Lake Cafe — Restaurant in Big Lake

Stopped by Lake Cafe around noon on a Saturday. Have an interesting entrance off their parking lot. You pass the rest rooms then even before reaching the dining area you go right by their buffet station. Only thing that caused a bit of concern is the buffet area is right next to the main entrance and secluded enough where someone could walk in the door when no one is watching and tamper with the food. I'm sure the health department has seen this set up and OK with it. When you get to the dining area it's "seat yourself" and grab a table where it's open. Once seated it took an estimated 5-6 minutes for my waitress to arrive and after she got to me the service was excellent. After some deliberation I went with the breakfast buffet for $12.99 which was a definite bargain. Nice selection of meats from delicious kielbasa to sausage links and bacon. They also featured biscuits and gravy, two different types of scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes and french toast sticks. Unlimited trips back as needed so obviously a lot of food for reasonable prices. Food was tasty and the first round was well heated. However, since we were at the end of the buffet period I noticed the care dropped a bit and the hot food wasn't as hot. French toast sticks were barely warm as was the bacon. My guess is the food was out too long and eventually started to cool. Not enough to be a health concern but drop in quality. The coffee came in a pot and was very hot and the waitress provided enough cream and sugar as needed. Easy access private parking lot and handicap accessible. The bathroom was very clean with plenty of space. Nice local cafe with good homestyle cooking and excellent prices. Location of their buffet service is a little questionable but other than this a good place for breakfast,...

I would love to say that it was a pleasant dinner but it was far from it. I ordered the chicken strip salad, my guy ordered the bacon cheese burger and his mom ordered off the senior menu French toast, sausage and ordered a side of hash browns. All pretty easy and pretty hard to screw up right???? Well my salad was a huge pile of lettuce with about 10 shreds of cheese and maybe 1 chicken strip cut up that came out first no dressing (must have been to heavy cuz that came separate). I questioned the fact that the salad was almost 10$ but hardly had anything but lettuce on it and I was told by I am guessing the owner that it was normally made that way, I guess the expense came from the bonus French dressing floating around in my ranch. (Only ordered ranch) in the next 10 min I overheard 3 other customers complaining about their food then finally my guys burger came out looking like road kill, another 5 min later his moms food came out looking all pasty and sloppy. I guess they thought we all wanted to eat at different times. Or the waitresses were busy eating off the buffet with their bare hands. Either way it was messed up!!! The cook was a jerk, the owner was a jerk and the waitresses were totally oblivious of any etiquette needed to work at a restaurant. The bill was 35$ and I regret the fact that we didn't drive right by and go to McDonalds (and I hate fast food). I am so sad that a place like that is right next to me and it's just junk and a waste of space. One of the last small town restaurants and your...

I recently visited Lake Cafe and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience, primarily due to the behavior of a staff member named Tami.

From the moment I walked in, I was taken aback by the atmosphere created by the servers. They were loudly making inappropriate jokes and using racially charged nicknames for their white colleagues, which made me and several other patrons feel uncomfortable. This kind of behavior is not only unprofessional but completely unacceptable in any establishment.

When I brought my concerns to Tami, who identified herself as a manager, I expected her to address the situation seriously. Instead, she defended the servers by stating that the cafe employs Black individuals, implying that this somehow excused their behavior. This response was incredibly disappointing and misguided. It’s troubling to think that a manager would dismiss such offensive comments and create a culture where disrespect is tolerated.

It's important for businesses to foster an inclusive and respectful environment for both employees and customers. Tami's response to the situation was not only unprofessional but also indicative of a larger issue regarding how such comments are perceived and addressed.

I truly hope that Lake Cafe takes this feedback seriously and works towards creating a more respectful and welcoming atmosphere for everyone. Until then, I cannot recommend this...