Bob Evans

My husband and I met his mother and sister for an impromptu family breakfast. As long time and frequent visitors to Bob Evans, we looked forward to enjoying a great meal with our family. When we got there, our family members were already seated. They had informed the server that they were expecting us any minute. It took several minutes before we were greeted by our server and to put in drink orders. Eventually, we got our water, and the server took our orders. All four of us placed our orders at the same time. After about twenty minutes, we wondered what was taking so long. At the thirty minute mark, we were getting a little concerned because my husband had to get back to work. Forty five minutes later, we still didn't have food. My husband ended up having to leave before his food arrived. At that time, I flagged down our server and asked him to make the order "to go". About 10 or 15 minutes later, the server came to the table with food. My m-i-l and s-i-l got most of their food, but mine was missing and the "to go" order was brought to the table on a plate, not boxed/bagged as I had requested. When I reminded him that my husbands meal was "to go", he walked away with my husband's plate and said absolutely nothing about my missing breakfast. Not, "I'll be right back with your food" or "it will just be another minute", nothing! About 5 minutes later, someone arrived at our table with my husband's order boxed and bagged. I still didn't have my food. I only ordered a single chocolate chip pancake. I can't image how or why that would take so long, particularly when the other members my party had food. Why wasn't it made with the rest of my party's meals? When I asked about it, the server said, "they are about to make it now". I canceled my order. At that point, I was too frustrated to eat it. The other members of my party were at least half way through their meals and mine was about to be made. Of course, they would have been happy to wait for me to eat, but who wants to sit there and eat when everyone else is finished? Besides, who knows how long it would be before I got the food!

The food we did get was not cooked well and items were missing. My mother-in-law practically had to beg for the banana bread that came with her breakfast. When I got home with my husband's order, it was missing the gravy he ordered. So he had biscuits, but no gravy. I understand that between the pandemic and students going back to school, that many restaurants are under staffed and struggling to keep up, but if the staff knows the food is taking longer than usual, then that should be communicated at the beginning of the visit. Neither the server nor the manager came to our table to apologize for the delay or give us an ETA on our meals. We should have been offered bread or biscuits (something that does not require cooking) while we waited. Our drinks (coffee and water) weren't even topped off. These are simple things the server could have done while waiting for the kitchen to catch up. Tragically, the restaurant wasn't even very busy.

This was by far the worst experience I've ever had at any Bob Evans restaurant. In fact, it was one of my "all time" worst dining experiences anywhere. I have to say that I believe there is a management/training issue with this location. The service is always a little inconsistent and many of the servers aren't nearly as attentive to their customers as I have experienced in other restaurants. If you can't think of something you need for your meal immediately when it is delivered to the table, it will be stone cold before someone comes by to check on you. Despite really enjoying the Bob Evans food, there has been more than one occasion that we have gone elsewhere because we just don't have the time to wait for the slow service. I do hope that these issues are addressed and resolved. When the service is good and the team is well managed, Bob Evans is a great family restaurant, but this location has gone from inconsistent to completely unacceptable.