I'm 69 and my husband John is 67. We are both handicapped and I use a mobility scooter. My husband and I wanted to get a quick chili dog and grilled cheese at Johnny Rockets at Mohegan Sun. We got there a little before seven PM on Wednesday April 10th. There was one family in front of us in line when we got there. The restaurant was not full of diners, and there were many tables that were still not cleared. After a short wait, a hostess seated the family making us next. John asked for a table or 1/2 booth/1/2 table. He was told he would have to take a booth as no tables were clean. He tried to sit in a booth but the booth was too tight. (he's a large person) My husband asked again for a table saying the booth was too small. The hostess who was also the manager told him it would be a 10 to 15 minute wait because they had to clear tables and he said ok. (even though we saw clean tables with no one sitting at them. )He asked about the clean tables and were told NO. She tried to push him into a booth again and he told her I don't fit . I'll wait. After 15 minutes, he asked what the status was. Four groups had left during that time, one a group of 8. We assumed that there would be four empty spaces. Including a table. We were told that 15 minutes "doesn't mean 15 minutes and they would get it done when it got done". At that point we began to get annoyed and John asked how much longer. She walked away, went over to the other servers and had a conversation with them. We thought they were coming up with a plan to clear some tables but instead she and most of the other servers slowed down the whole process, removing one item at a time, bringing it to back of house and coming back for one more, moving at a snails pace. The slowest I've ever seen.
48 minutes later from our arrival, we still have not gotten a table. It's 7:48 and too late to make Bobby Flays. By this time John was very agitated because his sugar level was probably plummeting because he is supposed to eat before 8 PM and it was very close. He asked if we could sit at tables that were visibly cleaned in the rear. She looked at me and said does she have to bring that cart? It's a mobility scooter and it's because I'm having problems walking. Previous visits there we brought the scooter to the rear where there are tables. Yesterday there were plenty of tables that were clear. He said yes, she gave us a dirty look, and walked away from us, to seat a party of 3 who came in after us. By this time, a waitress who had been watching all this led us to a table in the rear and gave us a menu. She even moved my scooter out of the way for me after I was seated.
For the few minutes we were seated, we could see all the debris on tables, in booths and on the floor. To be honest with you, that restaurant was probably the filthiest one we've been in. We are surprised it hasn't been shut down by the health department!
For some reason there was a whole section of tables and chairs in the back of the restaurant up against the wall probably 10 or more tables and an appropriate number of chairs all pushed up against the wall not being used. It's important to note that an older couple came in and sat themselves at a table and pulled out some chairs. This pink haired manager came screaming. "You're not allowed to sit there that's closed" and made them get up and move to a booth which was a struggle for them to get in.
The manager was very horrible and was not somebody that I would ever expect any company would have representing them. Its unlikely that we will ever, ever eat at a Johnny Rockets. I do commend the one waitress who tried to get us seated. She was most likely reprimanded by the manager for trying to be nice to a customer because the manager certainly wasn't nice. (we think the managers name was Emily)
The next thing we knew 2 or 3 Mohegan security people came and told us that the manager said to tell us that "she didn't want to serve us and wanted us to leave". Security told us that the manager said that my husband swore at her. That is not true. He was angry with the way she treated us but he did not swear at her at any point in time. He did tell her she was a horrible manager and he was planning on calling Johnny Rocket Corporate to complain about our treatment. She did everything she could to not accommodate persons with handicaps, although in past visits there we had no problems, even on busier days!
I did give my contact information to the security person telling her I would be lodging a complaint about out treatment by the restaurant. The security people didn't even take time to listen to our side and hear about the way we were treated. I'm not exactly sure what they thought an old lady on a mobility scooter and a tired, hungry, handicapped 67-year-old man was going to do in a restaurant full of people , so apparently, we were a threat that required a cadre of 8-10 security people outside once we were escorted out read more