The Bakery Mill — Restaurant in Gainesville

My visit: Saturday, midmorning breakfast. The restaurant was full, but no waiting for a table. The wait staff were FULLY organized, and in control. Let me start by saying that the service was excellent. The servers were attentive, without being imposing, and very cheerful, eager to please, and engaging. The menu is pretty good, and the bakery selection, while geared toward youngsters with an uncontrolled sweettooth (mostly fruit/crumb muffins), LOOKED excellent, although not seeing any adult options (like bran, corn, banana/nut etc), I opted out, so I can't attest to what they tasted like. The only problem (and it's a big one) is the kitchen. I ordered a scramble, and I asked for the potatoes to be very well done (I was emphatic, and the server did put it on the ticket), and I agreed to pay extra for spinach to be added (she did NOT put that on the ticket). I ordered it with "over very lightly" eggs, and we'll buttered toast. It arrived VERY quickly (too quickly), and sure enough, the potatoes were barely cooked. The rest looked great, except I also could find no trace of the spinach. I SHOULD have quilt whilst I was ahead, and eaten it, but they happily agreed to remake it. Sadly, when it returned, although the potatoes were properly cooked/crisp, they did it by drowning it in grease (trying to rush the browning), the eggs were way overcooked this time (nearly hard-fried), there were a FEW bits of the spinach I THOUGHT I was PAYING extra for, (I didn't realize yet, that the server hadn't put it on the ticket) and the toast, having sat on the table this whole time, was room temp. I ate most of the scramble, and left the toast and browned eggs behind. I also left the POWDERED mix cappuccino behind (I wish places would either invest in REAL espresso machines, or not claim to make cappuccinos & lattes). My other criticism is regarding the grits. This is the South. Somebody in that kitchen should know that if you can invert the cup of grits, and remove the cup, and it holds its shape like a Jello mold, your grits are just a tad too thick (by a factor of about a hundred). Some salt in those grits wouldn't go amiss, either. They were devoid of moisture AND flavor. In short, this place has great potential. They obviously have a great baker on staff, and have hired & trained terrific wait staff, but the kitchen line cook(s) show(s) a serious lack of experience, with poor execution...and when your thing is serving breakfast to yuppies, buy a decent espresso machine. For basic breakfast fare, it's acceptable...but so is the Waffle House on the corner...and they don't serve grits you can stand a spoon...

Disappointed by the Lack of Courtesy and Service

I visited Mill Bakery and Deli in Gainesville, Florida, and had a disappointing experience that I feel needs to be shared.

When I arrived, the restaurant was busy. A young man at the front (I wish I had gotten his name) greeted me warmly and said I could have a table once it was cleaned. A waitress began cleaning it but abruptly stopped, even though she saw me standing and waiting. After a few minutes of standing there unsure of what to do, the same young man returned, finished cleaning the table himself, and brought me silverware—he was the only positive part of this visit.

After I sat down, the waitress finally came to my table. She didn’t greet me, didn’t smile, didn’t say a word—just stood there and took my order with no warmth or professionalism. Meanwhile, an older white couple who came in after me was immediately greeted and served by the same waitress. Another white couple who came in after me also received their food before I did, even though I ordered first.

At the time, I was the only Black customer in the restaurant. While I don’t want to jump to conclusions, I cannot ignore how differently I was treated. It may not have been intentional, but it certainly felt dismissive and unprofessional.

I’ve included a photo of the waitress because I strongly believe this staff member would benefit from customer service training. Every customer—regardless of race—should feel welcome and respected when choosing to support a local business.

I’m not posting this to be malicious, but to hopefully encourage improvement....

CAUTION do not bring your service animal, We visited this location about 30 mins before close with our puppy who is a service dog he can sense when my fiancé may have a panic attack, our puppy was in his dog carrier backpack and he remains silent when we are out. The waitress greeted/seated us and brought our drinks, but then immediately advised us that dogs weren’t allowed in (not her fault just the rules) but said we could if he was a service animal we stated he was and she said ok and waited for our order, we asked for more time, she left. She then came back a 2nd time and advised us that her management team wanted to know what kind of service he provides my fiancé, we advised her we thought she ask that after we had just advised he was a service dog but told her anyway since she was kind, she left again. She came back a third time and advised that management wanted us to move the dogs carrier from the seat to the floor where it would be challenging for him to sense my fiancé/ alert her. You could visually see the waitress felt terrible as it was not her fault but her management teams fault who also seemed to be glaring at us with disdain the entire time, at this point we had just decided to leave as it felt that the management team did not want us there. Sadly, we wont be back...