Terrible experience, no COVID 19 protocols followed, bad manager

I have visited Gibson’s burgers in the past, but tonights experience was the polar opposite to what service we usually get. We’d made a booking for 6pm on a Saturday evening, and expected to be seated by 6pm as the kitchen closed at 7pm (due to COVID curfew).

Upon arriving though, we were told that the restaurant was full and that ‘bookings weren’t always guaranteed’. This was not conveyed when booking, and meant we had to wait 30 minutes before a table was available.

The restaurant did not abide to COVID regulations: - The restaurant was full and tables not socially distanced - Some staff were not wearing masks correctly when delivering food - We were not sanitised, recorded or temperature checked before we were seated

Once seated, we had to wait a while before receiving menus- which only happened because one of the table members got up to ask the manager at the front.

After another 10 minutes, we still had no waiter and were conscious of the time nearing 7pm. After flagging someone down, they offered to take our drink order and promised to send a waiter over.

Another 10 minutes passed and we still had no waiter to take our food order. We finally flagged another waiter down to take our meal order.

Once our milkshakes had arrived, you could see that they had been standing for a while as they had all already started to melt. Most had actually melted and run over onto the bottom saucer.

The food we received was also not on par with past experiences. For R160 for a burger, I expected better quality food.

The cherry on top of the cake was the attitude of the manager. After our meal, I wanted to explain nicely about our poor experience (not to get a free meal, but just for feedback). Once I explained the story, and that we would probably never come back, she just said “okay” with attitude and walked off. The staff then continued to talk and look at us while we were paying.

After this experience, I am never going back to Gibson’s burgers and will not recommend the restaurant to my friends.