The Cenacle Bistro — Restaurant in Austell

I was anticipating an overall great experience because a friend of mine really hyped up this restaurant, from the menu choices, to the atmosphere, and the good food. However, I was greatly disappointed from the moment we walked in the door. Even though no one was waiting for a table when we walked in, the waitress walked by us at least 4 times before she even greeted us. Then when she finally came to us, she directed us to a table and proceeded to walk off. She didn't take a drink order or offer a menu. There were only 5 tables being used, so it was far from busy.

We sat for 15 minutes before she decided to come back to ask us what we wanted to drink. We ordered an orange juice and a water with extra lemons. We never received a menu and after looking around the restaurant, I noticed there weren't any menus anywhere. So I just looked around to see what other patrons were eating and chose my meal based on what I saw on a stranger's plate.

Additionally, as more people came in, their orders were promptly taken and 3 tables that came in AFTER us received their drinks AND food, yet we ended up waiting even longer without any updates or any type of interaction from the waitress. We attempted to get her attention numerous times but were ignored until we asked the young lady behind the counter for the status of our food. At this point we'd been sitting for about an hour and not once did our waitress come check on us or check the status of our food. And the one time that she did come to the table, she had a nasty attitude, as if what I was inquiring about was getting on her nerves. Yet, she was laughing and smiling with other customers that she seated. Now we only ordered a meal with waffles, eggs, & bacon and a vegan omelette. Both are relatively simple dishes to make, so I'm unsure as to why our food took so long to make it to our table.

I normally don't leave bad reviews, I just won't ever go back to a restaurant where I received poor service. But this was necessary because I came from out of town and this restaurant is one of the FIRST places where we chose to have breakfast. So to be met with this level of poor service from the beginning to the end was disheartening.

My advice when hiring front of the house staff: find people who support your mission about offering great service because the waitress that you had working Monday morning, June 30th around 11am was a horrible representation of your restaurant and I will not...

Everything was good..my fiancé and I had the shrimp and grits (grits topped with sautéed shrimp, chopped onions, green peppers, beef sausage , grated parmesan cheese and alfredo sauce). Came with a side of toast of your choice (white, wheat, or rye). I choose wheat. I also ordered a side of their hashbrown casserole and their honey chicken biscuit. ( biscuit w/ fried egg with cheese, fried chicken, and honey drizzled on inside of the biscuit). My fiancé had the breakfast platter, which consisted of 2 pancakes (from choice of pancakes, French toast, or waffles) bacon (or other choices of meat) and 2 fried eggs (or how you want it) and a side of the hash brown casserole. I also got a slice of red velvet cake to go. So, the shrimp and grits. It was good. The grits were creamy, and the shrimp was seasoned nicely. The veggies had a good sauté to them. But I could barely taste the beef sausage.It was just different, not in a bad way, though. I guess because I never had shrimp and grits with alfredo sauce and grated parmesan cheese. So it kind of threw me off. The hashbrown casserole was decent. It might have been better if it wasn't for the fact that it was cold. The cheese on top was barely melted, and I guessed it had a very slight melt on top because of the heat lamp it possibly was put under before being served to our table. The honey chicken biscuit was good. The chicken meat lacked seasoning and also in the breading, but the meat was tender. The egg was cooked nicely, and the biscuit was DELICIOUS. My fiancé enjoyed his breakfast platter. He said his egg was cooked right (fried over well), and he liked the beef sausage and his pancakes( I tried his sausage, tasted exactly like hillshire farms beef smoked sausage links, so it was ok to me and I tried a bite of his pancake, it was fluffy an DELICIOUS).. he least liked the hashbrown casserole because his was cold as well, and it had a sweetness to it that threw him off since he's used to a savory hashbrown casserole as am I. I would have given them 5 stars if it wasn't for the cold hashbrowns, the lack of flavor in the sausage in my shrimp and grits and seasoning on the chicken (side note, I did take the chicken off the biscuit, so I can taste the chicken on its own). Our server was friendly, and the atmosphere was good. All in all, we would definitely go back to try their lunch and/or their soul food ( soul food only sold on Sundays). Oh, the red velvet cake I rate a,...

2nd Visit, Hope 3rd Time Will Manifest Organizational Growth

My first visit to Cenacle was in the summer with members of my prayer group. We were happy to find a place open during the pandemic. The decor is warm and inviting and the staff were nice. The five of us placed our orders at the same time. The orders varied from full meals to two ladies who just had a biscuit and the other a croissant sandwich. After 20 minutes the meal orders came out but to our dismay the single biscuit order and sandwich took over an hour. As we sat waiting for the single biscuit order I observed that there were more people sitting waiting than eating or leaving with food. This speaks to the level of staffing and organization of the kitchen. I also suspect that a significant amount of the food is microwaved, not cooked to order (could be wrong). I decided to give the bistro another visit last week and thought I'd just get a coffee beverage. While the restaurant was not crowded like it was during my initial visit I noticed the same - more people sitting waiting on food than eating or leaving with their orders. This time I noticed signs placed imploring people to be patient that it was not a "fast food restaurant" (see photo). The signs were tacky and a disappointment. Displays like this are evidence that customers have pointed out the kitchen organization and management issues that manifest in slow return on orders. The sign shows that rather than listening to customer concerns and quietly addressing them, the management has chosen to deflect issues back onto the customer. I was so disappointed to see this. Its unprofessional and its gaslighting your potential business base into excusing ineptness in your operation. I was also disappointed by my Frappuccino which contained more ice than coffee (in 5 minutes it melted into a snowcone ball with all the flavoring missing). My hope is that they will work on getting the coffee beverages right and out efficiently (that's the first half of their name!) then work on kitchen organization to develop a sound system of getting orders into the kitchen and out on time. I will drop in for a 3rd visit in a few months. Hopefully it will not...