Steak ‘n Shake

Awful service. I waited 30 minutes for a take out order of fries and a milkshake. Not coming here again.

Food is pretty good, staff pretty friendly but DO NOT STOP HERE IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY. You need a lot of time available in your schedule to eat here.

Good lord, this was a horrid experience on so many levels. We were seated and our order taken right away, but from that point, it was dystopian. There was some kind of issue that caused the staff to be shorthanded at both the register and service, causing orders to take 45 minutes to an hour to arrive. People trying to pay were standing around for 5 – 10 minutes. The women’s room had a half-​inch of standing water in it (possibly more before a bucket load was hauled out). Walls were filthy. Floor slippery and really super dirty. Wait staff were yelling at each other (the one working the floor seemed justified in her grievance). The smarter patrons abandoned, which caused more backups at the register (no one servicing it). Our food arrived cold, which was okay for the shake (which was good), but not the fries or the burger. Clearly it had been sitting around. I regret suggesting we come here and wish I had read the reviews.

I don’t even want to give this place one star. My burger was cold after waiting 30 min for our food. I told the waitress. She said «ok»…I said «just make me a new one» she said «ok» than brought me a new check charging me for 2 burgers. I then explained to her that I didn’t want 2 burgers. I just wanted 1, hot one. The manager blamed the waitress (not cool man, not cool). It’s his job to manage the place. It she doesn’t know how to do her job, that falls on you. We never got my new burger. We left after waiting another 15 min. We were not given any comps on our check, even though I never got my food. The manager actually asked «will you come back?» I laughed and said «no».

Created an account just to document this bizarre experience. We were traveling on the road and I wanted to stop at a S&S because I loved them when I was a teen. Everything seemed normal when we walked in… decent amount of patrons seated but not too busy that it should take awhile. We were promptly seated but as we were walking to the table I noticed that every other unoccupied table hadn’t been bussed. I later observed that the servers would only clean one table at a time so that there would always be a free table if someone walked in, leaving the rest dirty until they absolutely had to clean it. There were many tables that stayed dirty the entire time we were there – about one hour.
Our server took our order, delivered our only round of coffee/​water we would be receiving, and then packed all her stuff up in a backpack, grabbed my gf’s salad and dropped it off, wishing us a good evening. Ok, are we switching servers? We later saw her arguing in the kitchen with the manager who apparently had not cut her. Either way, she did not return to the floor the rest of the night.
About twenty minutes later another server started wandering the floor with what I believed was our food. After lingering at several tables until being shooed away by people who clearly had their food already, she paused in front of ours, staring blankly at us. She might have mumbled «burger?» but it was hard to tell. I grabbed our food off the tray and she scurried away before I could ask for more coffee. That was the last interaction we had with anyone on staff.
We quickly ate our butter — drenched burgers and then waited about ten minutes for someone, anyone, to ask for a refill or the check. There were only a handful of other tables at this point, all of whom seemed to be equally flustered with the «service.» A few couples had been seated only to storm out after never having anyone come over to take their order.
Needing to get back on the road, we finally walked up to the counter to see where our check was. One of the servers was seated on a stool doing homework and didn’t want to help us since we were not her table. Everyone else just ignored us. Finally after waiting awkwardly by the register for another five minutes I went back to the table, threw $ 10 down, and we walked out. I hope one of the other equally dissatisfied tables scooped it up. Lord knows there weren’t any servers on the floor to notice. I bet our dirty dishes are still there.

I do like Steak N Shake. I pretty much always know what to expect, regardless of location. Their tiny fries are fun, burgers are tasty and the kids meal is huge enough that even our picky eater can find something to her liking.
But good gravy, the service is slow! It doesn’t matter if the place is packed or if there are just a couple of tables full (as was the case yesterday). It’s just slow. They also «forget» things. For example; «Could we please have some napkins?» «Sure, I’ll be right back with some.» Napkins never come. You know. That sort of thing.
If we’ve got time to kill, Steak N Shake it is. It is dirt cheap and tasty.

The great thing about this place is the food typically is dependable, taste wise, from location to location. I’ll admit… I crave a Cajun burger from time to time, and those tiny stringy fries! I’ve never been disappointed.
But…this is by far the SLOWEST location I’ve ever visited, and I’ve travelled the world over! Be prepared when you come and allow some extra time.

If there was an option to give this place no stars, I would. We waited 15 minutes for a table for 3 while seeing many empty tables, but no one was making it a priority to clean them off. Once we were finally seated, it took us another 15 minutes or more for a server to arrive at our table. We ordered everything as soon as the server came and it took 30+ minutes for our food to come out. I don’t mind waiting if you are short handed, but my order didn’t even come out correctly. I received barely any fries, bread (not toasted sourdough), and a sandwich with Swiss cheese that I did not ask for. It was served without mayo and without the cheese I asked for my fries. We were never given silverware the entire time we were there. We are traveling 6 hours and stopped for some much needed lunch that I wasn’t even able to eat because it was cold and served incorrectly. After checking out, the cook in the back slapped together a new sandwich for me, with even less toasted bread than the first time, that was not good. I don’t recommend anyone stopping here if they are interested in a nice dining experience.

