I'm gonna preface this review with the fact that my fiancé and I love Cheddar's. We love going to any of their locations and typically always get the same thing to eat. The three stars for this visit was more regarding the service/experience that we got at the Lakeland location. Things started out pretty good. We were greeted and seated. Our waiter was around pretty quick and was very friendly and personable. My fiancé and I knew exactly what we wanted, so we ordered everything. Spinach dip for an appetizer. My fiancé always gets the chicken Caesar pasta salad, minus the pasta. I always get the Number 8 special: Chicken tender platter. After that, our waiter brought us our first drink refill and we never saw him again. We had no silverware and I had to chase down someone to get it for us. I wanted ketchup for my fries but our waiter never came back and looking around, no one was nearby. The server that brought out the food dropped it off and left before we could ask for anything. We ate our meals and for the most part, enjoyed the food. My fiancé's salad was filling and perfectly covered in the dressing with the grilled chicken on top. She said a few of the pieces of chicken seemed to be a little over cooked and rubbery but it didn't ruin the plate. My chicken tender platter was as expected. Crunchy, tasty fried chicken strips, fries and coleslaw. When we were pretty much done, our waiter finally came back by. He offered to get us drinks and I got one to-go along with the check. They had to have been short staffed. He was friendly and helpful when he was around but he wasn't around much. I'm pretty sure our waiter was running tables and also bartending. Either way, it was not a stellar experience. We would go back here again since we love Cheddar's and just hope the service would be little better next time. read more

Lunch out today with our dear and special friends Joann from Connecticut visiting here and her brother John who lives here in Florida at Cheddars restaurant. Such a wonderful time we all had. Great times catching up with each other. Great food and service by our server. She took great care of us from start to finish at the Lakeland location . Had meatloaf, chicken tenders , grilled chicken and chicken tenders We would definitely go back again . read more

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Came in right at dinner. Was sat quickly. Ordered the Buffalo Shrimp appetizer was delicious. Ordered the Kyle Busch number 8 chickens tenders with rice and beans along with the grilled chicken all came quickly and tasted great. Server was tentative and helpful with the menu. Bathrooms were clean. Will return read more

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Always delicious food with very good service! Definitely going back! The restaurant was very clean and the ambiance was amazing!

I am not a huge fan of chain restaurants because the food and service are usually not as high quality, but cheddars seem to always put my opinion to shame. I am personally a fan of the salmon meal because of its large portioning with 2 sides, rice, and the salmon. Not to mention their croissants are to die for!!!! However, beyond that, there are very few things I would recommend on the menu. Every time I have gone to this location it has been with a party over 10 and they are always super accommodating! Wait times are usually longer, but that is anticipated with such big groups. I personally wouldn't pick this as a place for a night out to eat, but it also isn't my last option. Decent prices and decent food. read more

I love Cheddar's. The staff are alway's very friendly and, attentive. The atmosphere is is alway's friendly and, inviting. I am particularly hooked on their chicken pot pie. It is delicious. All of their dishes are excellent and, tasty. read more

Our party of 7 was seated quickly. Appetizers of onion rings and cheese bites were delicious! All food was great and service was excellent! Atmosphere was happy and cheerful! I love this place! read more

Item by item Monte Cristo: Tasted like a struggle meal with no real struggle. The dough is so thick I have to carve out the ham and cheese. I paid $9.99 to eat ham and cheese. The "fall of the plate ribs": My friend said they was good but I guess he like to lie. Them ribs with stiffer than a dead man at a funeral. The meat was barely seasoned and the barbecue sauce tasted like ketchup. Sides: The plates was hotter than the foods. Broccoli was colder than my drink. Baked potato was weak. Fries as usual are just on the plate to take up space. I've paid tickets that felt better than paying for this food. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Me trying to figure out if my meal was a prank or not. - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Decided to get carry out because the restaurant was closing soon. Once I got home and opened the food I was blown away by the lack of rice and mashed potatoes I received. The "mashed potatoes" was clearly a cold baked potato that was scraped into the container. Considering how cheap rice is and how much the meal costs, I expect a generous amount. At least the salmon was decent. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

