Oh my God, I had a similar experience in 2021 after restaurants reopened some time during fall. It was awful. Overpriced, with not the best customer service and a server who brought us two wrong dishes. The food quality wasn’t great either. We were too polite to complain, and of course I left them a 18% tip. I need to go to therapy for being a people pleaser.

You are probably right about a kickback. I bet the top executives got large bonuses for “earning” a bunch of money that year. And then… bam. The consequences ensued.