Some things never change and Morning Edition in Patterson Park is one of them. It's been around for at least 15 years and is only open for breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's on N. Patterson Park Avenue, just south of Fayette Street, another neighbourhood in transition. The two things that haven't changed about Morning Edition are the food, which is good, and the service, which is appalling, to be kind.
N. had called on Saturday to make a reservation, which they took. When we arrived Sunday for our noon reservation for three, there seemed not to be a list or any clear idea whether there was a reservation scheme. There was a line at the door, with three people in front of us, the three of us, and three people behind us. We tried to tell the host/busser that we had a reservation but he didn't seem to care. They seated the three people behind us at a table that had been empty for the time we were waiting and seemed to be reserved. Then they seated the three in front of us. By the time it was our turn, we'd waited about 15 minutes, not all that long.
N. asked the host/busser/general slack-ass teenager whether they had our reservation. The teen mumbled something and N. asked him to repeat it and he just wouldn't/didn't answer. N. wasn't too happy about that. The kid looked like a surly teenager, with droopy drawers, a bad attitude and a walk which, if it was any slower, would have been a dead stand still.
When our waiter came over, we asked him the same question about their reservations system. Wrong move! He went off on a diatribe about only getting paid $2.50 an hour and not getting paid enough to deal with this issue and sometimes they took reservations and sometimes they didn't, but who knew! It was rather disconcerting, to say the very least.
The menu, which was hand-written and then photocopied, had an unnerving comment on it: If you are pressed for time, and if the cafe seems busy, and/or if most folks are ordering omlets/benedicts, ALL MEMBERS of your party may want to order the previous entrees as omlets. Eggs Benedict may take up to 60 minites to prepare... Please ask for an ETA. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? It takes an hour to make an order of Eggs Benedict? I can't understand how, unless you're cooking on a campstove in the Western Saraha, it can take an hour to make Eggs Benedict in a restaurant that only has 12 tables.
N. had called on Saturday to make a reservation, which they took. When we arrived Sunday for our noon reservation for three, there seemed not to be a list or any clear idea whether there was a reservation scheme. There was a line at the door, with three people in front of us, the three of us, and three people behind us. We tried to tell the host/busser that we had a reservation but he didn't seem to care. They seated the three people behind us at a table that had been empty for the time we were waiting and seemed to be reserved. Then they seated the three in front of us. By the time it was our turn, we'd waited about 15 minutes, not all that long.
N. asked the host/busser/general slack-ass teenager whether they had our reservation. The teen mumbled something and N. asked him to repeat it and he just wouldn't/didn't answer. N. wasn't too happy about that. The kid looked like a surly teenager, with droopy drawers, a bad attitude and a walk which, if it was any slower, would have been a dead stand still.
When our waiter came over, we asked him the same question about their reservations system. Wrong move! He went off on a diatribe about only getting paid $2.50 an hour and not getting paid enough to deal with this issue and sometimes they took reservations and sometimes they didn't, but who knew! It was rather disconcerting, to say the very least.
The menu, which was hand-written and then photocopied, had an unnerving comment on it: If you are pressed for time, and if the cafe seems busy, and/or if most folks are ordering omlets/benedicts, ALL MEMBERS of your party may want to order the previous entrees as omlets. Eggs Benedict may take up to 60 minites to prepare... Please ask for an ETA. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? It takes an hour to make an order of Eggs Benedict? I can't understand how, unless you're cooking on a campstove in the Western Saraha, it can take an hour to make Eggs Benedict in a restaurant that only has 12 tables.
Okay, I will stop freaking out about that and tell you about our meal. I ordered scrambled eggs, biscuits and pork sage sausage WITH NO GRAVY. I emphasized this to the waiter and sure enough when the meal came out, it was slathered with GRAVY. My meal (bottom) was okay, but the biscuits were pretty hard and not cut biscuits, which make a better presentation. The sausage, while tasty, could have either been cut a little thicker, or cooked a little less. K. had the Eggs Benedict and we didn't have to wait an hour. It had some broccoli on it and Canadian bacon. N. had apple french toast which had lots of apple chunks on it and three pieces of bread/french toast.
Each of our meals came with fresh fruit including pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe and orange wedges. They also came with Tootsie Pops on each plate. Go figure... The restaurant is interesting, the food is pretty good, but the service is shockingly bad. It will probably be another 15 years before I go back again.
4 comments:
now that is a downright scary review. I think I'll skip this on my tour of the city.
i found your blog through Google. Love it, bookmarked it.
i just moved into SoBo, so I'm always looking for good stuff.
your coments are invaluable! thanks for the warning, as i will not be making a trip there!
Too bad. I've always thought it looked like a nice neighborhood restaurant when I passed it and imagined it as the sort of place people in the neighborhood walked to for a leisurely breakfast, eaten while lingering over the Sunday paper.
Not so much I guess.
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