First time back since they changed the menu. Everything we got was really good. The hubs got Monte Cristo. Which is his favorite and he truly enjoyed it. I got ribs and chicken tenders. By far the one of the best tenders I've had. Light and crunch batter and the chicken was moist. The ribs had good flavor. Our server was awesome. Arden I believe. Definitely won us over. We'll be back read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Went to this location for the first time Saturday Evening around 6:30 on 5/11/2019. When we arrived the first thing I noticed was that the glass door used for entry was extremely filthy, to the point of where myself and others used their arm to push it open instead of using the handle. I decided to give them the benefit of doubt and thought maybe they had just been super busy and unable to clean it. Once we were seated , it took forever to get 3 beverages. Then we placed an appetizer order and our food order. Roughly 30 minutes later our food came out with No appetizer. We asked that just be removed from the check. My food looked very good as you can see in picture, but taste wise was very disappointing. The chicken was extremely dry , vegetables were under cooked and very bland. Just not a good experience for a first visit and probably will be the last. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Grilled Chicken Alfredo - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Weren't very amenable to large family seating. Waited well over thirty minutes as late arrivals came and went. Seated party of eight adults but seemed unable to deal with family of 10 with children. Family members from out of town came together but Cheddars seemed to ignore us until we approached the hostess. Seems a larger party presents a good opportunity for a place to profit but it certainly didn't seem this was appreciated. Seemed more like we presented as a nuisance the staff hoped would leave. Once seated the service was great thanks to KK. The service was excellent, friendly and quick. Good food but we had three vegetarians in group and choices were limited. Since there's a hotel on same lot it's likely catering to this particular demographic. To sum things up, KK saved the day with her great service! Front end of place needs some work in communication with customers. read more

Great restaurant! We have been here several times and have never been disappointed! Great atmosphere and free sweet rolls when you come in! read more

Went for an early dinner with my 84-year-old mother. She uses a rollator. The place was almost empty. We asked for a booth. We were seated at a tiny 2-person booth against the back wall, and her rollator was taken back up front so it wouldn't be in the aisle. [It also wouldn't be available to her in case she needed to go to the restroom.] We both ordered the 6 oz sirloin with grilled shrimp. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, but it was still tough and chewy. My baked potato was very small and looked like it was left over from lunch or even the day before. It was mealy and yellow/brown inside and the outer skin was so dried out and overcooked that it was difficult to cut it. The green beans were almost raw. They were hard to chew. There were four very small shrimp that were served on a bed of about 2 tablespoons of rice. The flavor of them was good, but they too were overcooked. The best thing about this whole experience was that our server was very nice and the honey buttered croissants were excellent. This was my mom's treat to me for my birthday dinner and I'm very sorry that she had to pay the price she did for this meal. I have no intention of returning to this restaurant. read more

The wife and i descided to eat here today. At first it seemed like it was a mistake because it took 7 to 8 minutes before someone came to take our order but the server casey saved the day. She was extremely nice and she explained the the the reason why it took longer than it should have. She took care of us and did a great job. We also got to talk to Mimi Sanches the manager and they were both extremely nice and welcoming. The food was soo darn good. I couldn't understand why the place was kind of empty. If you like or love great food and good people serving you then you definitely need to get to this place and order up. Great place, good people and great food. Thank you Mimi and thank you Casey. Great job! read more

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Scratch this Kitchen off your list!!! Don't go here. We were seated pretty quickly on a Saturday night but may be reasons why. This place is not good Let's start with the floor! It looks like they never sweep until the end of food service. The dark floor showed every dropped and spilled food. Sweeping should be part of the bussing the tables. Next came the service. We ordered our appetizer and drinks. The appetizer came out....twice!!! We had the fried cheese bites with ranch. Coating seemed a little undercooked. She also offered the honey butter croissants but we didn't see those until I asked about them at the end of our meal. No drinks yet. Server finally came by asking how we liked the food and I said I really needed to wash it down. I'm glad we finally got something to drink but that was the last of that. No offers to refill. We ordered the Buffalo Chicken wrapper and the Monte Cristo. Two of the worst sandwiches we have ever had! Now I remember why I hadn't had a MC in forever. It's disgusting. Their version was undercooked on the inside and almost burnt on the outside, greasy too. Green beans had a strange sour flavor. The Buffalo chicken wrapper had no Buffalo sauce, but the pickle juice was dripping out of it. We had ordered extra sauce on the side but didn't get it. We asked for spinach instead of cabbage but I guess the cook didn't want to provide that. Chicken tasted like pickles and was not fresh. They were trying to cover up the bad taste. Texture was as if it was cooked ahead and reheated. Side of Broccoli was only good thing. Finally server came and asked about the food. We gave her the feedback but she didn't care. She did go get the side of Buffalo sauce and the forgotten croissants but that was too late. Empty glasses of drink at this point. We ate one of the croissants out of the to-go box. That was good hot. Finally the bill. It was correct. She asked if we wanted to go drinks. No thanks. We will not return. read more

