I moved to Montevallo just before restaurants began closing off their dining areas due to COVID. Several times, I would place online orders through their app and have no issues.
After dining rooms started reopening, things seemed to go quickly downhill for this location. It was nearly every day that there would be a sign outside in the parking lot, advising they'd closed early, or were closed the entire day. This continued for weeks after their main sign was updated to advertise that they were now open daily, from 6AM-10PM. In fact, it became a running joke between my father and I to get excited about the possibility of them being open whenever we would drive by, only to see that once again, closed early, or never opened for the day. Forget trying to place an online order. The hours were so inconsistent that I think the online ordering was shut down completely for a while. Eventually the hours were changed to 6AM-2PM, and since that changed, I don't believe I have seen them closed within that time frame, which is good.
Today was the day we finally decided to stop for a meal since the change in hours. Upon arrival, we see 4-5 employees, all sitting at a table by a side door that leads out into the parking lot, and they're cutting up, talking and/or smoking. They all quickly filed back inside as soon as we got out of the car. Whether or not they all washed their hands before resuming duties, I can't say, but it's doubtful, because there's no way all of them could have done so and also have resumed their duties in the time it took us to walk inside and get a table. **On the front door and windows we noticed signs saying, "CASH ONLY," which was not a problem for us.
The good:
-We were quickly greeted and we gave our drink orders, got the drinks, gave our food orders, and quickly got the food-which was tasty! The server also kept checking on us as well.
The bad:
-Employees kept going back outside to that table in-between customers and/or cooking orders, only to come back in if new diners came in-like they did with us, or someone would go out and get one of the servers when her orders were ready.
-We didn't see anyone wash their hands when they came back in, any of the times.
-There was one customer who came in and the staff called her Granny, so I have to assume she was a regular. The server who took her order actually sat down at her table to talk to her for a few minutes, eventually getting her order and after giving that order to the cook and bringing coffee to the table, she sat down talking again!
-My dad went to the restroom and came out saying the paper towel dispenser was empty, but there were just some set up off to the side if needed. He also mentioned the toilet paper dispenser was empty and nearby was a huge roll that clearly would not fit into the dispenser-as if, because of the shorter business hours, normal deliveries were no longer being made, so the staff couldn't get items that fit the dispensers and was stuck having to get what they could-which I could believe, considering I saw loaves of Walmart's Great Value brand bread on a bread rack in the back.
The final straw for me came when the check was received (pictured). There was a Supply Chain Adjust amount listed, and it was approximately 3% of the subtotal. There's a trend now of businesses charging a 3-5% fee for credit cards, which is discounted if a customer pays cash, so I figured it might be that, but let's not forget those CASH ONLY signs I mentioned earlier. If that adjustment is for a credit card, it shouldn't have been there because no one could use a card today, so I decided to ask the server about it as we were cashing out. She said it was to help cover the recent increasing costs of everything. Having no intention of ever returning, I went ahead and paid it after learning what it was for.
** It wasn't until I was writing up the review that I noticed the subtotal plus the adjustment was $12.34 and the tax was $1.23. Sales tax for the area is 10%, so not only were we charged a separate fee of 3%-which was not for paying with a card, but we were charged sales tax on that fee! This was such a disappointing overall experience, considering the food itself, which was the main reason for going, and the actual service provided to us for those meals were not bad at all. As it stands, I'd only recommend this place for takeout orders, though with hesitation because of the staff constantly going indoors and outdoors and not appearing to ever wash their hands each time they'd come back near food! read more