Pine House Cafe & Tavern — Restaurant in Alpine

My brother had gone to this cafe a couple of weeks ago, his comment where that the coffee was extremely good and the service was ok, but the manager/boss was horrible. Now, i work in the restraunt industry so i understand almost all there is about being bussy and all. So i walk in and im told i would have to wait to get some coffee to go, granted i am a very VERY patient person. Around 15 minutes pass, meanwhile they had just sat about 3 groups of people, i then ask once more politely, and im told to wait a little longer. Also, let me add that my dog is waiting in my car with my son. Another 15 minutes pass and i begin to get a tiny bit frustrated but dont let it show, i ask again and finally i get service. He then starts to pour me drip coffee and i stop him to tell him that i specifically asked for the specialty cherry coffee when i got there. He then tells me that he needs to find someone that knows how to work the expresso machine, which took another 5 to 10 minutes. He comes back with a couple of servers and they all say they are new and training and no one really knows how to use it. I then asked if i could make it (note-i just say it on the slight chance they might say yes and i was a worker at starbucks as a teen so i know expresso inside and out). The server said no but just as she said that she had found the instruction on how to make it. She then tries to make the shot, let me tell you, she didnt even know how to put the shaved beens into the expresso handle. The manager walked in and finally i thought i was getting my coffee, again i was waiting very patiently during this process. (Note- this manager had made my brothers coffee from the week before) she began to tell me that no one in the store knows how to make my coffee and then says that they are to busy to make me a coffee and began sitting more people in the store. At this time the manager basically kicked me out of the store and told me my money was no good there. So by this time i had been waiting for almost 45 minutes and my dog and kid are upset with me over the situation. I just suggest that whoever goes in there remember that i was denied service after a 45 minute wait while others got sat right away. Also let me add that i think they should train there servers before having them work alone, 4 servers and no one knows how to make an expresso shot, unexceptable. Lastly, if the manager is there dont expect good customer service , infact expect to be kicked out because there "too busy" no matter how long you have been waiting. Thank you...

The Management is super rude. It’s now a French restaurant. There used to be a trope about French customer service being some of the worst on earth, but from my experience all over France I never felt that way. After my dining experience here, I see where that trope comes from. The management was cold, careless, and disconnected. Bizarrely so, to the point where my husband and I thought the owner/server was acting. Like at Corvette diner when they try to be rude and it’s part of their whole stick to amuse you. But no, they were just that not nice. No humor or entertainment.

I asked the server if I can add avocado to my salad to which he responded as if I asked him if he can put caviar in my salad. “absolutely not, we do not have avocado here” he scolded me sternly. Alrighty then I’ll get a chicken sandwich please. He proceeds to bring me out a pulled pork sandwich instead. I told him I ordered chicken and I don’t eat pork. He rolled his eyes, grabbed the dish and walked away. He came back with the most sloppy, gross chicken sandwich I have seen in recent memory. The fries were so fried it hurt my stomach to eat them. The chicken looked like “chicken of the sea” that you would pull out of a can of cheap chicken, the tomato and lettuce were wilted & soggy.

Everything look like they pulled it out of a trashcan. I tried to force it down since we were kind of in a rush to move quickly, but I couldn’t do it. When we were paying our bill, we informed the server/owner of our experience. His response was “ That’s your opinion. We sell 1000 of these a day”…. Like OK just because you sell a lot of them doesn’t mean that they are good. Also, I doubt you have 1000 people coming by this sleepy mountain destination a day. Lol but Ok… needless to say I was severely disappointed because when this place was managed by other folks it was a cute place to stop and grab a bite....

This place must have had previous ownership that was better to warrant 4 stars. Total mess start to finish. There were 3 other couples in there with us and all of us were silently eating because it was so awkward. A bit of advice:

1. Don’t talk about the mistakes or things you’re out of in front of a restaurant full of patrons. Additionally, if your High School staff is going to yick-yak about the recent drama happening in their lives, If you’re going to do both of those things, can you humor us customers with some music?
2. Train your staff. Had no idea what the soups were and had no embarrassment over it. Had to go back to the kitchen to get descriptions when “sausage in broth” as a description didn’t cut it for my husband and I. Loudly gossiping, not attentive and just frankly seemed ditzy. We ordered soup and had to wait 10 mins for it. There were 11 ppl in there- including 3 staff. How is that a thing? Watched the couple next to us get their order messed up- she ordered no salt on the fries. The waitress rebuffed and said it wasn’t her fault- like she was the one offended and then threw the cook under the bus. Not an apology or acknowledgement. Yikes.
3. Something besides 50% of the entrees being burger related would be fantastic. Maybe get a smoker going outside with a brisket? You’ve got the perfect place for it.
4. Take down the immense amount of signage telling me what we can and can’t do in your restaurant. We’re humans who have some semblance of etiquette, not cavemen and cavewomen.

This place was a catastrophe.

Management- Do better. You have a gem on your hands and you’re not cutting it.

Potential Patrons- And if you’re thinking about going here, save yourself...