Poky Dot — Restaurant in Fairmont

I have Never been so disappointed in my life with a supposed town attraction. I moved here a few years ago, and heard nothing but great things about this place.

But that place is trash, and even though it burned down once, someone wasted their money and energy trying to recreate a time that never was.

My list is specific with what is wrong with the restaraunt, but none of it should be fixed. They should have left that lot as an empty pile of ash and fond memories.

The place isn't very accessible, and hasn't been for a while. The doorways are tight and have worthless access ramps, the register and back areas are difficult to access with wheels. The parking lot might as well be nothing put a pile of jagged concrete blocks, for all the good it does as an invitation to stop in.

I would sooner walk/crawl/drag/push myself the length of the Middletown Commons parking lot for a $15 Taco Bell taco, rather than ever park more than 3 feet from the door at Poky Dot for a $25 ice cream or an $11 dollar hot dog. The lot is rough and poorly laid out/marked. The point is that If you have wheels under you, your teeth might rattle out of your mouth. Dentures or not.

The atmosphere is one of sad desperation, and has been for a while. That kind of decaying attitude takes time to cultivate.

I never knew what it looked like when a business gave up. Now I do. Seriously, if you dont' want to be better, then just be closed. All the time. Every day. Save yourselves the operating costs, and save us from the utter disappointment of actually making the effort to get into the building after crossing that jagged entry way. Only to be confronted with the "Saddest Little Ice Cream Shop", I have ever had the displeasure of hearing about, let alone actuall seeing from the inside.

The prices are outrageous for food, given the blatant lack of interest in making a fun dining experience, the least they could do is be semi-reaasonable in the current economy. Or any economy, seeing as how the have the temerity to charge more that $25.00 for a banana split (incl tax). The menus were old, worn out, faded, and scratched to the point of potentially having uncertain sanitary standards. So apparently have had those insultingly high prices for a while now.

The seasonal decorations were past the current season, and they were hung with no regard for anyone over 6 feet tall. One part of the building appeared to have a hall effectively blocked off at ceiling level, without having to dodge the roughly 8 large shamrocks hanging from the ceiling, that is.

The store couldn't even handle most sales. Some, but not at all. They couldn't accept any digital transactions, it was listed as cash only on the sign on the way in. Which, by the way, is a challenge by itself if there is ANYONE in your group that might needs a wheeled device for mobility. And, as this whole review starts downhill, it only gets worse. They could only do cash sales, and couldn't make correct change.

I had high hopes for what I was told was a "Fairmont Attraction".

I am a not asking Fairmont to rally around your beloved Poky Dot, I am begging the owner/operators to close. Just close the store if you really don't want to be in a competeitve business like the food industry. The momories you are trying to sell never existed, and the prices you are charging for what is nothing more than a little roadside attraction are an insulting.

This place is absolutely IFURIATING, for the lack of service, the lack of exterior access, the lack of a working sales system, the lack of effort in the new interior (I imagine it looked the wrong kind of "Old" the day it was new), and now the whole store interior seems to be having a competition with the customers to see who can be more depressing in a place that is supposed to be fun.

The minimum number of stars listed is 1star. And it does deserve that "1" because at least the building didn't fall on me while I was in there looking at that bleak and lonely scene.

We would be better off it if had fallen down when it...