Brought a friend in to celebrate a birthday while passing through town. She had never eaten at a Steak and Shake.
We waited 18 minutes to get seated though several staff looked at us. Not one person acknowledged us until we were seated.
Food was fine but service was less than impressive.
Others waited at the door but left after being ignored.
As we paid the bill, the cashier asked if everything was alright. After I shared my experience, your comment was, «I’m sorry to hear that have a nice day.»
If you are thinking of going here to eat and expect even mediocre service, go somewhere else.

Visiting from SF late at night. Grateful that they were the only place open. Service and cleanliness deserved 4 – 5 stars as well as the milkshake. However. Fries were stale and cold. I got the chicken sandwich which clearly is not what they are known for but that does excuse the frozen patty taste, etc. I feel bad for lower rating as I truly am grateful that they were open so I tipped well.

You know sometimes you have to observe your surroundings and make informative decisions. Well on this day I didn’t. Having to wait 20 minutes for a drink sucked! When I finally got my food not only was the order wrong and the chicken tenders smaller than my ring finger but. wait for it…
The onion rings that I actually ordered were delivered with a fried bug as garnish. It’s sad when you call a manager to complain and they act like you are putting them out and never received an apology. Needless to say they didn’t get my money that day nor will they get it any other day that I have breath in my lungs! Stank n’ Nasty more like it!

I was visiting from Los Angeles and needed some Steak and Shake. I had no other choice but this one. After seeing the terrible reviews I mentally prepared myself for the worst.
The staff was very friendly and seated us immediately. Within 3 – 5 minutes, my party of 3 ordered. Our drinks were served in less than 3 minutes along with a bowl of chili. Our other food took approximately 10 more minutes. And the one small shake we ordered was delivered 3 minutes after the food.
The chili, burgers and sandwiches were up to par, but the fries were neither warm nor cold… which made my stomach turn a bit.
We ate our food, and the check came to our table without prompting.
The reason for the 2 stars is because of what we witnessed with the other patrons. 3 cars pulled out of the drive through line at different times after waiting too long to order.
Also, a woman who never got her shake after 30 minutes went to the main counter to inquire. I heard the staff tell her that they had a lot of orders, and it would be at least another 5 minutes.

Don’t go here unless you like slow service and cold food
Seriously!
It took 15 minutes to get us seated, and the staff acted like it was an inconvenience to have 14 of us come in, yes it was a big party and I took that in to account.
It took another 15 minutes to get our orders and another 30 before cold food started arriving.
The resteraunt was not busy apart from us and I was amazed that 14 people at once would be such a big deal… if this service is typical, I guess that explains it.

If this could have worse service I’d be surprised. 45 for food. 2 tables left, all they did was sit people and ignore them.

Saturday March 8^th is the last time I step foot in this particular Steak and Shake two friends and I sat at the counter for twenty minutes the cook asked if we had been help yet we said no and he told one of the waitresses we had been sitting there twenty minutes and she told him it would be another five so we left I wish this were the first time this had happened but sadly this Steak and Shake lacks in everything needed to make it worth while.

This is a 3 ½ star review. I honestly love Steak and Shake’s burgers and fries. Its a wonderful fast food restaurant with a nostalgic feel; a bit like Johnny Rockets without the extortion. The food is very reasonably priced; they have several meals priced under $ 5. They also have days where children eat for free, which is great for families on a budget. The service here is hit or miss. usually miss, but i find the whole Richmond area to be sub par in that respect. My only gripe is the shakes tend to be too thick. I like to drink my milkshakes. If i want ice cream in a cup I’ll order it.

Gross. Check out the attached picture. After having been to a Steak and Shake once before and having a positive experience, I decided to stop through there again on my way home with my significant other. Being in Wisconsin, we don’t have access to your restaurants. After stopping to get a to go order, we placed our order. We waited just under 20 minutes for our food. When we got our food, we were missing our shakes and were told they were on the way. After 4 or 5 minutes, our shakes came. When we got into the car and began to eat, the food was just about thrown into the bag, causing the burgers to be smashed. After unwrapping one of the burgers, the lettuce was bad. I took a picture of it, quite gross. Also, we ordered a chocolate banana shake, that didn’t have any chocolate in it. Overall, a pretty disappointing experience and I will most likely not be back through any of my travels. Given we were in the restaurant for near 30 minutes, I opted not to talk to a manager as we didn’t want to wait around any longer. Stick with Culver’s or other top notch burger joints.
Edit: Even more insulting, is after writing them about this, I received an automated response with a noreply email. Received a phone call from someone but they didn’t leave their name and I couldn’t understand the phone number.

I’m a sucker for Steak ‘n Shake food, but holy dang they have the worst service in the history of restaurants. I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten my food delivered to me before I even got a glass of water. I am a good tipper and will tip 20% in pretty much all situations, even when service is not the greatest. This is the only place I’ve ever felt like not leaving a tip because the service was so terrible.
I only eat here now if I’m going through the drive-​thru.

Generally terrible, fries were grease soaked, sandwiches poorly made and a mess. No one brought napkins.

It was this Steak & Shake that took my S&S virginity. I have such fond memories of going here in my first year of College. I was so young then.
Almost all of my happiest memories of Indiana happened here (Hint: There weren’t many good ones). There was something comforting about finding the Southern/​Midwestern equivalent to the New England Friendly’s chain I grew up with.
Ah, memories.