Would you go back to this cafe?

Now you know why it was empty when you walked in.

The chalkboard thing is okay of that is the persona/ambiance of the place. I would have told him his menu was too limited.

I was ready to try the lasagna. I tried to say something to the two people up front but I guess they didn’t hear me, and just turned away.

I mean, if you never have customers and one walks in, wouldn’t you be super attentive?

@Dutchess_III It’s a front for money laundering. ;>)

You wasting your time talking to the chef, he running it the way he wants.

Get a Tripadvisor.com account then tell your story there so others won’t go through it.

No, but it’s a free country and a capitalist economic system. If the cafe owners chose to run the joint without menus, and suffer the consequences, that’s their decision.

Just like it’s your decision not to go back there.

I guess what’s surprising to me is that you’re trying to impose your standards (must have menu) on them. This isn’t rocket science..

He was on a power trip, for sure. He also posted personal posts about how in demand he was all across the country.

The best restaurants I have eaten in all did this.

I’d go back without my kids…

You weren’t the customers he was looking for.
He wasn’t running the restaurant you were looking for.

There’s no harm in knowing what you’re there to do.

I didn’t say they “must” have menus @elbanditoroso. If it was just me and a date, and we had time to stand there are read the chalk board, I would. But with 4 kids it’s much, much easier to take the time to sort it all out when the kids are seated and you have their attention.
It’s just not a family friendly environment.

I am tempted @funkdaddy. But the salmon was $22. I would hate to toss $22 on a chance.
They didn’t even list what kind of steak it was, either.

A restaurant like that is also probably open to making something off menu, like mac and cheese for the kids.

Yes. To set it alight and watch it be consumed in a raging inferno, with its staff’s entrails splayed out in front.

@Dutchess_III – there’s a lot of places that are moving back to a small, daily, menu that is based on what a chef creates with that day’s ingredients. It’s not a set menu, so they don’t need paper menus and people go there for something different based on the type of food the chef makes.

So the menu may only be 5 things, but they were all bought that day, from providers the chef trusts. It’s opinionated food, for lack of a better term. It’s probably not the best place for a group of kids, regardless of prices. It’s not really meant to be family friendly, usually.

It’s like you wouldn’t go into Denny’s and expect the chef to craft you something special, or ask if their eggs are locally sourced, or if they could suggest a drink pairing. This is kind of the other side of that spectrum. Food that isn’t homogenized into what you can get anywhere.

I probably wouldn’t go back because of the dismissive attitude of the staff. If they can’t even take the time to welcome me into their establishment, I’ll go elsewhere.

I understand @funkdaddy, but I don’t think this town is ready for some eclectic thing like that. They would have had much better luck up by the college (where there is a successful cafe) than downtown main street where cattle trucks and farmers roll. Don’t know if it ever will be.
He never said anything like the food is local (obviously, salmon wouldn’t be local,) or anything special about the food at all.
I’m not against it, but I was put off by the chef’s attitude on Facebook, and by the way i was treated (dismissed) by the two people at the counter.
And then to mumble, “Well, that’s Monday’s menu, anyway,” when it was Saturday at peak dinner time. And when I asked what today’s menu was they said something like, “Well, we just do steak and salmon.”
I said, “Do you have lasagna?” (Because it was shown on Facebook,) but they didn’t hear me.
It was too much to try and figure out when you have hungry kids scattered around you clamoring to eat.
I’m like….well, that’s when we decided to go to a Mexican place a couple of doors down.
And when I mentioned that to the chef on FB he said, “Well, I don’t know why they said it was Monday’s menu when it was that day’s menu.”
So, all in all, not a great experience.
We may try it another time, sans kids. See what kind of bread and soup they have.

When I lived in Portland (the first time) we lived in a very run-down part of town. Across the street was a place called Shanty’s Tavern (Now called Barlow Tavern). My sister helped me move in and after we were down we went there for pints and the owner offered my sister a bartender job. She worked there for over a year. I got free drinks and chicken strips for over a year.

But one day my roommate was eating a big ass sandwich that looked fantastic and I asked where he got it. It turns out there was a little cafe across the other street that I had seen everyday but it was never actually open when I walked by. Super clean place that had a top notch remodel. But it was always closed.

My roommate filled me in. They were only open a few hours a day and had the best shit at way below cost. A 8 dollar sandwich was three bucks. Freshly made croissant for a buck.

The odd thing is there was never more than a few people in there. And at the time I was in school for accounting/economics. So I was sitting down one day eating and the owner sat down with me and asked how everything was. I said “Great”. And then I asked how the fuck this is is a actual business.

She said she was rich and is losing about 5K a month on this but it doesn’t matter. She always wanted to run a cafe. Kinda the Uber of Cafes.

