Crow's Nest — Restaurant in Kalamazoo

Over the last several years I generally experience great service at Crows Nest. I've probably spent hundreds of dollars here in overall dining and I always tip generously because you can see how busy the wait staff is along with the kitchen if to got to use the restroom in the back of the restaurant.

Several days ago (1/1/24 to be exact), my brother, mother, daughter and I visited Crows Nest and we were honestly treated like second class citizens. We sat in the dining area waiting for our table and watched it sit with no parties occupying it yet we still had to physically wait to sit in an empty table for 20 minutes. We sat for an additional 20 minutes before we were able to place dinner order. Total time that we were in the restaurant and still waiting for our dinner amounted to 70 minutes. During that time frame post ordering our food, we waited for what seemed like an eternity our water to be refilled, our hot water had to come from downstairs for our tea bags and my mother coffee wasn't ever topped off.

After waiting 70+ minutes to eat, we left and paid for the drinks. My daughter was so hungry, we had no other option but to leave Crows Nest and buy her a baked good downstairs while we found another dinner alternative.

When staff and patrons starting looking at us as if we were wrong for leaving after 70+ minutes of waiting, that further validated our decision to leave. Staff said our order was up next but as a unit, we were for lack of better words insulted by staff. I say insulted because the brunette hostess/waitress muttered something like have a better day. Quite tasteless to have that choice of words with customers who left because we weren't valued enough for you or your leadership to articulate that you all were short staffed in the kitchen and floor staff. As a business owner, this was a learning opportunity for Crows Nest, staff accordingly and maybe incentivize your staff coming into work by matching tips for days when you're...

Have been a devoted customer for years and the food is always fantastic and that hasn't changed. The servers and staff have always been courteous and attentive...today is the first instance they seemed to forget their manners.

Our party of 4 (including toddler) were seated around 11:40am, after a long wait that has become the norm, ordered and food came out about aprox 10 to 15 mins later. No issues with staff or server. The adults finished eating, wait staff took those plates and bill was paid but our toddler had not yet finished and had to use the restroom. By aprox 12:36, the host approached the table and asked if everything was satisfactory; we said it was. Then she proceeded to tell us that we were welcomed to continue our conversation outside. "We're just very busy".

Our son was just returning from the bathroom with our grandaughter, and I let the host know that we weren't just sitting talking but waiting for their return so she could finish eating her pancakes. I was very disappointed at the fact we WERE being rushed out. And further disappointed at seeing the host discuss the exchange with several other staff members as they looked over at our table.

We left shortly thereafter to several "thank you for coming and enjoy the rest of your day". To which I offered no response.

First and foremost, we are happy to support and even wait longer than should be necessary because we have enjoyed this establishment for years. However, it's not acceptable to be discourteous to patrons no matter how busy you are. We waited almost an hour to enjoy a family meal together...we should not be rushed out because you're "very busy". It'd be different if we were there for an excessive amount of time and a member of our party was NOT still eating.

Please be more considerate of all your patrons. I didn't see this same exchange with anyone else that was seated...

Usually excellent food and service. However, one of the cooks uses an insane amount of pepper seemingly randomly. Maybe one in five times when I order here my food is just completely ruined. It's so bad that it's all I can taste, even when trying to eat the dishes that don't contain pepper afterwards. I've mentioned it before but it still happens so they must not be managed very well. Considering this is otherwise good food and priced accordingly, this is unacceptable. Also, they are inconsistent with permitting delivery. This can be very frustrating, since sometimes I'm too busy to cook and have to depend on delivery. Overall I love this restaurant. It would be an easy 5 stars if it wasn't such a gamble. I just had to remove a couple because of the inconsistency.

-Gave them another try 05/11/2021. Specifically asked for no pepper on anything. The food came loaded with pepper again. I called them about it and they told me there's pepper in most of their recipes and it is not their problem. I am dropping the review to 1 star and giving up on this place. I will never recommend this place to anyone who wants to taste their food.

10/31/2021 Ordered again to see if they've fixed their issues yet. Somehow they've gotten even worse. I placed an order early before they were busy yet. I ordered that breakfast scramble with the eggs and sausage gravy over potatoes. Half of the potatoes were burned literally black ¾ of the way though and the other half were completely raw. The sausage gravy is still 10% black pepper. I also ordered banana bread french toast. What I received was banana bread covered in caramel sauce. It never went anywhere near eggs or a skillet. That was not French toast. It was their normal banana bread with the price doubled. I can't believe this place is still making money with the quality of food and service...