I have alway liked to have new experience with food, but this one I could have done without...
My partner and I made a trip to Shorty's BBQ in Deerfield Beach in the hopes of having a decent meal, we obliviously had bargained for too much.
We were aware of this very soon on when we walked in, we stood at an empty hostess station for 3 to 4 minutes before we were finally attended to. Another server came out and asked us or herself ""where is this girl?"", referring to the server that we would unfortunately be serving us. We were seated and finally our server Rachel came over reeking of cigarettes, I asked her if she had just come back from a smoke and if so, did she wash her hands? She said she had not , and she said that she ""always washes her hands though..."" We were not buying it at all.
When we looked at the menu, we where never helped by her as to what they offered and we where never told about the specials or combos. That made ordering a longer and unpleasant experience. I said to her that I wanted to have ribs. All she did was point with her dirty hands at the items on the page I was looking at. She never showed us the combos page or made any other selling suggestions.
While we were waiting for our food, she was sweeping up and doing some end of shift cleaning. When our food was ready, she did not wash her hands before going into the kitchen. She may have done so in the back out of our sight, but I don't believe that she did.
When the food came to the table, my partners pulled pork sandwich was not hot at all, I asked her how they heated up the pork, she said that was not done in a microwave. She took the plate and returned in 2 minutes and the pork was warmer but still not hot and the BBQ sauce had not changed color , this is a a sure indicator that it was reheated in a microwave oven and not in a saute pan.
When she had put my food down, her fingers were in the food, I was losing my appetite by the minute.
My ribs were hot enough and so were my veg, but they lacked flavor and seasoning.
The price was reasonable for the sandwich, $7.79, but 15.99 for flavorless ribs I thought was just bit too much.
Durning the course of the meal we were never asked if we wanted more to drink or how our food was. There was a clear absence of any kind of management there and lack of interest in the quality of the food or the service. We were very disappointed in the overall experience
In summery, If you want bad service cold-hot food and do this in a dirty place, then Shorty's is for you? I would say that this a place to avoid and tell your friend to avoid as well.
When I followed up with phone call to the corporate office, I spoke with Regina, she said I needed to speak with Mark. But he was in a meeting and I needed to call back in an hour. She never asked me for my Name or phone # to have Mark call me back. So my assumption is that the problems in this small chain of restaurants are systemic, from the top on down.
In this economy where a night out is a special and infrequent occasion for some, and this and all restaurants should make every attempt to ensure that they retain costumers and give them a good reason to return. They did everything to ensure that we never return and tell everyone of our bad experience there so they cal avoid this restaurant and all of their the stores.
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