This location offers friendly service with a great location. The parking lot design can offer some issues. I tend to park at the back to avoid that however, the food is great. I've never had an issue here with the service. Definitely check them out. read more

Visited this location post COVID and the staff was outstanding. Very professional, made me feel safe. Social distancing was kept at all times. Staff wore mask and PPE at all times, which is very important in my personal opinion. Food quality A+. Will definitely visit in the near future. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Food - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

I was not impressed! I travel for work so I often eat alone so I always go to the bar. The hostess looked at me like I was crazy when I said I was going to sit st the bar. Then it took a good 5 minutes for the bartender to even appear. She was friendly at first but very pushy so I told her I was just going to enjoy my drink and waste a little time. She then became very cold. She was nice enough but it was clearly forced. The food was good but pitiful presentation. I had the chicken tortilla soup. It had great flavor but the tortilla strips had sunk to the bottom and were mushy. I assume it had sat in the window for a while. The salad was huge and did come out looking very appetizing so that was good. I also had the grilled Baja chicken. The plate was so messy I wouldn't have even served it in my own kitchen. I was very disappointed in pretty much all of my meal. I will not be returning! So I ended up back in town and since they were right here I decided to give them another try. BAD IDEA! The service was great this time but the food was not even close to edible. I ordered the lemon pepper white fish. Again very bad presentation and so salty it made my mouth pucker! read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Is this really how you present your food? It comes with a side salad so there isn't even anything missing from the plate..... - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Service was great! We got the trio appetizer, chicken strips, chips, spinach dip, etc. Food was flavorless. Didn't even eat it, wasn't worth the calories. read more

Reasonably priced- if you are looking for a restaurant that doesn't break the bank, this is the spot. Good food. Every meal I've tried has tasted delicious. My favorite is the Bourbon Salmon with green beans and broccoli and cheese casserole Good alcoholic beverages- I highly recommend their alcoholic beverages. Every cocktail I've tried has been delicious; it also helped to feel relaxed after consuming a drink. Note: the pain killer is limited to 2 per customer. I love their bar area. The ambience is calming and relaxing and you could catch a game or two on their nice TVs that are plastered on the wall. Good service.- the service is normally welcoming! Quick service- the food comes pretty quickly. Quick enough to enjoy an hour lunch break. read more

The drinks are excellent, however the food was disappointing. I ordered the grilled chicken salad expecting to get fresh dark green leafy veggies and a good amount of grilled chicken. What I got was ice burg lettuce and 2 cups of very long shredded pieces of carrots (it looked like a blanket of carrots). There was very little chicken as well and barely any nuts and cheese. It looked like a dumped bag of pre-made salad you could buy at the groceries store. I pulled up the picture from the menu and asked the waitress if it was the same salad, because they look so different and the image was Definitely not the same kind of lettuce and dark leafy greens unlike what I got, which she replied "yes, but we make it differently." I ended up eating some of it, but I didn't finish it. You don't pay $11 for mostly lettuce and carrots. My point is, you don't get what the picture looks like and you get a very cheap knock off of a salad I could have made from a pre-made bag salad. I expect to go out and pay for a great salad or any meal for that matter. We won't be back. read more

We stopped for lunch even though I've had bad experiences with this chain and we were glad we did. I tried some country fried chicken that was very good and cooked very well. The potatoes were hot and fresh. The cost for 2 meals with drinks(ice tea) was 30 dollars, what a surprise. It seems like anymore when you go out to eat it's 50 or 60 dollars and it's not even good food for your money. This was definitely a good deal for lunch. The service was excellent and the place was so clean. I've been to other cheddars and shied away from trying this one because of past experiences but I will go back to this one again. Keep it up. read more

