Denny's — Restaurant in Tempe

Magic unicorns! That’s what Denny should be promoting. They might as will be promoting that because I have just as much of a likelihood of seeing a magic unicorn as I do the Dulce de Leche Crunch stack from Denny's as it is advertised.

Twice now in two weeks I have gone out of my way to go to a Denny’s to try out the Dulce de Leche Crunch stack. T-Mobile Tuesday is giving it away free of cost so why not try it out? This item looks delicious in the promo. The photo they advertise of this breakfast item looks delectable. Twice now I have attempted to obtain this item, as advertised, at two locations in anticipation of trying something delicious. Twice now I’ve come out of Denny’s really disappointed in the results.

The first time I ordered it take-out, took it home only to find myself in possession of this dry burnt thing. This time I ordered it and I opened the item right at the order counter, fresh out of the kitchen, and it was once again this woefully disappointing thing…a double stack pancake with a few drops of baked crusty goo dabbled in spots on an otherwise ordinary pancake stack.

This time I called the manager, Randy, to the front, showed him the item, then pointed to the big poster right behind me that displays that the delicious looking image of the Dulce de Leche Crunch stack from Denny's and asked him point-blank are you capable of making this item look like the photo that you proudly present and advertise? He said yes. To which I pointed back down at this pathetic looking item that they presented me and asked him a follow-up question, does this look like the delicious pancake stack you’re advertising? He sheepishly said no.

He meekly offered to cook another stack but as I already I waited 25 minutes for this disappointing thing that they tried to shamelessly serve as the Dulce de Leche Crunch stack from Denny's, I told the manager that I don’t have another 25 minutes to wait for yet a third chance for his kitchen staff to try to get this item served right.

Have some pride in what you do. The kitchen staff clearly does not know how to make or cares not to take the time to make the item as it’s advertised to be. I handed this sad looking pancake stack back to the manager and walked out without my meal.

So I ask a question to Denny’s, as a franchise, is where’s my magic unicorn? That’s what the advertised Dulce de Leche Crunch stack from Denny's is. It’s a magic unicorn. It simply...

03/05/21- CELIAC REVIEW. I went for breakfast with a friend. The restaurant appeared clean with proper Covid-19 plastic barriers between the registers & guests. Tables had "sanitized for your safety" cards on them. Oh, & outside there were marks taped off at 6 foot intervals for when the lines got long. All of the employees were wearing filtered masks. I did not visit the restrooms. The wait for service was a tad on the longer side considering my friend & I were only sharing the room with a another table of 4. Our server came to ask about drinks & if we were ready to order at the same time; would have liked to get our drinks 5 minutes earlier at least. I have celiac disease (this means I cannot ingest any wheat, barley, rye, or derivates thereof) so have a restrictive diet when eating out. Denny's has a decent enough selection for savory items, but they do not offer things such as waffles, pancakes, or french toast (like IHOP does). Meats, eggs, veggies & potatoes can be prepared gluten-friendly. They do have a decent gluten free English muffin, but you need to ask for either a non-gluten dedicated toaster or have your English muffin wrapped in foil. I am also Pescatarian (don't eat land or air meat) so I chose a vegetarian omelette with hash browns & a side of blue cheese dressing. The food came out quickly enough but they forgot my dressing. Per pandemic protocols, ketchup & Tabasco sauces were brought to us upon request in little plastic cups; no bottles on the tables. The food was warm. I have to say, though, the omelettes were just okay, not great. Veggies were grilled with a bit too much oil & crammed into a very simple scrambled-&-then-fried egg that was merely folded in half. The egg was a tad rubbery as well & I'm not sure how they managed that. The veggies (peppers, spinach, onion, mushroom) was all pretty tasty without being over or under cooked. My hash browns were a bit on the oily side, but well cooked, while my friend's were too oily & burnt half to a crisp (yuck). Our coffee (black) & diet Coke were just fine. So I'd say that I'm really not impressed with this Denny's & would likely try to find an IHOP or Village Inn instead next time. It's not a "bad" place, just not my favorite considering my particular food choices &...

The most bizarre dining experience I can remember. I came in around 8 pm and it wasn't busy but a few people here and there. I stood at the entry way for 10 minutes as I waited for the host to finish taking a phone order. No other employees were visible during this time. After the call was completed, I was seated quickly. The only sounds in the restaurant were a group of teens sitting in the corner, talking at maximum volume, and arguments emanating from the kitchen.

My waiter seemed to lack basic interpersonal skills as he took my order. The name of the meal was rather long, so about two words in, he waved me off and shushed me as if to say he understood what I wanted. Naturally, my order was mistaken. However, it was delivered after so long and I was already weirded out enough that I just ate the food that was brought to me.

In total, my waiter visited my table three times throughout my visit. Between the second and third interaction, I sat and ate my meal as I listened to the shouting from the kitchen, occasionally accompanied by a large clashing sound. My waiter could be seen at times pacing on the other side of the restaurant before disappearing back into the kitchen. Again, no other employees were visible throughout the majority of this period except a waitress on the opposite end of the restaurant perhaps twice.

I had been done eating for long enough that I pondered for at least 10 minutes whether I should just leave money on the table and walk out. If I had closer to exact change, I would have done just that, but I was not interested in grossly overpaying for the experience I just had. Once I finally saw the waiter again, I asked to pay and he brought my check. I followed him to the register and he asked me how much I'd be tipping before running my card. He handed me my receipt without another word and I walked out the door with my head swimming, searching for an explanation as to what had...