My wife and I stopped here New Year's Day about 2:30 for a bite of lunch. They were about the only place open in Pemberton besides McDonalds, so we figured we'd try them out. Upon walking in, the place was attractive at first impression, with an open layout. Then we noticed a number of tables that had yet to be bused, even though there were hardly any customers in the place, and the dark hardwood floor had mud tracked all over it, with the outside light shining in through rather dirty windows. An attractive 30-something lady behind the bar told us to sit anywhere, then promptly ignored us for 10 minutes even though there were only 2 or 3 other tables with people. She came and took our drink order, and while we were waiting for our drinks, another guy (the cook?) came out and tried to serve us someone else's food order. We sorted that out, and when the lady came back with our drinks we ordered our meals, which were simple breakfasts, as that was apparently all they were serving New Year's Day - ? I ordered 2 eggs over-easy with hash-browns and peppers/onions, my wife had a smoked salmon benny. We then waited for ages while nothing happened, until 2 other guys (who had sat down and ordered food about 15 minutes after we ordered ours) got their meals while we continued to sit and wait - even though they had ordered almost exactly the same meals, and 15-20 minutes after we'd ordered ours. The lady then went back into the kitchen and brought ours out, only to discover that the southern-fried chicken breast I'd ordered with my meal had been forgotten. She apologized and said it'd be right out in a minute, which apparently meant 10 or 15 minutes. She finally brought it out after I'd already finished the rest of my order (which included very overcooked eggs and very undercooked onions and peppers), but when I cut into it, it was still pink and totally undercooked. So I showed it to the lady and said I wasn't paying for it (which she said was completely understandable), and I asked for our bill. She presented THAT very quickly, without any further offer to make things right or comp anything, which it seems like a place trying to make a name for themselves would do. So I paid it, no tip, and out we went.
Pros:
Pleasant staff (she WAS quite nice, and very pretty)
Nice open establishment
Clean bathrooms
Cons:
Inconsistent/slow service
Extremely inconsistently cooked food
Feeling that nobody there knew what they were doing, or cared whether the place succeeded or not
Dirty tables/floors/windows
I truly am not trying to hurt this business with this review, but hope that they read it and get their act together and fix the issues noted above, and that they turn into one of Pemberton's finest. If they don't however, they are doomed and will fail. They should find a different cook, for starters! This could be a really cool little place, but the indifferent attitude and poor overall service was a huge turn-off. Please turn it around, Portage Station! read more