Steak 'n Shake
reviews and complaints

Twice in the last six weeks, my husband and I stopped at your restaurant on Reynolds Rd. Both times, we stood at the front of the restaurant waiting to be seated and were ignored. The wait staff looked at us multiple times and never said a word. We waited each time for at least 10-15 minutes and turned around and walked out. Very poor customer service.

I decided to stop by steak and shake for dinner tonight and order through drive thru. I was told to wait and look at the menu for about 13min and I patiently waited to order. I ordered, went up to the window and waited another couple minutes to receive my order. I checked the bag to see if my food was done right and of course they missed my Parmesan fries.. which it's not the only time it's happened before. I ended up ignoring it and decided to order my son a macaroni and cheese kids meal through inside. I waiting till someone approached my at the counter to place my to go order. As soon as someone does I order it and begin to wait again. I waited about 25min on a simple to go order while another gentleman complained about the service too. I then told the manager I wanted a refund on my order because I waited on my kids meal for 25min and I don't think I should've waiting that long for a simple order instead she was worried about the gentleman that had complained after he was gone. Maybe you should focus on the service and your employees because the service was horrible. By the time I got home my drive thru food was already cold and dry. I won't ever go to the Bloomingdale Ave in Riverview Florida steak and shake again. I rather travel the distance to go somewhere else!

My wife and I were camping in Wildwood fl and went to this store for a bite to eat. We had a looong wait in line to be seated. As we looked around the dining area there were approximately 2 tables clean in the entire room. We were IGNORED by the 2 waitresses. Finally seated us and still had to clean the table. We ordered and it took forever. As we were sitting there waiting we watched 8-10 people come in and leave because they were also ignored by both waitresses. The place was a filthy mess and had I worked for the board of health I'd have shut it down immediately! We watched the waitresses gabbing in the back and laughing as people were waiting to be seated. The floor had papers and straws on it and they both stepped over them instead of just picking them up so no one would slip. Most of the tables were filthy. You need to put more help on the floor to take care of the paying customers. Part of our order was not delivered and I had to ask for it. When I went to pay the young black man had a hell of an attitude and when I asked for a receipt he handed it to me and turned his face away as if I'm not supposed to ask for it. This is the second store that we have had this very similar experience with. The other one is on Rt 200 in Ocala. Almost the exact same thing. The help is terrible and treat you like we owe them a living. You need to step up and hire decent help or fire the bad ones you have working in these stores. I hope this will make someone aware of what is going on in your organization. It is not a wonder you are having troubles with so many of your stores. Thanks John Farrell

My wife and I stopped at the Arbrook location in Arlington, Texas. We had not been there since a prior experience when my wife found filthy bottle tops an d complained. I somehow convinced her to give it another try. It was evening and about half full
We placed two burger orders and waited, and waited. About half hour later we still had not received our meals. About then we noticed people at the next table who had been there longer than us and still had not been served. They got up and walked apparently tired of waiting. We had finally received our drinks another half hour later and still having been served we asked the waitress how long it would be. Apparently the kitchen had no idea what had become of our order. We paid for our drinks and promptly left. There were still many others stir waiting. Obviously this time we will not return. Obviously competent management does not exist at your locations. I now know why your company is suffering. Thank you for hopefully reading this. Henry Kaplan Arlington, Texas

Drive thru was a 20 minute wait. Paid for food then was told they were out of baked beans. They substituted a bowl of chili which the lid was not secured. The chili in the bag went all over the sit of my new car. Got home and the Buttery Wisconsin had no butter and also found a hair in the meat. Cole slaw wasn't any good and the Cookie was stale. Worst food I have ever received from Steak n Shake. The drive thru is always the worst experience. Will not be returning.

