Romano's Macaroni Grill — Restaurant in Virginia

Father's Day lunch to do something different and revisit a place my husband and I used to love.

Party of 5 with a young child. Seated immediately as there was no line when we arrived, yet the hostess did NOT grab any crayons for the table or for my daughter despite having grabbed a children's menu. After we ordered, I went to the hostess station and grabbed some.

Our waiter, Faisal, was incredibly soft-spoken and could not be heard clearly on the far side of the table. He swore that the restaurant does NOT carry Dr. Pepper despite it being on the menu and instead offered my husband root beer, which does not appear on the menu at all. He made sure to repeat our orders back to us and they were correct. Yet, when our meals arrived, my daughter's plain noodles with no sauce were covered in parmesan cheese. We asked for a replacement, which took nearly 20 minutes!

My meal, Sorrento Lemon Chicken didn't taste of lemon at all and the potatoes didn't taste of citrus or rosemary promised by the menu and they were overcooked and dry and dusted with undeclared parmesan.Disappointed, I sent it back and ordered the Chicken Florentine instead.

We had trouble getting Faisal's attention or even finding him in the room to get refills on water, root beer, and rosemary bread (the best part of the meal, hands down). When he did get our requests for refills, they came out fairly quickly.

My Chicken Florentine hadn't come by the time everyone was done, so I flagged Faisal down and told him to make it a to-go order and asked for to-go boxes. He apologized and said he would bring it out as soon as it was done. We waited for another 15 to 20 minutes before my meal and dessert (the second course of the first meal I had ordered) were brought out with the boxes. Other tables' service was far better than ours and we saw at least one person send a dish back, too. I think the kitchen was having an off day.

Considering that we had been in the restaurant for 2 hours, through no fault of our own, and still had not paid, I took my daughter to the restroom. The ladies room was propped open with a large trash can. Immediately upon crossing the threshhold, the sickly smell of old urine accosted my nostrils. Also, the floor was sticky with some unknown substance. We hurried up and got out of there quick due to the stink.

When I looked at my meal and the check, only then did I notice that I had been given a Chicken Florentine Salad, which I did NOT know was even on the menu, instead of the Chicken Florentine entree I had asked for. The mistakes and apologies just kept coming, yet nothing got any better. At that point, I was so annoyed and hungry that I just accepted the salad so I could GO HOME ALREADY! We were pleased to see that the Sorrento Lemon Chicken had been comped for quality issues, but we did, however, ask for the first order of plain noodles for my daughter that had come out wrong be comped as well, which they did (slowly).

With the check finally correct, all food received, to-go boxes filled and in hand, we paid, waited a bit longer than usual for our card to be given back, swore we would not be coming back any time soon, and...

I advise everyone not to order online. This restaurant is a thief! A month ago we ordered and paid online for a curbside pickup. When we got there they told us that they do not accept any order after 7pm, even though they were open later than that. I asked for a refund. The employee I spoke with called a manager (William) to help me. When I told the William what was going on he suddenly became "not a manager" and couldn't give me a refund. He said the manager was not there, but he will take my order number and my contact information to give it to the manager the next day to process the refund. The refund will take 5 to 7 days to show in my account. I called 2 days later to make sure they processed the refund. William said he gave the manager my information and I have to wait for the refund to show in my account. I requested to speak to the manager and he sai he left for the day, even though it was only 2pm. A week after there was no refund in my account. I emailed a complaint to the company. Few days later the manager called to apologize and said that it was processed and didn't know why it was delayed. He offered to give me $50.00 gift card to eat at any Macaroni grill and a free meal at the Kingstowne restaurant in addition to the refund. I thought that sounded too good to be true. I told him I am not interested on anything else but the refund. He insisted that I come to the restaurant that same week to receive the giftcard and so he can apologize in person. He asked when I can come, since he said he will be there M-F 9 - 5PM I said Friday 4pm. He confirmed that he will be there and when I went on Friday he was not there. William said he was on a vacation the whole week. I told him about the appointment and that I spoke to him on Tuesday of that same week. He said there is another manager but he was out for a break and will leave him a message to call me. No phone call; no refund. Then I called the next week and spoke with the manager (Munir). He apologized and said he had to take off from work because his 6 months old granddaughter got sick. He insisted that I go to the restaurant again to receive the giftcard and for him to apologize in person. I said I wasn't interested but just want my many back. He claimed he submitted the refund and couldn't understand why I didn't receive it and he will contact the IT guy. A week later no refund again. I called last week and he said the same thing, it was submitted, and apologized and said he will give me a giftcard that can be used anywhere. He said to go and pick it up form the restaurant, or he will personalize deliver it to my place. I finally agreed to mailing the giftcard to me. It has been over a week since this last conversation and still didn't receive the card nor my refund. SO, MY ADVICE TO EVERYONE IS DON'T ORDER ONLINE YOU MAY NOT GET YOUR FOOD AND STILL...

UPDATE MAR 3, 2018: The management copied and pasted their standard response to my review even though I specifically state in my review that I will not complete one of their surveys... it’s almost like they are not reading the reviews... or that they don’t care what their customers are telling them. Hmmm.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Easily the worse restaurant I have eaten at in the past 10 years. The service is consistently poor from front of house, bar and wait staff. Despite being one of the first diners of the evening (arrived at 530pm), we waited longer to see the waiter throughout the meal then anywhere I have ever been.

When our meal finally arrived it came out in two separate deliveries, 5 minutes apart, leaving half our party staring around the restaurant while the other half of us awkwardly ate (how hard is it to coordinate 5 dishes when it is your business?). The food ranges from mediocre to poor (we had to return one cheese stuffed dish because it had no cheese), badly presented and loaded with salt. I had the macaroni which I expected to be the best I have ever tasted (the clue is in the name?) - it was not even average and just thrown on a plate with no presentation/garnish at all - literally a bowl of Mac, it looked like a side dish.

I left the restaurant with a headache from being so dehydrated (seriously) - it was my birthday and I was ready to have a few beers but literally could not get the service and ended up only having two bud lights (the first I waited 15 minutes for and the last which I finished a full 45 minutes before we left) - no one in our party got water unless they specifically ordered it (I thought giving water was a simple standard, I guess not here). It was one of those situations where you are afraid to order because you know that it will take so long to get what you ordered that you might actually end up trapped in the place for longer.

This is one of the rare occasions when I begrudgingly left a tip - normally I just throw down 20% because it's easy math... this time I actually got my phone out to calculate the absolute minimum of 15%. The hallmark of terrible service was that the waiter actually collected her tips before we left... the first time she had been attentive all night.

To the management: no I don't want to fill in my details on your follow up form so you can spam me with emails and offers to return. If your 'goal is impress our guests with a wonderful experience' you are seriously failing and if you can't figure that out from the comments on this page alone then you need to find another line of employment.

I am embarrassed as the member of the party that chose this place; I thought it would be a fun, laid back, decent place for a casual meal. I will never return, would never recommend it to others and will probably recall this bad experience to many others for...