Ally's Comfort Cafe - 136th and State Road 84 in Davie
I really did not want to leave this review. I tried with all of my might to do everything I could to not leave this review.
Ally's comfort Café has been a staple in Northwest Davie forever. *Now, Ally, moved away a little while ago and new owners took over. They kept the same recipes which made us hopeful that things would pretty much remain the same. But little by little all of the staff that had been there for years started leaving. I think there's only a couple of the longtime staff left. We'll get back to the staff in a moment.
My wife and I go to Ally's every Saturday morning. We go there have a great breakfast and then go to the Publix next-door to do our weekly shopping.
There's obviously going to be hiccups when new owners take over a restaurant. We totally understand this. But some things are just not improving.
They open at 8 AM on Saturdays. But, between 8 and 9 AM there's only one waitress and one bus boy this didn't always used to be the case. They used to have the full staff and someone at the door to take names. He would also help out by getting you drinks or more coffee if you needed it. It worked really well for the small family restaurant. The new owners took over and at some point they decided they only needed limited staff between 8 and 9 AM on Saturdays. And of course, every Saturday my wife and I go in there. It gets packed and the waitress is running around like her head is cut off and the busboy is overwhelmed. This isn't a one time thing it has been constant since they made the staffing change. It's completely unfair to the waitress and busboy and it's also a complete turn off to patrons who have to wait sometimes up to 10 or 15 minutes just for the poor waitress to come and take their order this morning. A couple waited 20 minutes before their order was taken.
Also, the owner/manager doesn't get there until almost 9 herself, which means there's no management in the restaurant to help with the register or put out "fires."
It. Is. Not. Working.
Ally's has been known for their specials for years. They always have amazing special pancakes and special French toast. It's one of the main reasons we still go there. It's our little weekly treat. Lately the specials have been very monotonous. Some sort of jelly put on some French toast or some sort of cream put on a pancake. Not real imaginative for instance, today was banana cream and chocolate pancakes. It was a dollop of banana cream on a chocolate pancake that had little taste. One could've added some fresh bananas, or maybe some whipped cream on top of that. Meanwhile, the special pancakes and special French toast are often made wrong by the staff. This happened this morning. It took them twice to get the pancakes right and three times to get the French toast, right. Again, this is not a one time occur occurrence. We never complain. But we were surprised to still see those items on the bill and not discounted at all, but that's OK.
The thing that really drove me to write this review, is that I waited for more than 10 minutes to speak to the owner/manager on our way out. I thought the best way to handle our dissatisfaction would be to speak to her personally. She disappeared into the kitchen, and even after the waitress went to tell her we were waiting to speak with her, she was nowhere to be found. No I understand things come up in the kitchen, but she could've at least came out and said hey I know you're here, I'm dealing with a problem, I'll be right back. But we waited and waited and waited and nothing despite all of the above, that's what irked me the most.
I will say this. The food is still very good. And the waitresses and buses are amazing. None of this is their fault. They should all be paid more in dealing with a kitchen that can't get right and an owner that can't seem to figure out good customer service.
We will certainly give them another chance, it's part of our routine. But after biting my tongue, I had to let everyone know what was happening at one of our favorite spots in Broward County. read more