Worst service & food. Literally this was disgusting and I'm never going back.. I went with two other girls for my birthday and it was not pleasant. After getting through the door, the host galloped us to our table and then the waitress took about 20 minutes to greet us. I ordered the Dijon mustard chicken, with some awkward cheese side & rice while the other two girls ordered different entrees. We ordered onion rings which came out so beautifully & tasted delicious but that truly was the only thing to taste good. When the food finally came out, my chicken was drenched with Dijon mustard that tasted like it came out of a glass jar from publix.. the cheese broccoli side item looked like a child toppled it into a small side bowl and threw it in the plate for color and the rice was under cooked and flavorless. My food was touching each other in ways that it shouldn't of had. They need bigger plates & better recipes. It was a waste of money and disgusting. One of my friends order spaghetti lasagna... it is a disgrace to spaghetti and lasagna. Please take it off the menu. It's an embarrassment. The staff were yelling across the room, jogging, and inconsiderate of helping each other.. I eat at many different restaurants.. team work makes the dream work. That's the motto I believe this restaurant needs.. including a different food menu..preferably with better recipes. read more

This is a nice place. Looks a little upscale but not the prices. The staff are dressed as if fine dining. The place has always been super clean everytime i have been. I sat at bar and was instantly greeted by the bartender. She was very pleasant and checked on me just the right amount. I ordered country fried steak with double okra greans. The steak was nicely cooked and seasoned. The white gravy had juat the right amount of pepper to make it pop. Okra is well okra love it fried. Greans nicely seasoned and cooked well. I will return reccomend giving it a try. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Bar - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Visited Cheddar's on a Sunday around 6pm with a party of 5. Our waitress was soooo nice and accommodating. The wait to get our food was not long, but every time we asked for something, the waitress forgot and had to keep being reminded. My mother ordered a steak that was delivered to another table and had by the time she receive her meal, we had already finished all of our meals. The waitress did knock some things off our bill without us even mentioning it. I would've normally give a 1 star, but the waitress was the only thing that bumped my review to a 3 star from a 1 read more

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Kylie is one of the best servers I've ever encountered. I have to have shoulder surgery soon, and couldn't even cut up my meat, and she did it for me. What a doll! I got a steak, which sort of worried me, as I rarely can get a steak done properly. Even at most steakhouses, the steak is ended up having to be redone. I wanted it well done, not burnt, but yet flavorful and juicy. I know people hate well done meat, but I love it and that's what I was buying and that's what I wanted. I cannot tell you how delighted I was that my meat was done perfectly and everything was super delicious. I will definitely be going back read more

Bland. Overall it is no better than Applebees or any other low level chain. The food is dry and bland always

Juany is an amazing sweet server. Very attentive and pleasant. Good food quality and amazing prices. The croissants is a must!!!

This was one of the worst places I've eaten. A few months ago it was great! Today we had the Monte Cristo. It was undercooked server with raw dough and the grease was in dire need of changing. Could not be eaten. Baked potato soup was cold and potatoes were hard. Waitress was marginal. Didn't even ask why we didn't eat the sandwich and fries. We won't be back. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Undercooked Monte Cristo - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Eh. It's scratch but needs some depth of flavor. Like a glorified Denny's. Good choice for a quick cheaper meal. Other choices around.

The EVERYTHING was AWSOME!!! Our server (Maria) was absolutely a professional!!! We're definitely coming back!!!

Highly recommend trying, salmon Caesar pasta salad. Every time I visit, I have to order it! Let's not forget the honey butter croissants! To die for, especially when freshly made. Also recommend trying the tenders and coconut shrimp. read more

Ok so I am over over over take out! No matter you go from restaurants to fast food , there is ALWAYS something wrong with the order. People don't read or pay attention to take out orders apparently. If you dine in, at least you can say this wrong, take it back. Take out... who is going to drive all the back to say that? This time a hamburger, med well with tomatoes and light Mayo was ordered. We GOT a pretty much raw plain burger with nothing on it at all. All you gotta do is pay attention and read!!! And I gave a 20 percent tip for take out BAD service!!! Do better, Cheddar's!!! read more

