Busy Corner — Restaurant in Goodfield

Review Date: October 11th, 2014

My schedule is never too busy for the Busy Corner.

The buzz about the Busy Corner is that they have the BEST pies around. While taste is subjective, I found that anyone that knew about the Busy Corner said they have the best pies around. With everyone universally praising their pies, this sounds like a conspieracy to me.

My dad and I took the little drive to Busy Corner one late morning to see what the fuss was about. Neither of us had been there so this was an experience for the both of us. We pulled up to the Busy Corner after getting off I-74 and realized that this might be the main attraction in Goodfield. The town seems like any other small town with nothing much to do except that one good diner. The Busy Corner seems to fill that space but is in an actual modern building and they have the full restaurant feel to it.

Our waitress guided us to our table and left us to look over the menu. Neither of us were feeling too adventurous in our meal choosing, so we both ended up with your standard breakfast. I got my personal favorite which is something involving french toast. I think it was the Farmers French Toast after checking out their menu. My dad got the Skillet Corner, where you get to build your own skillet meal. Once our orders were placed, we sipped on some coffee and tried to fully wake up.

Depending on where I am, I will drink my coffee differently. At most restaurants, I will have sugar/creamer on standby if its available. Firstly, I will test the coffee with a quick sip. If the quality of the coffee is poor, I will try to find a balance between the coffee, creamer, and sugar. I do this at locally owned places because the quality of coffee can be all over the place and I never know what to expect. Happily, I can say that the Busy Corner has some of the best coffee I ever had at a restaurant. Truth be told, I probably downed 4 cups throughout the entire visit with a 5th one being considered.

While I was testing my coffee and talking to my dad, our food came out fairly quick. Maybe after 15 minutes. For how packed the place was, it was a pleasant surprise the food didn’t take forever. Seeing as it was late morning and we both hadn’t ate anything beforehand, we dived right in.

Each mashing of the fork into the bread to cut off a piece was delightful. Why? Because what followed was deliciousness slathered in powdered sugar and syrup. Despite it being texas toast, there was only one actual piece of bread. It was gone almost as quickly as I put down the bacon and sausages that came with it. In spite of it disappearing so quickly, I did enjoy every single bite. Heaven on a plate.

My dad is a bit of a slower eater. He was barely halfway through his meal when I pushed my empty plate forward in triumph. As my dad was wrapping up his meal, which he said he enjoyed thoroughly, our waitress asked if we wanted desserts. We mentioned that we heard the pie was delicious but were too full to attempt a slice. She confirmed that they are well-known for their pies and that the pie will be waiting should we want it another time.

Having driven by the Busy Corner many times while traversing up and down I-74, I never knew what deliciousness lurked inside. I am not sure what their secret is to delicious food but sometimes peeking behind the curtain...

Young staff hostessing. Asked the group in front of us if they had any children, as I'm standing there with my three year old. Group said "no" she says "oh! Good!" And joyfully leads the childless group to a booth table on the left side of the Restaurant. Was not warm to my greeting, as next to be seated. I guess because not only did I have a toddler but my guest who joined me did as well. Said couldn't put us in a booth. There weren't any but I saw at least half dozen vacant that were over to the left where booths are. Instead led us to a small corner table to the right closest to the door with no way to keep children seated. Didn't want our children dirtying the booth section, obviously. Ordered shakes for kids. Brought them out in heavy glasses. Asked for styrofoam cups. Brought tiny ones with no lids. Asked another employee and brought a great big cup and lid. Could have fit nearly three whole shakes in it. Way to big for little hands. Had to take extra dishes off the table myself so we had room to eat. Didnt offer ketchup. Got it myself from the bar. Did not offer booster seats. Did not offer crayons or writing utensils for kids activity mats. If they thought they were being subtle that they didn't like children in the Restaurant, they weren't. Got the picture loud and clear by the lack of care to accommodate or contribute to a nice experience for the children and especially the parents. By the way, I waited tables for nearly 20 years. I tip VERY WELL and never leave a mess for servers to clean up. Dishes and garbage neatly stacked and collected for quick pick up, fast and easy cleaning and turn over. Everything picked up from the floor. Always. Food was decent. Cheesecake was excellent, hence three stars despite the less than warm greeting and service. Girl at the pie case was very sweet and interractive with the children. That was nice to know not the entire staff...

I’m an ex dishwasher and bus boy of busy corner. First off, I’d like to say that I used to enjoy the food, but over time it has turned into I tolerate the food. And I’d like to say that I originally enjoyed the company of the employees, but again over time it has turned into I tolerate the employees. My last visit I came in for breakfast already having a bad day, and instead of having good company to enjoy a nice breakfast with, I’m left with a waitress that just wants a tip. I understand that waitresses make their money off of tips, but when all you do is bring a glass of water and the meal, and rudely interrupt me when I’m talking, why would I want to tip you. I’m just tired of being expected to tip a waitress that doesn’t do a good job. There are plenty of waitresses there that do deserve tips, but some of the waitresses that work there expect tips when they’re not going out of their way to do a good job. My last visit has changed my mental image of being treated like a valued customer, to being treated like a bag of money. Void of character. I was never really comfortable with the way the staff were treating me. Since I’m South Korean my coworkers would tell me racial jokes that I found questionable. And I was constantly being asked if I wanted hot tea, or what’s it like being in North Korea. My boss would have to occasionally tell my co-employees to stop with the racial jokes, because they’d pile them on. I’d like to end with saying that the cleanliness at busy corner has been lacking, back when I used to work at busy corner, they had the occasional cockroach underneath their grill and flies everywhere in the back kitchen. I hope that they don’t have those problems today. I gave this one star review in hopes that busy corners staff policy, food quality, and cleanliness improves since I originally valued...