Thunderbird Cafe — Restaurant in Elkton

As Massanutten Resort owners, my husband and I bring our family here annually and always make it a point to visit Thunderbird Cafe for breakfast. We were just there this weekend, enjoying a great experience on Saturday. However, our visit this morning was nothing short of a nightmare – so upsetting that I was in tears and we ended up taking our food to go. Upon arrival, we saw it was busy, but found two empty seats at the bar. We were starving and eager to eat before heading home. It took a while for our server to greet us and take our drink order, which I understood given the crowd, but it was clear she was severely overwhelmed. I specifically requested an iced latte with oat milk, explicitly stating I could not have dairy. My husband ordered juice and fried pickles. A little later, we stopped her to confirm there was no dairy in my coffee, and she verbally assured us it was dairy-free. Sitting directly in front of the kitchen window, we watched our fried pickles sit there for a significant amount of time. Our server even came to the window and grabbed other orders, leaving ours. She then came over and asked if we were ready to order our entrees. My husband had to remind her, "Yes, but we're still waiting on our pickles." Her response was to turn, point at them in the window, and say, "They're right there," before finally grabbing them. We then ordered our entrees and, once again, I confirmed the coffee was dairy-free due to my dairy allergy. The situation escalated when we asked for another side of T-Bird sauce, which the menu clearly states comes with the fried pickles. Our server just stared at us until another server, overhearing, offered to get it. When she brought the sauce, my husband questioned if it was the T-Bird sauce, then asked what we were currently eating our pickles with. Our server's casual response? "Ranch." This was infuriating, especially after my repeated emphasis on my DAIRY ALLERGY regarding my coffee. At this point, I was so upset that I got up and walked out in tears. When my husband confronted the server about being given ranch instead of the menu's T-Bird sauce, her unapologetic and dismissive response was, "That's usually what people ask for, so that's what I gave you." He pressed her, "If the menu states T-Bird sauce and we didn't ask for ranch, why would you give us ranch?" Again, her only reply was, "Because usually people ask for ranch." There was no apology, no attempt to correct her error; she clearly saw her intentional disregard for the menu and our order as acceptable. A few moments later, when my husband requested our food be boxed up, she approached him and declared, "Just so you know the T-Bird sauce has dairy in it." My husband was confused, knowing that mayonnaise (its primary ingredient) does not contain dairy. She continued to argue, insisting it had dairy because it's made with eggs, and in her exact words, "eggs are dairy." This was a blatant attempt to deflect responsibility and minimize the seriousness of the situation, showing a shocking lack of knowledge about basic food components, which is incredibly dangerous when serving someone with allergies. This is a restaurant we've always looked forward to visiting during our trips. However, after today's experience – marked by intentional disregard for our order, a complete lack of apology from our server, and dangerously inaccurate information regarding a dairy allergy – we will absolutely not be returning. This server's actions were not a mistake; they were a deliberate choice that created a deeply distressing and potentially harmful situation for my family. As an exclusively breastfeeding mother whose daughter has a dairy allergy, this server's inconsiderate behavior means we will now struggle for the next few days. This visit was entirely...

5 out of 5 from me for the waffles/chicken/bacon

This place is a little bit outside of the downtown area so be willing to drive a little longer. Our friends found this restaurant to check out and I am so glad they did. I loved the food I ordered. The service was good besides our waitress took a pretty long time to get our friend her pancake. My water kept being refilled before I got empty which is awesome. I love when the waitress/staff pay attention to that. I do not want to have to stop eating because I need to wait for water. We were almost done eating our food when she came to give her the pancake.

The atmosphere was good. It was not loud so I was able to hear all of my breakfast companions.

I got the waffles and chicken and LOVED it. I did not get any buffalo sauce on the chicken as I do not like hot/spicy foods. The waffle was soft and perfectly cooked. I loved the maple honey glaze that they put on the waffles/chicken. I only wish there was more of it on my plate. The chicken was seasoned and cooked perfectly. It was crispy. No fat or bad parts on the chicken that came with the dish.

My boyfriend got the omelet. He said it was good but nothing special. It was real eggs though which are sometimes hard to find nowadays. He got the home fries. They were the bomb. They were seasoned perfectly and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Just how I like them. They were red potatoes.

The biscuit was soft and fluffy. I just put some butter on it and it was tasty. They had some homemade strawberry jam on the table and we all tried that on the biscuits and loved it.

The bacon that I ordered as a side was perfectly cooked and had a smoky flavor. The side of bacon came with two slices.

Prices were average for breakfast food and breakfast food that was a little different than the way they did my waffles and chicken.

I would come back and get the food I ordered again – chicken/waffles, bacon, and biscuit and I may even try out something else. It is really hard to find amazing chicken and waffles and I have been trying. This is my favorite place for this breakfast / brunch entree. THANK YOU THUNDERBIRDS!

Update: We actually did go back a second time. I got the same thing – chicken and waffles, bacon, and a biscuit. My date got the fried green tomatoes and they were crispy and hag good pimento cheese. They were fresh. He did the fix your omelet and got bacon and ham. The restaurant actually cut up pieces of bacon, real bacon, instead of the bacon bits and the omelet was packed with the 2 meats and cheese ordered. No...

I don’t have pictures because my wife and I DEMOLISHED that food. But here are photos of the compliments we gave it to our friends who we will be bringing back with us tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving a second review of how good the food is, but let’s get into this one.

I had a custom omelette with bacon, steak, cheddar cheese and onions. LET ME TELL YOU! THERE WERE ACTUAL FACTUAL PIECES OF STEAK in there! BACON COOKED TO PERFECTION THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF CHEWY AND CRISP. FLUFFY EGGS HAD ME FEELING LIKE I WAS EATING A PILLOW FILLED WITH MY FAVORITE MEATS OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS.

My wife had this thing called a pancake taco.

Let me tell you right now.

IMAGINE IF A HOLY DIETY SNATCHED A CLOUD FROM THE SKY, WRAPPED THE FINEST FRUITS UP IN IT AND WHIPPED UP A CREAM CHEESE OUT OF THOSE FRUITS AND SERVED IT TO YOU.

That’s what that pancake taco was. You wanna talk about a cure for every single pain you have faced in your life?! That’s it. The pancake taco. Everything was IMMACULATE! From the flavors, to the textures, to the smells to the looks. THE TOAST WAS REAL BREAD! SOFT WITH THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF BITE. WHOO!

We are going again tomorrow and maybe again before we checkout.

Matt, Nathan, Anthony, Joey. These are the names of the people who have the glorious hands that summoned down angels to help cook this marvelous food. They deserve nothing but peace joy and happiness all the days of their lives because the amount of effort and love in that meal could end wars.

Now, let’s talk about service.

Jackie, Nick, Cheyenne, Naomi, Kacey and Amber.

Do you want to feel like you just walked into your favorite relatives house to relive all the best moments of your life with your family? That’s the squad. The kindness and consideration they show to you and each other will make you believe that you actually stepped into one of those cartoons where everybody actually cares about and communicates with each other. And the taste of the food is proof!

If you don’t do anything else in your life, go and get you some food from here. Because you deserve happiness and they are serving it up right here.

And yes, expect another review from me tomorrow after I try some different dishes and undoubtedly will have my tastebuds sent back to euphoria town again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ That’s how many stars they deserve. Cause everyone in that diner today is a freaking star.

Amazing. Immaculate. Phenomenal. Transcendent. Miraculous....