Terrace Bagels & Cafe — Restaurant in Freehold Township

If you read my google reviews, you will see I generally try to post positive reviews. Having a culinary degree and have run many restaurants across the country, I understand the power of reviews good/bad. That being said. I would have given Terrace 1 star if it weren’t for the quality bagel and the nostalgia of going here well before my kids were born. Now, approx 1 year ago we ordered a BLT on a bagel. My wife bit into the sandwich and a tomato squeezed out so she went to push it back in. Upon Inspection she found black mold in the tomato slice. So we haven’t been back for a year. Today being the Fourth of July and not working, I wanted a pork roll egg and cheese sandwich. The wife said let’s give terrace a try again. So we did without hesitation. We ordered ahead, food was promptly waiting for us upon pick up. We drove home and began to eat. I sat down and opens my PEC sandwich and immediately was shocked to see a finger tip of a glove in my sandwich. Immediately infuriated I called. They said come back right away. So I drove back and tried to get help. They were slammed! I tried to call down people as I felt I didn’t need to wait back in line for this situation. Finally a gentleman I had held the door for called down the manager. He asked what the issue was and was shocked when I told him and he looked. He asked if I would like another and I said yes without the glove please, as I was angry but felt bad cause the place was packed. He hands me the sandwich and says “sorry but the guy was busy “ The guy who had called the manager for me was like” really there is NO excuse” we went back and forth and he said thank you and now I will never return. No refund either! I have attached pictures. I never complained with the mold situation the first time but after this I have come to understand that they may have a quality bagel but I cannot trust that the staff preparing the food has the same understatement for quality in cooking the food/sandwiches. If you’re just getting bagels, they do make a great bagel. But I refuse to give them...

I rarely write reviews, but I received such bad customer service today that I felt compelled to. After waiting over 15 minutes on a not-so-busy Saturday afternoon, I politely asked one of the teenage girls working behind the counter the status of my order as order numbers higher than mine were being called. She said that it shouldn't be much longer as it was being made now. I wait for a few more minutes to hear more numbers being called, which caused me to ask for the manager. Five minutes pass, and I'm presented with the bagel and a small apology. I was really frustrated at that point because there is no way that a bagel with cream cheese could take 20 minutes to prepare. It just doesn't make sense.

I explained to him how long I waited, which he didn't seem too concerned about. He even asked, "What do you want me to do about it?" Um, that's your job to fix your mistake and please your customer! I demanded a refund for my $6 bagel (ridiculously overpriced, I know). He said, "I can't do that because you already got the bagel." I wanted to throw my order in his face. At this point, I was infuriated and insisted a gift card for my time. He said he wasn't "authorized" to do so (if the manager isn't "authorized" to issue gift cards, who is?!). He then said he could give me free bagels, which is pretty pointless because I already had my prepared bagel! Having more bagels would just remind me of the awful service I received today and increase my disgust for Terrace.

Although the bagel was good, I do not plan to return to this location ever again. I never felt so insulted as a customer. The lack of people skills will deter business, I'm sure of it. I still have a sour taste in my mouth, and it wasn't the...

Great food, somewhat higher-than-average prices. I have been coming to Terrace since they were in the Brooks Plaza and they always know how to make a quality bagel.

If I could give one piece of criticism however, I'd highly recommend a revamp to the way that orders are completed and called. The past few times I've been, my orders have been incorrect in some way or form, and it appears that other reviewers are having similar issues. Whether it be more thorough staff training, or a more comprehensive system of the way the tickets are written, something that mitigates errors in the order-making process would do Terrace some good.

The order-calling system is also in need of a rework. I placed an online order for pickup and the website gave me an approximate time of 10:05-10:10. I arrived at ~10:00a and waited patiently. There were a few bags sitting on the counter behinds the signs that say something akin to "doordashers should ask the staff for your order", with the tags turned away from me so I couldn't see the names. I figured my order wasn't ready yet as per the website's ETA. At about 10:15a I approached the counter and waited a few more minutes for someone to come by, and asked if they had an order for my name. After some looking around, the girl handed me the bag that had been sitting on the counter since before I had arrived. I understand that an employee cannot be constantly babysitting the finished orders, but if someone is not going to frequently call out the ready orders, maybe it would be best to allow customers to grab their own bags, or at least be able to see the orders that are ready.

While I love Terrace Bagels, I do hope they fix the issues that myself and other reviewers...