by Andrew Mellman » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:28 pm
Lately we've been crossing the Big 4 Bridge for lunch, dinner, whatever. We've had decent bar food at Cluckers, a great meal at Comeback Inn, a good lunch at Red Yeti, dessert at Schimpffs, and appetizers one time & dinner another at Buckheads. Today we decided to try Big Four Burgers, as we were really looking forward to some exercise and a good burger.
Got there at 12:20, and were seated by one of the three wait staff (he appeared to be a manager, and we later learned he was "supposed to be training" the guy who waited on us). Our order was taken promptly, although the waiter didn't know whether the blue cheese was "real" cheese, crumbles, dressing, or what. Both my wife and I ordered off the "build-your-own" part of the menu, and were looking forward to comparing; our taste buds were full-on, as we saw great looking burgers heading to tables around us.
After 25 minutes - and two Diet Cokes each - we finally managed to flag down the guy who was "supposed to be training" for a set-up, and were able to get napkins. Another five minutes and our trainee waiter came by, verified our orders, and said they were in the kitchen and should be out any second.
Well, orders kept straggling out. I counted one table served approximately every five minutes or so.
After 40 minutes, we saw a table that had come in after we did get served. We tried to find our waiter, a manager, anyone, but had no luck.
After 45 minutes, a table of two women who had come in ten minutes earlier (they made a huge deal of ordering sweet tea, and we couldn't help but hear their conversation, so knew when they ordered) were served.
We managed to flag down the trainer, asked for a check and said we couldn't wait any more (it was lunch, and with the bridge walk we were totally out of time). At least they didn't charge us for the drinks.
We were extremely disappointed. As I said, we had seen other orders, and the food looked great. I would have told a manager and complained in person, but aside from the three servers there was no one there.
I still recommend the walk and experimenting; just try one of the other places first!
Andrew Mellman