Village Inn — Restaurant in Aurora

Ok, first let me say, yes, I do realize it's Village Inn. And no, I don't come here for the service. But I would expect some semblance of hospitality. Things started off pretty good. The lady that sat is realized our server, who we'll call Joe, cause that's what his name is, was busy, so she took our drink order. +2 points for service. Then Joe came right behind her, introduced himself, and confirmed or drink order. +10 service points. Or drinks came out fairly quickly...nothing too fancy. A couple waters, an iced tea and two kids apple juices. Easy. We placed our food order and were on our way to what I thought was going to be an enjoyable, quick meal.

Joe brings out two smiley face pancakes for my little kids ahead of the rest of the food. Good call Joe. +10 more service points. Still doing very well at this point. Here's where it goes down hill...

Joe brings out the rest of the food, and forgets an order of pancakes. Not a huge deal. Stuff happens. We point it out, He brings them out. Good, right? Oops, nope. We ordered pumpkin pancakes. Based on Joe's recommendation. He brought regular pancakes. Ok, again stuff happens. We point it out. Joe's reaction is what made everything decline rapidly from here. Without really making eye contact, he sighs heavily, does a half eyeroll eerily similar to my teenage daughter (mind you Joe is a grown man) and says, "alright, I'll go back again and get them." Here's a tip for you Joe. You know how you prevent from, "going back again"? Bring the right thing The first time. Or maybe even the second time. Especially if you're upselling it. Bygones.

Let's continue, shall we. We eat our food, and in typical VI fashion, our bill, (which I always felt was the servers way of saying, "you probably shouldn't want anything else, cause it's doubtful you'll see me again") which was actually pretty good for the establishment. To Joe's credit, the pumpkin pancakes (if you get them) are actually delicious, as is the new pot roast sandwich. Back to the dropping off of the bill with the food comment...that's exactly what happened. Joe was never seen again, at least at our table. Sure, we saw him at other (new) tables, but he never came back to see if we needed refills, wanted pie, needed a box...nothing.

Fast forward 20 minutes AFTER we're all done eating, and in need of 2 to go boxes, still no Joe. So I get up, pay my bill, and proceed back towards the table. As I'm almost there, who do I see, but Joe, on his way to the young lady who's seated all alone at the table next to us (who he's already been to like 5 times To check on, mind you). Joe glances at our table and sees a little bit of a mess, and begins to make a comment about both the mess and my kids (who are 2 and 4, so naturally messy and destructive, but FAR less than the normal child at that age). I quickly contemplate letting him make the comment then publicly shaming and humiliating him for doing so, but realize I don't know what kind of day he's had, and also decide not to let this man further influence the way my day is going, so I loudly day, "sorry about that, my kids can be messy." Joe, oblivious to the world, apparently, says, "really, I can see", with a healthy amountof snark in his voice. My first thought is, "why did I have to take the high road??!??" But, since I was already there, I figured there was no sense in coming back down so I said, "can I get two to-go boxes and I'll be out of your hair." Good ol, Joe, not missing a beat, says...nothing. He walks away, and returns moments later with two boxes that he simply sets on the table, again with no words, and begins giving his attention to the young woman at the other table.

I hope your day gets better Joe. I truly do. Oh, the two stars? That's for the food, not the service. The service...

My family had frequented this location. We have young children and place take out orders often. Lately they seem to be having issues getting orders correct. Tonight we had additional issues. When I arrived at the store our order was gone, the counter clerk stated that it had been picked up. I told the clerk that we did not order delivery. The order was remade and I had to wait an additional 20 minutes.

My concerns are these. The clerk went to check with the manager before putting the order back in, which makes sense. At the time the manager was talking to two other people, I think training them. While I was waiting, the manager walked the two individuals to the front and started going over pies, knowing that I had issues with my order, and didn't say a word to me. Should he have, I don't know, it would have been nice. I thought it was a great example of poor customer service for his trainees.

After all that, when I got home we were missing a 4 dollar side of bacon, had a warm side of ranch with another order, extra pancakes that we did not order, and pie slices that looked about half the size they should.

Update:

I contacted the email listed in the response from management, here is the important part of their reply:

"Thanks for responding, Scott. I’m following up with upper management and assure you that they will see your comments and take the necessary steps. If you ever have any other comments or questions, please let me know."

Thank you so much guest relations, for your rapid response, and handling of my concerns!

Update:

I spoke to a manager trainee at this location, Kearstin, who happened to be one of the managers in training the night of my original posting. Kearstin was very polite and offered to make things right to get my business back. She also assured me that the front desk would be sure to double check orders they are bagging and keep pre-paid orders behind the counter. She also stated that the matter had been addressed with the manager...

This review makes me sad! This location use to be clean, staff friendly and delicious flavored food. Tonight I was craving a Denver omelette with sourdough toast. My 6 year old daughter wanted a vanilla milkshake and my husband ordered the chicken fried steak. Waiting for our order I noticed that everything I looked at as I waited for our order was absolutely disgusting! From the walls to the blinds to the lamp shade! I KNOW that they haven’t cleaned or wiped anything down. My spoon had crusted broccoli stuck to it from who ever used it before, so of course I set it aside. Our order came out what seemed like 30-45 mins and my daughters came first mind you a milkshake, I did the ‘mom’ test and tasted it. I was immediately grossed out! Paid 5$ for way watered down milk with a dab of whip cream to cover it up. Then my omelette came out had no flavor and more greasy onions than anything, even drenching it in Tabasco didn’t help. My toast was barely buttered, and my coffee wasn’t even warm let alone had a coffee flavor. My husbands mashed potatoes weren’t even warm. Our waiter was super nice and there were only two guys covering the floor even though I had seen a older grungier guy go back and forth twice from the front to the kitchen. The two younger waiters had managed the customers including waiting on tables, cleaning up tables and cashing customers out. I couldn’t be upset with our waiter because it’s not his fault that this village in is a total dump. I will never go back to that location EVER! My memories of this location were not what I witnessed tonight and what we paid for wasn’t not worth it. This location needs a DEEP clean from the ceiling to the walls to the booths and tables and a new cook with someone standing by the checkout helping the customers pay. I don’t recommend eating at that location. The more I think about it, it just makes me think how clean was the actual kitchen where they cook...