Hen house cafe — Restaurant in Colorado

We live in Colorado Springs and we found the Hen House Cafe three weeks ago. We drove over an hour to get to this cafe. They close at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and we arrived at 7:15, so plenty of time (August 9, 2025). They have a sign that says the kitchen does not close until 7:45. As soon as we walked in the door, the server looked at the clock and gave a really bad look. It was obvious that she did not want us there because she wanted to go home early. She was in the process of cleaning the restaurant and I think she was hoping there would not be any more customers walking in. Then she told us that we could not have any chicken (it is a hen house) because they wanted to shut down the fryers (I am guessing to go home early and before closing)? The kitchen was not supposed to close until 7:45. I felt very unwelcome and like an intruder. If you do not want to stay open until 8:00, then close at 7:00 and if you want to shut down your kitchen at 7:15, then do not say you do not close the kitchen until 7:45. Also, the server forgot two of our items. She obviously resented us being there and was in a rush to get us out the door. You had a customer and it was up to you to serve them whatever item they wanted on the menu and to make them feel welcome. You made us feel like a burden. If you do not want to work, then quit instead of taking it out on your customers. We will never go to your restaurant again.

Again, to summarize, we drove over an hour on August 9, 2025 to go to this restaurant for a nice chicken dinner and we were told by our waitress that we could not order chicken because the restaurant was shutting down the fryers and closing a part of the kitchen 30 minutes early so that she did not have to work until 8:00 p.m. (closing time) and so that she could go home early. She was very rude and stared at the clock when we walked in and she gave us dirty looks and gave a disgusted look at the clock because she did not want to work her shift and she did not want customers in the restaurant. There are plenty of restaurants (with better food) that we can go to. We do not need to drive over an hour to a mediocre restaurant to be served by a disgruntled employed who hates her job and...

My husband and I ordered the chicken fried steak (which says it comes with a sausage gravy) and a sausage and cheese omelet. We got home and found very sad and dry strips with no gravy and what looked like liquid egg with cheese on top and no sausage. Obviously we were disappointed and called about it. They offered us a 20$ discount on our next visit. Our friend were shocked to hear what had happened and swore they had a great experience and convinced us to try them again the next day. When my husband went in to pick up our order with the discount he was told the owner didn't want them giving us a discount and then had to wait 10 minutes for them to stop arguing right in front of him about it. Eventually in the middle of the conversation someone else realized our order never even got sent back to the kitchen and hadn't been made, so he them had to wait an additional 20 minutes.

Not 1 aspect of our visit made it remotely worth it and I do not understand how the owners are not absolutely ashamed at their business ethics. This seems like the kind of place that will cut every corner they can and I would not recommend it to my enemies. This did happen a couple weeks ago, but family emergencies kept us busy and couldn't...

The moment we walked in this morning, the parking lot was partially full, but the inside entrance was empty, and there were over a dozen empty tables to the left and right. Still, the grumpy lady at the front refused to put a few tables together while I waited since my entire party of 8 lived less than 2 minutes away and were not present. Unfortunately, we just moved my daughter to the area and were excited to try a local place to gather. 🫢 We walked away immediately and refused to be treated so ugly at the moment we arrived, so we drove a few miles away to IHOP, where we were treated like visiting family with smiles, front door parking, quickly seated, and ordered a fast but warm breakfast by a sweet and thorough waitress. Customer service is foundational to the success of a cafe. Rudeness to guests at arrival is not only unnecessary. It is inappropriate. I would offer a negative 5 stars if possible. Do...