East Side Mario's

Standards.

Restaurant was dirty, windows, floors covered in grease. Woman’s toilets out of toilet paper, toilets were disgusting, door broken in woman’s toilet stall. Men’s toilets out of toilet paper toilets were also dirty and floors were disgusting.

We were there for over 2 hours and three tables that were dirty and not cleared when we arrived had still not been cleared by the time we left. The place was filthy.

Food.

Salad served with old brown lettuce and soft flowery tomatoes.

5 out of 6 Main meals served cold.

I do want to point out that the server was very good and was clearly trying very hard to operate in an absolute disaster of a situation. Management clearly has no idea what they are doing!

Hi last night Saturday February 15th 2020 I ordered 2 can dine (build your own pasta) for delivery my order number was 8669.
I ordered 2 spaghettini with tomato sauce and meat balls with 2 orders of extra meatballs...when I opened my pasta I noticed right away that not only was I missing the extra meatballs I ordered but there was not even the correct number of meatballs that come in a single order I had only 3 meatballs I asked my spouse how many meatballs he had so he opened his pasta up and counted 4...so I guess at least he correct number of meatballs however I ordered extra meatballs for both pastas I was charged the $4.99x2 but obviously I did not get what i had paid for. So I called the restaurant and told the man who answered took my name and number and order number and said someone would call me back the following day because they were closing. All day I waited for that call and no call so I called back the restaurant at about 4:30ish PM they had no idea what I was talking about so obviously it was not written down (my name &number) like I was told it was .so I again had to give name number and order number and explain my issue for the second time then I was brushed off and was told they really busy and would have to wait for them to call me back in approx. 20min. I felt like I did not matter at all...to my surprise i recieved a call back where i again explained my issue...he then put me on hold and a woman came on the phone so again I had to explain myself...she said she couldnt do anything about it without my recipet/order number I could tell she was trying to brush me off by the tone in her voice...i had to cut her off as she was trying to sorry have good night and said excuse me i have the order number...she than so ignorantly and extremely rudely let out a loud sye of annoyed and irritated noise...as a customer who has paid I do not deserve to feel the way she made me feel I did not do anything wrong...now a days who can afford to just throw away money ...I saved a few bucks here and there for 2 months just to afford that meal as my spouse and I were celebrating our valentine's on the 15th because on the 14th marked the 1 yr of my brother in laws fatal snowmobile accident. She put me on hold and came back with her consistent rude and ignorant tone telling
me she would only discount me $10off for the missing extra order of meatballs x's 2 ! So now ontop if her ignorant attitude now I feel she is insulting my intelligence considering 2 extra orders of meatballs would be more then $10 after taxes, and her ignorant attitude steps up to higher Plato like she might as well have popped her head through the phone and ignorantly spat directly in my face cause she expected me to pay $7 delivery fee which on my bill shows only $5 delivery fee to have 2 orders of just meatballs delivered. So again insulting my intelligence I was so so soooooo ANGRY by this point cause she was charging me to have their screw up delivered to me and as far as I am concerned I was getting charged and extra $2 for what..the inconvenience? I mean seriously what the hell? And what really aggravates me about all this is this not the first time that exact same east side Mario's gave less meatballs then what I paid for this is the second time...however the first time it happened the manager not only personally delivered my correct order on his way home but he kindly corrected it right away. And he didn't just come with my extra meatballs I ordered he brought 2 orders of meatballs and one fresh pasta cause that time I had ordered extra meatballs with Bolognese sauce and I got tomatoes...I am so infuriated with this situation and the way I was treated like why in the hell would I want just 8 meatballs & I have to pay to have delivered...she wouldn't even replace my meal...my spouse ate his cause he was very hungry I was too moody to really eat my meal so I even said she could have the one meal back ...oh and why did I only get one lil butter pk for 2 homeloafs...you cannot even butter one half of the loaf with one pk...I really enjoy the food at east side Mario's but the customer service at this particular east side Mario's is a joke...I have worked in the customer service industry (restaurant) for over 20yrs and as a customer service worker myself i am completely embarrassed and ashamed for my profession and as customer to this east side Mario's i am absolutely infuriated and disgusted. I look forward to hearing back from you and am hopeful to come to a resolution regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Jasinda Hachey

5:30 pm on a sunday evening, no wait to be seated. Was brought bread with no knife, had to wait till salad and soup arrived to get one. Had to ask for utensils and napkins, waited again for the second time with food in front of us. Was offered more bread had to ask for butter. Ordered chicken fettuccine and bacon macaroni and cheese both had burnt meat in them, you could smell it. Asked to see management, he apologized but offered nothing. Told him we were leaving, left drinks and burnt food. We were very disappointed and now at 6:30 looking for someplace else to eat.

