White Lotus Restaurant — Restaurant in Dayton

This was not a good visit. The sign on the door: No public restroom.. I walked in to the joint with my minor son and took a seat at the breakfast bar. One old lady in there, I noticed she was wearing sunglasses at 15:00 on a cloudy day. This is your first clue. The temperature in the room is 81*.After about 5 minutes she came over and said "What you want?" I was a little taken back, there wasn't a greeting or even a hello. Son orders, I then asked if I could get a double burger. "No Double." Then she turns around and walks away and I haven't even finished ordering. At that moment I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. A look around the joint, grease on every surface. A glance behind the counter, and it seemed like there was grease and dirt stuck to the floor where the kitchen is. I note she was wearing gloves at this time. She throws our meal on the grill. She then slathers the beef in tallow. We had also ordered fries, but ill get to that in a minute. She then walks over and starts screwing with photographs on the wall as the beef cooked ignoring the fries. In the bottom fridge where the grill is she opened the door and shes got herself a little mini-bar in there. She then pours herself a vodka screwdriver in front of the customers none the less and proceeds to drink on the job in front of her customers. She heads to the back of the joint multiple times while the food is cooking. Only one of those trips she came back with something in her hand, the cheese for the sandwiches. There was food sitting out in the open on the prep table onions and tomatoes. She then prepared both of our sandwiches without gloves on her hands. Wiping her hands several times on the apron she was wearing. Other customers come in. She didn't greet them, they just sat and waited 10-15 minutes before she even acknowledged them. At this point she starts cutting potatoes for fries. The beef completed cooking around the same time she started the fries. The fries didn't take long. Then I watched her literally grab the hot bacon off the griddle. I just thought that was pure incompetence. She had the spatula right there. The food was alright if you can get past everything else that was totally wrong. I requested to use the bathroom, The bathroom was in order. I proceeded to the cash register. She took off her glasses and put another pair on. She was visibly intoxicated and was squinting to read her own handwriting. I paid and left, and I will never EVER eat...

I've driven/ridden past this place probably 2.8 million times during my lifetime in Dayton and today, after laughing about it with a friend, I decided to make a trip downtown just to finally go here for the first time.

The building is small, interior modest, a diner style place, with not much to offer in the way of visual appeal (except for some nice plants if you like plants, which I do), and that is perfectly okay. Because it's the hole-in-the-wall or unimpressive, straightforward looking places that usually have the best food; and White Lotus/Yummy Burger is such a place!

I knew what I was going to order before I got there—the yummy burger. Partly because at what other Thai place can you order a burger?!......It, was, one of thee, YUMMIEST burgers I've had from ANY restaurant, including burger joints! It was so fresh, from the toppings to the thick and juicy patty. The service was kind of slow (she is the owner and sole employee of the place), but what that really translates to is: the food is worth the wait.

The owner is nice and funny. She came over to where I was sitting after a while I chatted with her for a moment and we shared a bit about our family. She has photos of her grandchildren in the place. From conversation I overheard between her and other patrons, there's an awesome atmosphere where repeat customers and the owners become like "food family".

I look forward to...

Stopped here while in town for business. I was seriously put off by the appearance of this restaurant, both outside and in. I'm adventurous and have eaten many meals in local establishments all over the country, but this one pushed my limits.

The experience is was very slow and service (getting a refill on water) was poor. Yes, it's a one-woman show, but when eating spicy food, water must be in constant supply.

Watching my meal being cooked in front of me was both interesting and concerning. The owner is obviously skilled in what she does, but it felt more like watching someone cook at home than in a commercial environment, where standards for cleanliness are more stringent. Some of what I saw was suspicious.

The food was very tasty and I enjoyed the flavor of my meal. It was interesting to see the owner go to the window and remove a sprig of basil from a plant in the window for use in my entree. Yes, it was very fresh. I ordered a spice level 7 and it was plenty hot, but I didn't find it unusually so.

Based on food taste alone, this was a 5 star for me. Based on the whole experience, it's much more...