Old Town Cafe — Restaurant in Bellingham

My husband and I were visiting several family members in Washington for Christmas (2013) and had a wonderful experience in Rainer, Seattle and Bellingham over the period of a week. One of the very worst experiences was when we went to Old Town Cafe for breakfast. We were told that HomeSkillet was the best, however, it was a Monday and was closed. We ended up going to Old Town and were extremely disappointed and angry by the time we wasted, calories we wasted and money we wasted. It was very busy and we put our name on the list and waited. We had a dog in the car and were trying to hurry as fast as we could. We kept seeing people getting called before us yet we tried to remain patient. After what we were told would be a 20 min. wait- we waited for an hour. When I finally got up to ask what the deal was, I was told my name had been removed from the list. My husband and I had not missed our names being called, as we had been sitting right by the front near the hostess the entire time. Upon getting seated we had the rudest waitress I've ever encountered in my entire life. We are not hard people to please but we felt so uncomfortable by this waitresses dirty looks, demeanor and strange comments that we felt like we didn't even want to bother her for another cup of coffee. Our waitress (very long brown hair, snobby/serious expression, medium build, I think red lipstick) gave me dirty looks the entire breakfast... no idea why, I'm still questioning to this day why she hated me (a complete stranger) so much. She gave my husband snarky comments about his hat (it was the brand Fox, a motorcycle company)- and replied something snarky as well when he inquired about a ham-free dish (on my behalf)- and made fun of his question while wearing a "Fox" hat... this was weird, didn't make any sense and made him feel extremely uncomfortable. We felt as if this waitress thinks she is extremely cool and we obviously weren't "cool" enough for her or Bellingham or their cafe. My husband and I didn't understand why we were treated so poorly. We started over-analyzing it, thinking perhaps we weren't "hippie" enough or "vegan" enough or "hipster" enough. Our waitress never replied to us when we said thank you, not even a smile. We also heard someone else complain about the "moody waitress". My husband works in the restaurant industry and we are kind, relaxed and very easy to please people. I've never written a poor review before. However, this was such a horrible experience we felt one of us needed to say something. We understand if you're having a bad day, it happens, but o make your customers feel unwelcome, out of place and hesitant to even ask for coffee in fear of a dirty look or snide comment- is just wrong. Lastly, the food was sub-par. It was cold, it was food we could've made ourselves and it was bland. Terrible experience. Again, the worst part was that waitress. How dare she make us feel so unwelcome. She ended up being replaced by another server 3/4 into our meal- by a nicer waitress but still a little snide. We were seated in the big room, near the front windows, against the wall on 12/23/13. So to whomever was our server, I hope either karma or her boss brings this to her attention. I hope this is not a Bellingham thing. I've visited there 3 times and never had a bad experience until this. I was embarrassed and sad my husband was treated so terribly his first trip there. Now he thinks Bellingham is filled with rude, snarky, snobby people who think they're way too cool for...

Our Waitress was incredibly rude. I don’t think I’ve actually had a waitress be that rude before. She completely killed my mood upon first interaction. It was busy,the sign said to seat yourself. So my boyfriend and I sat down at the first available table. it was not yet cleaned,which was fine because they were busy and we sat there about five minutes and the table still had not been cleaned off. we did not want the waitress to think that the dishes that were on the table were ours,so my boyfriend asked the waitress if we could get the table cleaned please and she rudely said with an attitude that she’s going to and we needed to give her a chance. Clearly annoyed with my boyfriend for asking to have the table cleared of previous customers dishes. We had not rushed her,we had waited,also my boyfriend asked politely. she did not need to speak to him that way.she thinks she was being rushed,when really we just didn’t want the waitress to think that those dishes belong to us and then not come take care of them. we could have waited another five minutes for her to come clean up the dishes,we just wanted to make her AWARE. That interaction made the rest of the interactions feel uncomfortable and awkward and fake. she had my blood pressure up and I almost walked out of there. Hopefully it was just a bad day But I always encourage people in customer service to stay home if they’re having a bad day and cannot maintain a polite cordial attitude with customers or get a different job if you’re that miserable you have to take it out on customers.The French toast with sourdough bread was strange for me very spongy soggy eggy and bland most places use a thick bread like Texas toast or a brioche bread it would’ve been nice to have other bread options besides sourdough or wheat . The bacon was obviously organic or something it wasn’t very flavorful,I didn’t care for it no smokiness and only lightly salted.My boyfriend liked his food but felt that his omelet was made skimpily it was supposed to be filled with meat and he said it was filled with crumbs of meat. I don’t know if this is supposed to be an organic place or not? But the food was not for me,I’m glad other people like it and I encourage other people to try it. it just wasn’t impressive & bland.imo. I did like the atmosphere it was nice and cozy and the paintings on the wall were pretty neat. I wasn’t a fan of the room temperature water carafes. My rating is for the service we received from our waitress specifically and not for the food,I would give the food three stars. The prices were pretty fair and I also liked that the servings were not gigantic so I was actually able to finish my meal even though it wasn’t my favorite. I don’t think we will go back just because I would hate to be seated to that waitress again and have another unwelcoming experience. I see several other reviews mentioning rude service maybe it would be wise to figure out which staff are being rude so they can be coached on customer service. The other customers looked pretty content and all other staff we encountered...

I was excited to come due to the menu having vegetarian and vegan-friendly options. However, it was slightly disappointing. Some of the logistical aspects seemed to have the aim of limiting staffing, but in reality, they just served to make the customer experience less efficient. The check-in process was a bit unconventional and not clearly marked. We were confused why we couldn't at least write down our phone number to be called or texted. With such long wait times, and no waiting room inside, it would make sense for customers to be able to meander a bit or return to their cars to wait instead of having to stand outside in the cold for upwards of 40 minutes. Service was very slow and not amazingly friendly. We were never checked on and we saw staff sitting down at tables to chat with patrons instead of trying to serve the morning rush. They have coffee out to serve yourself (not free) so they don't have to have servers walking around refilling with hot coffee. They also have bottles of water on the tables so they don't have to come around and offer refills. The water was very warm. We asked for a side of milk because there was a small cup sitting out on the table of warm milk when we arrived that we were otherwise expected to use for coffee. This made me question the safety of the food/drinks here. I asked for my 2-2-2 breakfast order to please be substituted with toast instead of eggs. I was told "no," which I found odd for a couple reasons. First, I looked through the menu and didn't see anything prohibiting substitutions, and second, the price of the toast was listed as cheaper than the eggs. When the food arrived it was average, especially considering the long wait. My pancakes had multiple burnt areas, as did my toast. No jam or jelly was provided for the toast. I was also charged extra for real maple syrup even though I didn't order it and didn't receive it. The experience was not great and I would not...