if you are a regular, there is probably lots to love about this place. unfortunately, the place seems to be hostile to outsiders!
today was my family's second visit in a month. the first time, we showed up after 10. the menu does not indicate a time-frame for certain items, other than no pancakes after 11. my wife ordered a burger, and i ordered an "old man's dirty diaper." but they were out of chili, so i opted for a "smelvin wrap." overall, the food was good. my son had a pancake that was burnt on the bottom, but they replaced it. we left a 20% tip.
this morning, i ordered the "old man's dirty diaper" again. it is advertised as regular and waffle fries covered in fried chicken strips, fried hot dog, ground beef, chili, jalapenos, bacon, cheese, and ranch.
i took a couple bites, and noticed no chicken. i started digging through my plate for the chicken. no dice. as i was telling the server, i noticed there were no hot dogs, either - but she had already left.
she returned with a plate of a chopped chicken strip, and told me everything was included properly the first time, but "here are some extra pieces of chicken."
no.
everything was not there the first time. i had no hot dogs, either. i did not like the idea that i was being given something "extra," when two major ingredients in my dish were missing. and i didn't appreciate the attitude. i asked that she take it back, and i decided not to eat. the attitude coming from the kitchen soured me, and i didn't want to risk ordering something from a potentially pissed-off owner/cook.
a few minutes later, we see three servers behind the register (not in the kitchen out of site) digging through my returned plate, huddled up in some kind of meeting, as if they are analyzing the veracity of my claims. i thought that was weird. we could not hear what they whispered to each other.
a bit later, someone else stops at the table to ask if everything is good. "not really," i answer honestly, and that's when things get weird. this other server starts an argument with us. it started with the passive-aggressive non-apology of "i'm sorry you feel that way," instead of "i'm sorry your dish was not correct." then we got a lecture about how the place is family-owned, and the owners work in the kitchen, and how they said my dish was fine.
i'm feeling pretty offended at this point. i'm not sure why anyone would send back a properly prepared dish with all the expected ingredients. but this server then got a bit personal. she told us that last time we visited, my wife ordered a burger before 11am, and they don't sell burgers before 11am, but the server allowed us even though it made her uncomfortable, or something.
first, the menu does not make any mention of this fact. (i've been to plenty of other hole-in-the-wall spots that serve burgers all day.) but second, why in the world am i hearing this? i'm basically being chastised for ordered the wrong thing at the wrong time several weeks prior. now i'm sitting in a restaurant, getting lectured by a server about how i should not have ordered what i did last time. why? because they sent me incomplete food and then wanted to yell at me about it?
tired of being yelled at by a server, i started asking her to please leave us alone. she wouldn't. she kept arguing basically with herself, while i'm asking her to please just leave us alone. that's when she says that if we don't like it we don't need to ever come back.
this is so far afield of basic customer service i don't even know what to say. i'm not sure how being a family-owned restaurant has anything to do with treating people so poorly. they may be a family owned business, but i'm a family, and i work hard to take my wife and kids out on the weekends. even though i sent my food back, i was out 30 bucks for the burger my wife lost an appetite for, a waffle with eggs, and some drinks.
i have never felt so personally attacked and offended because i expected to be given the food that i ordered in a restaurant.