My husband and I were over at Citrus Park Mall earlier this week, with the family in tow, and decided to head across the street to Smokey Bones for dinner. We tried to go to the one in Clearwater when it first opened a few years ago, but the wait was 2 hours, so we skipped it. After hearing rave reviews from friends, I was anxious to try it, but I was so disappointed.

The restaurant wasn’t crowded (it was a Monday night) so we were seated immediately. Our waitress was extremely slow. After taking our drink orders, she came by our table 2 or 3 more times on her way to other places, without our drinks. Our dinner order (ribs, a BBQ sandwich, and 3 kids meals) took almost 25 minutes. We saw tables that came in after us get served before us. Finally, our food came out - Jim’s ribs were dry, my sandwich was dry, and the kids meals were ok. For the price, I’ve had better BBQ at much smaller local chains, like Pit Boss. Our meal was $50 for the meals, drinks (one beer) and the cornbread appetizer, which was good, but nothing special.

Recently my husband and I went to a local pub/sports bar called Winners Grill for lunch. It was a game day, so it was crowded, but there were plenty of seats open, and we were seated as soon as we walked in. We got drinks, and ordered 3 simple things - a nacho appetizer, a burger, and a cheesesteak.

30 minutes later, we were still waiting, our drinks were empty (and we weren’t offered a refill), and tables around us were in need of being bussed. (Staring at someone else’s leftovers long after they’ve left the table is OH so appetizing!)

We asked our server what the hold up was, and she said the kitchen was backed up. We waited another 10 minutes, and then told her to cancel our order, as my husband was on his lunch break and only had an hour total to be out for lunch.

Now, here’s the goocher. Yes, all of the above upset me. But what REALLY gets to me is that when we got home, I went to the Winner’s Grill website and used their online comments form to let them know what had happened. That was 3 business days ago, and I still haven’t heard back from anyone. If I received a complaint from a customer, I’d be sure to respond to it as soon as possible, preferably, within 1 business day.

Bad business, all around.