The Gilbert House Restaurant — Restaurant in Gilbert

I have lived in Arizona for over 20 years and the Gilbert House Restaurant has always been one of my favorite go to places. I always bring my family and friends to The Gilbert House Restaurant when they come into town and also meet clients there, periodically.

The atmosphere is great, and it is the cutest little place, However, I am extremely disappointed with the service my parents and I received when we ate there today. We were served by Stephany and her attitude was less than friendly from the moment she came to our table. She seemed like she was in a hurry to walk away and came off very impatient and unfriendly. if she had to wait one second, while we were trying to make a decision based on questions, we asked about the food, she acted a little irritated, like it was a problem. It took some time for her to bring our food and when I asked for ranch dressing for my fries, she still seemed bothered that she had to go back to get something else. She quickly walked away before my parents had an opportunity to also ask for ranch dressing, and when she came back to the table, my mom asked her for ranch for her and my dad and her response was, “So now you want 2 more”, with a very perturbed look on her face, and then said, “Well, you’re going to have to wait a few minutes until I can get them,” and walked to another table.

I am always a generous tipper…usually around 30%…but I did not leave a tip for her. I did write a note on the bottom of the tab to the service was not friendly. I saw another worker outside when we were leaving and asked to speak to the manager. I was told the manager was a man who was in the kitchen, cooking food and the worker offered to let the manager know we wanted to speak to him. Then, low and behold, who comes over to my car…Stephany. She tells me that she saw the note on the tab and was a manager. I did not want to talk to her and asked where the gentleman was that I was told was the manager. She said he was busy cooking and they were both managers. Her response to me telling her the service was not good was, “I’m sorry you feel that way and didn’t appreciate my service.” She said that with the most smug/stale expression on her face. I asked who she reported to snd she said, “The owner.” I asked who the owner is and she said, “Susan.” Just a bunch of short responses with no intention to offer more info than she was asked. I asked when Susan comes in and Stephany said, “She comes in periodically.”

It is unfortunate that some people who have to provide a service to customers don’t try to provide good customer service. If you don’t want to work in a customer service role, then get another job or stay home! I doubt I will ever go back there and hope the owner sees...

I am really mixed about leaving a review here. Our server was very friendly and sweet, the food was mediocre but fair in price. The owner on the other hand was a different story.

When we arrived, tables were full but they had a little waitlist and it was clear that there was an order of operations. The hostess was very sweet and friendly and informed us we had about a 10 minute wait ahead of us. That was until the owners friends showed up, and got to skip the line (which fair enough, perks of owning a business and having friends), then a group of 9 showed up (could tell from the hostess that they weren’t on a waitlist or friends) but the owner was about to sit them between two tables. Before the hostess intervened and informed the owner that we were waiting there first. And we were seated.

Coffee was good, server was great. Then the owner was running some food (this case two lattes which looked really good) and brought them over to our table. In doing so, she kicked my dog (who was laying under the table, accidents happen, and my dog was fine). I explained that we didn’t order any lattes and she went about finding a different table to deliver them to. On her way back, she said that the dog needed to be on the ‘other side of the table.’ Looking at my dogs 4’ leash that was tethered to the pole on the otherside of the table (next to a beautiful bush btw) i gave a little chuckle and said ‘Sorry about that, I will try a bit better to keep her under the table.’ (Fully knowing my dog wasn’t in the way originally, and was making many friends with our waitress and other patrons). The owner almost growled when she looked me in the eyes and said ‘Well Try Harder.’

In that moment my heart sank, because I was excited to be at a dog friendly establishment and support a local business. However, by the owners (very apparent) micromanaging behavior, and lack of trust in her employees. We will not be returning to this establishment.

To our server and wait staff: Thank you guys, you were awesome and I am sorry you have to work under someone who I can only imagine is a micromanager.

To the owner: Trust your staff to do their jobs. And if you don’t want dogs on the patio, don’t say its dog friendly. And please drop the attitude.

To considering patrons: Arizona has a ton of awesome local eats/breakfast spots. I would strongly suggest...

I think the best word to describe our experience would be "underwhelming". From the minute we arrived, everything was a step (or two) below what I would have expected. First of all, when we walked up, there was no hostess / waitress / etc. There was a clipboard outside with a piece of paper sitting on a table that said "Sign In". Nothing else. My husband asked a bus boy if we were supposed to put our names on the sign in sheet, and the guy looked at him like he was an idiot. The bus boy told us to just wait, so we did. I finally walked inside and flagged down the hostess. She was very kind and got us a table immediately, once she knew we were there.

Our waitress took our orders soon after we sat down. I got the eggs Benedict, and I requested that my hash browns be extra crispy. She told me, "They'll try, but our kitchen moves fast." ......okay then. Thanks for "trying". When she brought my food out, my hash browns were barely cooked. I mean, soggy and "crunchy", as in, undercooked and half raw. My husband, who LOVES hash browns, would only eat half of them before he had had enough. It felt like the cook was trying to spite me for having the audacity to ask for extra crispy hash browns. These were hands down the worst hash browns I've ever had.

My eggs Benedict was redeeming - the hollandaise sauce was great, English muffin was soft but crispy on top, the poached eggs were perfect. My husband ordered biscuits and gravy, which were very tasty. We also got a cinnamon roll to split, but it was so sweet I quit after two bites. It was also not warm, which I expected it to be, especially since they put a huge scoop of butter on top. The butter didn't melt - it just sat on the plate like greasy decoration. My husband loves sweet treats so he thought it was good. All depends on your taste preference.

Honestly, there are tons of way better breakfast places around that I'd rather go to before returning here. Some of the food was great, but the whole experience was a bit disappointing. Plus, I couldn't eat 1/3 of my meal, so it defeats the purpose of paying $10 for food I can get elsewhere at a similar quality and...