The Cornerstone Cafe — Restaurant in Gainesville

I really wish I could rate this cafe higher. I had read so many good reviews and when we happened to be in Gainesville, we decided to go in for breakfast. Maybe they were just having an off day on my visit... I ordered scrambled eggs, asked for/specified extra crispy bacon and a biscuit and gravy. I also asked the waitress if the gravy is hot, this may seem like a crazy thing to ask but only because I've had a lot of gravy at other places that have been served barely warm or room temp. So, I stressed hot on my request for the gravy. My husband chimed in and let the waitress know that when I said I like my gravy hot, what I am really asking is to see smoke coming off it and that is pretty much true!

While we were waiting for the food, we started noticing a lot of flies around the tables and just flying around. That is never a good thing in a restaurant and a stomach turner for me. A short time later the food comes out and the scrambled eggs I ordered look exactly like 2 over hard fried eggs, so I said to the waitress that I'd ordered scrambled eggs, she said they were scrambled, that's just how their scrambled eggs are cooked... (??) The extra crispy bacon I had asked for was definitely not extra crispy. It was cooked but just to the point of being done, not crisp and definitely not extra crispy. Sadly, the gravy was room temp.

I could have asked for all of it to be sent back and I am betting they would have accommodated me on something else because they are really friendly here. I just hate sending food back and that's on me for being that way. I'm giving it 2 stars because although my experience was really not good, I'm hoping that maybe I caught the cafe on an off day... I am truly hoping the house fly issue is not an every day occurence here. Anyway, my husband ordered the western omelet and he was happy with his meal. For me, it all went downhill once we had ordered and began seeing flies inside the cafe and...

This is the definition of excellent customer service: I just went in this afternoon afternoon for lunch. I walked in and the young lady said: "I'm sorry, but we are actually closed." I was disappointed and starved! She said the cook had just turned the stove off, so they couldn't cook anything. I asked if I could possibly do something to go real quick. A young man piped up and said "We have donuts." I turned my nose up because I just don't like donuts. I asked if they had sandwiches and she said yes. She pointed out a club sandwich and asked if I wanted chips or fries. Then corrected herself and said let me see if the cook has any fries. I was hopeful, but didn't really expect it. She came back out and told me he had fries. The other lady piped up and said they may not be fresh. Then the young lady who was my server asked if I still wanted it to go. I asked if it was possible to eat here and she said yes. She even asked me what I wanted to drink. A few minutes later she brought me out my food. I enjoyed my lunch and they were all so polite, courteous and helpful. I am in complete awe of these people who went out of their way to make sure I got fed before they closed. This is the best customer service I have ever received! From now on, I will not spend my money anywhere else! You will have my business as long as I am alive and I will make sure to tell everyone where to go get the food and customer...

We went in today for the first time. It was obvious they were short staffed, with only two ladies running orders, and one dishwasher that we could see. The ladies were running around trying to get to everyone for orders, bus tables, and food running. After about 30 minutes I figured our order never got put in. Our waitress confirmed this pretty soon after. As she explained she’d put it back in “on the house”, she also told us it was her cafe, and she was down 6 people. We declined to reorder, only because we had 3 small, hungry children who were already being so patient with no food. You can’t get a meal cooked in a family restaurant as quick as the Schlotzsky’s down the street, or we would’ve stayed and waited for our order to be restarted. She offered us to come back another time “on the house”, but we don’t live close enough to know when we’d be back. All this to say, I was really looking forward to trying the old fashioned burgers, the hand battered onion rings, and the hamburger steak. If and when we’re back in Gainesville, we will try again to eat here. I’d rather support a small business...