Denny's

I've been to many Denny's(es) and, while never spectacular, Denny's food fills a gap and is pleasantly (and usually) predictable - in a good way. I have ordered the lemon chicken dish twice there after having it several times at the Crescent City Denny's, so no surprises, right? Wrong. Lukewarm at best mashed potatoes and green beans and a red-seasoned chicken breast that tasted like cayenne pepper.

To top it all off (literally) the lemon sauce BOTH TIMES was very, very, very cold. As if a carafe of it was taken out of the refrigerator and immediately poured over an already lukewarm dish. And if they were out of the lemon breasts (which they apparently were both times I was there three weeks apart), could they not have informed me before serving me a cayenne pepper breast?

The waitstaff is pretty good each time I go, but the food is lousy. The only reason I can think of for a restaurant to serve such bad food is if they are trying to close or lose half of their business, one potentially loyal customer at a time - like they just did with me.

Honestly - cold gravy? Both times? Do they serve piping hot ranch dressing with their cold salads? It can't be a mistake, as it happened both times I was there. Does anyone have fond holiday dinner memories in which the gravy was brought to the table in a gravy boat glistening with condensation, straight from the refrigerator? Who serves gravy cold? I'm stupefied. Negative 2 stars.