Fazoli's

We often visit the Fazoli's near us (Bridgeton, MO) on Wednesday nights for the senior menu. This has selected pasta entrees and a side salad or slice of pizza for a promotional price ($4).

When we were there about 3 weeks ago, I noticed a young man I hadn't seen before working the front counter. (Husband told me later he was a manager or maybe assistant manager.) I ordered a pasta entree & asked if I could get a side salad without the cheese on it. (I don't like cheese on salads.) I have asked for this before, & the person working will usually tell me, "Sure, I'll go to the back & make you one" without fussing. On this occasion, the new guy grumbled at me & said he couldn't do that. I politely pointed out that I've asked before & have almost always been accommodated. He again growled at me that he was the only person up front & he couldn't leave the counter/registers. So I backed off & ordered a slice of pizza instead of the salad.

His argument doesn't fly with me for several reasons:

1) There is a pass-through window for completed entrees directly behind the counter. He could have asked someone in the kitchen to prepare a salad without cheese; they could have made the salad, passed it to him & he would not have had to leave his station while filling/taking the order(s).

2) If the counter had been especially busy, I would not have even tried to make a special request re: salad.

3) We sometimes visit this same restaurant for their lunch special (we were there just today, actually). The manager who works days — a very nice, cheerful middle-aged lady who knows us on sight and greets us when we enter — is always very accommodating when I ask for a "special" salad & just says, "I'll go to the back and make you one" — no attitude like it's a giant imposition on her to do this. I always thank her sincerely (or anyone else who does this, in any restaurant, not just Fazoli's) for accommodating my request.

The real question is, why aren't a few of these non-cheese salads ready for anyone who might ask for one? I know that the salads are prepared in advance on site, either the night before or in the AM before the restaurant opens for lunch service. They are NOT delivered from a supplier in a bowl already made up (as another employee once tried to tell me when I requested). How difficult is it to put aside a few with no cheese on top? There is a refrigerator under the front counter where some salads, and the dressing packets, are kept to fill orders. Is it such a big deal to keep a couple of plain salads in that fridge in case someone asks? What about people who are lactose-intolerant or are vegans, but want a salad? (I am neither; I just don't want cheese on my salad!)