Crystal Lake Cafe — Restaurant in Crystal Township

I read the Google reviews on the way to the restaurant, and they're so mixed, I wasn't sure what to expect. There was plenty of seating when we walked in. We sat in a booth and our server came immediately to get our drink orders. There is a LOT to look at on the menu, so it took a few minutes to decide. I believe breakfast is served all day except no pancakes or sausage gravy after 2pm on weekends. He got the hot beef sandwich which came with the salad bar. He loved the hot beef but said the gravy was a bit salty. He would definitely get it again, though. He said the salad bar was more prepared salads (pasta salad potato salad, etc ), than a normal salad bar. He said there were no croutons, no boiled eggs or ham. He didn't see the bacon bits which are up by the plates, not on the salad bar, itself. I chose the half-size wet (beef and bean) burrito. I chose well! The burrito looks a bit small (but I have a very small appetite right now), but it's very filling. It comes with enough chips and toppings, it's almost like getting an order of nachos with the 1/2 burrito. I brought almost 1/2 of it home. The burrito was also HOT when she brought it out, and stayed warm the entire time I was eating. I found it odd that the onions weren't diced, they were in rings, but I just cut them up myself. I didn't care for the salsa that came with it, but the burrito had plenty of sauce, so it wasn't a big deal. This was an excellent burrito, especially for a small-town diner. Our server seemed like maybe she was having a bad day, but still did her job well. (Drinks were refilled, we were checked on a couple times.) The restaurant was a bit dirty. Sorry, I hate to say it, but it was. I did hear someone say they had been pretty busy all day, so maybe that was it, but it seemed like it's more than that. Hopefully, it's better next time. I LOVE that they have a "lighter fare" menu. I wish there were a couple more options on there (like maybe some small burgers. Not everyone wants a burger the size of their head.), but it's already light years ahead of other restaurants who don't offer it at all. Note: the half-size burrito is also not listed in that section, it's under "South of the Border". Overall, 10/10 will return. I felt the pricing was fair for what we got, the food and service were good, there's a vast selection of food and it's convenient on...

While I like to support my home town, this place needs help. The staff was not friendly and the service was well below par. I ordered a cinamon roll and was told they were made but not frosted and they had no time to get that done so I couldn'thave one. (I will grant they had just served a large group.) Three of us ordered food. Each dish came out minutes apart. One of us had eatten there the day before and stated the hashbrowns they ordered came out well before the omelets. Two of us ordered the biscuits and gravy. They were tasteless but it was a good sized serving of them. The other ordered a ham and cheese omelet. He said that was good.

The server did check once to see if the order was ok after all meals were delivered.

The server wanted to pick up empty dishes and just reached her hand out without saying a word. We guessed she was reaching for dishes and handed them over.

They have a deck attached to the building that is a real eyesore. The wood is rotting and their is overgrowth outside.

I hope the owners can find way to improve as I would like to see this...

Burrito special-out. Taco salad shell-out. Went with patty melt and olive burger. Burgers were pink to the edges. They had even cut the patty melt in half and could see the pink. Never asked how wanted cooked. Waitress did best to rectify. Was given 10% off bill and free drinks since management was not present. Bill still came to $20. 50% off bill would have been more accommodating to the disappointment in the undercooked food. Needless to say, we learned why there were no cars in the parking lot at 700 pm at night. Won't be back and...