I might take a peek at the menu from time to time if it were convenient, or ask the chef to post the menu to their FB site each day…

After all, they aren’t liable to be in business for long in a town like that.

6:30 on a Saturday night and the place was empty. They’re not doing something right, or maybe they’re not doing a bunch of things right. If I were you, I would have left, also. Their attitude would make me turn and walk right out the door.

I prefer printed menus too. I do best when I can look at the menu in my own time and ponder it. I don’t ponder well when I’m standing in the middle of a room. Lots of places have a printed menu and then they supplement that with the blackboard. I’ll have the waiter tell me what’s on the blackboard but again, I do best by seeing it in writing and I don’t prefer to stand in the middle of the room and read it, especially when there’s usually people sitting nearby enjoying their food.

I agree a review on Tripadvisor is the best bet. If you can tell us the name of the restaurant (or “cafe” as they call themselves) and you do the review on TA, I’d love to read it.

You can also cut and paste the comments that you got here to the chef’s FB personal message, to show him what others (objective people) have to say about the experience you had.

I did run all this past him. He was arrogant and dismissive as well.

His attitude would bother me most. I don’t mind no printed menus if it’s a very small menu choice each day, but I would prefer a printed menu. The waiter should be able to easily rattle of the menu table side if there aren’t any printed menus.

I wouldn’t go back unless I heard the food was incredible, or heard that the service was usually great, and you had some fluke experience. I don’t see how it could be a fluke after the conversation with the chef though.

It sound like a small place. They could just print off 5 menus each day and slip them into a plastic sleeve. It’s not that difficult and not very expensive.

I would walk out for the lack of service or greeting; I have no problem with the lack of menu. Lots of places don’t have printed menus; if their offerings change on a daily basis, they likely have only a few options anyway, and can simply tell you what’s on that day. It’s not unusual for a server to read off the daily specials for diners; this is simply a miniature version of that.

If you asked what was being served that night, and they didn’t tell you… then obviously, that’s a problem. But did you? It’s hard to tell from your story whether it was the restaurant staff or your group that had the attitude problem. If they were rude to you, it doesn’t matter what was on the menu – you likely did the right thing in leaving.

They just said “There’s the menu…..oh. That’s Monday’s menu.”
I said “ok. What’s today’s menu?”
One guy said “We’ll basically we have salmon and steak,” and kind of shrugged.
I asked “Do you have lasagna today?” because I’d seen it posted on FB.
But they were suddenly “busy” and didn’t hear me. They were 5 feet away and the place was completely empty.
So we left.

^^I’d leave. Their behavior is too apathetic.

I’m back to the “front” for money laundering !

Maybe they ran out of Stouffer’s lasagna ;>).

@Dutchess_III Yup, under the circumstances, I would have left, too.

I wouldn’t go back, sounds like lousy service even for a greasy spoon. They could at least bring you a glass of water and ask if you’re ready to order, when you sit down. Even an Eat at Joes type truck stop with a waitress who chews gum and calls everyone Hon, can do that much.

But we couldn’t sit down to decide what we wanted to order because the only menu was a chalk board at the front of the restaurant, on the floor, propped against the wall, so you couldn’t see it from other parts of the restaurant.
And it wasn’t a greasy spoon. They are a cafe (said with a French accent, all pretentious and shit.) They don’t serve burgers and French fries. Only salmon, steak (of some kind) and, apparently, lasagna now and then. And breads and soups. And it may be super good, for all I know.
He treated me like I was so uncouth and stupid when I asked for a paper menu to peruse at the table.
So, we left.

@Dutchess_III Ya’ll don’t need that crap, no family does. Fancy talk does not a restaurant make. Screw it, go somewhere else.

Now he’s bragging that the prices are lower than McDonalds….$4.50 for…soup and bread and tea.
I can sure beat $4.50 at McDonalds.

Less that that for a Heart Attack dollar menu dollar special! Mmm Mmm good too.

@Dutchess_III High class shoppes don’t compare themselves to Micky D’s ! ! !

Carl’s and Hardee’s might compare themselves to Micky D’s but they don’t have a printed menu either.

LOL! He was probably responding to complaints about his prices….$22 for the salmon, for example.
McDonald’s doesn’t have a printed menu either. But hell. Everyone knows what the menu is!

Don’t under any circumstance eat “Mystery Meat” there.

It could be missing neighborhood cats

LOL!!
And really, this just isn’t the place for high class shoppes. That floors me. A small business owner has to be certain of his customer base before he or she opens up. There are a lot of wealthy people here, but they are all down to earth, hard scrabble, pulled themselves up by their boot straps. No way they do foo foo food!

@Dutchess_III: Are you going to review it on TripAdvisor?

No. I didn’t eat there so I only had a fraction of the experience. It’s obviously not kid friendly and that’s on me.