Cafe Elena — Restaurant in Columbus

Edit: Luckily I went against what I said and decided to give the restaurant another try. They have their fall menu so I tried the pumpkin pancakes which were absolutely delicious! There's a pumpkin flavored whip mixture on top that just goes perfectly with the pancakes. No syrup needed! I also tried the blackberry white mocha latte which was very sweet but a perfect drink for me! The butternut squash soup is also delicious... but really hot. So don't go shoveling a spoonful in your mouth right away! 🤭 My server Marissa did an absolutely great job! I look forward to coming back and seeing if I can increase the star rating even more!

I visited on 8/17 around 11:30. I ordered a latte which took about 15 minutes from when I ordered it to get to my table. I ordered the full American breakfast with over medium eggs, and home fries cooked extra crispy. I wanted them to be fried brown and he nodded and said extra fried. I said yes. I also ordered a side of the buckwheat porridge that he offered to sub for the oatmeal that came with mine so I ordered that. He repeated my order "full American with over easy eggs" me: "over medium" him: "okay over medium eggs, home fries and buckwheat porridge". Me: "home fries extra crispy". Him: "yes, extra fried potatoes" Fast forward 25 more minutes. During this time my waiter has not stopped at my table even once. He has not assured me my food was coming nor stopped to see if I needed anything. The couple next to me has ordered their food, gotten their food, finished their food and were waiting for to-go boxes. Though I hate doing it, I grabbed a passing waitress and explained to her that the people sitting next to me ordered around the same time as me and they were done eating and my food wasn't even there, and that my waiter wasn't coming over at all. The waitress went up and asked the hostess whether there was an order for table 10. The hostess said she didn't know so the waitress scrolled through the orders on the screen and my order wasn't there. She called to the kitchen that they needed to do a full American right now with eggs over easy. I called over to her and I said no...eggs over medium so she corrected herself and told them eggs over medium. She came over to my table and explained that the food would be right up. Not even remote attempt to explain what had happened. I told her that I was getting a bowl of the buckwheat porridge and she said yeah we got that.

While we were waiting for my food to get made, the waitress walked over to my waiter and said something to him about table 10 but I couldn't hear it all. He got a weird look on his face and went right over to the order display screen and I could see him with his finger going through the orders. Of course it wasn't there.. I watched as my order was assembled and placed on the warmer shelf. They reached over and grabbed a bowl that had been there for over 25 minutes... The bowl was my porridge! Somehow they got the order for the porridge and it had been literally sitting on the warmer shelf for 25 minutes. When they finally carried my food over to me, the potatoes were completely white and the eggs had only been flipped and then picked right up off the grill. If you moved the fried white out of the way it was literally still thick gelatinous white underneath. I told them I can't eat those. That's why I asked for them over medium. I also wanted the home fries cooked more. They took them back and I started on the 25-minute old buckwheat porridge and the pancake. The pancake was pretty decent, but the porridge was not good. They brought my eggs and potatoes over and the eggs were done right but the home fries were no darker than they were the first time. While I ate, my waiter came over three times apologizing profusely. When the bill came, I don't know why I was surprised to discover there was no discount or anything taken off the bill. I would say if you can go and make sure that you don't get the waiter then you're probably going to get...

Well that was the worst experience yet. Normally it is only slightly terrible but today confirmed that we won't be back.

The normal experience is you have a longer wait than expected with only a few tables. Ok, I can deal with that because the food isn't bad.

Today we got there with only a few tables filled. We placed our order and we got 3 coffees and water. We orded a pot of coffee and a specialty coffee woth our food. Long story short... we NEVER got our pot of coffee or refills after asking 3 different waitresses and even me going up to the counter to inquire. They did get busier at this point. It took them until we were halfway through our meal to get the specialty coffee. My husband's meal was supposed have oatmeal with fruit. They gave him brown sugar and nuts. He doesn't like brown sugar and nuts which is why he ordered the fruit. Also, we never saw our original waitress after we got our first coffees until she brought the check an hour and 15 minutes later. Who doesn't check on their tables? She was terrible.

We finally go to pay and it was $12 for 3 coffees and about $6 for the specialty coffee and they charge a "convenience fee"... can I charge them for an inconvenience fee?!

We tried to complain about the service and they were fighting back and not wanting to admit fault. I mean you order something and expect to get that order, not difficult. She finally gave us $6 off but she made us feel guilty for their mistakes.

Oh the dishes were dirty. My husband's knife, bowl and water glass had old food stuck to it.

It's not worth it. Spend your...

This place has really suffered in quality of food and service since their opening. Very disappointed in the mother and daughter who own/run this place. I was told by an employee the two have had a squabble going on for sometime now and boy is their business suffering! The employees they have hired lately seem to be young, disrespectful, campus kids. Had a run in with a punk named Nicholas there who actually fought with me. And I am a 56 yo woman! Owner was present and employee suffered no reprocations. Not only has their service suffered but their food, as well, has taken a plunge for the worst. A month ago I placed a to-go order for their Cordon Blue. The chicken was definitely bad! It even stunk. It was previously cooked and had gone bad. Rock hard and smelled like the bottom of a trash can. I called and told them and all I was told by the owner was, "Our chicken is fresh." Wow! Terrible customer service! Just recently went back to be served crispy, black, sugared, charred bacon. When I returned with the bacon, after a 3 mile drive back, I said, "You served me black, burnt bacon." I was told by this smart mouthed kid named Nicholas, "I am not the cook." He then continued to taunt me along with another employee. Owner still has this kid employed, just showing they are suffering to the point where they have to hire anyone with a pulse. BEWARE! If you go here it doesn't matter if the food is bad, service is bad, and the employees treat you with disrespect. All seems to be good with...