Froth & Fork — Restaurant in Bloomington

First time here. I'm a breakfast person, so I'm always hunting for new places. I have 5 regular places, so there's plenty of competition.

I walked in about 11 a.m. on a Saturday. They weren't busy - 3 other tables occupied. No one greeted me. I finally caught the eye of a woman behind the bar, and I gestured around. She just nodded so I sat down.

The server didn't acknowledge me; he simply put down 2 menus by me - one for breakfast and the other for all other times. He then asked me what drink I wanted. He returned promptly with water and then went to deliver other meals. He then asked, "What do you want?" without a smile or any emotion other than perhaps, "I'll be so glad when this shift ends!"

I asked about wifi. "I'll check." They had several wifi services, so all I needed was the password for the one used by patrons. He returned about 10 minutes later with the chorizo omelet (after I stopped him to ask if I get toast or anything else, and he replied, "Sure, what do you want?") "No one has the password for wifi," he said bluntly. Hmmm... really?

The food was plain and, frankly, overpriced. The hashbrowns were prefabricated out of the box. Toast was plain and dry. The omelet was small and bland. That's not what I expected for the price.

I know labor is tight, but simple politeness and kindness goes a long ways, like merely introducing yourself, thanking a person for patronage, and checking occasionally on the customer. At one restaurant I frequent, the owner personally checks with me about service and food quality. It's the little things that entice a person to return and eventually become a regular.

I was planning to bring a friend with me next time if I had a satisfactory experience. Sorry, no. Too bad. It seems they could use...

Bar service got a bad score for this one. I arrived early evening and decided to sit at the bar and eat. I ordered popcorn chicken and a beer. During my meal, I finished my drink and pushed it to the front edge of the bar so it was obvious to the bartender that it was empty (although an empty glass is pretty obvious). After 7 minutes, she walked over, grabbed my glass without saying a word and took it to the sink. She then proceeded to end her shift on the cash register. I never even finished my meal because I had nothing to drink. I didn't say anything because at this point, I was just over it. There were a total of 6 people at the bar at that time so I would say she was less than overwhelmed. Sad thing is, no other employee that came behind the bar even bothered to let her know I didn't have a drink or ask if I needed anything. May have just been one of those kind of days for her but it shouldn't happen, especially since so many others were walking around as well. This is a customer service industry and I like to think I'm a good customer. I still tipped her as a matter of fact. There were no other issues that would have caused this to happen except for incompetence or...

I had high hopes for Froth and Fork, but unfortunately, my experience didn’t quite meet expectations. There was a noticeable fishy smell to the food, especially in the sodas, which was a bit off-putting. I ordered the carne asada nachos, and sadly, they weren’t what I was hoping for. The cheese had an odd, plastic-like taste, and the overall dish didn’t have the flavor I expected. Maybe it’s because we went later in the evening (around 8:30 pm), and the kitchen was winding down?

Additionally, our server didn’t just disappear — she clocked out and left, and we were left without any assistance after our food arrived. No one checked in on us, and it felt like we were completely forgotten. The other people in our group had burgers, and while they weren’t terrible, the fishy smell still lingered.

I’m hopeful that this was just an off night for the restaurant, and I’d be open to giving it another try, perhaps during breakfast hours. I’ve heard good things about that menu, so maybe it’s a better experience earlier in the day. Here’s hoping they can work out the kinks for the...