Ever been to a restaurant where the whole idea is to make you wait? Went out for dinner tonight.

[csziggy]

8. Steak & Shake - Waited 30 minutes for WATER

3 in the afternoon, we were the only customers. Four servers huddled in the corner, chatting about personal stuff - we could overhear their conversation. 30 minutes after we entered and were seated, one of them finally broke away to bring us glasses of water. My husband had to wait longer for his cola. Server didn't take our orders - which we had been ready to give the first time she came to the table - until she brought the cola.

45 minutes after we sat, she finally took our orders. Food took nearly 30 minutes to arrive and the orders were wrong. Another 30 minutes to fix that. By the time we were finished, the early dinner rush had started and the evening manager arrived. When he took the payment for the meal he asked how things were. I told him in detail. He offered us a coupon for two free meals, which we declined. I told him we didn't have time to waste for another afternoon in his restaurant.

The only reason we waited was that we were both tired and didn't want to have to drive to another place. By the time we were fed up with the lousy service, it had gone beyond the point of just walking out.

We did eventually go back to that Steak & Shake. The staff, including the manager, were all new and service was much improved.