Pink Willow Café — Restaurant in Cottleville

My group of friends were here just yesterday and we unfortunately didn’t have a good experience. We were very excited to visit the restaurant, we planned on it for a couple of weeks and decided that yesterday was the day since we were having a celebration. We joined the wishlist at 10:15 am and didn’t get a table until 10:56 am, the wait was outside because the place is too small so we were out in the cold, we noticed a heater on one of the corners that they don’t seem to use - weird since they were also offering “patio seating”. The wait on the app said 15-25 minutes which we thought was perfect and reasonable, when we hit the 40 minute mark I went inside and asked why we saw other parties that had just arrived being seated and we were still waiting, the manager told me that they were smaller parties and “easier” to sit she also said quote “we are a small facility as you can see and don’t have much space to sit a party like yours” - we were only 6 people. Then we are finally seated, received our menus at 11:00 and I rapidly call the waiter since on their menu they only serve breakfast until 11am and my pregnant friend was very hungry for their French toast and the waiter very rudely replied “no, we are very strict with that policy, our chef doesn’t like food contamination so we won’t be able to serve anything like pancakes or French toasts”, we explained that it was 11 o clock that we were sure they could make an exception but NO! The manager came over and said the chef already had started placing chicken on the grill and wouldn’t risk contamination - this all seems very reasonable and we would totally understand if we would have seen anyone else waiting for their food, the table that was seated before us got their breakfast, yes, they got French toast and nobody was seated after us so no one was waiting on chicken. The food was ok, I personally liked the Monte Cristo and my friends like their plates, just wish the service will come in hand with how the plates look and taste. When we received the check the waiter said “we have included an 18% tip since you are a larger party” - which was never mentioned at the beginning or it’s on the menu, so yeah we felt like this was just them making it up. As you can imagine we are never coming back to this place, wish them luck and hope they can get...

We were added to the wait list online. When we arrived, we were seated almost immediately. It took about 15 minutes for the waitress to even welcome us which can be long for a hungry 7-year-old to have to wait. I ordered French toast and the waitress came back telling me that it wouldn't taste that's good, and since I wasn't a gluten allergy, would I be okay with having the regular French toast. I agreed, but asked for water so I could take a supplement to help digest the gluten.. our food came out well before our drinks were even brought to our table, which we ordered at the same time.. when our food arrived, we didn't even have silverware on the table and they had to go back and get that.. .the food was brought out by the kitchen staff, and not even our waitress. The waitress was, very busy, and I could see that. Our drinks came after half of our meal was already consumed? The dirty Chai latte didn't even taste like a latte. It tasted like Chai mixed with coffee. The food was tasty. However, the kid's portion was extremely large, but the adult portion was very small. We had finished our meal and waited another 15 to 20 minutes before venturing inside to retrieve our bill. The waitress came running up to the counter saying, oh, I'm so sorry... We are so so busy. Maybe you should come back on it to sunday that's not so busy. The lady at the host stand was extremely kind and helpful from start to finish. It was just our waitress who was not very attentive to tables' needs.. I would like to try it again, but if I got the same waitress, I would likely just walk out.. even on the most busy days you pay attention to your guests. I'm sorry, this waitress was just under par.. other waitresses were paying very good attention to their guests. Next time I would love to try the avocado toast with a...

Dear Pink Willow Management,

I wanted to share my experience from a visit to your café on Saturday at 10:00 AM. Our group of six arrived separately, and I was informed of your 90-minute seating policy upon being seated. Throughout our visit, the waitress frequently reminded us of the remaining time at our table.

We all ordered the avocado sandwich, and while the food was good, our experience was marred by the persistent time reminders. As we enjoyed our meal, we decided to order alcohol. After our first champagne flight, we decided to order another. It was then that the waitress informed us our time was up but extended our stay by 15 minutes due to our new order. However, just 10 minutes after placing the order, she approached us to ask how we would like to split the bill, despite our champagne flight being freshly served.

After we settled the bill, the waitress informed us we had 4 minutes left. By this point, we had all had enough of this service. All of us have worked in the service industry through college and have a basic understanding of customer service. The waitress kept emphasizing that there was a waitlist and people waiting for our table. However, when we left, we saw no one waiting and noticed an additional open table.

Overall, while the food was good, the service was extremely disappointing. This was the worst experience I've had in a café. Even though Pink Willow is a new establishment, the rigid enforcement of the 90-minute policy and the manner in which it was communicated to us made our visit unpleasant. I would not recommend this place to any of my friends.

I hope the café can reconsider its seating policy and approach to customer service to enhance the dining experience for...