Heart of Semaphore — Restaurant in Adelaide

ZERO STARS!

I went there last week to try and have late breakfast/early lunch. There was a few free spots available and a table by the window that would seat 4. I was one person so before I even ordered I specifically asked if I could sit down, the business owner said yes, anywhere that didn't have a reserved sign. The table by the window did not have a reserved sign so I pointed to it and asked if I could sit there, I even said I'm only one person but I would like the people viewing. She said it was ok, that I could sit there.

I went to put my handbag down and returned to the counter to order. She then proceeded to tell me to move to a smaller table which was in the way of the thoroughfare of the waitresses to go out the back . I said that I really wanted to sit by the window, plus I did specifically ask first if I could even sit there. Her response was "yeah but if I'm a business owner and if I see 4 people walk in I want them to order 4 meals, your just one person".

This business owner literally tried to shame me off the table with her 4 new customers standing right behind me hearing the whole conversation. I am absolutely disgusted with this unprofessional way to run a business. It is clearly a lie that they are inclusive and "everybody's welcome" as their sign says, as I was obviously not. A person on their own, who has the consideration to ask first if they can sit will literally be moved on regardless.

I grabbed my handbag and left. Such rude and discriminative customer service doesn't deserve my money and others need to be made aware of such behaviour. If she didn't want me to sit there she could have said no when I asked, I genuinely would have understood. To try and belittle me in such a manner just because I was on my own is...

Ordered 2 coffees, pancakes and raisin toast. Took well over an hour to receive food or coffee. Pancakes were oily and definitely not fluffy as described on the menu, quite the opposite. Raisin toast was was what I'd expect if my child were making it, boring and bland. Not thick cafe style Id expect. A dark red hair was found in the butter for the toast. The only positive would be I was able to drink my coffee.

Will not be returning, would not recommend.

Edit to response: To be clear and transparent, every person on our table, around 10(we were the only ones in the cafe to begin with) waited far too long. Some of, myself included over an hour. One member of our table got a refund due to how long it took and the quality of the food being served.

To accuse customers of lying about their reviews rather than accepting the criticism really shows why the new management will not last. The only damage being caused to this business is due to the poor customer...

Its always off to a bad start when common courtesy is missing from the way you conduct business, everyone in australia knows that its a must have... duh You walk in, you walk up to the free counter, you get noticed, you greet the busy staff member behind thecounter, you get no response or eye contact, not even a "won't be long". You stand there waiting for 3 mins, then you go ok that's fine.... someone is having a bad day. You sit down with your family quietly waiting, you still get nothing from staff even after the order they were busy doing is done. Then to your surprise they ignore you and serve another customer. You leave wondering if this was an anomaly.... till you read other similar reviews.... Fantastic job...