Demetre's Family Eatery — Restaurant in Stratford

We were less than thrilled with this place. Our largest problem was that it was 50 minutes from sitting down and ordering to receiving our food. Other than that...

We saw the waitress twice: when she took our order and then when she delivered it. Otherwise, we had to pull someone aside to ask for the bill and the hostess gave us a second glass of water. Our waitress made a comment about how busy it was, we assume in retrospect to excuse the wait (it was unprompted, we hadn't complained or anything), but it really wasn't very busy. The restaurant was at a fairly normal capacity, we could see several empty tables. We didn't really blame her though, because they're clearly not employing enough people. The one waitress seemed to have to handle half or more of the restaurant on her own. Probably not enough cooks, either, considering the wait on our food.

The food was fine but no one was blown away and some of it was genuinely not great. The menu was also weird; for example, the burgers were listed at one price, but then the side of fries was listed as an extra 6 dollar charge in the tiny subtext at the bottom. It seems like it might not have been changed since the 90s. The decor, too, was like it hadn't been changed since the 90s.

Honestly, it seems like it's got two clientele: the older folks who have been coming here for years and are really loyal (also, the "Senior Menu" is built into the regular menu and has extremely lowered prices) and tourists (admittedly like us) who they rely on not seeing again. We only went the once so it's hardly a complete review, it's possible they were having a bad day, but we just...

We arrived shortly after 12:30 pm & the place was busy. We were advised prior to being seated that it would be a wait after ordering food. We ordered the easiest items on menu that Saturday, which was the breakfast special for two of us & other person ordered the cheeseburger with fries in a matter of a few minutes. Which could be ordered up until 2 pm. We received our drink orders & then the waiting for our food orders started. We waited & waited, a couple ahead of us was just about to leave when their orders came, & a couple who came in behind us got their food order before us. Another 10 minutes by & we asked when our orders were coming. Waitress stated not much longer as ours were being plated. Well, we didn't get our food orders until almost 1:50 pm. Our breakfast sausage was so cooked it was burnt & petrified. We ordered rye toast & whole wheat toast. The butter or margarine on both didn't taste right & tasted spoiled or going sour. So never ate rest of rye or whole wheat toast. Advised waitress & hostess of such. So, if ever in Stratford looking for a place to eat, keep on going as I would not recommend this place due to slow kitchen staff cooks. Or, if you do stop, make a reservation & order food at reservation to ensure you get your food on time. Gordon Ramsey would be all over this place...

Additional comments after owner’s response/ waitress’s comment.

Our table: “Can we get some more water please” Waitress: “as soon as I grow a third arm…!” (while being clearly annoyed)

Other tables: “can we get some water…” Waitress: “of course you can honey!”

This happened throughout our dining experience. I understand it’s busy and it may have been done unconsciously but it doesn’t excuse the differential treatment/service nor change the way it made us feel.

We appreciate the owner’s apology and follow up.

——— Our waitress made us feel very unwanted/unwelcomed. My partner and I (both visible minorities) politely asked for some napkins once and some water once but was met with very snarky comments both times. However, she was very willing to help the other tables around us and it was painfully obvious that her attitude was much nicer to all the other folks (they were all white). Why the differential treatment? Spoke to the owner who was a lovely lady and shared our experience.

The food was fine; perhaps we ordered the "wrong things" but the portions were smaller than expected for what ended up being a $45 lunch (we had the hot sandwich and the steak & eggs). The steak was smaller/thinner than my two small orange slices and my toasts...