On 7/15/18 my husband and I were excited to take some out of town guests to the Poky Dot. I'm not sure what has happened to this place since I had been there last around 5 years ago. The restaurant was a mess and all of the staff are immature teenagers with no knowledge of how to be professional. When we arrived we had to wait for a table to be cleaned off. After the table was cleaned we proceeded to seat ourselves because even though a young man said he was going to clean the table for us he did not come back to tell us we could be seated. The seats still had food crumbs on them. We ended up ordering a combo appetizer plate to share as we weren't real hungry but we were in the area and I wanted to take my out of town guests here. Shortly after our food arrived we heard a siren and knew it was close. Then we were told that the kitchen had a small fire and that we needed to go outside. We picked up our food and drinks and moved to a table outside. We then realized that we did not get fries which were part of what we ordered. We were told that we could return to our table and when we got back inside we told the waitress that we didn't get our fries and she said that was what caused the fire in the kitchen. Wouldn't you think she would have told us when she brought our food that there was a fire in the kitchen so we weren't getting fries? She then proceeded to tell us that she didn't think we were gong to be charged but she would check. She did not return for a long while and when she did she said that she thought they weren't going to charge anyone but it was just those that didn't receive their food. When she returned with our bill we asked her if they gave us a discount since our order was incomplete and she said she could give us a piece of free cheesecake and left a list of flavors to choose from. All of a sudden she was helping the other employee's that were making the elaborate sundaes and shakes and never did return. Finally another girl came over and asked if we decided on a flavor. She goes and gets the cheesecake and then sets it on the counter. At this point we are wondering whether we were supposed to go to the counter and pay or if someone was coming back with our cheesecake and to get our money. After waiting and waiting and our original waitress looking at us several times we decided to go up to the counter to pay and then we left. It just seems like things are very unorganized and there is no professionalism. I'm not sure why waitresses are making ice cream and waiting tables. The employee's clothes were dirty and one of the boys kept using his dirty shirt to wipe his hands. I have read the reviews and it seems that these concerns have been reported numerous times over the past few months and the manager always replies and says to call her at the restaurant to discuss. It doesn't seem that management is making any changes. You need to listen to your customers before you find yourself without any. The food was horrible as well! The complimentary piece of cheesecake was hard and went in the trash. Very disappointing and my out of town guests said they would...

We came to eat here on purpose....as a 4th of July "destination eats" trip....... Drove 2.5hrs one way--rented a hotel room. We wanted to sample the dinner & lunch menus so we came in at approx. 9:15 July 3rd for dinner first--- the immediate impression I got when I walked in was this place was just hit by a tornado!! Now I'm not talking about the overly flamboyant & colorful decorations ( I liked those!) but I'm talking about the eye sore of messy counters & floors!! But I somewhat dismissed this as I have been a server before & knew when you have a huge dinner rush the restaurants cleanliness can lack. The food was average diner type--we chose hamburgers & fries which were tasty & I feel worth the $10/platter & we tried the chicken fingers & fries which we felt was also worth the charge.... Nothing great but couldn't complain! I also had a "fourth of July" milkshake which was fun because it has a firework that lights up and was picture worthy but you definitely pay the price for that!!! It was a little upsetting to see the servers making these tasty and quichy looking treats without gloves or a clean work space ; Dinner total was $60 !!!😳.....

Sooooo July 4th, 8:45 AM drove for breakfast but we sat outside in the car for 30 minutes because a server didn't show up & they couldn't open the doors on time. Being there the night before & seeing the mess after dinner I was hoping to be wowed with cleanliness in the morning but I wasn't!! My salt shaker had dried whipped cream on it, our table had crumbs all over it & the counter had a cookie mess near the register, however the floors were cleaner and overall it was much cleaner but not as well as it should have been for as many servers that were left there to close the night before. We came for the "He-Man Breakfast Challenge" but lost-- portions are big and the food was good for price! Service was average as he (server from night before) was tired looking, lack-luster and more interested in joking with his buddies standing around then filling our glasses of juice but I've had worse too--typical young server. AGAIN servers handled food without gloves, I was served a dirty cup filled with O.J. twice as my server didn't notice what he was bringing to the table and cook did not wear a cover for his long beard and ate bacon while he cooked food again without gloves!!! ( there is a large see thru/service pass window where this can be viewed by all!!). Breakfast Bill was approx $55. Management needs to really hit hard on cleanliness and service to the public. Also the female servers were very underdressed and innapropriately dressed as your eyes can feast on low cut tank top cleavage, bra straps & tight yoga pants silhouettes!!! My boyfriend said & I quote " these girls would fit right in at Hooters"! 😳 The feel of the restaurant was definitely for a younger crowd & I did not see one person who could have resembled a member of management both times I visited this restaurant. Once was enough-- was not wowed as I hoped I...