Cook Out — Restaurant in Tuscaloosa

The Cook Out location here in Tuscaloosa is the kind of place that could be fantastic but is suffering from mediocrity right now. The interior is fairly clean and a leak in the roof outside is the only real sign of decay I noticed. The chairs are metal 1950's style cafeteria chairs that make an awful racket with the slightest move because there are no feet to stop the metal from grinding.

Where the disappointment comes from is the staff. Don't get me wrong, the employees weren't disrespectful or mean or gross or anything. Instead, it's very clear that this location's manager heaps a lot of work onto a single individual with experience in order to shepherd over some newer employees. This doesn't work. 5 or 6 other parties came to the restaurant in the time I was there and all of them including my own party had errors with their orders. One member of my party ordered fries and onion rings for his sides. He got a single onion ring and about a large handful of fries. Another ordered cajun fries and just got regular fries. The soda machine was out of syrup in the Cheerwine tap (the drink the location prides itself in carrying). The guy working the register was having to do everything because it was clear that the employee manning the drive thru was overwhelmed and the young woman at the grill wasn't working very fast. I believe it was only those three in the building.

The portion size was also very small, considering. I ordered the largest size burger and I'm not sure if it was because I received the wrong order, but it was only about the size of a baseball, bun included. Everything I tasted was very good, but there were just enough of these small issues that mount up to a less than enjoyable dining experience. I'd like to see the owner of this franchise get some more employees onboard and spend more time training a competent team that can work together instead of leaving one or two people to carry the bulk of the weight. The upside is that this place probably has the best milkshake in Tuscaloosa. Incredibly thick, very flavorful, and 40 different varieties to choose from. Whether or not you get what you order is another matter altogether though.

In short: Make the "double" burger an actual double burger, train more employees and give them support, and focus on order accuracy. Do that and this location will become the favorite haunt of dozens of...

Past three nights after getting off work at around 1015 I tried 3 diff restaurants, with only a few being open after 10 it's pretty much the only choices I can afford. Mcdonald's two nights ago with 6 cars in line took almost FORTY minutes to get me my food, though it was hot and fresh. Taco Bell with 7 people took just over 30 minutes to give me a box of nacho fries so cold and rancid I threw them away. Tonight cookout was the busiest I've seen in a while, with about six cars in line ahead of me, and although they were slower than usual I still got my food in under fifteen minutes and as usual everything was correct fresh and perfectly cooked. Personally I go with the jr tray for 5 bucks with 2 corn dogs, cajun fries (honestly probably their weakest link, as the fresh potatoes they use won't cook up very crisp but do have good flavor - in and out burger out west has the same problem = limp but tasty), either a beef quesadilla or a honey mustard chicken wrap and a large sweet tea (best tea in town by far) with light ice. Also a fan of the chicken nuggets with polynesian sauce and the chili here is spicy meaty heaven. The actual burgers and barbecues are a bit outside my budget but I did once have the jr burger (before I got hooked on the corn 🌽 dogs) and it was small but tasty. Reminded me of backyard burgers, which used to be great. Friendly staff, bargain prices, always fresh hot food even late at night. So glad tuscaloosa has one of these!...

In an effort to try a new restaurant (I work in and around the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area, driving and eating out a lot), I tried this one, hoping for freshly made items. I opted for the "cheddar style" cheeseburger (bacon, grilled onions, & cheddar), fries, and chili. The fries were obviously from a bag, with no seasoning. The chili was obviously from a can--just ground beef, very little sauce, no beans--basically hot dog chili. The burger was handmade, but did not have much flavor. A good amount of cheese on what appeared to be store-bought, bagged buns. Although the staff was not rude, they also just seemed like exactly what they probably were--minimum-wage fast food workers who really didn't care much about quality of service. The area between the drink machine and hall to the restrooms had a really bad smell. There were ducks outside on the patio eating table scraps, which was charming upon my entrance, but as I left, I noticed they had left several large piles of excrement around the eating tables! The outside tables and chairs are standard folding-style that anyone could go and pick up at a place that sells those kinds of things. The price seemed reasonable for four items – I also had a sweet tea, and the portion of chili was miniscule. My total was somewhere between six and seven dollars. Overall, disappointing. Will...