Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery

Wow. As I write this review, I have wasted one hour of my life trying to provide constructive feedback to Marie Calendars. 1) I first input my comments into their website Guest Relations forms (where, ironically, they spell «corn bread» as «corn brad» LOL – their signature dish… but I digress!)
After spending 30 minutes of completing all information, their website does NOT actually ALLOW me to «SUBMIT» and site does NOT provide any explanation as to WHY!
2) So, I decide to call the phone number and talk to a representative… add 7 minutes for first attempt disconnected then 13 more minutes to listen to Marie Calendar’s lovely «Message On Hold Music» for their guest relations department. (I’m making this effort, why?) Finally, «Derrick» answers. He was fine… I gave him the following run-​down (add 8 minutes to provide all the info I input into the non-​functioning website but he was more warm and fuzzy and my complaint may have gone forward!)
That is all on complaint PROCESS… now let’s get to actual DINING EXPERIENCE!
Not sure of exact date and time – paid cash and do not have receipt to reference… I think it was first week of June.
I had not been to THIS Marie Calendars for several years so (about a month ago) decided to give it a try. THAT visit was good, including my Happy Hour ravioli and salad… so I decided to return again the following week, the first week of June.
This second visit was HORRIBLE. The restaurant was NOT busy and we were seated right away. My dining companion had ordered the quiche on our visit the prior week and it looked great… so that was what i ordered this time.
Mistake. The quiche came to the table standing at about ½ to ¾ the height that it should have been because it was all runny. Thinking it might just be too much cheese, I took a first bite. YIKES… it was DISGUSTING… the EGGS were UNDER-​COOKED! I called my young short haired brunette waitress and she took the plate away immediately, came back and said she spoke to her manager… they would make a FRESH whole pie and he would PERSONALLY check it before serving again.
The next slice delivered to our table looked EXACTLY THE SAME… unbelievable! The WAITRESS had NOT NOTICED? The MANAGER had NOT NOTICED? (Yawn!) I called the waitress over who summoned manager ”Ken” and pointed out the problem. While he said that he was sorry, it just felt like lip service… he did NOT sound genuine NOR concerned… instead, he made excuses. He said he did NOT see it before delivery to the table… then one of them said something about this being the way the quiche normally looks… to which I responded, ”No…that is NOT how it looked LAST WEEK when we ordered the SAME dish!” The manager then said something about needing to check the cooking equipment or something to that effect… they were following the cooking instructions exactly the way it normally works… and did not know what is happening. Since he did not seem that interested nor concerned, I pointed out to him that this is NOT just a matter of TASTE but a HEALTH AND SAFETY issue as UNDER-​COOKED EGGS may contain SALMONELLA!!! (Sorry folks, can’t believe I did not take a picture for you!)
He then asked if I would like to order something else for which I opted for ravioli (what I had safely ordered the prior week.) This was OK and I gave a couple of raviolis to my dining companion as he had munched through his TINY serving (small serving platter only filled half-​way) of linguine!
As we left, we both agreed that we are not likely to eat there again… or at least not for a very long while.
Yesterday, while lunching at the Soup Shoppe with another friend, SHE brought up a similar negative experience at the SAME Marie Calendar’s, stating that her husband REFUSES to eat there anymore! So, while I had cooled down and was just going to let it slide, I decided to step up and make the effort to complain as: 1) it is obviously NOT an isolated incident, and 2) there are NOT many sit down restaurants to choose from in central Riverside anymore.
I hope Marie Calendar’s takes this communication seriously… which I’ve now added here to Unilocal since contacting corporate is such a DIFFICULT process. Hopefully the message gets there – «one way or another…»

Marie Callender’s isn’t bad. The food is definitely overpriced though ($ 15.50 for meat loaf). Also, it was incredibly hot in here. I feel bad for the employees having to deal with the scorching heat inside this building. Management obviously wants to cut AC costs.
The food here is probably a ²⁄₅ or ³⁄₅. The pies though, are really good.

In here tonight with my family, around 9:15pm. Food was okay, but I would like to talk about the out right disrespect of customers and people in general from the waitresses working. The manager took a call at 9:30, from a family leaving a graduation at a church in Riverside for a local Christian High School. He told them he’d gladly take them if they got here by 10:00. The waitresses began complaining, and even mocking «those Christians» and begging the manager to lock the door. Are you kidding me??? A party of 15, out celebrating their child’s graduation, and you want to lock the door to the money that is walking in as well as the human beings?! The family came in at 9:45, and the waitresses stood there watching them walk to their table and one of the ladies in the party even said «Sorry, thank you for taking us». When they all had walked by, one of the waitresses threw her hands in the air and said «Seriously»!?
Keep in mind, I’m a paying customer and I heard/​saw all of this go down. What an absolute disgrace.
Yet, even though I had to endure all that, I also got to hear about one of the waitresses birth control and the problems she’s having with it.
Awesome dinner! Keep up the good work you waitresses!

While the Marie’s chain continues to shed stores and receives negative press, this is one of the star locations. I was living nearby in the Fall of 2005 or 2006 (I forget now) when they closed down the original store on this site and rebuilt it to what it is today: a gorgeous, craftsman-​inspired restaurant. It’s probably the nicest one in the chain. If you haven’t visited MC in years because you wrote it off as a relic of the past, try this one. I bet you’ll be back.

Their strawberry and pumpkin pies are so, so, so good. It never fails.
The parking sucks, as it’s shared with Market Broiler.

