Hanging Rock Cafe — Restaurant in Woodend

Unfortunately I am unable to give lesser than 1*. We visited the cafe and ordered some hot drinks at the counter. Were told to wait outside stating that the waiter would bring the drinks outside. We took a seat at one of the table waiting for our hot drinks to be served. A waitress came out and started a rude conversation asking us to leave and if we had ordered any meal. I told her that we had ordered hot drinks and were told to wait here. She rudely said that if anyone seats at the table then we have to clean the table everytime. We told her that we had ordered drinks and were not just sitting there without ordering anything from the cafe. So she insisted that customers are allowed to seat only if they order a meal. We told her that it's not mentioned anywhere in the cafe or outside and just followed the instructions from the person taking our order at the counter. I feel that the woman should be thankful that she has a job in this pandemic and not creep about cleaning tables. The tables in cafe did not have any QR code posted and also missing prominently placed hand sanitizers.

Reply to Owner's response: Thanks for your reply and clarification. However you don't seem to address the rude behavior from the lady in your reply. I can see another review on a similar issue. Upon placing order we were asked to wait outside and we were doing exactly that, as tables were outside. Seems the basics of hospitality are missing and person involved should take lessons to improve. Frankly speaking, I have visited more than 50% of countries in the world and have never seen this type of approach from any waiting staff. In response to your reply, I didn't mention that there was no hand sanitizer. I said it was not prominently placed. You should take a walk in your cafe from the entrance and will notice a number of issues with missing clear instructions. A number of Metropolitan Melbourne restaurant venues are doing it very well with clear instructions. Vist one and you will gain some knowledge. Btw, there were more people around and they just didn't want to deal with the lady and walked away. I can continue writing against every item in your reply, but feel this will just go on. As a business you should be taking reviews positively and address them accordingly and not just try to give a...

After a morning spent running naked through the wheat fields at nearby Larder Mouse Farm, my friends and I were famished....

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We visited yesterday in the pouring rain. One of our group members thought we would order some chips( there was eight of us in the group and we got 6 portions to share $60 worth!) to wait the period out. But when asked if we could sit down instead of takeaway, which my friend was made feel they had to do as we weren't eating much. We got told no, as we had asked for takeaway. No problem. The rained cleared and we went for the walk to the summit. On our return we were going to go in and get a cuppa and something to eat. Our two daughters had gone ahead as they were quicker than us on the dismount. They ordered two pots of tea for themselves and were told they had 20 minutes to drink it, and it would cost 70c for any extra cups. I did not know this but when we arrived I asked if we could sit at the empty larger table as there were eight of us and the young waitress said yes. However, over my shoulder the person who I interacted earlier with before our walk came over and said no, you can't sit there unless eating. I explained we had full intentions of eating and drinking something as we had now been walking for quiet sometime and we were cold and wet. Unfortunately, this person's harsh interaction with me in front of the rest of the customers was very upsetting for myself, my kids and our friends. I left the restaurant and my kids to finish their drinks. It was interesting to see this lady had on a Be Kind t-shirt. It would have been lovely to see some of that kindness. Also, in future when you apologise for something it should not be followed by a "but".

Most teenagers would be embarrassed by the situation. I am so glad you were waiting for this one. So, again, I am pleased you got your...