**Disappointing Experience at Cook'd in Minden**…read more
We had a group of 11 of us traveling on a motorcycle road trip and were looking for a nice place to stop for lunch while passing through Minden. We chose Cook'd because the restaurant looked clean and inviting in the photos, and the menu looked very good. We arrived on a Saturday around 12:30 p.m.
We were warmly greeted and seated together in the front dining room. The restaurant did not appear particularly busy, with plenty of open tables. Unfortunately, that's where our positive experience started to decline.
Our server took our drink orders, but there was a significant delay before we received them. When it came time to order our food, we were told that the restaurant would not allow separate checks. For a group of 11, we would have needed only six checks, which seems like a reasonable request.
Anyone who has traveled with a large group knows how difficult it can be to divide one large bill fairly. Trying to determine each person's food, drinks, tax and tip individually is a hassle that the restaurant could easily avoid by simply providing separate checks. In my opinion, if a restaurant chooses to require one check for a group, it should have a good reason--and the service should be organized enough to justify that policy.
We were told in the past by other restaurants that large groups sometimes have to use one check so the kitchen can coordinate the meals and have everything come out together. Unfortunately, that certainly wasn't our experience at Cook'd. Our meals came out in pieces, with some people finished eating before others had received their food.
The biggest problem was that **one person's meal never came out at all**. We eventually had to track down our server and the manager to find out what happened. When the meal finally arrived, it was cold. We asked if the meal could be removed from the bill. The server initially said she couldn't do that but would check with the manager. To the restaurant's credit, the manager did agree to remove the meal from the bill.
Unfortunately, the billing problems continued. After we finally received our bill, the restaurant agreed to separate it into two checks. However, the tip was then **double-charged, resulting in a 36% tip**. We had to catch the error ourselves.
The entire experience was frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable. We came in expecting a pleasant lunch at what appeared to be a nice restaurant, but the slow and inattentive service, meals arriving at different times, a missing and cold meal, and the billing/tip issue made the experience much more difficult than it should have been.
I hope the management at Cook'd takes this review as constructive criticism. The restaurant itself has a nice appearance, the menu looked appealing, and the staff was initially friendly. With better organization, more attentive service, and a better system for handling larger groups and their checks, this could be a much better experience for customers.
For our group, however, this lunch was a total fiasco and certainly not the experience we expected.
