Main St. Cafe — Restaurant in Belleville

My mom and I like to go out to breakfast on Sundays, it’s a tradition that we just kind of picked up over the last few months and after going to all of the breakfast chains I decided to show her a restaurant that I had ordered from before and I thought was really good and to top it all off they sold grits which is a big yes in our family.

As soon as we sat down at a table a lady with short hair and glasses whom is standing in front of our table talking to another guest tosses the menus on the table without saying a word to us about it. We order our food from another waitress and wait for it to arrive, when they brought us our food, I started to put butter and salt in my grits and I noticed that I had a hair in my grits which was really no big deal except after that I really didn’t want the grits anymore. My mom flagged down this same waitress from before trying to tell her we found a hair in the grits but it was okay we just didn’t want them anymore. The lady tells us “I’m not your server but I’ll get her for you” with the nastiest look in her face. She then comes back to the table with more grits, she had turned around and walked away before my mom said no more grits. When my mom asked her why she had such an attitude she said she didn’t have an attitude, she was “just busy”. I work in food service as a manager and I can tell you, this is not what you say to a customer after you’ve already made them mad or even at all. We are paying for a service. After the incident I saw her walk to the check out stand and point at us from across the room discussing the incident with her coworkers. The discussion part I understood but pointing at me from across the room where I can see you is absolutely nuts. The three people sitting on the opposite end of the table from us sat there this whole time it’s been an hour and a half to two hours and they never received their food, we ordered after them and they never received their food. They actually ended up walking out because someone kept telling them that their food was coming and it never came. What sucks the most is that the food is very good but the staff who work here are definitely not it. This is one of the most horrible restaurant experiences I...

I hadn’t visited this spot in a couple of years, and I was pleasantly surprised by the upgrades to the interior. It felt warm, bright, and inviting. We loved our waitress—she was really nice, upbeat, and attentive (this review has nothing to do with her). The hot chocolate was great!

As for the food, it was just okay in my opinion. I ordered the vegetarian omelet and a biscuit. I was disappointed with the omelet because the vegetables were in huge chunks—so large it felt more like I was eating a salad than an omelet. The biscuit was also a letdown.

Despite that, I still planned to give the place another try—until it was time to check out. As we approached the register, the lady with the long black hair (who appeared to be either management or the owner) watched us walk to the counter to pay our ticket but continued her conversation with a few ladies who had already checked out. We stood there for about 4-5 minutes while she wrapped up her chat, even though we were standing right next to her. Without any acknowledgement. Then she acted as if she hadn’t noticed us and walked around to the register.

When we asked to have our checks separated, she told us that we could have done that at the table (I had already asked for them to be separated at the table). Our original waitress had actually told us to have them split at the register. She acted irritated about that. Then the phone rang, and she took the call—passing us off to another waitress to separate the check. We waited again, only to be told we’d now need to wait for the original lady to complete the checkout. So now we have to wait for to finish taking the order on the phone.

By this point, we’d been standing there for 10 to 12 minutes for no good reason, and I was beyond irritated. I had high hopes after seeing the interior upgrades, but unfortunately, the manager could really benefit from upgrading her attitude and customer service skills. I...

While the food was good and the service was good, it was the last time I will ever go there. The place is a relatively popular place, the line was slightly out the door and there was a wait for tables going on. I was in visiting with a friend who I have not seen in years and we were catching up. We had been in our booth for under 2 hours, of which only 45 minutes was after we were done eating. Next thing we know is our server approaches us and tells us that the Manager wants us to leave because we were hanging out for too long and there are other people who need our table.

Being a long-time server and bartender, I under the frustration of having a table sit, not from a manager, but from a server. If the people aren't going to tip more the longer they sit there then it sucks to have them keep taking up one of the tables. HOWEVER, I would NEVER, and I repeat NEVER have asked a table to leave under any circumstances. In fact, had I ever asked a table to leave at ANY of my jobs, I would have been fired on the spot. Unfortunately for that server my friend and I had both been in the serving industry and know to add extra to the tip for every half hour we take up a table past us being done eating, well he didn't get much of that because we were forced to end our conversation and leave.

Whether it was just the manager actually saying or the server using that as a cover up, doesn't matter. The point is that it was done and it was incredibly rude. I will not be going back if I cannot sit and enjoy my breakfast with my company simply because you have 6 people waiting on tables. I understand not everyone has been in the industry and does not follow the same tipping standard as I explained above (thus, making it frustrating to have people just sit and chit chat) but that is NO reason to ask someone to leave, especially when we weren't even there that long after eating.

WILL....