Cafe’ le Beignet — Restaurant in Biloxi

So first and only time I've been here was today; so my review is based on one experience. I don't plan on returning. The review is 2 star as opposed to 1 star as I really liked the lay out and the building.

Experience. So I get here and am following a couple that had cut into the place when I was about 50' from building. They are being greeted in the foyer when I walk in. The waiter/greeter is reading them the menu from about half a dozen posted boards that are distributed around the room. I believe they were first timers as well as they looked as confused as I did. While waiting (and listening to the menu) I look around and it appears that I am the fifth customer of the day. There is the couple that walked in before me and one couple seated at a table.

While the people in front of me are deciding what they want (we all just came the realization that you order before you sit). It's a weird nuance, but it does provide some benefit as it should allow faster service. My only real objection is that while they are ordering I have almost no where to stand in the foyer - it is small enough that even in a non Covid time I would almost feel like I'm intruding.

Right about now (and this should have been my first sign) the guy who was sitting comes up to the counter to ask the waiter/greeter and another person who I guessed was the manager about getting his coffee. He was told they had 5 call out orders in front of him and he would have it in a minute. (Keep in mind I wasn't 100% paying attention until I heard the response and it shocked me enough I started paying attention.) From here I decided to just go with the flow and hope the food was worth it. Plus I wasn't in a particular hurry.

So couple before me orders and gets sat at a table. I order and get sat at a table. Breakfast was about $20 but I had a mimosa and coffee so reasonable. Key point I would like to make here - we got sat at a specific table. This should have allowed them know our location.

A couple minutes later I get my drinks and send a picture to the spouse. Then wait for what seems like a long time for food. I had ordered eggs/bacon/grits/toast combo they had. Time from photo to food delivery 26 minutes. Remember, I was the fifth customer of the day. I watched my food make multiple trips around the building and it tried to be served to at least 2 other tables. When it arrived it was somewhat cold and somewhat disappointing.

All in all I loved the concept it was just so poorly implemented it just isn't worth it. By the way as I was leaving the place was still less than 1/2 full but there was a line forming at the door to...

A strange experience for the uninitiated! You enter and the menus are on a podium near the door and you must order and pay prior to sitting down. There are around 5 small rooms, some with 4 or 5 small tables in and some with just one large table and you have to find your own seat and may well have to sit at one of the larger tables with strangers but that's part of the experience I guess. We sat at a large table with an older couple, made small talk for a while and then lapsed into silence while we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally after about 30 minutes the older couples food arrived and it looked good so we settled in and waited for ours..and waited, you get the idea by now!. A further 20 minutes elapsed and lo and behold our drinks arrived, cafe au lait for me and sweet tea and soda for my wife and son. The waitress assured us our food would be there shortly and my coffee was good so we settled in once more. I fear this book is getting repetitive because despite the server's assurances we waited some more.. my coffee was long gone and still no sign of breakfast. No wonder they make you pay up front, I'm sure they've had countless people walking out before they got breakfast for supper! By now almost two hours had elapsed and still nothing, so despite my natural reserve and disinclination to make a fuss, I ventured to trek to the front desk and enquire about our order. I was apologetically informed that they were having connectivity problems with their tablet and that our order had not been transmitted to the tablet in the kitchen (which was in the adjoining room not 6ft away!) but was promised they'd begin work immediately. Back I went to my seat and by a minor miracle within only about 15 minutes our food appeared...yay!! Except for our Beignets. Mentioned this to the waitress and 5 minutes later they arrived. They were ok, kind of like a fried dough covered in powdered sugar, I'm sure they would have been great with my coffee around 2 hours ago but as a standalone after my seafood omelet they were uninspiring. My omelet was fine but nothing worth waiting two hours for. Glad we were towards the back because as others have said the music was blasting out really loudly towards the front desk, possibly so you don't hear other people complaining lol. Well that was my experience, feel free to try it yourself if you have 2 or 3 hours to spare, won't be the worst breakfast you've ever eaten and it will certainly be a more memorable experience that a visit...

When I arrived at the restaurant everything felt really unorganzied, there was no one designated to take names for the wait list, so people were just standing there confused. After about 3 mins i walked up to the counter and spoke with the women behind it who was apparently the manager. She put me and my wife down and said it would be a 25 min wait and that they would call me. We went and sat in our car for 30 mins and then came back. Again standing at the front entrance everyone looked really confused and the one waitress looked really overwhelmed with all the stuff ahe had going on. The waitress grabbed the people in front of me while asking them "how many" and went to sit them. She then came back and said, "wow, ok, we need to start a waitlist now" i told her i was already on the waitlist along with the other 3 groups standing around me and then i asked if the people who were just seated were even on the waitlist. She frantically said yes and then check the waitlist. At this point in time, i had already been waiting for over an hour, when she checked the waitlist she said there was one more group in front of me (plus the random people that walked in and said they texted the owner and had a special reservation?) In the time that i spent standing there i saw 3 different customers, who were already seated walk up to the front area and ask if they had to order drinks from the front. The manager said oh no, the waitress will be with you shortly. It was after that, that i knew i was done waiting for this unorganized and understaffed restaurant to call my name because i knew id be sitting there for a 2 hour brunch, with no drinks. Everyone told me the food was excellent but im not going to wait 3 hours to try it when i was told 25 mins. And honestly the place wasnt even that busy.... oh and lastly, i didnt tell them i was leaving and still NEVER got a phone call that it was my turn to be seated. HIGHLY DO...