Yo Ho Ho & a cup of coke... all over the floor
Written: Jul 10 '05 (Updated Aug 07 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: The prices were very good.
Cons: Greasy food and very dirty restaurant.
The Bottom Line: The bottom line says you shoulda had the roasted chicken.
|
|
|
| nibor's Full Review: Long John Silver's |
I've been in Florida for six years now and have not been able to try a Long John Silver's restaurant. My husband kept insisting the place was terrible and refused to go there to eat.
This weekend while traveling, he spotted a restaurant that was a combo with Kentucky Fried Chicken. He had a great idea. He could have chicken and I could have Long John Silver's.. finally.
I'd like to make note of the location of this store as this is the only one I've been in and I can't vouch for the cleanliness of other locations. This one was just off Interstate 10, we were heading west and took the first Marianna exit. The store was a very short distance from the off ramp.
The first thing I had to do upon entering was go to the washroom. A common occurrence on road trips and it gives me a chance to see how clean a place really is. This restaurant failed the first test. There were two stalls in the ladies room. I went to the regular one first. The top was missing off the toilet tank and there were instructions taped on the door about how to flush the toilet by pushing a button in the tank. However, there was no toilet paper, so I headed over to the wheelchair accessible stall. At least this one had toilet paper. And not just on the floor. There was still some on the roll. I was going to mention it to the clerk when I got to the counter but by then I had gotten a look at the rest of the restaurant and figured it wouldn't make a difference anyway.
There was glop everywhere. Back in the cooking area, there were french fries all over the floor and the staff was just walking on them. There were crumbs all over a food preparation counter and just a very bad sense of dirt. I stood watching for quite awhile as our food was being prepared and I almost lost my appetite. I really didn't know if the food would be safe to eat. I decided to go outside and wait for hubby to bring the food out. On the way to the exit, I passed a yellow "Careful" sign placed on the floor over a section of floor that was very wet with spilled pop. The spill was much larger than just the sign area and it was pretty hard to walk around it without stepping it it. I just couldn't believe that someone couldn't have at least started wiping this up.
By the way, the restaurant was not busy. There were a couple of people seated and a few people came in behind us. The line at the drive through was about 6 cars but I'm pretty sure someone, anyone could have been doing a little cleaning.
Now for the food. I was very impressed with the prices. I wasn't sure if the food was good or not, but I wanted to taste as much as I could. I ordered a fish, clams & shrimp platter for $5.99. I'm pretty sure the menu said that this meal came with cole slaw but I didn't get any. There were two hush puppies on the plate as well.
The hush puppies were quite tasty. They had a nice spice in them and the texture was good.
The fish did not taste like fish. (That's a good thing for me. I don't like fishy fish. I like stuff like flounder and grouper and cod that aren't strong tasting). However, after a couple of bites, I felt like I was just eating grease.
The shrimp were a very nice size. I was impressed with them but they kinda tasted like the fish. I think there were four of them. I was eating in the dark interior of the car so I wasn't able to see what I was eating very well.
The clams were also pretty good as far as size goes. They were larger than the clam strips I'm used to and the texture was like clams. The breading on the clams was different from the fish and that was about the difference in the taste too.
The first few french fries tasted good but once the plate started to cool off, I didn't enjoy them as much.
Once I finished the meal (I am a member of the eat everything on your plate club), my lips and mouth felt like they had been coated with grease. It was quite unpleasant and later that evening I did not feel well at all. I don't normally have a lot of grease in my diet so I suspect that I just upset my tummy by subjecting it to so much at once.
I'm very tempted to go into a few more Long John Silver's to check out the cleanliness, but I will not order anything there again.
Addendum: I wrote an e-mail at LongJohnSilvers.com contact page yesterday and received a reply today:
"Dear Ms. Yeatman:
At Long John Silver's Customer Support, we received your comments today.
We have forwarded your message to the regional vice president and the area manager for Marianna, Florida. Long John Silver's Field Personnel will receive your comments within 24-48 hours and will contact you. Our desire is to ensure Long John Silver's remains your choice for fresh and
affordable fish, chicken, and seafood.
Thank you Ms. Yeatman for sharing your comments.
Sincerely,
Cathy
Long John Silver's Customer Support
Get Coastal
This is encouraging. I am a sucker for good customer service. I'll update and let you know what they tell me. Plus I think I might give a second location a try (just for the sake of research).
August 7, 2005 - Update - No word from the regional vice president or the area manager from Marianna. Oh well. This kind of food isn't good for you anyway. But I am disappointed they didn't follow through.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
nibor
|
|
Member: Robin Yeatman
Location: Tallahassee FL
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 31 members
About Me:
I'm in Florida. I don't miss the cold but I miss my friends.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.