MAMA'Z DINER — Restaurant in Durham

The only reason I’m giving 1 star is because 0 is not an option. Went this morning around 1030 with husband and 2 small children. Waitress was very scattered, maybe it was her first day? Husband ordered an omelette and asked for just mushroom, pepper and ham. She asked for clarification multiple times at the table, asking if he was adding that to an omelette and asking if he wanted cheese. He said no, just the 3 ingredient. She then came back 5 minutes later and asked again if he wanted cheese to which he replied “no thanks”. Our children’s food was dropped off at the table and she quickly told my husband, yours is being remade, they made it with cheese and left quickly before he was even able to respond. He would have taken the omelette with cheese at that point. We waited over 10 minutes for my husband’s meal and my meal to come out, our kids were done at this point. It wasn’t busy, 3 other tables of guests. My husband’s food was dropped off and then mine…I ordered eggs Benedict, what I got was 2 English muffin halfs with peameal, no eggs, no sauce. Order was taken back, right order was brought out. In the meantime I had to flag her down to ask for a refill on my coffee at the very least. At this point we had been sitting for about 40 minutes. After my husband had almost finished his breakfast the waitress finally gave him his rye toast, he ordered white, she had given him someone else’s, he was never going to get his toast apparently so he just ate it. I think the thing that irritated me the most, aside from screwing up both my husband’s and my order, and having it so that our children finished long before we even got our meals, was not once did I get offered a refill on my coffee and not once was an apology provided for our experience. In fact what they did do was completely avoid our table all together. After being told my husband’s meal was messed up, our waitress basically dumped and ran everything she brought us. When we were clearly finished and had our plates set to the side we waited another 13 minutes like that before I once again flagged her down and asked for containers and the bill. Dishes had not been cleared, refills not offered, not asked of everything was ok or we needed anything, or if we wanted something else. The waitress was like “oh you pay at the front when I asked. Ok, would have been nice to know. As I said the restaurant was never more than half full in the hour and a half we were there, and it’s very small. Had they apologized about our experience and asked me at the very least if I would have liked a refill of my coffee, especially considering the amount of time we waited, I would not be leaving this review. It’s unfortunate because the food was actually pretty good, once we finally got it and it was right. As a business owner, admitting you’ve made a mistake and offering an apology and to correct it is a good way to retain customers. I won’t be going back based on the experience alone and would definitely not recommend. I will also point out that we bit our tongues the entire time, and we’re very polite to the staff the entire time, and despite me not feeling they deserve one, I...

As a Durham resident I thought I'd try out this new restaurant in town. Atmosphere was new and updated from precious restaurant so very nice. Lunch menu not available til noon so was given a breakfast menu. Ordered coffee while deciding. Coffee came with no cream offered so asked for this. Waitress came back to only offer milk in a non pourable glass jar. Kinda dissappointed at this as I enjoy cream but was OK. The glass jar had no spout so most of the milk ran down onto the table when poured. That was the last I saw of the waitress as she never came back to take my order or even check on me for a coffee refill. Got very frustrated so after drinking 3/4 of my coffee just got up, paid and left. Yes I could have spoken up to ask to order but shouldn't have to, especially with tip rates nowadays. Normal courtesy in any restaurant is to be checked on so this kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The devil is in the details and this is where they failed with me on my very first visit. I'm sure their food is great based on the other reviews but never got the chance to try. Will stick to the other restaurant in town cause always reliable and...

Decided to try this restaurant for breakfast. When we arrived, all waitresses were sitting together at the same table, and we were told to sit wherever we liked. We noticed that a waitress took the order of customers that were seated after us. Eventually, they sent the dishwasher to take our order. She informed use when they are too busy, she helps take orders. The people seated after us received their order promptly, and we waited almost 30 min for our order. It was like we had no waitress because the dishwasher took our order. The owner came over and asked how the food was, and I heard her apologize to other customers for the wait but not to us. I guess if you are not a regular customer, you don't get the same level of service. The food was excellent and worth the wait, but the service was disappointing. We will stick to our regular spot, Kettles. Service and food are excellent, and waitresses treat all...