The Grove Cafe — Restaurant in Ames

We will never go back. When we arrived, we waited about 15 minutes(not bad) for a large booth next to the window, as we were having 3 other people join us. When the people that were sitting there got up, we waited for the server to clear the table. As we were getting ready to sit down, the manager(an older man), ran over to us, this was our conversation: Manager, "Um, do you guys have more people joining you?" Me, "Yes, we have a few other people showing up, they should be here shortly." Manager, "Well, you can only sit here if they are going to be here within 5minutes. I had a table of people sit here a few days ago for 20 minutes before their friends showed up, and I got burned because I could have had a larger group there in that time." Me, "I understand, they are just parking there car right now, and will be coming in." Manager, "Well, who is it? Your mother?" Me, "No sir, people from our church." Manager, "Ok, but if they aren't here in 5 minutes, I'll ask, you to leave." (he walks away. We order our meals, and get our food(it was decent, but nothing special). As the server was clearing our plates and bringing us more coffee and hot tea, the manager walks over to our table and ASKS US TO LEAVE! He stated that he saw we were done eating, and he had a 5 top waiting to sit, so if we could "hurry up and slam our teas and coffees it would be appreciated".... UMM HELLO?!?!? We will NEVER go back there ever again... how rude! I can see how the regulars at this place may like the small town feel it has, but apparently you have to be friends with the staff to be treated with respect. They will never get our business again, and we will never recommend the place to anyone looking for a cafe place in town. They really need to rethink about the way they treat people... I felt bullied and unwelcomed. I'de rather go to Perkins or...

This was easily one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had.

We were sat at a dirty table to start -- not a good sign -- and things only went downhill from there. Our waitress barely came by, and I didn't get a refill until the very end of the meal, but she didn't fill up anyone else's water at the table????

The restaurant itself was dirty -- not just a little messy, but truly unclean. As for the food? It looked and tasted like someone with no real cooking experience decided to open a restaurant out of their college apartment. The eggs weren't cooked how I ordered, the presentation was sloppy, and nothing had any redeeming quality.

When the food finally came out, I'm fairly certain it was the owner who brought it -- and his attitude was shockingly rude and condescending. My mom and I were sharing a meal (a perfectly normal thing to do), and instead of just handing us our food, he made a big deal out of it in a demeaning way. Then, when my friend got her plate, he turned back to us and smugly said, "That's how you're supposed to do it." I can look past slow service, a dirty table, or even food not cooked perfectly -- but the way the owner treated us was absolutely unacceptable.

Overall, between the unclean environment, dismissive service, and the owner's condescending behavior, this place is a hard pass. Save your money and go literally anywhere else.

ALSO HIS SHIRT WAS SO STUPID! It said “it’s just like home, you don’t always get what you want”

Well next time I’m going to...

My significant other and I went to the grove this morning for breakfast. There was a line into the diner so we patiently waited in line. Some seats opened at the bar and the party in front of us told us to go ahead and take the seats. The waitress proceeded to make a scene in front of the whole diner addressing the larger party and expressing that they shouldve sat down instead of us. The female waiteress was extremely rude and demanded that we give our order after 30 seconds of sitting down. She stood there and stared my boyfriend down while he was trying to look at the menu. The waitress physically put her hands on the menu while my boyfriend was ordering to try to speed him up. At this point we were ready to leave. We sat quietly and ate our food as we watch our waitress talk to another waitress and talk poorly of other guests in the diner. Extremely unprocessional and horrible service. We will NEVER be...