Minifactory — Restaurant in Bristol

We have been in Vermont for two weeks now, and we have had the pleasure of eating some wonderful meals across the state. I can say that without hesitation, we have not had a bad experience with any meal anywhere until this morning. We stopped here because we were in a bit of a hurry, and since it was a cafe, we assumed the service would be reasonably fast. That was a mistake. After being the only ones standing at the counter for five minutes where it's designated to order sit down food (as at least two employees noted our presence), we were then directed to move into another line to order. After waiting several minutes in this line, we were finally able to order. We ordered a coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and a scrambled egg bowl. The coffee was finally served after fifteen minutes. After waiting another fifteen minutes (we had now waited thirty five minutes) and still not being served, we finally had to go up to the counter and ask to see if our order could be packaged to go. As a result, we ate on the road while driving. My wife had the scrambled egg vegetable dish, which she thought was very good. The breakfast sandwich was the worst thing I've eaten on this entire trip, and it's not even close. The biscuit was laden with fat (I assume butter almost to the point that it was disgusting). Honestly, I truly could not even taste the egg and ham in the sandwich. What was so alarming about this experience other than the fact that some of the food was not good is that the restaurant seemingly had almost too many employees and poor service. At one point, while we were waiting for our food to be served, we were the only people in the restaurant for about five minutes, and there were many employees both in front and back. I am still banging my head, trying to understand why it would take so long to serve such a simple breakfast. Mostly, however, since my food wasn't good, I won't be going back. For context, this is the first Google rating I have ever left for any business, and I even had to take the time to figure out how to do it since it's just something I do. That is how strongly I felt about...

I was so excited to eat at mini factory after much endorsement from locals - farmers and moms included. We enthusiastically made the trek over the mountain to Bristol. I can certainly appreciate that late on a Sunday morning would be a busy time. Still, I wasn’t offered a table after asking how they went about seating, though there were several tables available. I was told I could go out back but that those tables aren’t typically offered. I was confused about what to do. I ordered and was told with trepidation that my child’s food would come out first as if she were a ticking time bomb. I very much felt I wasn’t welcome as a mom. Great - my child eats and then what? I’ll take mine to go? I made my way to the community table where those around me had napkins, silverware and tumblers of water. I did not receive any of these items and had to clean the area. I retrieved my own height chair and it was made immensely clear by busy staff that my toddler and I were in the way as we went back and forth across the restaurant. Frazzled as I was, I spilled my own drink and the exacerbated staff either didn’t know how to clean it up or were irritated by needing to clean it up. I had to gather the ice and wipe down the area. Meanwhile we’d been waiting a long time for two sandwiches. I ended up nabbing raspberries from the cooler section and no one was at the register to pay. After eating, I went up to pay for the berries, and went to leave, again, after cleaning my own area, only to be chased out the door because I was a dime short on the berries. Apparently I’d dropped the dime in transferring payment. Toddler in tow I had to go back in, retrieve a new bill to pay, and then could leave. It can be really hard to get out as mom. It can be really hard to try new things. I am disappointed to have had such excitement to eat somewhere only to be treated so poorly. Was it that I was a mom alone with my kid? I very much felt that way....

We heard the food was amazing… the atmosphere was sweet and bustling, the menu- mouth-watering. The woman who sat us was lovely but everything beyond that was a total debacle. When we sat down we were not told we had to order at the counter, the line for take out was super long so after waiting for 10 minutes in that line, only then we realized on our own that there was another register for dine in. We got out of that line only to find out that register was cash only (and always was! No sign indicating it!) So we had to get back in the end of the long take out line (with three hungry kids waiting!) In the midst of ordering we were told there were no substitutions (couldn’t replace bacon for ham and only option was to order another $13 meal that might come with a side of bacon to get the $3 side of bacon- what?!?) So I ask to talk to the manager and while waiting for the surly faced manager (owner/chef?) to appear we were informed it would be a 50 minute wait for food!! When the woman in charge came out her energy and demeanor was sour and unapologetic. Highly recommend the sweet diner (Snap’s) down the street for a delish egg sandwich without the side of pretension. Ughhh! shared our story with locals who don’t even go in their for their lattes anymore because of the unwelcoming and...