Normally not a huge fan of chain restaurants but wanted to go someplace different from our usual spots and didn't want to drive for almost 30 min.
That was a huge mistake. There was quite a wait, and while we were told 10 minutes, it was actually 18, but I expected that based on the number of people waiting. Our waitress took the beverage order of one black coffee and one with cream, but then stopped to drop off water and only a coffee for my wife. After awhile she came back for our food order and I had to remind her that my wife would like some cream and I hadn't even received my coffee. She brought out the missing items and then took the food order.
After about 20 minutes, I started to feel quite chilled. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't get cold easily. I wear shorts in fall and in winter I'll often leave the house in a T-shirt and only my down vest. Typically people with one or two more layers are more bothered by the cold than I am. This is just to illustrate the point that if I am getting cold then something is wrong. The windows do not appear to have been updated with the remodel and the door by the kitchen seemed drafty. The whole place was only a couple degrees above 60, but sitting by the windows it felt closer to the 50's with the draft. It really started to be brutal as we waited over 30 minutes for our food.
When the food finally started coming out, it was not all ready. So my wife got a lukewarm omelet with "cheesy hash browns" that were cold and none of the cheese was melted. I received only my pancakes as the rest of my food was "waiting on the eggs to flip." She offered more coffee (not in hand though). My pancakes were stated as, "Served with a pitcher of warm cream cheese icing for drizzling." Well instead they came with a cold stiff glob of icing in a ramekin, which I had to butter the cold pancakes with.
The waitress then went to wait with the rest of the staff who were staring at the pass window waiting for other items to come out; and not one person was walking the floor to top off coffees or replenish other beverages. She returned with my skillet close to 10 minutes later and finally fulfilled her promise of replenishing our coffees. She then asked if we needed anything else and I said some tabasco would be nice, to which she replied "of course" only to completely forget about that. I was just over trying at this point. So as my wife worked through her cold omelet ready to leave, I tried to catch up except my food was overcooked (it looked like the whole skillet had beef fried it was so done) and way too hot to eat in a pace to help accommodate the general feeling of being ready to depart.
Normally hot food is the goal at a restaurant, but consistency is the primary desire of a successful establishment. The food should all come out at the same time and be of a common serving temperature.
The waitress then waited until she brought the ticket to ask if we would like any more coffee. Well I definitely would have 15-20 minutes ago, but now I just want to leave this train wreck and never look back.
I have extensive customer service experience and in the past have worked as a line cook, server, and bartender. There are no excuses for this place. No matter what the kitchen problems are, there is no excuse for a two person table to have the items ready at such uncoordinated times. The serving staff should NEVER be allowed to just stand at the pass window in dysfunction simply waiting on food while allowing all the guests to be ignored for all their supporting needs. As I looked around there were virtually no real table touches to check on guests outside of an item needing to be delivered to the table; and the entire kitchen line was just a disaster. The manager did not seem to have a handle on her staff or be in touch with guests' needs.
Needless to say I will never throw away any more of my time or money at this place. read more