Waited in drive thru for 20 minutes our shake was watery I got the chicken fingers for 3.99 did not receive cole slaw or cookie.. asked for honey mustard never received it.. we paid 14.50 for this meal and was not what we wanted, especially after waiting 20 minutes in a drive thru, never knew they would make u wait that long never never again going here..
Lori Rusak
[protected]@att.net

On Monday 3/18/2019 I placed an order online 45 minutes in advance for a pickup at the Streetsboro Ohio location which is 40 minutes from my home, I paid online using my bank debit card, and my son was to pick up the order on his way home from being at the Harbor Freight store in Streetsboro… when he arrived at Steak n Shake they said that they could not find our online order… so my son placed a new order and paid in cash at the location for the new order… when the new order was brought out to him they also brought out the original order as well and gave it to him, so we ended up with two orders (neither of which were right), and also ended up paying twice for our dinner on that day… I contacted customer service after my son arrived home with 2 incomplete order (that's right, both orders were missing items), and they took my complaint and said someone would contact me within the next few days… by Sunday 3/24/2019 I still had not heard anything from Steak n Shake, so I went online to the BBB site and filed a complaint… I filed the complaint and did not hear anything back from them until 4/26/2019, when the General Manager for that location sent reply that the BBB relayed to me as follows: "Talked to General Manager. He states the store apologized issued a credit and also provided the consumer with a $20 gift card. Said to contact him if anything further is needed."… this was a complete lie, I have not received a credit (I have my bank statement to prove it) and furthermore I have not received an apology or a $20 gift card, so needless to say, I denied this claim and called this individual a liar in my reply through the BBB… on 4/25/2019 I received another message from the BBB as follows: "Received call from the General Manager, Richard. Richards states he has called Mr. Uncapher twice and left messages advising that he has a gift card and $5 for him to pick up. Mr. Uncapher may go to the store and if Richard is not there, all of his manager's are aware and can obtain the gift card and money for him out of the safe. Informed Richard that I would send this to the consumer as his response."… my response to this was as follows: " I am rejecting this response because:
this individual is a total liar, he has never called me, nor has he ever left any messages on my cell phone (which is the number I gave), I still have not received a refund/credit for on my bank statement as he previously stated doing in his last message... again, this individual is blatant lying about what he has done (or tried to do), related to his so called attempts at contacting me... thanks to modern technology, I have proof that none of what he is saying has ever happened, I have my phone log of incoming calls and voice messages, and I also have my bank account statement... I do love a good story, and this individual seems to have a real whopper to tell, unfortunately none of what he is saying is true! this individual is obviously trying to put everything off onto me, I would spend more than $5 in gas just to drive to the Streetsboro location to pick up a $5 coupon... the interesting part here is that previously he stated that he credited my original purchase price and gave me a $20 gift card... now he's dropped that down to $5... KEEP IT! I haven't been back to this location, and I have absolutely no intention of going out of my way to go there again! if you really wanted to settle this issue, you would have already done what you stated that you did (but really lied about it, because you have actually done nothing up to this point) in your previous messages... I would like your full name so I can contact the corporate offices and let them know that you are not only a liar, and also that you don't know how to do your job and you should be fired! again, I have proof that you have never contacted me in any way... what proof do you have to show that you have, let's see a phone log showing dates and times when you have actually called my number... you can't provide any because your lying!"… as a result this case will remain on the BBB site for everyone to see because your so called General Manager obviously does not know how to do his job, and he lied about even attempting to contact me to resolve this matter in order to cover up his total incompetence at being a General Manager for you company! I will not be going back to Steak n Shake, because of this individual's dishonesty and obvious lack of morals in handling this situation!

I placed a to-go order at the Valdosta Steak 'n Shake drive-thru window at 12:39pm today (just a frisco burger meal), and my total wait time was 23 minutes sitting in the drive-thru line. There were 3 cars ahead of me and 4 behind me, and all of us were left waiting and waiting for over 20 minutes. When I finally reached the window to get my meal (which was stone cold by then), I asked the two girls working the window why it was taking so long. They were both rude, informed me that they are "busy", and neither of them even offered an apology for the ridiculous wait time. So I spent almost a half hour trapped in a drive-thru line to receive a cold hamburger that was handed to me by rude employees. I do not want a refund...I just wish the management at the Valdosta location would employ/train employees to be efficient and timely and courteous. I will chose a different restaurant next time.