It is difficult to know where to begin as this place disappointed on so many levels. Let's start with the entrance. Upon entering we noticed that the push plate for the automatic access, for persons with mobility issues was ripped off the wall and hanging from the wires. There was no signage cautioning the public to avoid touching it. Potential danger for small children. This might seem trivial to begin with that but it was just a precursor of what was to come.

My friend and I were met and brought to a booth quickly, where we had to brush crumbs from the bench seats. Still seemingly trivial enough you might think but this was another indication of the carelessness of this establishment. The floors appeared dirty, not unexpected after a busy dinner service but this was around 8 pm and the place was only about half full. There were napkins and other bits of garbage littering the floor. Every staff member walking through the dining room walked right by. The person bussing tables did so hurriedly and noisily, dragging chairs across the floor and never once smiling or making eye contact with anyone. Not the tone you want set during what you hope to be an enjoyable meal out.

Our server came over and as we were quite hungry, we ordered right away and were brought our drinks and bread. We asked for side plates for our bread, that never arrived, so my friend just got some from another table. The salads came in the signature giant bowls that had the smallest salads I have ever seen in one of their restaurants. I immediately noticed several pieces of lettuce that should have gone to the compost bin, not into a bowl and can't imagine that anyone serving that salad up wouldn't have noticed this. I picked them out and carried on, as I mentioned, I was hungry.

Before we were halfway through our tiny salads our mains arrived. My friend had ordered the penne pasta dish with prosciutto and I ordered the pasta primavera with goat cheese. My friend's dish had one piece of prosciutto that he had to cut up in order to have it with more than one bite of pasta. My spaghettini was grossly overcooked and had one small blob of goat cheese. His food wasn't hot, while mine was piping hot. That is the best thing I can say about the meal.

I had to use the ladies' room, which I hesitated doing so as I have been to this place before and remember the bathroom being really dirty. On my way to the ladies' room I glanced to the kitchen and what I saw from the doorway was appalling. This was accumulated over time filth, on the floor, in corners around and on the equipment surfaces. The dirt was thick on the floor along the wall. This was next level neglect. It was clear that there was no pride of work and that nobody cared about food safety or a sanitary work environment in that kitchen.

When I opened the door to the ladies' room, I saw what I thought were new tiles so was hopeful. My hope was premature as I saw a really bad tile job with deep wide grooves between much of the tiles where dirt gathered. A professional tiler did not do this work. There were 4 stalls with one being wheelchair accessible. One stall had an out of order sign, one had no working slider lock and the wheelchair accessible one; the door could not be closed at all. So out of 4 stalls only one was actually usable.

I returned to the table, glancing to the kitchen to see if what I saw earlier was as bad as I thought it was on first sight, confirming that it was.

Clearly on every level this is not a happy work environment, from the people who prepare the food, to the servers and the cleaners, nobody cares at this location.
The apathy in this restaurant was palpable.
It is obvious, to me and anyone who has ever worked in the service industry, that this falls on management and the owner. I will never eat in this establishment again.

Is this a symptom of a dying chain or just this location?

My husband and I decided to try East Side Mario's one more time. We placed our order just before 7pm but asked for our order to be ready for pick up at 8:30pm. We get there just before 8:30 and no one was around to greet us (which was fine since we were a few minutes early). There was a bag sitting on the counter with our 2 drinks and garden salad in it so I assumed they were just getting the rest of our order together. I started to get a bit annoyed after 5 mins have passed and I see servers/employees and not one has stopped to see if we have been helped. When the server did come and ask who I was she then started to get our order together. Back in the kitchen she goes and we wait some more. I ask to see if she did get our appetizer and she said no. Back to the kitchen she goes and we have to wait till the cooks make it. As I'm waiting I check my husbands pasta and of course it didn't come with the mushrooms he asked for. By this time, the server still wasn't back from the kitchen with our appetizer. I stick my head around the wall and ask an employee to get the manager for me. As the manager walks in the server is back with our appetizer, which is fine because now I'm pissed off that now we have to wait to get the extra mushrooms since they make sure they charge you. I explain my situation to the supervisor and told her I didn't want to wait any longer that could I get at least a free coupon for an appetizer for next time. The supervisor advised me that she needed to check with the person who had the say in letting her do so. So now I'm waiting AGAIN! After a bit I turn to see if I can see the supervisor and she's writing something which I assumed to be a coupon. But by that time I was done. Instead of coming back to me and letting me know that yes, you will receive a coupon that she just needs to fill it out. I get her attention and say forget about it. By the time you've finished this I could have had my mushrooms by now. And I leave the store. What I wish I would have done was leave the food and got my full refund. After this last experience I will NEVER return. And maybe have some supervisor/manger who have good customer service skills.