mentioned she had been waiting 40 minutes without receiving her order. Food arrived in inconsistent increments. The hashbrowns were severely burnt and incorrectly plated with my eggs. My son’s meal arrived next, but we were only given two forks, two spoons, and one knife for three people. I had to repeatedly request butter and jelly. My wife’s meal arrived cold, and I never received my grits or waffles until I asked again—both were subpar. Notably, two acquaintances of the manager entered and were served hot meals within 10 minutes, directly by the manager. This stark contrast in service was unacceptable. When we requested the bill and prepared to leave, an employee remarked, “Y’all could’ve taken the food home, y’all ain’t even eat the food,” which was highly inappropriate. As a District Manager overseeing operations across SC, NC, GA, and VA, I find this experience unacceptable and will be sharing it as an example of poor service. This was my wife and son’s first visit to Waffle House—and...

All of the staff were rude and unattentive! From the manager to the associates! My mother and I were passing through after staying overnight with my aunt who has cancer and recently had surgery. I placed an online pickup order. The website and text notifications specifically instruct you to come to the pickup window. They had my mom waiting at window for 15 minutes! They were all laughing inside and walked past the window multiple times looking her straight in the eye. Didn’t acknowledge her or even say come inside! A customer came over to the window and waved to tell my mom to come inside. He must have been a local because he was the only one that knew they only open the window on weekends. To mention, today is Sunday (considered a weekend)! They also left items out of my order and my mom had to go back inside and let them know they excluded some of our orders. They all need to be fired immediately. From what I can see, there are plenty of other customers, past & present, who all hold the same consensus here! I will be calling corporate to let them know about this experience. As a past food service worker, I am highly disgusted! If you guys only operate on weekends, then it should be specified on the website and notifications. Also, have some decorum when you are working in...

My husband and I love Waffle House and this was worse encounter we have had. We love the quaintness and old town feel. However, we were not meant with expected typical Waffle House atmosphere. The HR manager, Marie Brown walked into the diner, walked right passed us and never greeted us...she was too busy greeting the locals. We stood at the door for 20 minutes before anyone offered us a seat. It was the cook, Mike who finally said hello and cleaned a table for us. Mike also notified the waitress and his to get us seated attempt was met with a response along the lines of “ I can only do one thing at a time”.(she never said hello either). During our breakfast, the manager, Marie came to our table and said “oh y’all are not from around here” and moved on to offer the locals a promotion. Little did she know that we were visiting my mother who does live locally and she could have come to patron the diner, had she asked. Moreover, as we were paying for our bill, we thanked Mike for his service and cleaning a table for us. It was then and only then that Marie acknowledged us by asking us to split Mike’s tip with her and we noticed her badge read HR Manager. We found her example of service to be more of a disservice, even after she tried redeem her poor management with a...