Red Lobster

So, we went to Red Lobster tonight, at 15311 W. McDowell Road, in Goodyear, Arizona. We have gone to this place since they opened, and really have always had a great time, until this year. We usually go about every two months, and have been there twice before this with crappy service. Now, we had a terrible time. We will never return to that restaurant. This was the final time we get poor service in a Red Lobster. Well, where to begin. Let’s see….I guess the first hint of how our dining experience was to go would have been the hostess…My wife, 8 year old son, and I walked in, with no one in the waiting area, and straight in to the hostess stand. She says to us “oh, 2 of you?” Really? The hostess either can’t count or chose to ignore our son. So, on to the table. The person seating us was very pleasant. I am sorry I did not get his name. He was very cordial, and made us feel at ease immediately. He sat us, and said that our waitress will be with us shortly. Well, shortly turned into about 8 minutes just for our waitress to come and take our drink order. Then, a slight wait for the drinks, followed by the biscuits. Ok, so maybe this will not turn out so bad…..oops, spoke too soon. After taking our appetizer order, the waitress came back to take our entrée order. We told her we prefer to wait until getting our appetizer, and she seemed puzzled. Ok. So, we sit, and wait…and wait…and wait…I see 2 other tables around us get seated, get drinks, get appetizers, and still we wait. Oh, here comes the assistant manager, to re-fill our drinks. Great. Now, we wait. And wait. So, here comes our seafood nachos. Hooray! Except...they were kind of….sparse. The shrimp and cheese sauce was sparingly applied, to say the least. Oh, well, it is a busy Saturday night, so we can make some allowances. So, let’s dig in. Um, what is this? Some of the nachos are kind of….soggy. Like the chips sat at the bottom soaking up grease. Definitely not a good thing. Ok, let that sit, and we can eat the other chips. Ok, not bad, considering. Well, let’s see how the entrées are. Once we order. Hmmm, where is the waitress? No, not over there. Well, let’s wait. For 10 more minutes. Really? Now she takes our order? Must be really busy tonight…but…I keep seeing people seated around us and getting faster service. Starting to get a little upset now. Ok, we order our food. And wait….for over 20 minutes now. So, where are our salads? Hmmm……no, that’s not them……after 10 more minutes here they are. Now, one of the things that used to bother me at Red Lobster was that the Ceaser salad was served so cold I had to warm my hands after eating it. Not this one! Oh, no, this salad was at room temperature, for sure. So how long does it take for a salad to get that warm? So, now we are 48 minutes into dinner, and we have been served some crunchy biscuits, and some crappy nachos, and warm salads. Ok, so where are the entrées? Well, about 10 minutes more, and here comes the entrees. Being brought by a different waitress. What? Ok, so she starts by handing out my son’s plate, and remarking how she wondered about his because she didn’t see him behind my wife. Not exactly a good comment, but whatever. I do notice as his plate is handed over that the fries seem a little off. Kind of like they had sat for a while. So, she starts handing me my plate, which should have been a combo of steak, shrimp, and salmon. But, there are crab legs on the plate. I tell the waitress this is not my order, and she asks if I am sure. What the ()^&$! Yes, I am sure I didn’t order crab. So, she looks at my wife’s plate, which also has crab on it, which she didn’t order. So, the waitress takes the plates away, and to the next table to ask them if it is theirs. And back to the kitchen. And we wait….now we have had enough. We waited for about 5 more minutes, and finally flagged down the assistant manager. We tell her that we need to have the entrée orders cancled, and the check for the app, drinks, and my son’s meal. She said she will take care of it. And starts to leave. But now, here comes….surprise!...our waitress, along with the other waitress, with the same meals. They explain that the crab was added by the kitchen, and that we can keep it and not be charged for it. Why, we don’t know. But we told all three of them that we didn’t want it, and they asked several times if we wanted them. Finally, we said yes, but when they put the plates in front of us, I noticed that the butter was already congealing in the bowl. So I touched all the food, and it was all room temperature. My wife did the same for her food, with the same results. Actually, here crab was stone cold in the center. Like just nuked for too little time cold. So, we sat again, until the manager, Tyler R, came over. He seemed to be wanting to help, but would not listen to anything we said. He kept interrupting us with his version of what we were trying to say. Not acceptable. But, he tried. Told us he would comp our meal. Ok. Not what we wanted. We asked several times for the check, but they would not listen. Ok, fine. Then, here comes Tyler, with an envelope with what he said were gift cards, to see if he could get our business back. Well, thanks, we will consider it. But, seeing as this is the third time in a row we have had crappy service here, I don’t think we will be back. Ever. And, as further insult, when we get into the car, my wife opens up the envelope and finds a $25 gift card. Great. So someone can get, what, a smaller entrée and a drink? Please. This place has gone downhill the entire year, and we are tired of giving them chances. Never again.