Altoona Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Altoona

This was one of the worst breakfasts I had in awhile. Of course, I've been here before and although I've never been impressed with the service, the food was always decent. That was not the case today. I normally get the Julian Eggs Benedict but after being told they were out of a main ingrediant had to decide on something different. So I went with the California Skillet. The food came out quickly which normally is a plus but not today since my entire meal was under cooked. The hashbrowns had absolutely no color. Looked liked they were made in a microwave. Literally like eating potato paste. My poached eggs were slightly undone which I could have lived with if the rest of my dish was actually hot when it came to the table to add additional heat/cook time. However since my dish was only slightly warm, there was no additional heat to help adjust the eggs. Then, I see the sourdough "toast" and realize that they gave me nothing more than warm bread. Toast is literally the carmelization of surgar in bread which means it should have a medium brown, even coloring throughout. This bread had the color of sand. Ok, so my meal is not correct, what gives this a 1 star rating is the lack of awareness by the service. The waitress within 2 min of getting our food drops off the check. She didn't ask if our food was ok. Literally did a drive by check off. Meanwhile, I'm stuck with a dish that is unedible while my other parties are so hungry they don't care. Worst part is I counted how many times the staff walked by, clearly looking at my untouched plates and making eye contact. It was 7, 7 times they completely ignored the fact they knew something was wrong. Had it been 1, I could have had the meal redone and enjoyed with my group. Even my group was now frustrated with the lack of actual customer service. Sadly, my group also found a piece of paper, likely parchment from the bacon in his meal, but he is too kind to say anything. After 20 min of being ignored the server finally asked if I wanted a box. Of course not, and explained why. Yes, she took the cost of my meal off, which, good for her. But I shouldn't have these issues at a place that is known for their quality. There needs to be serious front and back house training. So much potential, just not worth the time and effort for the...

Staff was very friendly and servers were on top of everything, even while they had pretty much every table full of people. Kitchen moved food out very fast as well.

I ordered the California skillet w/ eggs over easy. It was all cooked to perfection. I'd get it again when I'm in the area.

One person I was dining with had fries with their order. Asked if I could try for the sake of knowing, even though I knew with just one glance at them. This place has those good fries. You know what I'm talking about. Crispy, thin exterior, but a warm, fluffy interior. I call'em Double stuff shoestring premium style.

The wife had biscuits and gravy that I tried a couple bites of. Honestly, the biscuit left more to be desired. Texture was great, just had no flavor to them. Personally I thought the gravy needed more salt or seasoning too. So it was a pretty flavorless biscuit topped with a barely more flavored gravy.

They cooked the bacon on the less crispy side, which I personally prefer if I'm eating bacon, and they were nice big strips of bacon too.

My friend's burger smelled fantastic, almost to the point I doubted my choice, the California skillet.

Then I took the first bite of my skillet and my doubts melted away into bliss. I knew I made the right choice. So many different flavors. No two bites were the same, yet every bite was amazing. When I was done, I tried using the toast to soak up the remnants of my tasty dish. In the end, My taste buds were asking for more but, alas, my stomach was too full.

I'm not from the area, and I was skeptical of how the service would be when Google maps listed the place "as busy as it gets" but, I'm glad we stuck with the decision. After we dined, I now had an understanding as to why the place was so busy.

A friendly, efficient, smooth running staff with excellent teamwork. A kitchen that is able to keep up with even the busiest conditions while sending out great quality food. Why wouldn't the crowds keep coming back?

Only room for improvement, Maybe just tweak the biscuit and/or gravy recipe very slightly. Or maybe we just had a bland batch. Or Maybe that's why there's salt and pepper set on the table.

Much love, this place will be in my thoughts when we're in the...

This place deserves a 9.5 out of 10 after I visited this place for the first time with the intent of leaving a review for Google maps. Not only was I surprised with how well the food was, but the customer service along with the environment was amazing.

Food: An absolute 9 out of 10. It was very "home made" like and had an extremely large selection of different styles of food. Another benefit was their ala cart section where for a low price you can add almost whatever you want.

Customer Service: Definitely a 10 out of 10. While the servers where extremely friendly, helpful, and always there when you needed someone, the best thing about them was their speed. While they were able to provide a quick friendly conversation about their food, weather, almost anything, yet they were extremely quick and didn't sit around and chat all day.

Environment: 8.5 out of 10. Their name "Altoona Family Restaurant" was exactly fitting to the hue one feels when inside. While it was very family filled, and somewhat warming, it was a little packed and things were constantly moving. This may seem unpleasant, but it is extremely nice simply because there is plenty of room to sit and enjoy a personal conversation, without having to shout, while also not having to worry about getting bumped or run into while enjoying their food.

Prices: 10 out of 10. Their prices are amazing. What one gets is much much more than what one pays. An example would be a Western omelette (approx. 3inchs wide, 10inches long, and 1.5inches thick), Hash-browns (approx. the same size as the omelette), and two pancakes (approx. 6inches in diameter) all for only $6.69. This is just one example of the amazing deals they have.

Negatives: The only two negative things I have with the "Altoona Family Restaurant" are 1; It is always filled with loads of families that all are enjoying the amazing food, and 2; It was so good and I was to full to eat everything they had twice.

Overall: A 9.5 out of 10. Again it is cheap, has amazing service and atmosphere, and provides some of the best "home-made" style food one can have in the Eau...