Fancy Girl Farms — Restaurant in Hahira

**This review is only about this experience, the place as a whole gets 10 out of 10 from me.

I normally don’t like leaving less than favorable reviews, especially about a place I love so much but my experience today left a bad taste in my mouth and I have to say something. This was not my first time in FGF but it was my first time being treated so poorly for absolutely no reason. I go there about once a month with my 84 y/o mom and we drink coffee, maybe have lunch, enjoy the gardens for a while and although neither of us is a gardening wizard we always seem to leave with a plant or two lol I even stopped the owner once just to thank her for creating such a beautiful, amazing, and peaceful place different from anything else out there that was a blessing to an otherwise money driven world. However, today was disconcerting and sad.

I am building new garden beds under my two front windows and I was super excited to go there and go crazy buying flowers for it, only to get there to find it empty of plants. Now, that wasn’t the issue, plants sell out, it’s just a testament to how amazing that place is otherwise, but I was saddened and a bit shocked to see only one table with flowers when they normally have such stunning selection, so I went to the register to ask about it which apparently was the worst thing I could have done. The lady looked at me like I was bothering her by daring to ask about the lack of plants. She gave me two word answers that clearly showed she was annoyed I dared to even speak to her. Now, I was raised to be respectful and I have manners so I continued to be nice but apparently having the audacity to ask if she new when more plants/ flowers would arrive so I could come back was the last straw. Her attitude really said I didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her let alone be there and the way she looked at me made it seem like her problem was more the color of my skin or my accent than anything else. So after her “I don’t know” I thanked her and stepped back, feeling so out of place because never has anyone there been anything but wonderful. I was really taken aback by the interaction but I asked my mom if she wanted coffee , who said no because she’d felt the sly done to me but took a deep breath and went to the coffee shop anyway. I sat in my car in the parking lot, drinking the coffee as my mom ate ice cream while still feeling like “wth just happened?” but my gaze went to the lonely table of flowers and I decided I had gone there to buy flowers and I would leave with flowers. Lol

As I was inspecting the plants and loading them into a cart another girl showed up, and I have to say she deserves ten golden stars all on her own. She was everything I knew the place to be. The young lady was sweet and professional, super respectful, and she even started telling me how to take care of the flowers without me even asking. She answered my questions after that and really just went above and beyond to help me feel comfortable. I regret not asking her name, but she was blond, young , light eyes, I believe, so beautiful and SO KIND. I bought pretty much the entire table of flowers. If she is reading this I just want to say THANK YOU, she saved the trip by just being kind and a decent human being. After that the other lady reappeared and offered to help me with the full cart but it felt fake, like maybe someone told her to or she was trying to make up for her behavior because I purchased the flowers. I don’t know, I don’t know her so I can’t assume what was going on with her but that’s how the whole situation and the way she treated me made me feel. I’m going to continue going to FGF because I believe in what the owner is working so hard to achieve and everyone else has always been wonderful but I truly hope not to cross paths with that woman again because her behavior really left something...

Upon arriving we went to the plant section and it was very inviting. My son picked out a succulent plant to take home, I really loved the glass greenhouse where other plants were kept too. The chandelier was such a nice touch. :) Since we drove over an hour to come check out Fancy Girl Farm, after watching on social media for quite a while, I decided to take the trip for my son and I to enjoy some time together. We then ventured off to the restaurant and were excited as the smell of southern food filled the place. This was where our fun trip took a small turn, we waited for over 25 mins and were never greeted. The first employee that spoke to us said ‘I need to clean this door’ after spritzing glass cleaner near me. Several people began to walk in while still never being greeted, a family of 6 walked in and asked me what the procedure was and I informed her I was unsure as I had not been greeted yet. This family then asked someone and she was directed further down the front counter area, she kindly let me go in front of her, so I stood at the counter with 4 employees in front of me as one server said ‘I didn’t want another table’ & they proceed to carry on their personal conversation and when they finished a young girl says ‘hi!’ I respond with ‘hi, table for 2 please!’ So I was added to a wait list for 25ish more mins. Understandable! While waiting on our table, we ventured over to the cafe which had a very light, joyous atmosphere. My son had the watermelon frozen lemonade and I enjoyed a small hot latte with caramel and toasted marshmallow, mmmm! Pure delight!! We then buzzed back to claim our table at the restaurant, it’s now about 3:15pm so we are excited and hungry. We went back to the counter where we waited a little longer while the employees had more conversation, when finally the person in charge asked them where we were sitting. I am sure it was a busy day for the employees, but there were many times I felt invisible and this quickly killed the excitement I had for months of watching Fancy Girl Farms via social media. I want to shout out to our server, Teresa, she was so nice and a wonderful delight!My son had the salmon and I had chicken tenders, both tasted wonderful and I wish I had ordered a chicken pot pie to take home. Sadly, I did notice that each area we walked into that nobody greets the customer and this was such a disappointment since it seems so inviting online. I would like to add that you get one chance for a first impression and to welcome people into your space. But the food and coffee were superb and our succulent is so cute! It is a family friendly atmosphere so that’s nice too! I would rate the place itself an 8/10 but the customer service was disappointing so I would...

**2nd Review/Visit... We rode our Harley 1-1/2 hours to eat here for the 2nd time. We got there around 4:45 pm for an early dinner to avoid the hour plus wait time... We only had to wait 10 minutes b4 being seated. We both ordered the catfish dinner with slaw and cheese grits. 15 minutes after ordering we were thinking they are cooking our catfish fresh to order like most catfish restaurants. Well, after 20 minutes she brings both catfish dinners and as soon as we picked up the fish it was room temperature at best and greasy... VERY DISAPPOINTING! We decided not to say anything to our sever. It's hard to explain why we didn't...but you would understand if she waited on you. Also the blueberry cobbler was a lump of bread with blueberry mix poured on it. Not worth $5 bucks. One other shocker, they charged me $1.00 for a glass of ice water. My wife had tea $3.00. I understand as co-owner of a restaurant for 25 years about having to charge a small fee for "To-Go" cups with lid and straw. I just had a regular glass and no straw. Ice machines do break and are expensive to repair, but not to look like you are trying to squeeze every penny from the customer, just bump up the catfish plate from $14 to $15. Unfortunately this will be our last time coming here. **1st Review...This was our first visit. We drove from Albany GA to try it out. According to our server (Wesley), they just opened a month ago. The prices were surprisingly very affordable. I had fried white meat chicken, and my wife had fresh whole fried catfish. Both were very good. Crispy and seasoned perfect. You get a choice of how many sides you get. We chose 3... only $15 for each of our plates. The entire property is beautiful. The reason for 4 stars on the food...my cream corn was cold, Wesley brought me another hot bowl. Another negative is the long wait (over an hour) for us two. Longer waiting for larger parties. Hopefully, these long waiting times will adjust over time when the newness wears off. There's several things to do on the outside of the restaurant property while you wait.. Fire pit to sit around, separate cafe for coffee and sweets, a garden center too. A walking trail plus corn hole game. (Only one game, need more corn hole boards) We will definitely eat here again in the future. It is located in downtown Hahira, GA, less than a...