On Thursday April 25th I called my local Steak and Shake on Stander Avenue at 3:19 the lady named Jocelyn took my order told me 10:00 mins. My home health aide went to get order, I know food temps can cool off quick but it was cold, had to beat in microwave to heat it up.. Really meat was barely warm and tasted old... Like it sat for awhile... Mind you I love less than 10 mins. away. I was born and raised in Illinois and never remember this happening... Just wanted you to know this is unacceptable, and I pretty positive you want the food to hold heat... Was not at all happy... Wish I could grab but not this time... Thank you for your time in this matter... Hope it I try again, maybe Styrofoam would keep fries and sandwiches warmer, just a thought. Vicki Conrad
1833 Middle Belleville Road
Apt. 3
Mansfield, Ohio 44904
[protected]

The way a restaurant looks does not mean they're service is good. I love eating out at restaurants but unfortunately, Steak ‘n Shake is not one of them. My experiences there have not been the best especially the last time I went. I love the food but the service is terrible.
The restaurant building is themed in the 1900's with a lot of colors and music. I will say that was a good choice of them to make because it draws people in. I went through the drive thru with only two people in front of me. They didn't take a while to order so then it was my turn to order. The worker asked what I wanted with a tone. I wanted to try their new milkshakes so I decided to get a kit-kat milkshake and a side of fries.
I pulled up to the window to see the worker goofing around. I paid for my order and waited. I looked through the window to see where the worker was and it looked as if they were understaffed and the employees were messing around in the kitchen. They didn't seem to care or take their job seriously. I wondered where the manager was because, shouldn't they straighten up the employees?
After I waited what felt like forever, the worker comes out with a bag of food. She gave me the wrong order. I told her, "that's not what I ordered". She got confused and replied, "what?". I had to repeat what I said and she finally understood and replied with, "Oh sorry, " then shuffled away back into the kitchen. Clearly she did not know how to do her job.
I waited at the window for a while. I was about to just ask for my money back and go somewhere else or talk to the manager. She came back and told me that my food will be out in a minute. I decided to stay since my food would be out soon. 50 minutes passed by and there was no worker to be seen in the restaurants kitchen. The worker finally came out with my order. I looked in the bag to make sure there's fries and just fries in there. I got my kit-kat milkshake what just looks like a vanilla milkshake with chocolate drizzle.
I took a sip and it wasn't even that tasty. The milkshake didn't taste like a kit-kat or look like the picture up on the drive thru menu. The fries were all over the place in the bag instead of being in the paper container they're usually in. The fries were lukewarm but on the brightside, they weren't terrible.
Steak ‘n shake's employees need to be trained better or they just need to hire new people. They also just need more employees because they are understaffed at a fast working restaurant.The chaos that happens in the kitchen is a disaster and they need to be more respectful. I would like it if they took care of the food and customers better. Really, it's just the poor service and lack of caring.
Eating at Steak ‘n shake was an experience to remember. I don't think i'll be eating there any time soon again. I'd give them 5 stars for the way the restaurant looks, 2 stars for the food, and 1 star for their service. If you're intrigued by the colorful, 1900's themed restaurant, you better have a lot of time and patience.

It took over 30 minutes to place and get my to go order. All I got was a burger, hot dog 2 fries and a milkshake. When I recieved my food I thanked them politely and the lady just stood there and walked away without a single word seemed kinda rude. I asked what was taking so long it seems one of the cooks dropped my hotdog and they were going through shift changes I was told everyone was confused on the orders

When we walked in it took a while to get seated and there was plenty open once seated it took forever to get menus or a server.The service was horrible and it took forever to get our drink order. I come there every two weeks or so I probably will not be back in a while this was the one in pearl ms... I love Steak ‘n Shake but this was just horrible experience mine and my wife's fried were ice cold and the manager did not seem to care once brought to his attention we flagged down another server that wasn't ours to bring more fries

