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| - Staggeringly bad. I am(was) a big fan of Macaroni Grill. I used to go to the one in Sacramento California and always had a 4 or 5 star experience. When I moved here, I was pleased that Macaroni Grill had restaurants here as well. Silly me.
I went with my family a few years ago and although the place looked like other Macaroni grills, the food was unimpressive. It seemed like it had been cooked earlier and was merely warmed over. The wait staff was fair, but they could not make up for the surprisingly bland food.
Needless to say, after about 3 years, I had the chance to go back, this time for a farewell party for a co-worker. We had called well in advance and to their credit, they were able to seat us fairly quickly. Unfortunatly, this was the high point.
Our primary server, perhaps since he would get the 'predetermined tip' due to our party's size, appeared bored by the experience. He would get very swarmy and pseudo friendly for about 15 seconds, then revert back to the bored personalty. Very bizarre and something i've never seen in a restaurant before. I'm used to the Macaroni grill wait staff being friendly, helpful, and a bit fun.
After a very long wait for our food, we began to eat. Out of our party of 12, half found that the food was cold. Some sent their food back only to have it come back the same, merely microwaved. One dish was oversalted. I was skeptical, so i tried a bite, and I could barely get it down. And I like salt!
It was quickly becoming unpleasant. Our conversation veered from our memories of our co-worker's time working with us to one focused on how we would never again bring a corporate function to the Mac Grill. At least not the one in Mesa. Our waiter clearly seemed to have something else to do or wanted to leave work. Quite unprofessional and very shocking.
We paid up, most of us eating less than half and refusing doggy bags. Finally, to top it off, I inquired about this with macaroni Grill corporate. They asked for information which i then provided. Haven't heard a thing since. It's been about a year.
So, in short, fellow Yelpers, out of the many restaurants i've been to in the area, a few have been awesome, many quite satisfactory, a few "thanks but we won't be back", and one "are you kidding me"? Congrats Macaroni Grill of Mesa.
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