Perc Place — Restaurant in Hartford

The decorations and atmosphere are fun, but the coffee is awful, the service is substandard, and the prices are ridiculous. The staff got our drink orders wrong, but they still charged us for them, when we turned them away after only taking a sip or two. I asked for a cappuccino with sugar free vanilla flavoring and whole milk. I told the waiter to be sure that the barista only adds a little sugar free vanilla syrup so that it was just enough to taste. Unfortunately, it came back cloyingly sweet and I doubt it was sugar free. It was awful. It tasted like pure syrup. After taking a sip, I asked the waiter to add coffee to it to dilute it, but it was still far too sweet, so I turned it away. I also ordered a diet dirty chi and ended up with another cloyingly sugary drink that tasted horrible. I specifically asked for it to be sugar free and to hold back on the sweetener, but they didn’t. I am pretty sure there was regular sugar in it too. As a prediabetic, I am supposed to avoid sugars and I pretty much eat a ketogenic diet, so I had to turn away that drink, as well. It was pretty awful and undrinkable anyway. For my breakfast, I ordered an omelet, but I told them to hold the toast and fruit that typically comes that breakfast, because—again—I avoid sugars and carbohydrates. I was nevertheless charged for the whole meal. Basically, I got a sixteen dollar omelet. The omelet was good, but charging someone for food that was not ordered is unethical. No restaurant should charge you for food that you didn’t order or food and drinks that it screwed up. My cousin ordered two eggs over easy with toast, but one of the egg yolks was cooked all the way through. She didn’t eat that egg, but took, it home for her dog. She did talk to one of the servers about it, but the staff did nothing. The sum total of our breakfast with gratuity was sixty dollars. That is ridiculous for two substandard breakfasts with coffee that we didn't drink. I tried to talk to the waiter about the drinks, but he decided to lecture us on how cappuccino is supposed to taste, as if we two senior citizens have never drank coffer or been in a coffee house in our entire lives. Seriously—I have had much better coffee and breakfasts at greasy spoons, and the prices were much more reasonable. Apart from the ambiance, our experience at this place was not good. We aren’t fancy or demanding people. It is just that the food, drinks, service, and prices were just that bad. I don't mind throwing down some extra dough for a high quality meal and a nice atmosphere , but this was a rip off . We will not...

The food was absolutely amazing! I wish I could say the same about the service. When ordering, our server, Victoria (blonde hair) asked if we wanted chips or fries with our meals. The first person to order responded saying she wanted fries, and a side of ranch to go with them. From then, the other two of us said we wanted the exact same thing. When our meals came out, there were chips on the plate. Being in the food industry in the past, I wasn’t upset at this common mistake, but rather the way it was handled. We politely told Victoria that we had ordered fries with our meals, not chips. She responded saying that she didn’t have that written down, and that was the end of it. She did not offer to get us fries or anything to fix the situation.

Throughout our meal, she did not once check on us. She left dirty appetizer plates all over the table and finally came to check on us as we had been sitting, not eating for quite some time. Again, we brought it up that we found it kind of rude that she did not even offer to bring us out the fries and blamed it on us for her not writing it down on her order sheet. All she had to say was “Oh, I’m so sorry” and walked away to bring us our bill. We brought this issue to the attention of the hostess who seemed appalled at the service we had been given and apologized for the issue.

No server should ever act this way with a customer. Regardless of how busy you are or how bad your day is, I understand people make mistakes. Servers forget to write things down all the time, I’ve been a victim to it myself. But to blame the customer and act the way that Victoria did made me very angry. I would NEVER tell my customer that they are the ones that are wrong, even if sometimes they actually are. I wish I could have just tipped the kitchen and bar since they were the ones that had made our experience even...

Renee Peiffer is quite possibly the best restaurant staffer I have ever encountered! And I have dined at numerous eateries on diverse levels all around the world. I had the immense good fortune to be seated at one of her tables during her first week on the job five or so years ago. I was astonished and delighted at the level of personal service she accorded me, even though I was a solo diner (with a smallish appetite) during the busy lunchtime crowd. I ordered chili con carne, with a white chocolate mocha coffee to follow, and Renee surprised me by serving the various chili toppings in their own little containers, which made it super easy for me to add them as I wished throughout the meal. Renee's unwaveringly sunny disposition, keen memory and attention to detail have proven themselves again and again, as I have since then regularly brought both family and friends to hang out with me at "the Perc," where I always ask for one of her tables, even sometimes waiting longer if necessary. Perc Place owner Cynthia is so very lucky to have such a high caliber of employee, and one who has stayed for so long. One might well ask why I haven't written a review before; like so many others, I'm working from and spending more time at home, so I am finally getting to projects, both large and small, that I always seemed to have been too busy to tackle before. And this is definitely one that is long overdue. Thanks for all the good times, Renee...