Fat Al's - SouthendonSea

On an October evening there was not much open on southend front. We were peckish and after some quick feeding, fat also caught our eye. Interesting American dinner theme. Food was good, service was friendly and quick and the milkshakes were great.

We popped in for 'brunch ' on the last day of our holiday I really wish we 'd kept walking past! The place was empty this was our first sign, the badly finished decor the second and the fact it didn 't feel clean third!! But hunger overruled sensible judgement. We ordered a big breakfast and a double bacon cheese burger and 2 mugs of coffee. My coffee was served in a chipped mug and my double cheese burger with egg and bacon turned into a single burger with egg and bacon. My meal was tasteless I could taste the cheese in the burger, but absolutely nothing else... Really surreal! Even the cheap runny ketchup didn 't add taste. Nobody seemed surprised to be carrying 3/4s of a meal back to the kitchen (hopefully for disposal). The breakfast looked plastic with the ability to glow in the dark... we shared the toast. If Al really is Fat he hasn 't been eating here!! Worst food experience in Southend! I wish we 'd checked the reviews before wasting our time/money here! Move on and get some decent grub elsewhere!!

Based on the price of food we were expecting low quality, but quick and convenient food, especially as the little girl in our group wanted a burger but lost energy to walk further! You get what you pay for. Chicken burger is a small frozen piece of breaded chicken, deep fat fried and served in a burger bun...no salad. Simple. Burger was griddle cooked but thin and cheap. Stairs to toilet is littered with boxes. Toilet unappealing. Wouldn't recommend. Won't win any awards.

We walked the whole sea front in search of somewhere to eat, and having rejected several other places on account of their stupid prices £9.75 for quarter pounder and chips? we settled on Fat Al 's. Drawn in by the two for £10 offer we had two New Yorker hot dogs with chips, a chocolate milkshake and a cup of tea. The food was all freshly prepared to order, served quickly but slow enough for us to see it was cooked from fresh, not just reheated like some places and very filling. The chips are the second best we 've ever had in 35 years of such cafes and restaurants. All in all the food and drinks were very good. The only negative is that the milkshake was a little small, and not as good value as other high street restaurants that offer milkshakes.

Ordered from Fat Al's at 6:53pm, confirmed delivery for 7:50 which was pushed forward to 8:10, called at 8:30 to be told it's being packed now and 9PM still no food . Called again to be told it's just getting ready to leave! Food finally arrived at 9:20. Burger was surprisingly warm considering, the onion rings were tiny and soggy. Communication is awful. Burger was good, will not be ordering again.