Way Down Yonder Beignets & Coffee — Restaurant in Columbus

I had really high hopes for this place, and even set my calendar for the opening date. First, don't make the same mistake that I did and show up at the Way Down Yonder restaurant 😅 Make sure you are looking up the address by "Beignets & Coffee," as it was about a 20min detour for me (MY fault!🤦‍♀️) They must have some connection, because the restaurant also posted the same opening day photo to their IG. The first thing I noticed was the LOUD music from a live band in such a small space, which I am assuming was only there for the opening ceremony. I would have to try again on a normal business day to find out if this could be a nice spot to get out of my home office to do some work while drinking coffee. The next thing I noticed was an owner who is truly doing her best to bring her dreams to fruition, and she left no detail untouched - from the interior decor selection, to the staff who are there to greet you with smiles and offer any assistance to make your visit pleasurable, to the menu. Where they lost me is the quality and value for what I paid ($18.84 just for some Beignets & a cappuccino). The cappuccino tasted like a burnt, super dark roast coffee rather than an espresso, with hot skim milk (very watery, so I can't imagine it was whole or 2%). I don't usually add sweetener to my lattes/cappuccinos, but I had to ask for a scoop of sugar to mask the charred bean flavor, and even then, I couldn't finish the beverage. The Bananas Foster beignets were $14, and as you can see from the photo, only comes with a 1/4 wedge of banana, possibly a 1/2 teaspoon of caramel sauce, and a pinch of powdered sugar and cinnamon, and they tasted nothing more than a hollow, greasy, deep fried slab of Pillsbury dough. Absolutely no flavor, even after trying to scrape the tiny bit of caramel off of the bottom of the box. I couldn't believe what I paid for this. To top it off, they have a nice area in the back of the store where you might possibly be able to work while enjoying a snack, except that there is a door which is locked with people trying to enter every couple of minutes, so I was more of an unpaid doorman than an overpaying customer at this establishment. I really want to support local businesses, especially owned by my fellow minorities/women, but I'm afraid this is a place I won't be returning. I wish the owner nothing but the best, and hope that she is able to take all of the feedback both negative and positive to help improve the business, so we can...

I would suggest that if you’re interested in supporting this business for you to tread lightly and understand that the owner does not care to completely rectify any errors made on their behalf.

I ordered a total of 3 meals. 2 orders of shrimp and grits (one with cheese) and a kids southern breakfast. The shrimp and grits with added cheese was made with a excessive amount of cheese. I called to see if they could remake it without the cheese due to this and was told that, they were OUT of grits for the day and that the amount of cheese that was put is their normal amount and for that reason there was nothing they could do but to suggest that if I order it again with cheese for me to let them know I wanted a small portion of cheese.

I found this to be very unhelpful and it implied that I had asked for extra cheese when that was not the case. I let them know that I understood that they were out of grits and if they’d be willing to compensate me for the following day. The associate then told me she could put the OWNER on the phone and I said please and thank you.

I explained to the owner the situation she told me that she wouldn’t be able to remake the meal because that was a lot of grits used no she will not remake with shrimp and peppers but she would be able to give me a side of grits with cheese. I let her know that’s not what I wanted (especially because they initially put too much cheese so I did not want cheese again) and that the amount of cheese was as if I had asked for extra cheese and that this was their error. She began to over talk me so I cut her off by letting her know that she had lost a customer due to her poor customer service.

It was so cheesy I almost choked smh! No exaggeration.

I know this place to be NEW and for this to be the way that the owner chooses to do business just shows the lack of care for the customers who choose to support this business.

Not once did I ask for a refund or gift card I simply wanted them to correct their mistake and remake the meal as any other establishment would have with no problem but apparently that was too...

The food is pretty good, but it would be helpful if they were more honest about their wait times. I took off two stars for the snarky employee. I was told the wait for my takeout order would be 15-20 mins BEFORE I placed my order. Cool. At the 26 min mark, I asked for an updated aprox wait time, and was told only a couple more minutes. I told them that I could wait for 2 more minutes, but if it would be longer, I’d have to come bk in an hour or two to pick it up because I had an appointment to make. Had they given me the actual 25-30 time frame, I could have ran a quick errand and come bk for my food, and that would have helped me to get to my appointment that I had to stop home first for. I was chill the entire time, and received my food a few mins after the couple ADDITIONAL mins they claimed. Out of nowhere, some employee comes from the back to say “thank you for your patience!” In the most SNARKY tone. “We’re very busy!” She said. I was STILL nice about it, “understandable, no problem. I legit would have had no issue coming back in an hour or two for my food, I just wanted a time frame so that I could decide what to do”, and she was still “thank you for your patience 😡”. Her snarky attitude was uncalled for, and kind of weird. At least wait to tip AFTER you get your order, instead of before, like I did.

Update: took off an additional star for the poor reply. “We are sorry you took management politeness as a snarky attitude”? Wow! Really! It WAS a snarky attitude, or is your idea of “management politeness” saying nice words with a terrible tone? Even if you truly believe that a guest heard wrong, the old “sorry you took it that way” is the WRONG way to...