Cornucopia Restaurant — Restaurant in Eugene

Food was great but our burgers were very well done (I don't remember that as the norm but would definitely recommend the 1/2 pound over 1/4 pound option) but still good. The hostest was great, we arrived later (750pm and they close at 9pm) and asked for an outside table. We were told the wait time varies due to people liking to hangout after eating but there's an interior table available now and if something on the street side opens up we could move tables so that way we could get our order in now and it wouldn'tmess with the waitress's table rotations (as an ex bartender and manager i totally understand). A couple outside tables were done eating and appeared to be paid up so we went with this option. When our waitress came to the table I asked if the hostess had let her know we were hoping to be able to move outside once a table was cleared and she said yes that's fine. She gave us our menus and walked away. At this point we're good everything has been like I remembered (I'm the guy who just saved all his cornucopia bucks). When the waitress came back she asked if we were ready to order and we were so we did and then asked if we could also get drinks. We ordered our beers and then she left... the kids were left with water which I just assumed they weren't paying attention. When we got our drinks the kids put in their requests, strawberry lemonade and a sprite... they never showed up but we also didn't get charged for them. I believe we got a waitress having a bad day or she was checked out because she was very short and also very forgetful. The drinks weren't the only thing she forgot. I hate to say that I had an uncomfortable experience but it was like she was an ex and she was not happy I was there. I've never had a server make the entire table feel like they're disliked, especially my family, we're always polite and pretty happy go lucky people. Hopefully we just caught her having a bad night. Servers play a vital role in the experience and they definitely don't have to be as friendly as a Dutch bros barista, even though that can be too much before you've had your coffee for the day, it...

First stop here in some time. Relatively small establishment that I think of as more lunch menu focused. Relaxed neighborhood feel, and they're revamping the outdoor back patio area. Should be nice for the upcoming Spring/Summer. Service was efficient and friendly. Breakfast was "ok", with the exception of the bacon, that appeared to have been refried? Is that a thing? Either way, the bacon was overcooked, dry, and crumbly. Never seen anything like it, so I'll skip the bacon here next time. Coffee was actually good, and not overly bitter or acidic. I'll give them another try soon and hope to upgrade this review. I can't give upper marks to an establishment that can't cook bacon for breakfast. Really.

UPDATE: 06/15/18 Stopped in for breakfast again this AM. Interesting visit. Given my above complications with bacon, I switched my side to the sausage, and it was good. Perfectly cooked and well flavored. the oddity of this visit was the home fries. Both on my egg plate, as well as my cohort's scramble the home fries were grossly overcooked, dehydrated, and tepid. Iv'e not worked in a kitchen with a fryer in years, but my guesses are; 1) yesterday's home fried were held over and run through the fryer again this AM, or 2) a large batch of home fries were batched with the opening shift and placed under lamps for the morning? Either way, they were nearly inedible. On a positive note, I requested a fresh batch from our server casually referencing my issue with batch provided. The replacement batch was served promptly, piping hot, and cooked to perfection, as they had been on our previous visit. This seems a training issue. I understand reducing overhead, but there will be times the cook just needs to toss a batch of fries.

On positive notes,

1. The service was attentive, friendly, and efficient.
2. The coffee was great. Honestly, it's better than the coffee served at several dedicated coffee...

Neat place. Been a regular stop for years, but service this last time was a joke (and apparently because we were a party of 6 it was mandatory 20% gratuity?! Yeah like if I were the server why would I care either.), & food was decent but way way over priced. Never got asked about another drink. No water after initial emptied pitcher at first seating. Watched our waitress walk around in circles not doing much for quite a while waiting for the bill. The prices were already up there, comparatively, but have increased to the point where you start to think about what else you could get in town for that much with much better food & service. Won't be back.

Edit to owner response: Hey, thanks for the deflection and dismissiveness. We never ask for perfect service nor do we count on it. When we go out we are very laid back and casual. However, when service is good it's usually really good and when it's bad it's just plain bad. At the time, there weren't 40k people extra in town nor was the restaurant that busy. Nice try. At the time it didn't appear that you were short staffed either. Infrequent guest? Really dude? How could you possibly know that? And having been in food service before I do notice things and take then into account when making a review. I didn't recognize the "value" in your meals because there wasn't any. But I'm sure it was all our lack of awareness or uncivilized tastes or something right? Your restaurant is average at best and the price does not equal the quality. And no, comparatively you are not serving larger portions than most, they are average. Again, something that can be ascertained by experience and comparison. No, I'm definitely not coming back after this deflective, I can do no wrong, type of response from an owner. Have fun with your best local casual dining, because at one time you...