Fazoli's — Restaurant in Virginia

Wanted to try the new Fazoli’s in Dublin. Haven’t eaten at one since I was little because they all closed years ago. We live 45 min. away but made the drive because we were excited to see gluten friendly options!

Drive thru….

Us: Baked spaghetti with gluten friendly rotini please.

Fazoli’s: Ok, Gluten Friendly Chicken Pesto Rotini.

Us: No, Baked spaghetti with gluten friendly pasta.

Fazoli’s: Ok, got it. Gluten Friendly Chicken Pesto Rotini.

Us: No, Baked spaghetti with gluten free noodles!

Fazoli’s: Sorry about that. Baked spaghetti with Gluten Friendly Chicken Pesto Rotini. Please pull around.

Us: (We drive around knowing the order is wrong and thinking if we tell them face to face, they’ll understand.) We think the order is wrong. We just want baked spaghetti with gluten free rotini.

Cashier: Yep, that’s what we got here in the computer.

Us: Great! (We pay and look at the receipt) Sigh, this is wrong. You charged us for a baked spaghetti with regular noodles AND Gluten Friendly Chicken Pesto Rotini. We just want a baked spaghetti with gluten free noodles.

Cashier: (Cashier tells someone else who tells someone else). We are very sorry. We will fix your payment and get you the correct food. (She sounded like she really understood the order and we over hear her tell the cook 3 times the correct order, he nodded that he understood. Surely it’ll be right!)

Us: (After 15 min in the drive thru they hand us our food and we drive off.) We don’t want to hold up the line any longer and I can’t see the noodles because there’s cheese melted on top. So we drive 45 min home, open the order, and it’s baked penne. We never even discussed penne. And it’s certainly not gluten free/friendly. I have celiacs disease. If I ate this I’d be sick for 2 weeks. There is no excuse for this. There were no language barriers or anything. We talked to 3 employees in the drive thru and honestly, we don’t know another way to explain baked spaghetti with gluten...

I want to start by saying the man who took our order was incredibly kind and was working hard on what seemed to be a day where they were short staffed! However, this was my first time at a Fazoli's and was disappointed in this location. We were on a road trip and wanted something quick but were sick of the regular fast food options so landed on this spot. Ordered inside and there was one person in front of us. Our order was to-go and it consisted of 2 pastas (one was a meal that came with pizza & a fountain drink and the other one was not a meal). We waited for 15 minutes which seemed longer than typical fast food but I had never been to a Fazoli's so I wasn't sure if their food just took a little longer. But once groups that came in 10 minutes after us were getting their food, something felt off. The person who was bussing the tables kept walking by, noticing our number still up but never said anything. After about 25 minutes with no order, we asked and they said that our order might have been given to someone else and started prepping ours again and it did eventually come out and it was correct (but this also took long). The man who originally took our order was very apologetic for the wait and gave us a slice of cheesecake which was very kind, but for the price ($30 for two meals) and being there way longer than intended defeated the purpose of wanting a quick option. We might have hit it on a bad day, but I wouldn't recommend this location if you're looking for...

Date of visit: Friday, September 8, 2023 (for lunch)

Several of us were on motorcycle ride and decided to stop at Fazoli’s for lunch. They offer several menu options. It was hard for me to decide between spaghetti and pizza. It wasn’t until I ordered that I realized one of the side items for the spaghetti could be a slice of pizza – WIN WIN for me! We sat in what I’ll call the side room (private at the time) which was perfect since we had a semi-large group and had a special gift we presented to someone with us. Their food was delicious (the unlimited breadsticks were a tasty surprise). They serve the food on dishes and use actual silverware instead of using paper plates and plastic utensils. It certainly didn't feel as if we were in a "fast food" restaurant. The staff provided exceptional customer service, especially whom I presume was the manager (wore a black apron). A server and the manager frequently checked on us to see if we needed anything. They all were super friendly and emitted a positive vibe which made for a very enjoyable lunch. Everyone in my riding group walked out very satisfied with where we stopped for lunch (and with full bellies too). I live about an hour away but will definitely be making a trip back to this Fazoli’s – it will be...