Off the Rail Cafe — Restaurant in El Dorado

We stopped there for lunch during the Shamrock Festival. From the very beginning, things were off. To start with, the hostess asked us how many people were in our party, to which we said "two". She then told us "there's some tables up there" as she pointed behind herself to to a set of steps going to an upper level. No one walked with us or met us at the top. We found one dirty table and we stood there waiting for someone to acknowledge our presence and maybe clean it. Different wait staff came and went but no one spoke to us.. Eventually someone showed up to wipe the table just as we began making our way back downstairs but we already decided to sit on the first level. Everywhere we looked both upstairs and downstairs, there was trash and sometimes leftovers on the floor and loads of unbussed tables. One table near us had spilled milk on the floor under a chair. The bar behind us had trash on it along with three empty champagne bottles.

The waitress who led us to the table left (after wiping it off first) and after a short wait, another waitress came and asked for our drink order. Then she disappeared for a while, then showed up at a table in vicinity of us and brought them their drinks but never returned to us. In fact, no one returned to us at all. It was as if we no longer existed. Eventually, one of us went to get someone to take our order. The first waitress who seated us came and then immediately began blaming the delay on something supposedly breaking "in the back." She hurriedly took our order and it arrived quickly, which was good. However, the grits in the shrimp and grits entree we ordered were not completely cooked. In fact, there was a large uncooked "grit ball" about an inch or so in diameter in the middle of the bowl. When we brought it up to the waitress, she questioned what we said, saying "they're uncooked?" as she held the bowl up at eye level and looked at them. She left with the bowl and then came back later holding the bowl still. I expected her to say something like "I'm sorry" or "We apologize and took them off the ticket" or give a discount or maybe just apologize, or perhaps do something that would at least resemble an apology when seen from a distance; but instead, she returned and essentially told us we were wrong and said "that's how they are supposed to be because they are course ground." She asked if we wanted them still and we declined. She left again with the rest of the dish and never returned. Another waitress (different from the first two) comes to us with our check and then walks off. The entree was still on the ticket. And still not one person showed any concern or remorse, even faked.

So not only were we completely forgotten about in a dirty restaurant, but we were also given food that was not as described and not completely cooked, and then told that we were the ones who are "at fault" (for lack of a better phrase) because of our ignorance of grits (even though both of us have been raised in the south and grew up with grits). There was no attempt to apologize or make the situation right made. It was a bad experience from start to finish and we will not...

Update: The owner reached out to offer a gift card and he did apologize. Although I provided all my information, I never received the gift card. Despite that, my husband and I have returned to this location and we were pleased.

My family and I have eaten here several times, but today was a complete disappointment. I attempted to contact them via phone to place an order, but they did not answer. I figured perhaps they were busy and I understand that as it is a popular spot in town. I then headed to the restaurant to place my order at the window. We arrived and were informed that it would be a 30-45 minute wait. I informed them that it would be just fine and we proceeded to order. Several employees continued to walk up and state that they were busy and slammed and I was perfectly fine with waiting on the food. I then go back to my car and wait 30 minutes. I proceed to pick up my order. This time a different lady was at the window. As soon as I walked up to the window she states, “we are slammed on both sides and it will be at least 45 minutes.” Another lady then walked up behind her and said “yea, we are just so busy today so it will be a while”. I kindly informed her that I had already placed an order. She then precedes to look up my order on the iPad and was unable to find my order in the system. Next, she asks the other lady that actually took the order. She locates the ticket and confirmed that the order was taken. She then checks another separate iPad and states that she did take the order, but it is not in the system and that something must've happened. They then tell me, “I am so sorry. I am not sure what happened. It will another 45 minutes to an hour wait”. As the customer, I understand completely that things do happen. However, they did not care to make this situation right by any means. For example, if customers had arrived to order after us, why not offer to make this right by bumping up the ticket? Especially if you knew that I had been waiting patiently for 30+ minutes. I honestly felt that it was very rude and I unfortunately do not...

Unfortunately, I have tried twice to try out this restaurant, with today being the last chance I would ever try again. We arrived at the restaurant, and notcied several empty tables. Unfortunately since the inside of the restaurant is very limited in space they do not have an option to setup a table for a family of 7 or more. So we asked the waitress if we could sit in the patio. as it seemed bigger outside. However after asking the waitress if they could get us two tables together, we were then told we had to wait for someone of the patio area to leave to get us two tables together. One of the other customers offered to give us their table, since they also notice the lack of respect and carelessness from the waitress. The waitress proceeded to tell the customers who offered us their table, that it was ok and did not want to rush them out. However, the customers proceeded to tell the waitress that they were done and they really wanted to give us their table. Regardless of the offer, the waitress never showed any sense of urgency to get the 2 tables together. We arrived at the location at 10:45 AM, and left at 11:30 AM and the waitress was never able to put 2 tables together for us to dine in. Instead catched an attitude and asked us to give her a second, after waiting for 10 minutes we decided to leave. I do not know if this is a reservation only location or they are just TOO small to get a 7 person table together. All I can say is that we were very disappointed with the way were encountered. I myself was a waitress once, and when we saw a big family come in, we were able to get things together, for them to have a happy experience. Obviously customer service is not this place priority, otherwise waitresses would not be acting as such. Good luck for whoever goes to this location, I suggest call ahead or just have a second option in mind because more than likely you would have to...