Every time I go to the Steak and Shake location in Cookeville Tennessee I get [censored]y service they give me unsweet tea for sweet tea today 5:55 p.m. I went in there ordered a triple steakburger on the $4 menu only ketchup mayonnaise lettuce and tomato I get it back it has mustard mayonnaise lettuce which cheese and they charged me for 499 so I complained about it they did fix the price after telling me they charge me more because of the cheese that I never ordered in the first place so after that they fix my food bring it to my table and it was finally right but this is the fifth time I went to this restaurant and had this exact problem you should really do something now before you lose all of your business and end up having to shut down this location thank you for your time

After entering the Steak and Shake in Lake City Florida on Monday around 3:30 P M we waited standing to be seated and the server said someone would be with us soon and after a while she again stated someone would be with us. My wife asked if we could go sit at a booth due to our advanced age causing issues with standing and waiting, The server said while waving her hands in the air "do whatever you want". We went and sat down and after a while which could have been about five minutes we felt that we would not be served in a timely manner due to attitude, so we departed.
We have eaten in this restaurant many times over the last ten years and we know they are very slow in seating and serving but never an attitude problem. I will also say that the restaurant was not at all busy at that time so that was not the issue since there was about ten people dining.
If Steak and Shake does not want aged people then they should just say so but not let them stand inside the door and wait and wait.

Me and my family stopped in to the steak and shake in port st lucie fl and walked in and all the tables had dirty dishes on them as well as a line at the counter that no one was helping. We had to wait 15mins till the cook came out and sat us down at a table that had to be cleaned. The girl finally came to take our order after she cleaned a table for another family who eventually left because of the wait. My daughter ordered water and her water was warm with black floaties in it. Told the girl she said thats just food. In turn we just got up and paid for what we had which was water and left. Very poor customer service. The manager was even running around trying to figure stuff out. Resturant a total mess unacceptable.

I went to pick up a order at 4:42am. There was one car in drive through and one customer inside. Order wasn't ready but dude said he was starting it. I got the order (no lie) at 6:30am and this was after I just went off on them. 4 customers came in after me (a good 30 and 40 min after) and received their orders before they even started mine. Come to find out (through observation and the 5$ and 10$ cooks shoved in pockets as "tips") money 💰 talks. U don't pony up they can't be bothered with you and you will wait. Second time this happened. Even with me steaming they still attempted to pretend to forget about the order. This trip cost the person ordering food 11$ extra dollars on top of the quoted 8$ as Uber charges for time. I will NEVER set foot in the Reynoldsburg Ohio Main St location again. Horrible
Blame is on management. Have you gone in at night as a customer to observe. Who's doing quality assurance inspections.
AD Qualls
[protected]@aol.com

We had to wait for nearly 20 minutes to be seated when there were open tables. Customers were leaving because no one would seat them when there were plenty of empty tables. Once seated, our server didn't take our order for 10 minutes. We were given our water in kiddie cups. Really? The soup was cold. There was nothing but hamburgers in one of our triples. The lettuce was brown. We asked for things like napkins, lemons (we ordered them) etc. Nothing was brought until requested the second time. It was very annoying how the waitress wanted to pick up our opened wrappers and plates before we were done with them. We were very disappointed in the service.

My wife and I went to Steak and Shake for dinner with our family we asked for bananas fresh bananas on the menu for our twin 2 year olds we were serve rotten slimy bananas which I have pictures of they charged me for the bananas until I complained at the counter and had them removed from my bill the server told name Janet at the Fort Myers Florida location told us that's how they serve the bananas to their customers they also didn't give my wife any bacon for her bacon cheeseburger I tried to charge us for it service was the service was horrible we were treated like crap like we had the plague there was no one in the restaurant at all and it took me almost 25 minutes just to get a burger and fries . It took 25 minutes for my kids to get milk no refills were offered whatsoever and we dare not ask the server Janet. She was nasty yo my wife and very rude. How can I company who wants to be very successful and serve good food have such crappy service. Please see the photos of the bananas that we were served keep in mind the menu in the background says fresh bananas 99 cents and the server told us that's how they serve their bananas if that's how they serve your bananas what goes into the milkshakes or Sundays that we can't see?