Jillian's at Arundel Mills
Jillian's is a entertainment/dining complex in the huge Arundel Mills mall. I've been going frequently since it opened a couple years ago but I usually go to drink and play games. On Memorial Day, I learned not to come here for food. Their food could have killed me!
My girlfriend, her kid and I went to Jillians after a movie to get some food. Jillian's has 4 areas you can get food, a Japanese-style grill, a sports-oriented restaurant, a bowling alley and a bar. We sat in a booth in the bar area because it was least crowded. After the waitress was fashionably late coming to get our orders (and she was very fashionable), we ordered kid's chicken, buffalo chicken pieces for me and chicken quesadillas for girlfriend. The waitress said she put the kid's meal in first so he wouldn't get impatient.
The waitress made too infrequent trips to (or even past) our table but the kid's chicken did come in a relatively normal time. Then the wait began. We waited and waited and... you get the point. Waitress was MIA for the most part. Finally our food came. My buffalo chicken was cold. Her quesadillas were really cold and had no cheese on them. We flag the waitress down and tell her about it. She apologized (barely) and took the meals to get heated. The meals came back. It was the same quesadilla but this time it had cheese on it (and god knows what else). We start eating. It's passable. Then I bite into a piece that's unchewable. I look at the piece I cut up and notice the chicken's raw in the center! This pretty much ends our meal.
Now, what should I do? I could confront the manager about this or I
could confront the waitress. But I don't go out to start confrontations. I'll
tell the waitress the truth and see what she does. She comes over and asks
about dinner. I point out the raw chicken. She apologizes (barely) and takes it
away. I expect she'll at least talk to the manager about our wonderful
experience. She (much) later comes back with the bill. Not a dime was taken off
it. At this point, I'm just glad the experience is over. The bill was
$30.22. I put $31 on the table and
left. The $0.78 tip was much more
than she deserved but I didn’t want to wait another 20-30 minutes to either use
a credit card or get the change.
For a day and a half, my stomach was turning cartwheels. My girlfriend and her kid were also sick for a day. The kid is 3. Raw chicken can kill a 3 year old. Jillians almost killed him.
OK, so why did I short-change the waitress? Every waitress I've known splits her tips with other waitresses and the kitchen staff. The kitchen staff sure as hell didn't deserve a tip on my meal. The waitress was a stranger to our table all night and obviously wasn't apologetic enough to go talk to a manager. I'm hoping that, by being short-changed a tip, she'll complain to the manager that the kitchen staff is hurting her tips. If she does that, maybe something will get done. But I doubt it.
It will be a cold day in hell before I eat at Jillians at Arundel
Mills mall again.
By the way, they started charging a cover to get in after 9pm. Apparently they think highly of that
pathetic little room in the back they call a nightclub. You pay $5 and you can go pay for beer,
undercooked chicken, and expensive video games. Sounds like a deal to me! Forget it Jillians.
You won’t be seeing me again.
And I’m not the only one you won’t be seeing
again. I received a couple
messages from other ex-customers of Jillian’s. These three messages are in full though I will withhold the
full names of the senders.
Message #1:
Hello,
Is this guy
telling my story or what?
I had a very similar
story to this guys. The food at Jillian's is awful!!! Same deal,
raw chicken, cold food, poor wait staff. Unlike the gentleman in the
first article, I left a tip for the waitress, it was: terrible food,
terrible drinks, terrible waitress. I had to get my soda refills from the
bar, because the waitress never came back. We saw her once when we were
giving our order, and when she brought the bill. (The food was brought to
us by someone who worked in the kitchen.) I can totally agree with the
first article. Please, if you value your sanity and/or your life, don't
eat at Jillians!
Tina
Message #2:
Dear
"Could have died @ Jillians",
I think we are getting close to meeting the requirements for a class action
lawsuit or at least the starts of a lynch mob. I as well had the near
exact same problems during my visit, very very slow service, half ass "I
am sorry", blah food, and a general bad time overall. Food was cold
with that right out of the tin can taste not yet burned off in the microwave. A
very frazzled waitress, actually I had many because I was flagging down
everyone as the problems popped up. Some of my newly flagged help was better
than others including a very willing and attentive busboy that was trying to
pull it all together for many, (why is he not the manager?). The atmosphere is
designed to be a sports zoo but why should my dining events be zoo like?
Usually the wait/kitchen staff are the ones that convey a cool and in control
air but not a Jillians. I allowed a lot of things to
"pass" including the food, only because it was the week that it
opened, sounds like chaos is the norm.
Jan
Message #3:
I could not agree
with you more. the service is just plane awful. the wait staff <if that is
what you call them> is virtually non existant. the food <loose term
there> is awful, dreadfully undercooked. i visited there a few times. ate
there three times. got sick three times...a pattern? hummm...i believe so. the
games, when they work, are so overpriced that it makes more sense to go to
blockbuster and rent. beer and soda from the tap is flat and very
overpriced..the only good thing to say about this location is that you can
smoke in there...and smoke you do. especially when the bill comes.
AA
Updated
21 September 2002