Mimi's Cafe — Restaurant in Arlington

Visiting Mimi's for the first time on Mother's Day was a mixed experience. Knowing how busy the day would be I had researched in advance where to take my family for Mother's Day. Based on their menu and reservation availability on the Open Table app we decided on Mimi's. Set the appointment for 230 pm and was very pleasantly surprised when we arrived that there was no issue at all for our party and we were seated right away. This of course is a huge 👍 for anyone that hates going out on busy holidays so that earns a star. After sitting we immediately noticed that the menus we received lacked ALL the options we were looking forward to when researching where we would eat, I approached the front asking for a full menu only to be told they had a limited menu for the day. This was very upsetting since no where on their website or inside the establishment was it stated there would be a VERY limited menu of $34 dollar per person 3 "course" meal that i believe has only 8 entree options with a salad/soup and choice of dessert. Make no mistake this was a very condensed menu of items they already serve on their normal menu, this was not a "special mother's Day only menu" and although I have never visited Mimi's before I can't imagine people were receiving anything special including price wise for these items. More upsetting was scanning the dining room and seeing other patrons eating breakfast/other entree items that were suddenly not being offered. The waiter stated the condensed menu was for people seated after 2pm. After discussing our lack of options considering the wait time required at any other establishment on this day, my party decided to stay and disappointedly order from the unwanted choices available. Myself, I decided I would prefer not to eat at all than to be forced to pay almost 40 Dollars per person for food I had no interest in. After around 5-10 minutes my party received their soup/salad and a very nice professional manager approached me to apologize and state that everything on their menu was fully available to order and she was sorry about any confusion and if we were in anyway disappointed. (Another star for the overall professionalism and great attitude of the manager and staff) I asked about the condensed menu and 2 pm cut off time I was told about, seemed strange for a restaurant that advertises an all day breakfast menu and asked why any holiday change would not be stated on the website. She stated she wasn't sure why. So was it a deceitful corporate policy or a misunderstanding by the staff?? Not sure but I was told that I could order from their normal menu and did so myself with a lil guilt for the rest of my party who had already ordered and admitted had they known they would have followed my lead. Sometimes the squeaky wheel...... However even though my party was disappointed not to have gotten the entrees they hoped for they all said the food they were forced to choose was cooked well and was overall satisfying. So a star there too. So overall 3 stars but as a breakfast lover I would try again on another occasion. Just to be clear I want it to be known the mother's Day meal promotion and it's lack of options wasn't something that only bothered my group as I noticed what seemed like every party that was seated after us in our area seemed to make the same complaint and were granted full menus almost immediately. So if this was a corporate decision I hope in the future they do a much better job of advertising any limitations they plan for their holiday menus. For the staff, keep up...

A Disappointing Dining Experience from Start to Finish

What was supposed to be a pleasant’s Mother’s Day dinner turned into a string of disappointments that left us more annoyed than satisfied. From the moment we stepped into the restaurant, the service was disorganized, and the staff made little effort to make guests feel welcome.

We waited nearly over 40 minutes just to be acknowledged, even although we had a reservation. When we were finally seated, the host didn’t say a word—just dropped menus on the table and walked off. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Our server showed no interest in providing basic hospitality. No smile, no greeting, no recommendations—just an impatient “What do you want?” when she came around. We had a few questions about the menu, but she gave short, dismissive answers as if we were bothering her. At one point, she even rolled her eyes when we asked if a dish could be made without a certain ingredient. It felt like we were being rushed out rather than served.

When the food finally arrived (after another long wait), it was a letdown in every possible way. My dish was lukewarm, underseasoned, and looked nothing like the description. The meat was overcooked and dry, and the side vegetables were soggy. My companion’s meal was no better—bland, poorly plated, and barely warm. We flagged down the server to raise our concerns, but she seemed uninterested and offered no apology, replacement, or even acknowledgment of the issue.

We also noticed several hygiene red flags. Tables around us hadn’t been cleared promptly, and there were food remnants on the floor that staff ignored the entire time we were there. It was clear that cleanliness and basic upkeep weren’t priorities.

To top it all off, the bill was incorrect. We were charged for an extra item we never ordered. When we pointed this out, the server rolled her eyes again and acted like we were being difficult. After some back and forth, they finally removed it, but with no apology—just a curt “fine” and a revised bill tossed on the table.

The worst part wasn’t even the food—it was the attitude. Every step of the way, the staff treated us like we were a nuisance instead of paying customers. No professionalism, no courtesy, and no interest in resolving any of the issues. It felt like they were doing us a favor by letting us eat there.

In short: terrible service, indifferent staff, bad food, and a total lack of respect for customers. I won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. There are plenty of better options where your time, money, and patience will actually be...

Walking into the establishment was perfect, my wife and I were greeted, quickly and seated. The server came over, asked for our drinks orders, gave us time to look over the menu, then came back to take our orders. Once the drinks were ready, Omar took our orders, was patient and accommodating to our meals. The experience started to go negative, when we realized he has yet to come back to do a follow up on if our food was correct or ok. Omar never returned to refill our glasses of water, or to even ask if we needed anything. Mean while, as I wipe my mouth with the napkins from under the glasses of water, he would always ask the table behind us how is your meal? My wife stated "he would smile and refill their drinks, just was overall more pleasant and gracious to the customers behind us". Omar never smiled once, didn't ask us how was our meal, never refilled the glasses, he didn't even speak. Now the sad part is, I hate to bring up Race, but my wife and I are brown skinned, Omar is Hispanic, and the table behind us was a Hispanic family. So we took it as being racially profiled. This is the first time ever we have eaten at an establishment, and the server never returned to our table once, after the food was served, to check on us, or accommodate us with napkins and a refill of water. But Omar speedily kept by passing us to serve the table behind us. I did not tip. Because he didn't do anything. He just brought us our food and then took all our dishware off the table silently, once we finished. He didn't even ask us how was our meal... no communication period. Not even eye contact. I wrote on the merchant receipt, NONE in the tip area... I also stated on the receipt, " the service was terrible, didn't feel welcomed, but the food was awesome". It was a strange situation to be in, because we received [no customer service at all]. But he smiled, spoke, went above and beyond for the table behind us; but with us NOTHING. I'm really trying not to make this about race, but there is nothing else that makes sense other than being racially profiled. I just wanted to give you a heads up about OMAR. It should be his goal, EVERYDAY to provide exceptional customer service to EVERY GUEST, EVERY DAY, NO MATTER THE ETHNICITY, OR...