Romano's Macaroni Grill — Restaurant in Winter Garden

It was my husband, myself, my five year old daughter and my 20 month old daughter. We walked in and were told by someone at the host stand that they would be right with us to seat us. So we stood there in the doorway. Then another person came over and asked how many. They got our menus and kids stuff out, then walked away like the other person. Then a third person came over and called a different group to be seated. Mind you that my family and I are still just standing there trying to keep our children out of the way. Finally we were seated.The waitress seamed scatter brained. She got our drink orders then came back with the juice for our children and water for my husband and I when we both ordered sodas. No big deal it happens. My husband and I ordered side salads and our daughters meal to come out together. The waitress brought out the girls meal and had salads but gave only the childrens meal then walked away back to kitchen and then returned like she forgot to hand us the salads on accident. I had the Butternut Tortellacci and it was great but my husbands fettuccine Alfredo was a joke. It was too runny and had no flavor. I could make it better using a jar of Alfredo sauce at home for a quarter of the price. The music was too loud and not appropriate for the environment. I could barely hear my 5 year old talk to me and she's not quiet. The whole staff was acting like the restaurant was packed and busy but it was not. It was only about half full. The only reason I'm giving it a 3 star is because the manager did take the Alfredo off the bill and gave my daughter a free dessert. I'll give them the benefit and assume it was just an off night for the staff. It was annoying that she recognized that the music was too loud when I told her but then never fixed it and the waitress was supposed to get the dessert and the bill but then it took 15 mins for a scoop of ice cream on a cookie. They also took the bowl straight out of the dishwasher so the ice cream was half melted Some people don't care about the music volume but we do. If I wanted to listen to loud music, I would go to a bar or a different kind of setting. At a restaurant, I'm there to enjoy my company well enjoying a good meal. Unfortunately my husband did not get to enjoy his meal and none of us got to enjoy a peaceful meal...

Last night a beloved aunt passed away at home.

My wife was with the family there and I went home to get the kids in bed… so I tried to send the family food via Postmates. The order was Macaroni Grill here in Winter Garden. The Postmates seemed to be taking a long time and the driver was not responding to my call or text.

By this time, it was already 9:40 pm and the restaurant was closed. I immediately called the restaurant to see if the food had been picked up or not, apparently the food had been ready for some time but nobody from Postmates was there to pick it up. While on the phone with the restaurant, the order was suddenly canceled by the Postmates, stating there was no driver available. Apparently, she disappeared and the app had nobody else to reassign.

On the call with the restaurant, I explained to the hostess what was going on and how I was trying to get my grieving family food for the evening… with most restaurants being closed at this point, options were thin to get them something nice to them quickly.

The hostess, whose name was Ava, asked if she could place me on hold for a moment, then the manager came on the line. The manager named, Jessica, explained they do not deliver but nonetheless she would PESONALLY DRIVE TO BRING THE FOOD TO MY FAMILY.

The issue was not the restaurants, they were not at fault, yet they had compassion and were wanting to help resolve the situation given the circumstance my family was in. I tried to ask how I could pay for the food (as the app canceled the order), which was nearly $250, she insisted there would be no charge and refused to allow me to get her some kind of tip.

The manager Jessica and hostess Ava are wonderful people in our community who truly deserve to be highlighted for their kindness. Ava could have easily disregarded me and not have gotten the manager involved. The manager, Jessica, had no obligation to take time to personally bring this food and to do so without even charging for the food. I believe it was God working kindness in them during an extremely hard day for our family.

Thank you Jesica, Ava, and Macaroni Grill in Winter Garden… you are among the many things that make Winter...

Save your money and go to Uno! My wife and I went to our local Winter Garden Macaroni Grill for our wedding anniversary last night. The place was pretty empty to my surprise, so I told the hostess it was our anniversary and that we'd like a nice booth. The young girl proceeded to try to seat us in a booth directly nearest the restrooms. Did I mention that the place was almost empty? When I told her that sitting next to the restrooms was not my idea of a romantic spot, she looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. She then sat us at a table about 10 feet further away from the restrooms. Whuh?! Instead of trying to beat that dead horse I we sat at the proffered table with our backs to the restrooms and tried to pretend we had a nice table. Then there was an uncomfortably long period during which no staff member even acknowledged our presence. The table next to us still hadn't been bussed from the previous diners, so the place was taking on a deserted, forgotten look. Finally a fairly lackadaisical young female server appeared and asked us what we would like to drink. (By the way, what happened to the old cute greeting ritual during which he server would write his or her name upside down with crayon?) I told the girl we weren't ready to order our drinks yet, so she said she would get us some waters in the meantime. By this time my wife and I were getting such a yucky vibe from this place that we got up and left. I've only walked out of maybe three restaurants in my 58 years on this earth, but I never had to do it in the middle of a romantic anniversary dinner. One minute later we walked across the parking lot to Uno Grille and were greeted lavishly and promptly and had the best service and great food. Shame on Macaroni Grill for sliding into such a poor state. I can't imagine a scenario in which we will ever go back to this restaurant. Tsk tsk. PS I had to give at least one star or Google wouldn't let me post this. Otherwise I wouldn't have given...