Nando's PERi-PERi — Restaurant in Virginia

Would like to say first that we love Nando’s and the food but had a very bad experience with this specific one and the manager on duty on Thursday, April 23rd 2020 from 8:40 until just after 9:00. It all started with us ordering online through the website. It said the food would be ready at 8:35 and we arrived at 8:40. We were told the food wasn’t ready yet so we waited (we have no problem waiting). Then after a bit the same person came back and said that there was no order under the name we gave. We showed her our order and order confirmation which she took a picture of and said okay I’ll go show them. Again she came back out and now said that somebody had already picked up our food. After telling her that there was no other person involved in the order and that it must’ve been some rando who took our food, she said I’ll see what we can do and went back inside. We sat there for a while literally watching them close down and so we called to ask about what was going on. The manager said he was told by his employee that we ‘didn’t say anything when she talked to us’(??) and so they thought we were gonna leave. So we repeated that we payed money and we needed food or a refund. He then said we couldn’t get a refund unless we go through the website (which by the way is dumb, but if that’s the truth, okay) and he offered us a coupon. On a 48$ order. The pièce de résistance was when this manager said if we had been there before 9 maybe he could have helped us. We got there at 8:40 and made ourselves known. The fact that a manager never spoke to us before we called is ridiculous. My girlfriend is a manager at a restaurant and told him that he should have been more proactive and he HUNG UP ON US. DISGRACEFUL. Literally hope this guy gets fired. I would also like to add that we weren’t even that upset leading up to closing because mistakes happen, but the way this was handled is unacceptable.

UPDATE: Tried to get a refund through the Nando’s app and was told that we couldn’t get a refund through the app but they would forward our complaint and info on. So as it stands we spent 48 dollars on food we never got and weren’t issued a refund by the manager on duty. Bizarre. Literally got 48$ stolen from us.

2nd UPDATE: We were refunded by the nandos complaint center thingy(?). They gave us all our money back and twenty extra dollars specifically for nandos. I’m happy with that so good on them! BUT my review still stands for the Reston location because the manager working there on that day is probably still being a terrible manager...

Unpleasant Dining Experience

My recent visit to this restaurant on a Friday evening left much to be desired. The atmosphere was lackluster, and the self-service model, where patrons order from their phones and fetch their own utensils, felt more like a fast-food joint than an upscale establishment.

The complimentary bread arrived absurdly late, and water wasn't served at the table. When we pointed this out, the waitress responded rudely, making our dining experience even less enjoyable. The staff, particularly those on duty on 12/29, demonstrated a shocking lack of hospitality. I would like to mention the lady who served us on 12/29 and the gentleman who responded to our water complaint. If you both despise dealing with diners to the point of rudeness, perhaps a career change is in order. It's almost as if they were doing us a favor by allowing us to dine there.

To the management: Your servers are the face of your establishment, and if you value retaining customers, a serious overhaul is in order. It's time to hire individuals who understand the meaning of hospitality and don't treat patrons like an inconvenience. Until improvements are made, I'll be taking my business elsewhere. I'm ready to discuss this unpleasant experience if the management is willing to talk and take necessary...

I ordered for dine in and the food was decent, except that somehow it was all cold lol. When I got my food I ordered a to-go order to take home to my family so it would be done when I was finished eating. The entire time I ate the guys working the line were dropping F-bombs and complaining about wanting to go home and doing preclosing (2 hours before closing time LOL).

I finished eating about 20 minutes after I placed the order to go. When I asked for it they hadn’t even printed the ticket for it yet. I then had to wait an additional 25 minutes because they were confused which one was mine since someone with the same name ordered too. Instead of just asking me which one was mine while I sat right there.

When I finally got my order, zero apologies. Also had no containers for sauce to go and offered no solution to that. Not that I would’ve been able to get it anyway because they took all the sauce out of the dining room during their 2-hours too early preclosing. Lmao.

The shorter lady at the register was nice. Your kitchen staff should just quit since they obviously hate their jobs and don’t want to be there or do their...