Showdowns — Restaurant in Tropic

Wow. I very, very rarely feel the need to review a restaurant, but Showdowns is an exception. My mom and I enjoyed a meal tonight after several long days of hiking in Zion and Bryce. When we arrived, things were hopping, and we were told there would be a 30 minute wait. Well, I don't know how long that wait was because it flew by as we sat by the lovely fire and swapped stories with other road trippers. In no time, our name was called and we were led to our table. Bob Phillips serenaded us all with a great selection of tunes while we ate some truly tasty meals. My mom went with chicken smothered in their house sauce-- so good! I got my first cheeseburger in over five years and it was absolutely fabulous!

The true stand-out of the evening, however, was our waitress, Phoebe. From the minute we sat down, she exuded the most hospitable, welcoming service I have possibly ever experienced (I was a general manager of a restaurant-- I know a thing or two about service). Phoebe made time to provide us with exceptional, attentive service, and, more importantly, the sort of warmth that you don't soon forget. She shared with us that the night had been crazy enough that a few husbands (including her own) had been called-in to help bus tables and keep things moving. Talk about a true family affair! Wow! We head to New Orleans in a few days. The South is known for hospitality, but something tells me we won't find anything matching the awesome experience we had tonight. Thanks Showdowns! These are the sorts of memories we get to hold onto for...

HORRIBLE! I wish I could speak to the food, but my friend and I have been waiting for over and hour for it and still haven't gotten that or a second round of drinks. The service here is so poor I couldn't in good conscience recommend this place to anyone. Everyone is running around like they are a chicken with its head cut off, but can't accomplish anything. First we were seated, then completely forgotten about. After 15 minutes, we still hadn't been approached by anyone of the staff. I went back to a lady at the counter and told her we had been forgotten. She did then immediately come and take our order. 45 minutes later, no offer for a second beverage, no check-in, and still no food. I even asked a passing server for another round of drinks, and she said, "I'll find your server and let them know." 30 minutes later, I finally went to the lady who took our order, and asked her for another round of beers. 20 minutes later, I approached her again to request again the round of beers, and she said, "I haven't been able to leave this spot, I'll get your drinks." Even though we watched her take another table's order and fill it in that time. Happy to report after 1 hour and 15 minutes, we got out second round! I decided to leave this review because it has been over an hour and 20 minutes since we were sat at our table, and all we have still not gotten any food.

Please, please, please hire someone who has run a restaurant, or at least worked in one, so that person can train your terrible staff how to...

For your own sake, believe the reviews about how terrible the service is. Ordered takeout, nothing fancy, just 2 burgers. Was told by Sophia, who took our order at the hostess stand, that it would take 20 minutes, was also told by her that she didn’t know if we could put a tip on the credit card we used to prepay for the takeout, so we gave her a cash as tip. No room to wait inside, so we went outside, which was cold and windy. Checked in with Sophia at 20 minutes, and was curtly told it was not ready and that it was a busy night. Checked back several more times, still nothing. Finally after an hour, we decided to insist someone actually check the status of our meal only to find that Sophia had rung it up incorrectly, so it never got put into the kitchen in the first place. Was told that it would be about 10 more minutes for the food to be expedited. We no longer believed that would turn out to be accurate, so we asked for a refund. Sophia’s boss credited our card with Sophia standing there, but we got no apology from her and she didn’t return the cash tip, which she in no way earned. We were so hungry and frustrated by then, we decided not to ask for the tip back because we were sure she’d probably refuse or deny it and then we’d just lose our tempers and make a scene when what we really wanted was to get away from there as fast possible. If only we’d heeded the bad reviews about the...