HoopHouse Bakery & Café — Restaurant in Bordentown

I was taking my daughter out for breakfast and after entering the establishment and waiting 10 minutes to order which is reasonable upon looking over a menu. The server came over to take our order. I did ask a couple of questions to the server, one being about the sauce, which the server did not know how to answer, she said she would be right back. Then she took 3 people at the register for payment, seated 2 people, took a takeout order, took anther 2 people at the register, went to another table and asked if they needed more coffee, came back with the coffee, checked on another order. I then finally got up and said, "I don't understand, you just did 12 different things and haven't come back to the table to finish our order. She said, "I will be right there", she then came to the table and said "I apologize, I did not mean to frustrate you", I then said "you should apologize, I don't understand why you did 12 more things, after saying you would be right back, and at least finish taking our order". The server then finished our order, and took the order over to the chef, in an open area where I could see her talking for a few minutes about our table which made us very uncomfortable. She then brought us our teas, and I then said "I'm sorry but I just watched you talk about us to the Chef and could hear you talk about the sauce question that I asked you, your body language was not good. She then said "I said nothing about you to the Chef. I said "I just saw it with my own eyes". And then the Chef started coming over and as she proceeded coming to us, the Server then admitted that she was talking about us to the Chef and that the Chef said to her, if you want, just ask them to leave. I said, then you just lied to us. The Chef was as the register at this point, and said to us "we don't want people like you here, you can leave now and go to a Diner", I said, can you at least let me explain, I am a customer and your Server has been very rude. She said, "just leave, no one talks to my Server that way". Times have really changed, what happened to at least management coming over to hear out the customer on their experience and to find out their side of the story, not even the courtesy to hear me out. This was all in front of all the other customers. We were completely treated with such disrespect. and the Chef/owner, a Chopped Champion, did not even have the decency to hear me out. Not even, a "please, let me know what is going on". She just completely took the word of the Server and had no common courtesy to a paying customer in her establishment. I have never, ever, ever experienced this kind of treatment in any establishment in my entire life. I have been a Server for many years, and if I did not know an answer to a question, I would politely say "I don't know for sure, let me ask in the kitchen and get right back to you", not cop an attitude and blame the customer to the Chef. As a Business Owner of a Cafe/Restaurant, I am completely taken back at the behavior of not only the Server but the Chef as well. This is completely unacceptable treatment and I let a lot go in life, because life just happens, BUT this was completely rude, uncalled for, and one of the worst experiences I have ever encountered. Coming from a long line of Restaurant and Diner owners, including my Father who owned a Restaurant, this is not the way to run any type of eating establishment. I have even known Restaurant critics in my day and this is one for the books. And, Bordentown is a charming little town where the vibe is Family Friendly! We were treated completely like second class citizens and the nerve of how the Chef spoke to us, was indecent and utterly appalling. Good luck to you, and your way of doing...

I love Hoop House chicken and waffles, I started going there after a friend took me and I was thought it was so cool that I remember cheering for the owner when she was on “Chopped”. It was great. so much so, I went there two days in a row last month and ordered the C and W. First day was perfect. Second day, the person who was serving the food brought me a VERY THICK pancake with the chicken. Here’s the exchange:

Me: Im sorry ma’am I ordered chicken and waffles. You brought me a pancake and chicken.

Server: thats all we have the waffle maker is broke.

Me: Is it ok if I select something else?

Server: Let me check.

Me: takes bite of chicken

Server: returns 20 seconds later. No, the grill is closed. We used the waffle batter to make the pancake with .. same thing.

Me: Miss, actually a waffle and a pancake are not the same thing. am I expected to pay for this?

Server: yeah, your bill is waiting for you.

I was in shock at how nasty and belittling the server was to me and ultra disappointed. I had come to love this place and after the exchange (note I stayed totally calm) I was floored. I got up went to the register, wrote my number on a piece of paper, asked the server to give the number to the owner, paid and left.

I wondered if the server gave the owner the number because I wanted to really talk to the owner about what happened before leaving a negative review. So, I called back to speak to her some weeks later. When I attempted to tell her what happened, the owner said “I don’t have time for this”.

The moral of this story is: Never meet your Heros and shut up and eat...

Short version:

Mouth-watering fresh stimulating dishes, inviting & relaxed modern country atmosphere. Elite customer service and fair prices (quality harvested ingredients) create a space and place to have a savory meal served up by people who appear to genuinely enjoy the craft of creating meals that fuel the body and stir up the spirit. MUST TRY THIS PLACE!

If you have time to read:

I'm a foodie! This place blew my mind! This place is not only a haven of fresh, clean, made to order dishes but it has an incredible atmosphere!

The food was more than delicious it was healing. I felt the love in every bite. When I came here I felt more than welcomed, I felt valued. The customer service was superb. I requested a specific style of coffee with whipped cream. They did not have the cream on hand but they responded by making the whipped cream from scratch! I couldn't believe that 1 customer mattered that much to step aside and create a food item from scratch to satisfy the craving! I was so humbled and touched by the grace and love they poured into their craft.

We ordered the loaded home fries, biscuits and gravy, and 4 of their pastry items. Just wow! This place is so unassuming and just shocks you with quality and precise flavor! There's something wholesome about watching your meal be prepared from raw ingredients (observed dough preparation) !

Thank you guys for making my morning bright! Definitely will be...