Red River Cafe — Restaurant in Austin

We stopped here on our way back to DFW from San Antonio. Everyone was pleasant and the food was fine. We wanted to go a few minutes up the road to check out the thrift stores nearby and our server told us that would be okay and we could leave one of our cars in the parking lot.

It was around 3pm and the sign inside said they closed at 4pm so we headed out in my car with plenty of time to spare. By the time we got back, around 4:05pm, all the cars in the lot were gone, including my girlfriend's which had been towed. 5 minutes after they closed.

After calling the next day, they now claim no server told us we could leave our car there and that they close at 3pm despite the sign inside the restaurant saying their new hours as of August 11 have them close at 4pm.

We know it was towed minutes before we showed back up because we saw it getting dropped off at the tow lot as we were pulling up to get it released.

So either: A) our car was towed FIVE MINUTES after close. or B) our car was towed an hour after close, which means it wasn't affecting business.

The only thing they could offer after calling a few times is a gift card to their restaurant that's 4 hours away from us. Do not ever park here, it's not worth risking the horribly predatory contract they have with the towing company that seems to tow people just for the love of the game and no actual practical reason.

EDIT: I can't seem to reply to the reply to this so I'll just further clarify here that the business is lying. I was told over the phone they have a contract with the towing company (a partnership) and that no trash pickup was happening the day the car was towed so there was no reason to tow the car.

Also to claim that our car was left there at 1 PM is frankly insane. We weren't even in Austin at 1 PM, let alone ready to leave the restaurant. We left at around 3 and returned around 4:05 (minutes after you closed according to the signs inside your restaurant). Obviously none of your servers are going to tell the truth, that one of them told us we could leave our car there for a bit, but at the very least you can check the cameras you kept claiming you have and see that the timeline your presenting is...

before you go here, know you are better off parking in the street if you intend to keep your car even a millisecond after close there, unless you would like to shill out hundreds of dollars you don’t have to untow your car you are in the middle of road tripping home in. my friends and i made the horrible mistake of stopping and dining here and being PAID GUESTS who left our car a little past close. what we didn’t know is their policy on towing is that they are partnered with a tow company that will show up the minute they’re closed and tow any car in their lot, paying customer or not. they tried to argue on the phone they close at 3 per the google maps, even though we read a sign indoors saying the restaurants new hours were 4pm. either way, this restaurant and the tow company are a partnered duo of greed who probably share a cut of money per car towed which led them to do this to a PAYING CUSTOMER. my towing paper says it was towed for “management request” and my car was processed in the lot by 4:20. the towing company was 15 minutes from the restaurant. you do the math that they didn’t even give five minute before my car was whisked away. inconsiderate and greedy people with no sympathy. will never come back here again if i end...

Showed up at 11 AM, one person was there. Guy took my order of chicken fried steak, veggies and a salad. He said ok. When he brought the food out, he gave me chicken fried steak and fries. When I said I didn't order the fries and wanted veggies, he said there not on the menu. Thanks for not telling me, maybe you should of said that when I ordered. Then I couldn't get the salad, because the lettuce was bad. That's fine and all, but why did you wait until after you brought out the steak? I was asked if everything was ok and I said no. I paid and left and all I got was , I'm sorry. You wasted my time and money and just don't care!**Thank you for getting back. I do appreciate the refund. I'm sorry about the situation overall. Thank you, but I don't plan on making it back any time soon, perhaps at a later time. I wish you the...