The Rules at Cheddar's

(Event occurred in Jan 2007)

What an interesting evening. Tonight I met up for dinner with a bunch of volleyball players I have met over the years. They had a tournament in Galveston today and went out to dinner afterwards. We went to Cheddar's, a new chain restaurant that opened up back in Sept/Oct here.

So it turns out they have A LOT of rules and odd behavior! It's very comical. Read on...

When we first arrived we asked for a table to seat 10 and the hostess just gave a look and said it would be a really long time since there was a table of 15 ahead of us and they only have three tables that seat large parties. She didn’t know how to handle the situation. At one point she asked us, "So what do you want to do?" The reply to her was, "Seat us, either at one table or 2 tables of 5." This didn't get a reply and eventually someone beside her asked if 2 tables of 5 would be ok. Of course (didn't we just say that?) it was as long as they were in the same area.

Then while we waited in the bar to be called to our table we tried to order drinks and an appetizer. The majority of the people in our party had played in a volleyball tournament all day long and were quite hungry. The waitress took the drink orders and consulted with a manager and promptly told us she couldn’t put the order in until the table next to us left. We were six people seating around one of the tables that seats 4 people. Apparently it’s a rule. Well, the people next to us never left. We got our drinks (and she asked for everyone’s id…even the 40 and 50 year olds in our party).

Of course one drink was not what was ordered and the waitress left us confused (as she left the drink on the table) and then walked away. She returned telling one of the women at our table that the manager will have to speak to her about removing the drink. (Did we do something wrong?) The manager came and we told her the wrong drink was delivered, a regular margarita was ordered. Ok that’s fine the manager replaced it. Isn't it odd that the waitress couldn't replace the drink on an order she screwed up? This whole exchange took quite a bit of time. Meanwhile, everyone would just love to have an appetizer. The people next to us still hadn't left yet.

So we move onwards to the table (one table for 10) and things went much smoother until the food arrived. Everyone’s food arrived except mine. Turns out there is a rule against how many orders can be put in at one time. My food arrived 15-20 minutes after everyone else’s. What I don’t understand is why weren’t the salad and soup two people ordered considered appetizers so that my food could come with the group.

What odd rules!!! But really good food. I had the ribs tonight and they were delicious!