What's Cookin' — Restaurant in Camden

I joined a couple of friends Tuesday after 12 noon at What's Cooking. It was nice to be greeted and handed a menu almost immediately followed by my request for ice water. I chatted with my friends a while and then remembered I hadn't looked at the menu. I picked the menu back up and made my selection.  I put the menu down and waited. And waited. Conversed with my friends and waited. Then two of the wait staff walked right past my table to another table and started bussing. This is when I should have got up and walked out.  We were the only customers at this point in time on that side of the restaurant.  I started conversing with my friends again and when I looked for them again the duo was bussing yet another table.  (There had been (2) tables with stuff on them when I arrived).  5 minutes later while the wait staff conversed and SLOWLY cleared the table and they looked to be finishing up they looked up and I raised my hand. The young girl said " I saw you,  I'll be with you in a minute" They then finished the table and walked past me again. 5 or 10 minutes went by and nothing!!! One of my friends finally got up and went to find someone.  My friend says the young waitress was just standing there!  My friend got up and went and asked and only then I got waited on.  "What would I like?" and then she said "Ok I'll have it right out" and was gone.  Wam bam thank you mam! Was it worth the wait? The food arrived promptly but was disgusting and disappointing. I ordered chicken nachos.  I received a NASTY refried bean nachos with burnt chips and unedible guacamole. It was served room temperature. What happened to this place??? They USED to have great food and great service! I'd never seen the young lady before in my life and couldn't figure out what I'd done wrong. We were of course charged for...

The atmosphere at What's Cooking is wonderful - has the look and vibe of something I'd expect to find in some of the upper middle class restaurant/shopping districts of Dallas, Fort Worth, Memphis, etc. ('Whoever designed your interior did a fantastic job. My only concern: you might have overshot your market a bit.) The menu offers plenty of delicious options at reasonable prices for the local economy. Service is fast - but not rushed, knowledgeable, very friendly, and attentive. Our waitress was great. If Camden's overall attitude toward making itself into a truly great, prosperous, family-oriented place to live with plenty to do and a good standard of living was as good as What's Cooking's is toward its patrons and how it conducts business, Camden would be on its way into the stratosphere. I'm a former marketing professor (Colo State U) and consultant to many small businesses and other organizations, so I have cast a close, comprehensive, critical eye at many restaurants, making me quite picky. I am extremely impressed with this gem of a restaurant! What's Cooking definitely has the right recipe for Camden's as well as its own success. We will eat at WC...

This places appears to have lost its passion. It felt dead inside. Not a wide variety of food to choose from as you’re limited and told basically what you can get? Yet they advertise “something for everyone.” False advertisement. The food was not good. Fried pickles undercooked. Waiter seemed uneducated on basic burgers as I asked for mine cooked and he responded with “oh ya ya I have that squared away in the kitchen” ummm? You’re in southern Missouri you better know how to cook a burger and sell it. It also took them forever to buss tables around us? Yet maybe 4 tables total in the entire place was utilized. There were customers complaining near us about the place and food too. Lastly YOU DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT USE PURE ALCOHOL TO CLEAN YOUR TABLES. ESPECIALLY NEAR CUSTOMERS. ABSOLUTELY RUDE!!! Don’t waste alcohol on tables when it’s for medicinals purposes. Just...