Meh, despite the good food and the convenient location (this Lendy's is much closer to me than…read moretheir General Booth location), the service - particularly the understaffing, is a problem.
With Misako closed until mid-October (the owners are on a much-deserved vacation), this was an excellent opportunity to try out this Lendy's. Upon arrival, they were setting up for karaoke night (Tuesdays) and there were a few regulars already seated at the bar.
This Lendy's appeared bigger than Anchor Allie's that was previously here. It's more spacious - full of games, TV's and the like. I decided to sit at the bar where I was greeted by their bartender, Courtney.
Courtney was nice enough, but she was battling a neck injury which, I later learned, was the result of her, "falling down the stairs." That sucks, and she toughed it out simply by showing up for work. I remained patient throughout, but I was left to wonder what caused her to fall down the stairs.
Anyways, Courtney took my drink order - Coke and a bottle of Bud Light. I received the Coke almost immediately, but after a few minutes she remembered the beer. She apologized, but it was all good since I was still looking at the menu (the long wait for the beer did factor into me not ordering another round, though).
I eventually ordered a dozen wings and potato skins, and proceeded to relax and wait. In the meantime, that's when I noticed Courtney was the only person working the FOH, while the kitchen had one dude doing all the cooking (he was also the food runner). The food took a little time, but actually came out sooner than I anticipated.
I chose garlic parm wings, and they were just as good as the wings I've had at the original Lendy's. The potato skins were also excellent, although the cheese could've been melted more. Regardless, the food remained the high point of my visit.
I didn't finish either item, so I asked for a togo box and my tab at the same time. This is where my visit became an extended stay as Courtney continued to place me at the back of the line.
Courtney took about five minutes to give me a togo box. She gave it to me without my tab, which meant I had to wait again for her to get that to me. In the meantime, she had to knock out orders for the other customers, then had to turn around and take an order for a big party who sat down behind me. The wait was understandable, but I did become antsy.
After all that, Courtney gave me my tab, and I plopped down my card immediately so she'd know I was ready to get out of there. The check and my card sat at the edge of the bar for a few minutes before she came back for it. When she did, she ran my card, then proceeded to pour drinks for customers while waiting for the machine to print my receipt. I began to take issue when she stopped to chat with the regulars at the bar as if they were the only people in the restaurant. That lasted a good 5 minutes, then she proceeded to ignore me when one patron from the big party walked up to the bar to ask her for something.
At this point, I finally blurted out, "May I have my check? PLEASE?" She had a look on her face that said, "S**t, I forgot," while I gave back a stare similar to Ice Cube in Friday when he said, "Bye, Felicia." Courtney ripped the receipt from that machine, gave that & returned my card, then quickly muttered, "Thank you for your patience." I was ready to turn into a-hole Justin and then gtfo there, but I said nothing, signed my receipt and proceeded to get the hell out.
The real issue with this Lendy's is understaffing. My visit was a combination of events - dinner service, happy hour, and karaoke night. How are you not staffed for that? I could tell Courtney knows what's up, but leaving her alone (with just one cook) while working injured obviously resulted in subpar service.
At the same time, taking extended time to chat with regulars pissed me off because I was obviously not important enough to receive the same attention.
Lendy's, your food is good. But running understaffed and providing inconsistent service is garbage. I want to evenly split my visits to this shopping center between Misako, Lendy's, and Mommy Mom, but omitting Lendy's as a viable option has become easier after this visit.
I'll give Lendy's another shot down the line, but if there's only 1 FOH person again when that day comes, I'm walking out. JV