If you are looking for an organic breakfast, keep looking. As the lead server at Roadhouse Cafe for several months, I can tell you that the food is not organic or fresh, the employees are overworked, the cafe is understaffed, and the owner, Joan, is manipulative, unreliable, and disrespectful.
I saw Joan stock ~90% of the kitchen with groceries from Costco. The little organic food that she did buy, she bought in bulk and kept frozen for up to 6 months. The oatmeal is actually microwaved instant Quakers that costs you $6. The bacon is precooked. She used old spoiled fruit salads for the smoothies and would charge $7. I can only recommend the coffee (Pierce Brothers) and the bread that was baked there, although it was frozen as well.
The food suffered from inexperienced cooks who received minimal training, which resulted in embarrassingly poor food, both in presentation and taste. There were countless times where I felt I needed to apologize to the customers for the food I was serving, and when someone asked to see the owner to complain about the food, Joan would either not be available or tell me that it was my own responsibility to deal with unsatisfied customers. I worked during the weekdays and it was always just two employees: me and a cook. Once, on a busy Friday morning, the cook and I had to use cash from our own pockets because the register had only $11 at the beginning of the day. There was a full dining room and counter, with no one to wash the dishes piling up in the sink. Overwhelmed to the point of tears, I called the only number I had to ask Joan for help. She got back to me 3 hours later, as we were closing, with a text message.
She frequently denied responsibility, and took any problems out on the staff with violent acts and verbal abuse. She threw tantrums in front of both customers and staff, throwing dishes and yelling at employees with total recklessness. Regardless of how many duties I took on in addition to serving (wash dishes, take her customer complaints, phone in orders from suppliers, etc.), she never appreciated my effort. Instead, she berated and belittled me. In 5 years of serving experience, I have never been treated this way.
I was never provided with a W2 form; during my last week, Joan verbally asked me for my Social Security number. This made me uncomfortable at the time, and in retrospect I believe she was using illegal means to pay me. When I first started, the cook - who was on his way out due to the conditions of this job - told me that she had recently fired the woman who had my position before me. Shortly after she had me train a new woman, I was abruptly fired. I am still in touch with this woman, and learned that she was fired a few months later, only to be replaced with yet another girl. Joan always leaves the “Employees Wanted” sign outside, presumably because she never hires with the intention of keeping anyone on for long.
I am a HUGE fan of organic and all natural foods, which is the reason I originally took the job. I was appalled when I saw the practices that Joan has implemented at Roadhouse Cafe. If I had the financial means to leave right away, I would have. I would never want to take away anything from the few local organic farmers she did use. They are wonderful, but GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO GET THEIR FOOD. Do NOT support a business like this. At Roadhouse, you are NOT getting what you...
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