Had lunch after Doctor appt. Soup and salad ice tea. Pop’s had a breakfast sandwich tots coffee. Not bad. Now have to get the truck a smog check & tags. R.

Santa Fe shrimp salad was & Our two servers Anthony and Cody were Awesome servers for our party of about 35 people

It’s a beautiful Saturday morning and new to Riveraide so let’s try a chain restaurant Marie Callender’s! Great building had character unfortunately the hostess Lauren did not.
Greeting a Guest starts their dining experience regardless of breakfast lunch brunch or dinner!
She made me feel like I wasn’t welcome and prejudiced on.
It’s just over shadowed our whole breakfast experienced here. Food 4 stars! Server 4 stars! Hostess 0 no stars!

Nice place to go for a quick meal.
Complimentary cornbread and butter (yummy).
It was happy hour until 10pm, we ordered the avocado and shrimp appetizer for $ 5. It comes with chips and mostly a tomato, avocado and minimal shrimp tower. We ordered the chicken, broccoli, and cheesy noodles (forgot the name), comes with two slices of garlic bread. Another entrée we ordered was the bbq ribs with mashed potatoes and deep fried shrimp. I didn’t try much of that dish. The deep fried shrimp was really crunchy, almost hard. Kind of difficult to eat. But the sauce was good in my opinion. Wish I had room for dessert because there was a nice selection of pies. The service was wonderful.

Went to get a sour cream blueberry pie ask the rude man if he would please pick out the prettiest one for my daughters b-​day ass hole said NO they r all the same/​he did not even look at it shoved in box., next time I go in I’m gonna be his worst nightmare.

The service and the friendly nature of this place really emphasize the feel good fun of this type of comfort food. We had the Open faced turkey lunch special. It was fantastic and exactly what we wanted with just the appropriate sized portion. If you get a chance, sit in Mikes section. The dude rocks, very attentive and does the job in spades! Thanks for making my grandmas bday awesome!

Bad customer service, I purchased pie and wanted to buy their 4 muffins and get 4 free. They only had 7 muffins left, so I asked the young lady if she could substitute a brownie or another pastry for the muffin. She sternly said no and I then a asked if she could asker her manager, again she sternly told me her manager already said no, that they were focusing on the pie sale. I then purchased my pie and asked to speak to the manager directly. She went to the back and never came back. After Waiting for 5 minutes I left and will never go back! We had a previous poor experience at the restaurant and now at the bakery bar. Good luck!!!

Not happy with my experience at all. I took my daughter to lunch since I had a 20% coupon. We each had the salad bar, a drink and a slice of pie… Why then was my bill $ 40 after the discount? They used to offer a slice of pie for $.99 if ordered with a meal, not anymore! I thought since I read everywhere «add a slice a pie for $ 1.99» that it would extend to the over priced salad bar… NOPE…$ 5.00 a slice! Also, the salad bar was not fresh at all, the pie was stale, and the soup was not hot enough… we will not be back.

important tip! When ordering a holiday feast box — be sure you check the date
I did not and we were a day off. I didn’t get a turkey as they were sold out on that day, but got something better! A prime rib
It was yummy !!!

Service was great, food hit the spot.

it’s f*#*king liiiiiiiit!!! Christmas time best time for pies besides thanksgiving so yea place rocks

Visiting from Oregon, this was my first time ever eating here. Very friendly waitress. Warm cornbread brought to table was yum! Food we ordered was good and similar to home cooking. The pie was delicious!

We haven’t been here in years but decided to stop in for dinner since we were in the area. First thing I noticed was that the hostess and the manager were friendly and greeted us right away. Once we were seated, we had the best server! I wish I could remember her name but she was very helpful with the menu.
Now for the food — My husband was in heaven eating the Pot Roast with mashed potatoes! I decided to try the Heartland Chicken Pot Pie and it was pretty good. We also got the salad bar which had a great selection.
I’m pretty sure we’ll be back again if we’re in the area for some great service and delicious food.

I always enjoyed this restaurant when I first moved to Riverside. I moved away for 12 years then recently came back. I decided that today would be a good day to have breakfast there.
When I arrived there was no one up front so I waited a while before the hostess came up. I asked for a booth and was told there were none. I thought it was odd that I was not asked if I wanted to wait for a booth. As I followed her to a table I saw at least two empty booths.
Once seated, I looked at the menu and ordered breakfast. The waitress told me that they stopped serving breakfast at eleven. She flipped my menu to another page and flatly stated that only a few breakfast items were available and then she walked away! I waited and waited and finally got tired of waiting so I walked out. I took my business elsewhere and I won’t be going back.

It’s about time I reviewed this restaurant! I’m now three months behind in most of my reviews – even writing another review about every day. I suppose my eating is outstripping my writing. Better than having no material to write about!
In any event, this dinner with my mother and wife was a pleasant experience. Cornbread was light and fluffy. The choices at the Salad Bar were excellent, with peas, Red and Green Onions, bacon, Grape Tomatoes, cauliflower, Kidney and Garbanzo Beans, sliced mushrooms, croutons, egg, julienned beets, corn, coleslaw, potato salad, and four choices of soup.
The only complaint I have about this outing is that my Chicken Pot Pie came out too fast. I had just finished a cup of Vegetable Soup when it arrived at our booth. Yet my big pot pie was still hot when I broke it open after I finished my salad. With a lightly browned outer crust, tender morsels of white chicken meat, peas and carrots, and a very creamy filling on the inside, it was a delicious pot pie!
Service was friendly and excellent. The restaurant manager brought all entrees to the table. I look forward to returning here soon for another homey meal!