This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Hardee's Tacos Not the Ticket

If you have any sense of self-preservation, stay away.

I've been associated with this particular Hardee's for many a long year and never had an experience like this. The Hardee's at 1909 State Road 60 E., Valrico, dropped the ball on this one and that would certainly explain the empty restaurant at noon.

There were only two other people in the restaurant; one was enjoying the peace and quiet while working on his laptop while the other kept looking nervously about. In my fertile imagination, I pictured her casing the joint for a robbery but decided there wasn't enough money in the till to risk the time.

I ordered the Southwestern chicken soft taco and a beef taco along with an order of onion rings while my daughter ordered the chicken tenders and fries. Out of that entire order, the only thing that came out right was the onion rings. They were perfect.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The cook brought out my two tacos almost as I sat down with my drink.  Sidebar--their medium drinks are huge. I told him there must be a mistake. I turned and looked at the picture behind the counter and my tacos didn't resemble the photos in any way. He assured me that I had the right order so I said "thank you" and he left. 

I was wondering where my daughter's food was when he came right back with my onion rings and said her tenders were cooking. I thought it odd to receive food in stages at a fast-food joint, especially serving me before my child. No parent out there wants to eat while their child looks on without anything to eat.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

I took a bite of the chicken taco and found the chicken inside to be cold and soaking in a nasty sauce they have the audacity to call "Southwestern." I tried to take another bite and the shell disintegrated into the bottom of the basket. My daughter laughed at me and her food appeared; I thought it to be an omen. I tried a bite of the beef taco and, not only was the meat inside ice cold, but the flour tortilla was cold to the touch. I dropped the taco and only touched it again to dissect the beast. I don't know what kind of meat was in there but it only loosely resembled beef.

My child tried to take a bite out of her chicken tender and found it to be too hot, and that was a good sign. I tasted one of her fries and found them to be re-drops.  That's where a French fry has been sitting around under a heat lamp and is dropped back in the hot grease to re-heat the potato. You can tell this by the limpness of the fry and the heat waves. Any fry that comes out of fresh oil will have a crispness and, when broken in half, will disperse a wisp of smoke. Not here. Another sign that they were old was the breakfast tater tot she found mixed in with her fries. Try cleaning out your breakfast fryer baskets before cooking people's lunch food.

I reached over and took one of her chicken fingers and took a bite. I was looking around at how clean the place was and thought it better be since the servers don't have anything else to do. I looked down at the other half of the chicken finger and noticed a pink center; the darn thing wasn't even cooked all the way. Now I'm angry and know I'll get sick over this but I don't want to embarrass my daughter; I bite my tongue.

One of the two people left and another person entered; three tables at a time must be the quota here. The manager came out with a to-go bag and tried to give it away. She said that the cooks accidentally made a beef taco salad instead of a chicken salad and she didn't want it to go to waste. She offered it to us and we declined so she went to the new guy and he did the same. Finally, she got the lady casing the joint to take the food but what does that say for a restaurant when you can't give it away?

I'm giving these people one star and that's only for the onion rings and cleanliness. Otherwise it would be a half star for the experience, I won’t be back!

 1 Star--Wouldn't go back on a bet

2 Star--Would have to go back, but only on a bet

3 Star--If I was in the neighborhood and hungry

4 Star--Would go out of my way even if I wasn't hungry

5 Star--Would make reservations and wait in a line 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?