B & B — Restaurant in Albert Lea

I had heard that B&B was really good so I was looking forward to our visit. Boy was I disappointed!!! The service was literally the worst I have ever had in my life and as someone who has worked in food service I am not one to complain about service or be hard on people. The food took a truly insane amount of time to arrive—I’m talking 90 minutes for a couple of pancakes and that is not an exaggeration. And in at entire time, not one person ever checked on us despite the presence of no less than six servers in a tiny diner. No one offered to refresh our coffees, no one stopped by to apologize for the wait and explain why on earth it was taking so long, literally not a single contact from the wait staff in the entire 90 minutes except when I flagged someone down after 20 minutes for cream for my coffee and someone else after about 70 minutes to politely ask for an ETA on our food. When she checked with the kitchen and came back to say 15 more minutes, I honestly would have stood up to leave at that point except that my kids had been waiting so so patiently and to make them wait and then leave without pancakes just felt mean. It is a very small diner with clear line of sight to every booth and table and there was a period of about 20 minutes when not a single person had food. I assume they were doing some big take out or catering order but I never saw them boxing anything up or anyone come to pick up. Honestly I’m not mad about the wait—who knows what might have happened? Something broke in the kitchen, they ran out of something important, it doesn’t matter. The real problem is that there were lots of servers and they weren’t checking on ANYONE - it wasn’t just our table. They were truly just walking laps and ignoring absolutely everyone. If they would have stopped, offered coffee or something for the kids like a piece of fruit or a cookie or a coloring sheet, just chatted a little and explained/apologized about the wait—I wasn’t expecting a discount or anything. Truly just basic minimum level customer service. And we got NONE of it. So so disappointed. We will...

I hate leaving a review that is this negative, but I do appreciate having a head’s up before I go somewhere about specifics that could shape my whole morning. So I am sharing this in hopes of helping someone else not make the same mistake as us. We went in about 9:30 on a Saturday. It was busy—no tables. I was okay with waiting as there was a table about to be available. I regret staying. We waited (with 2 small, hungry children) for over an hour. We only got 2 pancakes an egg, bacon and sausage (with toast)—nothing special or huge. The waitstaff and cook were busting their butts and were totally kind, but takeout orders were WAY more prioritized over those who dine in. I think about 10 orders went out before our was started. I was totally bummed. The aesthetic of the restaurant was fabulous and I really love eating out at little hole-in-the-wall diners. I really wanted to love this place. To top off our experience, the pancakes were not done. I am not being a Karen here either, they were legit not done in the center. Pretty much like eating batter with a crust. I would think this is probably not the norm as others seem to love this place (based on the ratings). Strangely enough a family came in just as we were about to leave and got their order in about 5 min. After they sat. Maybe the trick is to call and order ahead?? I was totally bummed, and we won’t...

So many things could be improved! The friendliness of staff is more of a fair weather friend. If you don’t enjoy working with people and customer service in general this seems like a strange employment choice. If you don’t enjoy running a cafe why would you buy it?

When I lived in Albert Lea years ago the hours were still primarily in the early part of the day and the wait staff were polite and helpful.

Whoever owns this cafe now is apparently able to make a complete living off of only being open for 23 hours a week! They either don’t read reviews or they make enough money to not care.

A few days ago we arrived hoping for a late breakfast. We arrived at 10:25. Tried to open the door, it was locked. I looked at the hours and they closed at 10:30. Left disappointed.

Even with EXTREMELY limited hours, very limited seating, and limited or spotty customer service, it remains a popular place as people are willing to stand for a hour or more in a mass in a “phone booth” size entry way and glad they made it inside the door before the owner or wait staff locked the door to prevent any further customers from coming in.

Knowing all the circumstances ahead of time so you can plan...