Mae's Cafe & Bakery — Restaurant in Bath

I would like to start by saying that I have worked in the restaurant industry for 16 years, in Boston, Nashville, and various cities in southern Maine. I’ve worked as both a server and bartender, but stepped in as a host and even manager on many occasions as well.

I understand that Mae’s is under new ownership, and today would have been my first time dining there since the ownership has changed. Today I arrived with a friend for breakfast at 10:30. Knowing it was a Sunday and would be busy, I planned to only stay if the wait was under an hour, as I was to work this afternoon. The male who appeared to be the host informed us the wait was “only about 30 minutes,” so we stayed and waited outside. We waited outside because the waiting area was packed inside with guests standing shoulder to shoulder. We came back in to check on the wait once after exactly 30 minutes, and we were told it would be another 10-15 mins, so back outside we went! The second time we came back in to check after only 10 minutes, and we were informed that our name was called but because we were outside our table was given away. I asked why the host hadn’t poked his head outside to call for us there and we were told by (who I can only guess was an owner or manager) that breakfast restaurants are very busy on Sundays and they were under-staffed. Having experience working in an under-staffed restaurant, I understood that this sometimes happens. I asked the woman (an owner/manager?) how much longer she thought we would have to wait for another table, to which she reiterated how busy they are on Sundays and mentioned that she was NOT a host so she did not want to give misleading information. I was quite appalled by the lack of communication and the attitude we seemed to receive after waiting (what ended up being an hour) for a table. I had seen a 2-top be cleaned and re-set, so I suggested to her that we might sit at that table. She replied that it doesn’t matter if a table is set, there may not be a server to cover that table. But if that same table was just cleaned off, that would suggest that the table WAS in a server’s section…. At this point (while still waiting) I feared we wouldn’t have a relaxing time and I felt that the situation had been handled so poorly that we decided to leave.

While waiting and then leaving I heard the woman (owner/manager?) tell two other parties that she was not the host so she couldn’t tell them how long the wait would be. If she was not the host and not the server, nor the busser, what was she doing there? In all my experience, owners and managers have always jumped in to host and even take tables/clean tables on busy days, especially when short staffed. Not only that, but a defensive attitude when dealing with waiting guests is extremely off-putting. I’m very disappointed with...

First off, the food was delicious! Homemade croissant breakfast sandwich with maybe the best home fries I’ve ever had. If it hadn’t been for those, this would be a 1- or 2-star review.

I understand getting breakfast on a Sunday isn’t something to do in a hurry, but the service seemed extra slow. We arrived at 12:30pm to a somewhat busy dining room. There were 5 open tables inside, but they hadn’t been cleared yet or weren’t being used for seating. After standing at the counter for a few minutes, staff came over and asked if we had been helped yet. We said no, party of 2, and he said it would be about a 10 minute wait, which it was. We were seated outside at a table that had been cleared but not cleaned - the host immediately cleaned it off, apologized, and told us our server would be right over. It took another 5 minutes for our server to come over. We ordered 2 coffees (which are $3 each with free refills - if your server cares enough to check and offer a refill), and 2 breakfast sandwiches.

After finishing our coffees, our food had still not arrived. We sat waiting with empty mugs for way too long before we finally got our waiter’s attention and asked for refills. (I am not a fast drinker, any time I go to breakfast, I still have most of my coffee left by the time someone comes around for refills. Not here, though.) About halfway through our second cups of coffee, our food finally came out - at minimum 35 minutes after we placed our order.

The food was delicious BUT also overpriced. 2 coffees and 2 breakfast sandwiches cost $35 (pre-tax), and the portions were smaller than expected. The S.T.A.C. (Spinach, tomato, avocado and cheese) breakfast sandwich had one scrambled egg, a thin slice of tomato, about 4 wilted spinach leaves, a slice of cheese, and the thinnest slice of avocado I’ve ever seen at a restaurant, with a small portion of home fries on the side, all for $15.

The bathroom was insanely disgusting. The trash was overflowing with dirty paper towels, some looked like they came from a dirty diaper, and there were pieces of toilet paper and paper towels all over the floor. It was close to closing time by the time I went up there, but my guess is the bathroom hadn’t been cleaned all day.

While the food was great, overall I am disappointed in the speed of service and cleanliness of the place. Save yourself some frustration and order food to-go rather than dining in. And make sure you get...

I am emailing regarding the Bridal Shower my daughter and I recently hosted at Mae’s on October 21, 2023 in the Loft. I have struggled with sending a message but have decided that if it was my business I would want to know concerns of the customers.

The first concern was the communication while trying to schedule the event. It was frustrating to not be able to contact anyone to work on the details without either having to leave a message and wait for a return call 1-2 days later or to send an email and wait 1-2 days for a response. When the details were ironed out regarding the number of guests, etc. as well as scheduled a time to be able to decorate it appears the information was not communicated to staff. When we arrived to decorate, the woman we worked with was surprised to see us. She didn’t know we were coming Friday at 11:00 to decorate and was not prepared for us. (The shower was being held Saturday morning at 10 a.m.). We helped carry a table and chairs up to the Loft to set up. Also, she was expecting 35 guests not 30 as had been confirmed in an email. Again, it appeared information on details had not been shared. I did confirm with her that we expected 30 guests. We did a set up for 30 guests and had one empty seat. We were charged for 35 guests.

A second concern was with the cleanliness of the room. A few decorations had been placed on the bar before we realized it was all sticky. We removed the decorations and cleaned the bar. Also, the chairs had a healthy layer of dust on them. We requested a bucket of water and a couple of rags so they could be wiped down. We were given a bucket with rags and wiped the chairs down ourselves along with a few other areas. We also used the vacuum in the room to clean the floor. The stairway leading to the Loft could have used a vacuum as well.

The third concern was with the presentation of the food. The quiches were placed on the table with cookie sheets under them. The fruit salad consisted of a plate with some cut up cantalope, pineapple and a handful of grapes scattered across the top. There was nothing appealing about the food presentation. This was not the quality we expected.

We were really disappointed with the customer service, food presentation and cleanliness of the venue. I would be hesitant to provide a recommendation to anyone.

Note: No response was received from the restaurant...