TJ's Bagel Basket — Restaurant in Ankeny

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! If I could give negative stars I would. I have been going here for years. Stopped in this morning to leave an order to pick up in the morning for breakfast prior to my daughters wedding. I had it all written out in detail with my name, number and a note saying I'd pickup at 7:30 am, I paid for it and left. About 20 minutes later I get a call from a very rude woman telling me they don't accept orders like this, Saturdays are there busiest days. I told her I thought she'd prefer notice than having me at her door at 7 am, with the same order. They open at 7am and the order was for 2 dozen bagel bites and 5 breakfast sandwiches. She proceeded to tell me she didn't know who I was and they don't take orders like this. I noted on one sandwich that the girl had a peanut allergy and she said they could not accommodate that, so I told her to drop that sandwich and we'd get her something somewhere else. When she again told me Saturdays were there busiest day, they don't take orders like this, and she would not guarantee when this order would be done. I asked her if she wanted me to come back so they could credit be and cancel the order and she said no and proceeded to hang up on me. I called back and cancelled the order, spoke with the manager and he said ok and offered no apology. As on yet I have not received that credit back on my credit card. I will not be back and will encourage anyone I know not to do business there, I took my order elsewhere and they were more than happy...

As a long-time resident of Ankeny, CJ's had always been a go-to for brunch. Visted about a month ago with my family. It had been a while since I last visited, that being before the name/ownership change and I wanted to revisit an old favorite.

We all came away from that last visit feeling extremely let down. From service to food quality even to menu inconsistencies, it was absolutely disappointing. The coffee was decent, nothing special. My bagelwich came with ONE slice of deli turkey, not even folded over to at least give the illusion of a whole serving, lettuce that was just starting to go bad, and the bagel itself was stale. I also asked for it to be toasted, which it was not, but maybe that was a fault on my end. My other family members had similar issues with their orders. I'm sure the bagel bites are still good, we didn't order any that time but honestly, they're probably the only thing that keeps people coming back.

Maybe things have gotten better since then, maybe it was just an off day, but I'm hesitant to return. I suppose I may be slightly biased since I got to experience CJ's in its golden age, but if you're going to take over and 'continue' the business, at least do it right. Or maybe in this case just stick to the...

First off, I'll say that we used to love CJs and have been going there for a few years. It is always slow, but as long as you aren't in a hurry, it is fine. Today, we tried to go there for Fathers Day. My dad has diabetes so tries to limit the carbs by having them cut the bagel like a big mac and removing the middle piece...absolutely no problem (they always do it for him at Bruggers too...it is a thing for low carb people). Today, the girl taking the order wasn't getting it and another lady stepped in and refused to do that because it was Fathers Day and they were "busy" (there was maybe 2 people behind us and an entire other register running so we weren't holding anybody up trying to explain this....and it is one more freaking cut of the bagel if you take the time to listen). I saw a manager walk by that had done it for us before, so I asked to talk to her...this was apparently offensive and this lady said that she was the OWNER and they wouldn't be doing that. Looking at other reviews, this seems to be a theme recently regarding a rude lady refusing orders. Sad to say that we won't be back. Pathetic excuse for a small...