DO NOT EAT AT DOWNTOWN CAFE
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10/3/2014
The treatment we received tonight was beyond terrible–it was flat-out insulting, rude, and completely unacceptable.
I've had some bad restaurant experiences in my day, but this one takes the cake. Louis, my family and I have been very good customers at Downtown Cafe, but tonight your actions told us just how little you value your customers that pay your bills and keep the doors of your restaurant open.
I ordered the chicken-fried chicken. It came out with gravy on it, which I do not eat. Had it actually had some sort of description on the poorly-written menu, I would have known to order it without gravy; but there was no description or disclaimer that it was served with gravy.
I kindly mentioned that I was unaware that it was served with gravy, and requested that one be made without it. It was at this point that you sent your poor waitress out to do your dirty work and tell us that you refused to make a new one unless we paid for both. WHAT?
I could MAYBE understand having to pay for a new one if it was clearly written on the menu that it came with gravy. Even then, that's a big maybe. But demanding I pay for a new plate when it was no fault of my own that the order came out with gravy on it? Absurd.
Now here is where things go from bad business to really insulting and personal. We get up to leave because of the owner's unwillingness to fix the order without paying extra, and then we are told we don't have to pay for the food we already ate and our drinks?
I'm confused. If it's not about the money, then why refuse to make another chicken-fried chicken without gravy? That makes things personal and all around different than any other terrible restaurant experience I've ever had.
I have worked in the restaurant business, and that is NEVER how it goes. I have never seen anything like this. It is the owner's job to go take care of customer issues face-to-face, but he couldn't even do that.
All because, as the waitress said, he was in a bad mood? Who cares? It's not about the owner's mood–it's about running the business and serving the customers. Louis, you are in the service/hospitality industry! At least until you treat a few more people like you did us, that is.
We will never, ever step foot back into Downtown Cafe, or any other business you own. My family and I are very insulted and shocked by this experience. We wasted our gas, our time, and we left hungry. I gladly gave McDonalds my business on the way home–at least they got my order right.
You are committing entrepreneurial suicide, Louis. It's really a shame, because I did enjoy the food. This is the most insulted my family and I have ever felt upon leaving a business establishment.
G | Rockdale, TX