Chicago Waffles at Willowbrook — Restaurant in Darien

We had 10AM reservations on Mother's Day for a party of 4. We were greeted promptly and the host pointed to our table. I asked if we could have menus. He said "sure", but did not bring them to the table - my sister ended up grabbing them.

The waitress greeted us around 10:10 and said she had a few tables ahead of us and would be with us shortly. Thankfully they had water and glasses on the table as she did not come back until about 12 minutes later to get our drink order.

Since we had already been sitting for almost 30 minutes, we had studied the menu and knew what we wanted. So when the waitress took our drink order, we also placed our food order.

Roughly 10 minutes later the waitress came back with our drinks and told us she could not put our order into the kitchen for at least 10 minutes because the "kitchen was backed up".

By the time the waitress put our order in, we had been sitting at the table for over 40 minutes. Once she put in the order, food started to come to the table piecemeal. We ordered crispy bacon and it came to the table first, far from crispy, and barely luke warm. Next some Maple Bacon Sausage came out and my dad said he wanted all of his food together. So they took it back and sat it on the counter. Roughly 10 minutes later all of our food was brought to the table.

Nothing was hot, my food was basically room temp. I ordered extra crispy hash browns and they weren't even a little crisp. My dad ordered a cinnamon roll waffle and the waffle was gummy and not fully cooked, and the apples were ice cold. The maple bacon sausage that they brought back was the sausage that was sitting on the counter, so my dad asked for it to be taken off the bill. He also did not eat the gummy, cold waffle - so we asked for that to be taken off the bill also.

When checking out, the host asked me how everything was. I said "pretty horrible". He sarcasticly said sorry and did nothing to rectify or investigate my complaint.

Perhaps because it was Mother's Day, they were overwhelmed. But there were always empty tables and at least 5 waitresses, plus 2 food runners. I know I will not be back and I hope if you go, you do not have an...

Lemon cheesecake blueberry waffles were divine. Waffle batter was amazing, light but not overly fluffy still held up to weighty topping and could be eaten finger style as needed. The combo I chose didn't need even need syrup. Daughter had chocolate chip pancakes with bacon on the kids menu with pineapple juice and a bendy straw. Happy kiddo. Son had the delicious grandmas crepes. Was overwhelmed with it! Came with a scoop of ice cream on top!!! He and I also split the half order eggs, bacon, toast and potatoes. I'm glad even though it was a lot of food we had something to balance out the sugar high! 😜 Hubby got the breakfast tacos with chicken. He got 2 different salsas with it. He said they were good but he likes spicier and that it overall lacked a little in flavor and wished the chicken was spiced more. I don't usually like spicy but agree some pepper or garlic or something was missing.

The atmosphere was fun, wild. Very 80s bar crashed into a breakfast diner. The music and decor matched with flowers all over and a soundtrack that alternated between Led Zeppelin and Buddy Holly. We did not partake in any drinks as we stopped at lunch with kiddos and then headed for a hike at Waterfall Glen afterwards. The cocktails looked both creative and several were seasonally fun. The waitress was friendly, quick, and came back to check in with us often enough to have us feel attended to without feeling bugged or rushed.

Be prepared for a quirky atmosphere, family friendly but also good for a trek with friends. Staple breakfast fare seems to be the best bet and you won't be disappointed at all with the flavor and portion sizes with those items.

We would definitely come back!!!

Note- the ladies room is super small and crowded. There is one stall and one sink but if you're standing at the sink you can't get in-out of the stall and visa versa. Might have been better suited to just making it a stand alone single entrance bathroom and done unisex between the two to accommodate all. If you have a baby in diapers it would be best to change the little one...

Came in on a Sunday morning at about 9a.

It was me andy boy and I wanted a bigger table to do some work, relax and eat.

I asked for permission to sit at a table of 5. I was met with an immovable policy. They told me they MAY need it because they MAY get busy.

The guy at the front was unkind, disrespectful and had no grace.

Yes, I counted all the seats. By my math they are able to sit just around 100 people. They were never more that 20 people full.

At one point a family of 5 come in to be seated. Get this, while there are 5 tables of 6, sitting empty, this (in my opinion) uncaring, smug and insulting host, sits them in the very table I requested.

In my assertion, with the smug grin on his face, he did this out of spite.

Next: I asked for no pancales, my boy said the same. I understand that the meal costs whatever the meal costs, but we knew we'd not eat the pancakes nor take them home.

Both meals arrived with pancakes. Guess what, they were wasted. Yes, I made it abundantly clear that we did not want them and we did not want them to be wasted and thrown away.

This place doesn't understand customer service. If you play by their stupid policies, they're happy. Once you ask for the slightest allowance, their smug host shows disrespectful attitudes and there is no such thing as customer service.

3rd and final visit to this place. Keep up the horrible customer service.

So disappointed.

############ EDIT #########

Please see response from restaurant. In my opinion, this response proves my previous review 100%.

Response is childish, immature and undeserving of serious consideration.

To my detractor, rejection accepted. I've been kicked out of...