Cottage Restaurant — Restaurant in Ayer

I worked here in 2021 and several things happened.

I got into a minor car accident while backing up my car to head out on a delivery. My car hit a car that was owned by the family running the neighboring store. They were very nice and understanding about it. The parking area behind the shops is absolutely horrid to pull in and out of. Theres no parking lines, there’s dumpsters in weird places, and blind spots all over. I had several other near-collisions during the three months I worked there. When I was exchanging insurance info with the owner of the car I backed into, the owner of the Cottage came outside and yelled at me for standing around talking to people when I was supposed to be going to deliver a pizza. When I explained what just happened, she asked me to just give the pizza to the other driver so he could deliver it. No consideration for the accident or for me. I had some kind of weird stalker situation going on. Someone came to the shop while I was out on a delivery and told one of the owners that I was “suicidal on Instagram” this was completely false. I don’t know who knew where I worked or why this person would tell my bosses that I was having thoughts of harming myself, but the boss refused to tell me who came in and said that about me. So now I don’t know who the crazy stalker is. I quit two weeks after the car accident when another delivery driver almost hit me head-on while he was leaving and I was entering the parking lot.

The food is okay. It’s not bad. But working here was unpleasant.

The woman who owns this place is extremely bad...

Tonight I ordered an eggplant parm sub to be delivered. When it got here 30 minutes after the time they said it was going to be delivered, the eggplant parm had no cheese. I called and the girl on the phone told me the cheese was on the bottom. I told her there was no cheese, and said I could take a picture for her if she wanted. She said she made it and knows it has cheese. She said there are cameras in the kitchen!! When I said there is definitely no cheese on this she hung up on me!!! What the hell is that?? I would have added photos to this review but I already have added my own cheese and am warming it in the oven right now.

So the owner actually just called me after posting this review. He yelled at me for posting it and said he had a picture of my sub with cheese. I stated again that it had no cheese. He said I didn’t post a photo because it actually have cheese. So even though I did add my own cheese, I had added it to the top. The girl on the phone had said it was on the bottom. So here is the photo of the bottom of my sub. No cheese. It’s not like I order food and then decide to write bad reviews about it! I’ve only ever written two reviews about anything ever and it has been about this restaurant. What terrible customer service, and even the owner calling me to yell at me and hang up on me!! ...

This is a small shop, kind of a hole in the wall. It's easy to miss as you pass, but worth a stop in. If I lived more locally, I would probably prefer take out or delivery, since the place is small and not much space for seating, but since I'm not local, we decided to eat in.

The environment is quaint, but a little outdated. You can see into the office while you eat, and the register is tucked awkwardly away from where the seating is. However, the old windows and repetitive pictures on the wall give it a feel of a little shop fallen out of the past. Ordering was also strange as there was no board with a menu, like most places, but instead just a take out menu on the wall.

However, the food? That was worth it. We got a small selection of foods to share, but the serving sizes were so large for what we paid that we couldn't finish it all. The calzone I got was one of the best I had, and a small left enough after I was done for two more meals. It can be reheated well, which is a bonus. The food alone is worth it. They don't offer fountain drinks, but most small shops like this don't, but they do have a decent selection of drinks on hand as well, better than most.

It's a great little spot, and if the environment isn't a bother, or you're bringing it home, this spot is a good one to grab a bite. Totally worth...