Escalera Cafe — Restaurant in Binangonan

If you are people like me that want to visit different restaurants to taste their food and service, think twice or thrice or many times before going here.

It is a very sad experience when we went here on July 19, 2022 in the humid evening of about 8:20 PM.

I went, travel and ate to different places like the Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, Vancouver, Anchorage, Oregon, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Ocho Rios, Castagena, Mexico, Bahamas, Georgetown, Fort Lauderdale, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau and lately Coron, Palawan.

In all those places I have not been humiliated by any staff of restaurants. I usually do taste tests on different restaurants and about their food and service. But this place is very different from those 5 star places that I have been with.

Upon entering this restaurant, while drinking a Coffee Rush drink, I was hold back by this guy from Escalera that I am not allowed to finish my Coffee Rush drink because it is their policy that they should not allow other drinks that they serve in their restaurant. First, I was shocked, thinking that I cannot dine in to taste their food, I immediately gave my Coffee Rush drink while I was looking for my family. Upon seeing my family, I told them what happened and I told them that I need to tell them that it is wrong what they did.

I searched for the manager but they told me there is no manager and all of them are managers and they keep on insisting to me that it is their policy to not accept people with other drinks or foods that they sell.

What in the world is this people joking about this policy of not allowing people to enter or dine in their restaurant if they see a competitor brand like Coffee Rush? As I recall when I saw there are so many people drinking water of different brands, I asked them what is the brand of your water. The water they showed me was a glass bottled water like Evian but I saw that there are many people with different shaped water bottles but I did not pinpoint those people because I know that the staff is wrong in making this kind of actions and following a very insensitive policy that a neophyte restaurateur must take into consideration.

When we open a restaurant, we are considered a public place that you cannot prevent any people on doing what they want as long it is not breaking the law and not breaking the morals of the community. And you cannot just remove or confiscate anything that is food and drinks that your client has paid. It is their right to eat and drink what they want and where they wanted it.

The idea of liberalism that started in the 15th century which become the basis of democracy in many countries is that you need to protect our freedom of religion, education, press, publication, freedom of owning things, eating what we want, buying what we want and enjoying them because we earned it with our heart and soul. The bill of rights of our 1987 constitution is based on those freedoms that is not very well enjoyed in communist countries but still they thrive to develop their economy.

People in other countries will not do this, but my fellow Filipinos will do for the sake of this policy. "Do not allow Coffee Rush customers to enter with their Coffee Rush drink, either confiscate or throw back the customers who do not follow."

So, If you are people like me that want to visit different restaurants to taste their food and service, think twice or thrice or many times...

This is by far the worst restaurant we have been to. We traveled all the way from Bulacan to Rizal just to enjoy the view and relax. We were genuinely excited to visit this café, but the experience was not worth it at all.

Upon arriving, we were prohibited from taking pictures until we ordered, which we understood. After ordering, we proceeded to take pictures, but the security guard still asked for a receipt—something only given after finishing our meal. The guard clearly saw us placing our order, yet still questioned us. Our main reason for visiting was to capture the view and sunset before it became dark, but this already disrupted our experience.

While we were finally taking pictures, a staff member approached us to remind us that our food might get cold. Although we remained patient and respectful, this interruption felt unnecessary. Later, we requested to be transferred to the al fresco dining area for the view. The staff declined because of possible rain, which we understood, but she then added irrelevant comments that our food might taste differently since it was already cold.

The food itself was very disappointing. The beef quesadilla was extremely salty after just one bite. The salad, which cost ₱450, consisted mainly of peanuts, chili, and lettuce—far from what was expected at that price.

After our meal, we stepped outside to take more pictures since it had stopped raining and we had already missed the sunset. However, not even ten minutes later, staff followed us with the bill and told us we needed to leave because our two-hour stay was almost over. This was rude, humiliating, and unprofessional, especially since the restaurant was not crowded. Other customers heard the exchange, making it even more embarrassing. To add, our belongings were still on the table, making it clear we were not leaving without settling our bill.

Lastly, the location had no signal for Smart or Globe. When we politely asked if there was Wi-Fi so we could book a Grab, the staff simply shook her head without properly answering, even though we saw a modem on-site. When our Grab finally arrived, it was heavily raining, yet the guard—sitting under an umbrella—did not even bother to assist us, leaving us to get wet while heading to our car.

Overall, the staff were rude, unwelcoming, and unprofessional. Instead of making customers feel comfortable, they made us feel watched, rushed, and humiliated. The service did not justify the service charge, and the entire experience was a complete disappointment.

At this point, it would have been better to dine at Jollibee, where staff know how to treat customers with respect. We are always willing to pay a service charge when it is deserved, but in this case, it truly felt like a waste because we were not properly assisted. Instead, we left feeling embarrassed and humiliated. The staff did not earn the fee. To make it worse, we literally traveled five hours only to be treated this way. It was not worth it at all, and it is clear that the staff need...

RESERVATION FEE NON-CONSUMABLE??

My friends and I booked a table for 5 people through their Facebook page. There is a reservation fee of 100pesos pps. That was fine, I assumed that they will hold the reservation charge if ever no show.

We then arrived at the place, it was lovely with a great view to offer. Lots of people with a long queue waiting to be serve or be seated. We walk straight in passing the queues. We waited for a couple of minutes to be seated to our reserved table which is normal that's fine. We sat down, looked at the menu and waited again for a good while hoping a waiter will take our order. We were waiting for a while only to be told that we have to join the queue para mag order. Fair, we skipped the people who did not have reservations but, still have to join a long queue for people with reservations.

Long story short after we had ordered and paid, the 500 pesos reservation fee was not deducted from our bill. I questioned the floor manager Enricko why it wasn't deducted as we attended our booking. His reasons are So we have a table available right away Fee is for the convenience of skipping the queue (yet we still queued because that's how their "system" work apparently) The reservation fee is bayad sa booking App nilang ginagamit (which is non-sense) it doe not go to the restaurant or staff tips

For me, I have no problem giving that 500 pesos as a tip for the waiters who brought our food. The disappointing part is I got charged 500 pesos for me to join the queue to place my own order rather than one of their many waiters to take our order from the comfort of our table we were sitting. The floor manager handled the situation poorly. He was cheeky with his arguments and did not offer any some sort of consulation. One of his arguments is that they are just a "Cafe"shop not a "Restaurant" yet they offer a full set of dining menu. No information on their booking app or Facebook to say *reservation fee is non-consumable. That is why I stood my ground and ask for our reservation fee back. Disappointing experience...