Sugar Shack Diner — Restaurant in Altoona

Got my order completely wrong and then the owner told me that it was my fault because I am used to fast food. I asked what he meant and he proceeded to tell me that real restaurants serve burgers the way that they want. I asked for clarification and he said that no restaurants actually put sauces on food that you order. That is what the salt, peper, ketchup, and mustard are for on the table. So he purposely messed up my order because he already had a defense set up to respond to me....... He literally wanted to argue with me over the fact I should have to pick off an extra topping that I did not want on my burger in the first place. Because it is served the way that he wants it to and that me saying I didn't want onions did not matter. I had asked for mayo and the waitress came back with some several minutes later and didn't apologize for the burger not being the way I want. She found time to let him know I was unhappy because he acknowled the fact that he read what I wanted on my burger but chose to ignore my order. Obviously he has never left the small town I was visiting because Actual restaurants make your food to order. There is no seasonings or ketchup at your table because the food is made to your liking. Maybe he is confusing fine dining with perkins or culvers, but i will never know because i will not be back. You also do not argue with your customers in front of their family. That made this interaction even stranger. By this time my family was almost done eating, there was no point to make another. Either way my fiancé family lives in this area and they said this place used to be pretty good. But now they moved to a different location and their main regular clientele are senior citizens who come for the liver and onions. I wish I could have stopped in back then because I would have given this place a better rating. But as of now, if your looking for bland food this is the place to go. The milkshakes we tried were okay, but the strawberry is not reccomended. Over half its contents was unblended pureed preserves. They did have the local football games on so might serve as a possible place to watch the game and have a soda or appetizer. Only memorable thing was the mozzarella sticks and that was because they were still edible unlike half the over cooked...

Prior to the owner change I loved this place. However, last night on 10/16/13 I realized just how much the new owners want this place to fail. I walked in at 6:50 p.m. with my wife and daughter. The older woman at the front counter advised me it was full service and to take a seat and someone would be out to help me. There was only 2 other tables and one had their food. The young woman serving the tables came out after about 5 minutes of sitting at our table to drop off waters and take the order of the table that arrived before us. This took about 10 minutes. Seeing she was in high school I tried to give her the benefit of being young. But, after watching the older woman who I can only assume was the owner stand up front and talk to someone waiting for a to go order, then sit and chat, and lets face it not do anything I decided it was time to leave. As I left the older woman had the nerve to say to me thank you for coming in and I hope you enjoyed the food.

Few things for you as I am an Business Major and Finance Minor. if you own a business you work, you work until the door closes. talking to a customer is important but when you have people waiting to be served and the to go order is being cooked you work. Only owners who do not do anything fail, I have noticed your volume of customers has gone down hill since the change of ownership and now I know why. Walk out to tables and ask how things are. Lastly, you need at least one other older worker that can stay past 7 pm. Every server being under age does not help your situation.

I will never be back or tell anyone to go here. I can't imagine the service if it is actually busy and it was that slow...

Price: Around $4 for most items. Expect to spend $7 to $10 per person if you go the Item/fries/drink route for everyone.

Portion: Matches price accordingly.

Taste: A little bland. If you're "anti-salt", you'll love this place as nothing was heavily salted. Breaded items desperately need seasoning. Restaurants typically bury bland food in salt to make it "taste good"...but not the Sugar Shack, they just serve it to you bland...I added salt/pepper, buried it (tenderloin) in condiments and it was actually pretty tasty.

Cleanliness/Decor: looked great and appeared clean...bathrooms looked good to.

Service: Good job, food came out fast and flaming hot! It was definitely "made to order". Help are real people with a personality and they actually smile:)

Summary: Sugar Shacks food is better than Corporate "Drive Thru" food, but falls short of a Chain Restaurant (Say Applebees). Appears to be locally owned (I like to support locals) and the owners appear to be involved and still care about the business. I would eat there again.

Suggestions for improvement: Breaded/fried coating/seasoning is too bland; time to up your game on flavor. It's really not that hard...incorporating a little "Famous Dave's Steakburger" seasoning into the breading mix would be be a huge...