We had errands to run with limited time available as my stomach growled from hunger. Our first choice of diners, we rejected when we remembered the seating arrangements were tight and didn't provide for social distancing. We drove past our second choice because the line outside the front doors circled around the side of the building. Our third choice posted a sign that they were closed because of limited staff available to work. Then a light in the sky beaconed to us — Denny's.
A recent commercial flashed in my brain advertising Denny's Bennies. I remember thinking they looked tasty so suggested we try it, apprehensively. My experience with Denny's has been hit or miss. I love their apple pie crisp with ice cream but at times have found the service lacking. But here it sat welcoming us with no lines, no waiting, a sign from the heavens.
Quickly, I noticed that the restaurant was quite sparse of customers. Wondering if it was a lost gem nobody had discovered or whether we were making a huge mistake, I told the waitress we needed a table for two. Ordering was easy because of the aforementioned commercial. While sipping our coffee and waiting for our food to arrive, I overheard a couple at an adjacent table order Denny's Bennies. They were informed that this item was unavailable because they were out of hollandaise sauce.
Interesting because I knew the ingredients for the sauce are pretty simple: butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, salt and cayenne pepper, a recipe that only requires a few minutes to prepare from start to finish. Confused to hear the lack of supplies and knowing we were not given the same information, I called to our waitress.
When I asked about the hollandaise sauce she wondered off to check. Returning she explained they were out of the powered mix and offered the same menu item with a substitution, queso dip. As my testbeds rebelled at that thought, I asked to see the menu again thinking they are sure spending a lot of money on advertising for something they don't have.
Ok. Sometimes things are simply our of our control so we changed our order but before our waitress left requested coffee refills. As we waited, my husband and I entertained ourselves by trying to identify the images on the waiter's tattoos that trailed up his arms, around his neck and over his head, quite a detailed a piece of art. We killed a little time visiting with the customers next to us until their order arrived and they left in anger because it was not what they ordered.
By now, our apprehensions had multiplied but I questioned, "How bad can they screw up an egg scramble?" We started drinking some water because our coffee cups were empty.
When our orders arrived, my question was answered and I really don't know how the cook accomplished this. In front of me sat a sizzling egg scrambled on a black skillet. I forked through the ingredients: diced potatoes, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, spinach, peppers, and onions. The aroma was intoxicating and the flavor divine. When the waitress returned and asked if we enjoyed the meal, I replied honestly, " I love the flavor but do not understand why my egg scramble has no eggs."
Just as I finished clearing my skillet, a plate of scrambled eggs was placed in front of me with an apology — but no coffee. Though we were full but not content, we asked for a bill. When it came, I was too frustrated to point out we were charged for Denny's Bennies, the item they did not have. When the waitress proudly announced she did not charge us for the coffee, I refrained from pointing out we didn't get much coffee but also didn't thank her.
For many years I went to Denny's restaurant. Probably for about 20 years. I remember back in the 80's it was nice. About 3 years ago Denny's added some new dishes to the menu. One of my favorites was the new sirloin steak with the broiled zucchini and a fresh garden salad. The steak was just the right size about 4 to 5 oz. Because I like little portions of meat this seemed perfect.
I went to Denny's very often after they put this on the menu because I enjoyed it so much. Then after about 3 or 4 trips I noticed that they could never get the steak cooked right. I also notices that during one visit that the waitress brought me out something that looked like a car ran over it and it had grizzle all through the meat. I asked to speak to a manger and when she came over I explained to her that the steak was not a piece of nice sirloin. I told her that they always are a nice round small tender steak. I then told her I was not going to eat that and would up just eating the salad and leaving.
A few weeks later I tried again. I ordered the same thing again. The waitress was so rude and the manager was no better after I explained to them that the last time I was there I left hungry after waiting over 1 1/2 hours for them to try and get the order right. Then they gave me a courtesy by not charging me for the meal I ordered that night. I thought this was what they should have done on the night I was treated so bad and left hungry.
I then went to a different location and ordered the same meal again. There they had the same issue the steak could not be cooked as I requested. There was one employee there that cared enough to make sure that they fixed the problem and I had a good dinner.
I then went back a few weeks again to the first location and ordered again the same meal. Steak, zucchini and salad. I was told by the waitress they had no cucumber for the salad. I told her that I love cucumbers. She never tried to find a way to get one for the salad. I then told her I would go to the store and get a cucumber if she would put it in my salad. I left and went to Giant and bought a cucumber. They took the cucumber and never even offered to pay me back for going and getting it. I found myself thinking what kind of a restaurant sells salads but does not have what they need to make them. The customer service is lousy.
I was so tired of going there and getting terrible food, plus terrible service that I decided to stay away from there for quite some time. Probably for about 5 months. This year as Ash Wednesday came near. I decided to go to the Denny's on Belair Rd. I wanted to eat a steak before lent started, I was giving it up all meat until after Easter. I thought I would treat myself to a nice sirloin steak dinner if I could get one.
I went the evening before Ash Wednesday with 2 friends of mine and ordered the sirloin steak, zucchini and a salad. The waitress was very nice. My two friends also order the same steak. My girlfriend also got a salad, her boyfriend got mashed potatoes as there sides. When they brought out the steak the waitress told me that they had no A1 sauce for they steak. The manager went to the store and brought it back about 45 minutes later after I was almost done my dinner. We left the restaurant and went home. The next day about 11am I was sitting in my room and started to feel a lot of pain in my stomach. There was stabbing abdominal pains. These pains got worse as the time went on. Then I started to feel nausea coming on. My mouth was water and eventually I was vomiting very bad. Then after I threw up for about 5 minutes I felt some relief. Then after about 45 minutes it started all over again. I was vomiting very bad. I decided in between getting sick to try and make it to a 7 11 store to get a cola slurpee. Because there slurpee has coca cola syrup which is very concentrated and may help with the nausea. I was sipping on a large slurpee all day. The second day of throwing up I went and got another cola slurpee to try and settle my stomach down. Then I started to get major bathroom issues. I think you may now know I mean. I was throwing up and on the toilet at the same time I was so sick that I was afraid to try and drive to the hospital but wanted to go very bad. The third day the nausea began to slow down. The fourth day I took and over the counter medicine to stop the bathroom problem. During this 4 days of hell I had body aches and a fever also. I was so sick I could not get out of bed.
After a few weeks after this I called the owner of the Denny's. I told an employee what happened. She told me she would have the owner call back. I left my number for a call back. I finally received a call after 10 days or so. The gentlemen told me he was the owner and asked what happened. I told him everything in this review. He said that he checked out his store and it was very tidy. I told him I don't care how tidy it is that I got sick as a dog. I also told him that if I was not so sick I would have went to the emergency room to be checked for food poisoning. I also advised him that I have had food poisoning before and now what it feels like. He then said he was sorry and did not want to lose me as a customer.
He offered me free food voucher by mail to use if I wanted to come back. I told him to keep his vouchers that as sure as God made green apples I would never step foot in that establishment again. I asked him if you got sick eating somewhere would you go back? I thought he may offer to give me the money back that I spent to be ill for 4 days I guess that would be too much like right. I was very offended with his lack of concern for how sick I was. I told him he was very lucky I did not go to the hospital. I hope that this review will help Denny's clean up their act. I also hope that no one ever gets that sick again. Denny's in my opinion needs to put up a sign saying. "Enter Denny's at your own risk"