Clifton Cafe — Restaurant in Clifton

If you’re actually hungry, this is not for you. This place deserves negative stars for service/efficiency. Woke up on a long holiday weekend wanting some pancakes and remembered in the past the Clifton cafe had yummy blueberry pancakes, short wait, and great service. We went today expecting the same degree of service and were greeted with a packed cafe to the point I was being hit with the door when people left. The girl who greeted us at the door asked for my name and phone number adding me to the list. At this time there was a group of four and another group of two before me and my significant other. We proceeded to wait near the door in the packed cafe awaiting our table, and the time kept passing. Another group of five came into the cafe and after they waited near the coffee counter for a short period asked the group of us waiting how to be put on the list. We advised them to notify the staff, and shortly after the group of four and the large group of five (that came in after us) was seated. We continued to wait another 15 min, and during that time attempted to get a cup of coffee from the coffee counter. The staff was so slow and seemingly overwhelmed we were not even approached to ask if we wanted a cup of coffee. Of note, from where we waited you could see plates of prepared food piling up and several staff members wandering in what seemed like a hungover haze. After the additional 15 min, total of a 45 min wait we left to go to another restaurant for the pancakes I had been craving. I would not go out of my way to patronize this business as after all I experienced today, it is not worth the gamble of potentially getting bad or cold food. As I mentioned, do not go here hungry…….you will be...

Didn’t get a chance to eat here but the service left a lot to be desired.

Tried to do brunch for 2 and our dog. Went to the hostess and requested outdoor seating - she asked if we had a reservation and we said no. She said the front outdoor seats that were empty were for reservations. She asked if we wanted to be put on the waitlist. She said it would be 30 minute wait. We agreed. 20 mins later we get a text our table was ready. My husband went in and I stayed with the dog - he came back outside and said the same hostess said they only had an indoor table and that outdoor seating would be 45 mins wait additional to now.

I went inside to see if she remembered me - she did not and I reminded her that I had asked for an outdoor table from the get go because we had a dog. She then stated that there were no outdoor tables and that the outdoor tables were all reservation only!

Meanwhile I’d walked past 3-4 other empty tables on their side patio- matching two empty ones on the porch. I told her I wished she would’ve said that cause now we’ve been waiting for a table that doesn’t exist. She apologized and said she was new.

Just don’t appreciate the back and forth and two different stories - are the outdoor tables for reservation only or is there a waitlist? I also don’t appreciate that if she was new, she should’ve gone and asked for clarification from someone else or tried to remedy the mistake on their end. And if she’s that new and unsure she should probably still be training under another staff member...

Unacceptable, Discriminatory Service and Poor Execution

My girlfriend and I visited last Sunday While we were looking forward to our meal, the entire experience was ruined by the unprofessionalism and apparent bias of our server.She wanted to take the first order of customers who arrived 10 minutes after us. Fortunately, the customers told her that we were the first to arrive and warned the waiter to take our order first.

The discomfort began the moment we entered. The server on duty looked at us in a way that felt highly unwelcoming, instantly setting a negative tone. This poor demeanor was compounded by incredibly slow service: we waited a full 20 minutes at our table just to have our order taken.

When we finally placed our order for two sandwiches and a Sprite, the service remained dismissive. Shockingly, the Sprite never arrived at our table, yet it was still included and charged on our check. How difficult can it be to handle an order consisting of 3 pieces??? This combination of an overtly hostile attitude, an unacceptable wait time, and basic execution errors shows a complete lack of regard for customers.

The blatant difference in the server's warmth and attention when interacting with other patrons compared to our table was stark and discriminatory. No customer should ever feel targeted or marginalized while dining. Management must immediately address this employee's conduct. We left feeling upset and disrespected, and we will not...