Crossroads Cafe — Restaurant in Joshua Tree

I'll start with the food here is good. I tried other food in the group I came with and it was good.

That said, let's discuss the experience. First I left a phone number for my party and was told a 1 hour wait. When they "called" 30 mins later, they said I didn't answer. I had no missed calls and seemingly had reception but they blamed it on bad reception in the area. Okay, that's fine, but then they seemingly blamed me but said they would get me seated as soon as possible which I appreciated.

Once seated, we were ready to submit our total order. It took about 15 mins or more for a waitress to come by to take the order. Once there, I asked what she recommended thinking she might suggest what they were famous for or what many people might order. She stated she liked hell tacos and her BF liked the tuna sandwich. I thought, not exciting but maybe the tuna is something unique so I ordered it. It wasn't. The pancakes are good. The burger is good. The huevos rancheros are good. What the waitress recommends is not. Go with your gut, I should have but I love to see what the local recommend at a restaurant to explore something new and great. Not great.

Other than that, it was pretty typical as most restaurants are. Not a lot of space, feels like a diner and the wait staff is a little gruff. I kind of liked that gritty aspect of a diner but disappointed in the lack of effort all around otherwise I would give more than 2 stars. Just to note, 3 stars is good, which should be the minimum. Good food, good service, good ambiance. 1-2 out of 3...

Ok look, their food was good and their service was friendly. But they have GOT to get a handle on dealing with disruptive customers. We were there for about an hour. When we arrived, there was a group of 4 guys seated across the dining room from us—they were blaring videos on their phone speaker. It was so loud, listening to the obnoxious, tinny sounds were like nails on a chalkboard and could be heard throughout the dining area. They eventually left, which we we’re grateful for. But then, a bit later, another party came in and did the same thing. This rude, inconsiderate behavior cannot be tolerated as it ruins the atmosphere for everyone else in the restaurant.

Then, when our check arrived, the tip calculator on the ticket was wrong (higher than it should have been). Now, as a practice, we always tip a at least 20%, so it’s not that we don’t want to compensate the server well. We just don’t appreciate shady business practices like this. Gratuity percentages are customarily calculated on pre-tax totals, so that is what should be represented on the tab. In this case, the restaurant used the post-tax total to recommend the tip percentage.

While some may opt to tip on the post-tax total, it is not how tips are customarily calculated, and that’s not how they are taxed by the IRS. In our case, had we merely followed the calculations on the ticket, we would have been duped into tipping another 10% on top of the 20% of our total. Shady af.

This was not cool, and shows a lack of ethics that we won’t be supporting...

I find it difficult to leave a 2 Star review for any place. I always try to look for the good. Here's the thing, the reason they're even getting a 2 Star and not 1 is because it's nice inside and the hostess was polite and seated me quickly. The bar back also was quick in getting me an iced tea... And then everything went off the rails.

It wasn't busy at all. There might have been a dozen customers at most.

Here's the laundry list of issues:

After 45 minutes, I still hadn't received my chicken Cesar Salad.

My server didn't even know he had taken my order.

I repeatedly tried to get a refill on my iced tea, but was completely ignored.

The staff were more interested in talking with and flirting with a few young women at the counter, rather than serving the customers that were waiting.

The Manager's attitude and his statement matched his words of "Don't worry about it!". As if it was my fault his staff's mistakes. Not a single apology for the royal screw-up.

Completely ignored once I was seated and given my iced tea.

In wrap-up; This is a small restaurant, with limited seating, plenty of staff and a pleasant environment. However, if they're too self-involved to serve the customers then why are they in business? When the servers don't even remember taking your order, then it's time to do some serious retraining, or...