"Welcome to Cheddars can I take your order?" Y'all about comfort food! Apparently 90% of their menu is really made from scratch DAILY! Had the most soul warming chicken pot pie! My favorite thing about a pot pie is the crust & this didn't disappoint at all! 2nd Pic was a top sirloin steak (medium of course), chicken tenders (with house made buffalo sauce ), a loaded baked potato, and Mac & cheese. I'm a Mac & cheese fanatic but I was disappointed. So I swapped it for their Southern green beans! Not sure what made them 'Southern' but they sure were delicious. I forgot my waitresses name but she definitely made the experience amazing! She was attentive, FAST, & a huge sweetheart. read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - Homemade Chicken Pot Pie - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Terrible!!! TWO hours to have lunch!!! My four year old was crying bc it had been so long with no food. I finally saw our waitress Raven, to complain and she said she was sorry a bunch of orders had been put in all at once. I understand that isn't her fault but we should've been notified, and the restaurant wasn't even half full. Our drinks stayed empty until we happened to see her to let her know. The ketchup bottle on the table was empty, 3 of our for meals were chicken tenders. Chicken tenders were half hard breading. Normally, their chicken tenders are amazing. read more

Review #1000!!! Toot-doodle-doo! I was hoping it would be a 5-star share but, it's not. It was still a decent meal. We arrived 5 minutes after opening and benched "for 5 minutes" on a list. The truth was the wait was 13 minutes and not because they didn't have seating space, but because they didn't have ample "seaters". They are only 4 weeks old and still have some serious kinks. The "din" (music and crowd noise) was deafening and the entry was chaotic. They did not need two people to point at the next name on the list and the social "seaters" did not appear in a hurry. They had a rather annoying "spiel" to point out the drink and dessert items, push appetizers, as well as recommend the salmon to we two non-fish eaters. Not a pleasant exchange after already waiting (and having a hard time hearing). Our waitress was very efficient and attentive. We ordered the $9.99 steak with 2 sides. They came marginally as ordered, not quite as rare as liked on one and cold center on the other. The same 6 oz steak at Longhorn's is larger. This steak was well-seasoned with a "Montreal" type seasoning (salty for some). The sides were great--perfectly cooked steamed broccoli, nice mac & cheese, great baked potato, well-balanced and cold cole slaw. The mac was served sloppily as if a spoon or finger was wiped along the side of the dish (looked yucky). Restaurants usually clean this up for visual effect. Others plates came out looking delish and we are anxious to go back once they settle down a bit, hoping the wait and the din are resolved, or it won't be a regular stop. (Parking is ample from the back though it does not look like it from the street. Side entry is safer on Imperial.) read more

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - steak dinner $10 - Comfort Food Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

The staff wore masks and tables are spaced out. We were sat fairly quickly (which was nice) but then it was evident that we were the last table seated in the server section. We ordered an appetizer but our server completely missed it. Food was average. My date got the "signature" monte Cristo which made him nauseous, and I got the BBQ bacon chicken sandwich which was nothing spectacular. Our drinks were refilled when the check was placed on our table. Wished we weren't rushed, our order was complete, and the food was better. read more

It was my first visit. I tried the chicken and shrimp. I chose the fried version. The sides I had was Mac and cheese, and red beans and rice. The appetizer I had was 3 croissants which were $ 2.99. This was so very delicious I was really surprised. I also sampled the black beans, broccoli casserole, and loaded baked potato. All was so very delicious. To end the meal I had the key lime pie. It was one of the best I have tried in a restaurant. The entrance was a revolving door. I think the only two things I didn't like was it's decor is very dark. The second was stuff was all over the floor. The waitress was very polite and did her job well. read more

I really don't like to post negative reviews; however, when 67% of my party of 3 has major issued with their lunch it is appropriate. M husband and I took our son out for lunch when he was in town. He ordered the chicken and shrimp - the chicken was so over cooked it looked and tasted like a hockey puck. The mashed potatoes were cold and the shrimp was lukewarm. The lunch went back and son re-ordered a cheese steak with the mashed potatoes again. Once again the potatoes were cold. My husband ordered a cheese burger with fries. The fries were cold and had to be sent back. I ordered the chicken pot pie with a side salad. The salad was nicely presented and the pot pie was hot. Sadly, we will not be going back. read more