Cottage Cafe & Fireside Lounge — Restaurant in Cle Elum

3 stars seems generous, but I love small businesses and I hate speaking poorly of one. Hopefully my experience was an anomaly, judging by the other reviews it probably is. I didn't want to say anything but as I'm losing sleep with an upset stomach and the most atrocious gas that smells like old gravy I feel like I need to clear my head so I can attempt to get back to sleep.

Stopped here in the middle of a long drive with my two kids. My daughter ordered the kids breakfast with milk. The meal was good, but she never got her milk. I was so distracted by the other issues that I forgot to mention it to the waitress and forgot to check the bill, I have no idea if I paid for it or not.

I asked for a bowl of fruit for my toddler. The waitress said they had an excellent bowl of mixed berries. Wonderful! They were huge and looked delicious until I saw that at least half of them were moldy. I brought this to her attention and she promptly brought a new bowl with only a few moldy ones.... Not quite ideal. Also there was something on the blackberries that didn't seem like mold, it looked more like dust or dirt, but it clearly showed that these berries had not been washed at all between the farm and this bowl.

I ordered the hot turkey sandwich, and this was my fault for not reading and really considering the menu. In my defence, I'd been driving all day with two kids and my brain was not firing on all cylinders. I was expecting a sandwich, 2 slices of bread with turkey and other stuff like cheese and lettuce, that was toasted like a grilled cheese or a panini. What I got was one slice of bread with turkey next to a big pile of mashed potatoes and the whole thing was buried under so much gravy that you'd wonder what they were hiding under there. It was like Thanksgiving exploded. I don't mind gravy, but in that quantity it seems like it's trying to compensate for how dry the turkey is or that you somehow messed up the mashed potatoes. (The turkey and potatoes would have been fine, so I'm not sure why so much gravy was necessary.) The first few bites were really tasty, which combined with my fatigue lulled me into a false sense of security. About 4 bites into the "sandwich" was when my stomach first started to lurch. So I started trying to excavate potatoes from underneath the gravy. At this point I'm realizing that the gravy honestly tasted like lard mixed with sugar. I managed to eat about half of the potatoes before feeling like I ate an actual brick.

I explained to the waitress that I must not have read the menu carefully enough but that was not what I was expecting and it take wasn't something I would have wanted. She just smiled, said "yep that's a hot turkey sandwich" and swiped my card.

So here we are, 12 hours later, and I'm still feeling the affects of that meal. I'm annoyed that I was too tired to deal with this in the moment, and I was trying to be casual and forgiving about it so instead of at least asking that I not be charged full price for moldy berries and a stomach ache I instead paid full price and left a tip. Not a good tip, but a tip...

If you’re debating whether to eat here, stop the madness and just go! You will not regret it! This is an old-school diner like you’d find at a truck stop in the 1970s. The prices are very reasonable. The waitresses are like ones you see in movies that over-exaggerate southern hospitality. However, these waitresses here are genuine. They are kind, informative, and have the best customer service I’ve seen in decades. They were all Flo from Mel’s Diner in the 70s sitcom, Alice. Even if they served horrible food, I think I would eat there three times a day because of the customer service. The decor is something from decades ago, but it serves a purpose and fits the setting perfectly. Yeah let’s get to the food. I will cut to the chase and say that this is the best breakfast I’ve had in years. The eggs were perfectly cooked. The sausage patties weren’t the best I’ve ever eaten, but they are still an 8+. I just like Sausage with a little kick to it. That is my preference. The French toast is the best I’ve ever eaten. I don’t know how they get it layered like that, but it is phenomenal. Usually, a place will have good sausage gravy, but with rocks for biscuits, or biscuits that taste like garbage. Not this place. The biscuits were very fluffy, warm and delicious. The gravy was the best I’ve ever eaten. This was the perfect meal for me. It is not on the menu, but it is something that I put together because I really wanted to try everything. I wish I would’ve had more room to have ordered hashbrowns, their country, fried steak, and about 80 other things. I was just too full. It is one of the few times I wished I were a cow and had 4 stomachs. As my uncle used to say whenever he had an amazing meal but couldn’t fit another bite, “I wish I had a belly...

Not sure really what to say on this. Tonight’s order wasn’t good at all. Got it to go As I usually do when I come thro. Picked it up. Girl was nice and helpful. Got a Reuben but it was made with regular bread and only ate half of it because the other half was completely soggy and falling apart. I got chili like I usually do with cheese no onions. But opened it to find onions all over in it. Tried to pick them out and ended up throwing about half of the chili away trying to get them out. Cinnamon roll was good as usual. I just don’t know that I’m gonna continue to stop here and get anything other than a cinnamon roll. I ordered it to go and picked it up right before they closed. If that matters. Idk. Just really let down after I look forward to planning my trip around being able to stop here for a good meal before I go into Seattle to deliver and the last few times I’ve had issues. I know last time they said it was a new cook and I heard he was stressed out while I was waiting for the order (the last time) so I get it. But yeah. Not sure what to say. Other than bakery stuff is always great. But tonight’s Reuben fries and...