Maggiano's Little Italy — Restaurant in Vernon Hills

This is just based on my experience this evening. I've been coming to this location for almost a year and no issues until this evening. I work next door and dine there once a week, usually Tues or Wed night. I am almost always lucky enough to have Jason as a server; he always goes above and beyond the job description. Tonight I had a server named Gabriel. Very friendly, but they were busy and he appeared to be very focused on two larger parties and not so much on the party of one that was me. He asked what I wanted to drink and I asked him which of the 4 Red Blends listed was the one that is always on their Happy Hour menu. He immediately says, "Happy Hour ended already". I told him I was aware and I didn't care about price, I just wanted that same wine because it was amazing. He answered "Canopy Hill" and I said I didn't see it on the menu. He said it wasn't part of their regular wine list. I was confounded, so I ordered another entirely different wine. They segregate their Happy Hour wines from the regular wine list??? The ladies at the table next to mine also work in the mall, and the one leaned over and told me that he was incorrect and the Red Blend was the Prisoner Red Blend. That IS on the menu at regular time and at Happy Hour. So I was a little nonplussed there. Someone needs to tell the nice young man this. Then I ordered my dinner. He brought bread and disappeared from the table. It took 15 min to come back; I requested some butter for my bread. The entire time i was waiting for my meal or parts of it, he was fussing over his other tables and the bigger parties.I had finished my soda and he went by 3 times without offering to refill it. I finally got that done when I flagged him down and asked for him by name. He disappeared and brought some back; by this time, he had brought my Taylor Street Baked Ziti and my bread was cold, so the butter kind of didn't matter at this point. I ordered the Classic pasta, and I always get the one to go. Again, been doing this over a year now. It is listed that way on the menu, as well. I made sure to tell Gabriel I wanted the one for there, plus the one to go. He said "Dessert?" I answered, "No, I won't have room with what I am eating plus the ziti I am taking home". He came back a bit later and packed up what was left, brought me the bill, and then brought my bag out. I picked it up and it was way too light. You guessed it- no 2nd baked ziti. At this point, I had no time to wait because my ride was there and I had to go. Any other time, I would have made a bigger stink. I didn't tip 25% like I usually do with Jason, because this young server did not make me feel I was a priority. I've been in customer service for over 25 years, and I would never abandon a customer like I felt I was. How can you completely forget a 2nd classic pasta? Very disappointed and I hope they train their servers to be acquainted...

After shopping all day my father desperately needed to eat due to his health issues. The service was okay to start out with, as they tended to my father's needs as my mom and I finished up our final purchase of the day. We sat down and ordered all was good. Then it took over 20 minutes for our food to arrive, which is rough especially on my dad who needs to eat. It was because they were making a new batch of soup, but the manager didn't approach us soon enough, if you ask my personal opinion. I told him to bring the food out and just bring the soup in a to-go container. We received our food probably 10 minutes after that, so total time of 30 minutes in a not even busy restaurant (we were eating at an odd time like 2 PM). My father and I ordered the mussels, and my mother, a chicken Caesar salad. My mother didn't finish her salad and asked for a to-go box. As she was putting the rest of her salad in the container she found a long, prominent black hair on the bottom of her salad dish. Being disgusted, she asked for the manager just so he was aware as to why she wasn't going to save her salad. MY BIGGEST ISSUE BY FAR WAS THE WAITRESS MEL she was working Sunday 1/13 around 2:30 PM. My mom grabbed her attention, since the manager wasn't anywhere near us, and Mel thought my mom was asking her to take a dish out of the way, but that was not the case, so when Mel went to grab the dish my mom's reflexes kicked in and she said "no I need the manager" my mother didn't mean it rudely at all she just wanted the manager to see the hair at the bottom of her dish. MEL LEFT IN UTTER DISGUST WITH THE BIGGEST NASTIEST FACIAL EXPRESSION AND DID NOT STAY FOR MY MOM TO EXPLAIN WHY HER REFLEXES KICKED IN THAT WAY. When the manager finally returned, I finally received the bowl for soup I ordered, and was just as grossed out by the hair as we were. MEL WALKED PAST OUR TABLE SEVERAL TIMES. MY MOM GOT HER ATTENTION, EVEN SPOKE TO HER JUST WANTING TO CLARIFY WHAT HAPPENED. MEL RESPONDED "Just give me one second" ATTENDING TO OTHER TABLES FIRST, JUST PLAIN IGNORING MY MOTHER'S REQUEST TO SPEAK WITH HER, SHE EVEN WENT BEHIND THE BAR TO STACK CLEAN GLASSES. TOTALLY AVOIDING MY MOM. She is very lucky my mother didn't let me handle this issue because it definitely would've been addressed, and not kindly as I am overprotective of my parents.

Overall the manager took off the soup and salad off our quite hefty bill, which we did not ask him to, but he did everything necessary to take care of the issue at hand. The customer service rating was a definite 1 of 5. Mel needs to be talked too HER ATTITUDE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. This establishment needs some improving especially since it is supposed to be a "nicer restaurant...

Terrible Experience at Maggiano’s Vernon Hills

My family and I have been loyal patrons of Maggiano’s for the past 11 years. We’ve celebrated countless milestones there—birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and baby showers. Whenever we visit a new state and don’t know where to dine, Maggiano’s is always our go-to choice. For over a decade, it’s been a restaurant we could trust for great food and service.

However, our recent experience with the Vernon Hills location has been deeply disappointing and frustrating.

We ordered the Holiday Carryout Package for Christmas Eve, wanting to celebrate at home before catching a flight the next day. I placed the order on 12/22 and received a confirmation email stating that Vernon Hills Maggiano’s had received my order. My scheduled pickup time was 12/24 at 6:30 PM.

On 12/24 at 5:53 PM, just barely 30 minutes before our scheduled pickup time at 6:30 PM, I received an email stating, "there was an issue communicating the order to the in-restaurant system... please call the restaurant to confirm that they received the order and will be making it." When I called, I was transferred to eight different people, forcing me to repeat my story each time. Finally, I spoke with someone from the takeout department, but she was incredibly rude and unhelpful. When I asked about the issue, she repeatedly said she didn’t know and offered no solutions. To make matters worse, she accused me of having a payment issue, even though my credit card had already been billed. When they ultimately canceled my order, they refunded the amount, which clearly supports that my order had gone through properly. Her dismissive and unprofessional attitude made an already stressful situation worse. If she had simply told us that they couldn’t fulfill more orders due to the high demand for holiday takeout, we would have understood the situation.

In the end, Maggiano’s Vernon Hills almost ruined our Christmas Eve. My family and I have decided we will never return to this location. It’s unfortunate that a restaurant we once loved has failed...