Bird Dog Cafe — Restaurant in Laurel

This is cute little joint that looks like it was designed to be a coffee shop and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. While I'm very familiar with Laurel, MS my knowledge is out of date as I haven't spent much time there in a few decades so on a recent trip I noticed the cool looking exterior of the Bird Dog Cafe and decided to make a visit for lunch. I had no idea they were on that famous TV show that has popularized Laurel as I only ever watched two episodes and that was enough for me as I didn't like seeing houses I knew get changed so much.

When I first walked into Bird Dog Cafe I was very surprised to see how small the dining area actually was and I got the impression that it was more of a deli or coffee shop the way their order counter was set up but my party was eventually greeted and taken to a table. When I got the menu I was quite surprised at the prices as EVERYTHING looked very over priced for Laurel, MS and would have been over priced in most places for what they were serving. Their adult beverage selection was full of sticker shock and they had the most expensive Yuengling Lager I've seen anywhere in the USA at $6 (Yuengling is often cheaper than Budweiser). Their selection of food for lunch and dinner was limited to their quite expensive salads, sandwiches and "skillet bakes" so my table ordered our drinks and began the process of deciding on lunch. While waiting for our drinks I took a walk around the back and was impressed with their nice back patio area that looked like it would be a nice spot to enjoy during good weather.

While I was deciding what to order I did a bit of quick research and found some reviews praising the chicken pot pie "skillet bake" but when I ordered that I was informed they were sold out so instead I made the mistake of getting the Beef Stroganoff "skillet bake" instead. Our waitress informed us the Beef Stroganoff was her favorite thing on the menu so my party assumed it would be good.

So my "skillet bake" came with a salad which you didn't get a choice of salad dressings with and it just came with a light vinaigrette drizzle (which lucky for me that is my preferred dressing). The salad was a nice mixed greens version just like you get at the grocery so not much prep work for that other than a few sliced cherry tomatoes, a bit of grated cheese and the dressing on it. The salad was a bit larger than your typical side salad and it was a nice item to start my meal with.

My entrée came out before I had finished my salad which as it was blazing sizzling hot was a good thing as it needed time to cool down. Sadly my "Beef Stroganoff" in the "skillet bake" version of the Bird Dog Cafe brought me sorrow on tasting it as I have to say it was the absolute worst version of a Beef Stroganoff I have ever experienced in my life. I am a big fan of Beef Stroganoff and I've eaten many versions of it and I've always been very happy with it until this experience. The easiest way to summarize the "Beef Stroganoff" is simply with "where's the beef?" Everyone in my party was amazed at the tiny amount of beef in this dish and how it was nearly all noodles. This "skillet bake" was $24 which can get you a nice steak in many of the best restaurants in New Orleans so to have such a tiny skillet dish with so little beef in a "Beef Stroganoff" is simply unacceptable. This "skillet bake" was not worthy of the name "Beef Stroganoff" and should have been called hamburger helper noodles flavored with a hint of beef except there wasn't enough flavor in this dish to even call it that! When our waitress asked how it was we said it was the worst Beef Stroganoff ever and all she could do was say "I'm sorry." I heard customers at another table also reply to the question with unhappy responses to the "Beef Stroganoff."

After the total fail of the "where's the beef" noodles I was ready to just leave BUT I had read in some reviews that they had good cheesecake so I decided to gamble with an order for that and I scored the last one they had while the rest of my party got the chocolate cake. For...

Disappointing.

I had high hopes when I chose this restaurant because I had seen the reno on Home Town.

I went with my friend, who is a very classy lady of color, published author and inspirational speaker.

It was clear from the initial words from staff that we were not wanted or welcome. "The kitchen is backed up, so you'll have to sit OUTSIDE and wait" even though we could see numerous open and clean tables inside. After waiting more than 20 minutes, we inquired, and were told "you can sit inside but it'll take a while to get food". We ordered drinks and a plate of cheese and crackers. And waited. And waited.

Others guests were greeted and seated and food brought while we sat and waited, and waited, and waited.

After inquiring again, we were told we could place our food order, but it would take a long time. We still had not received the cheese and crackers.

When she finally took our order, she again said it would take a long time, even though we could see others who came in after us had already received food.

We asked when we would get the cheese and crackers, we were told it would take a while because the kitchen was backed up.

We were there 2 and 1/2 hours (from 12:30 to 2pm).

The reluctance to seat and serve us was obvious to us and to other customers who commented on the situation. The owner/manager sat apathetic behind the bar in full view of the situation while other employees apologized on behalf of our server. I've never experienced a restaurant so reluctant and unwilling to serve me.

Do better Bird Dog Cafe. You tarnish the name of a brilliant TV series and a...

We ate here on our 1st night in Laurel. The specials sounded great, but I like mild spice so I asked for light Cajun cream sauce. Then I heard the other server say the sauce was not very spicy. So I was going to ask the server for more sauce on the side. But he didn't bring our appetizers. We saw it go to a couple who came in after us. Then another server brought our meal and we asked about out appetizer. She said she would check on it and then took the next two of the same appetizers to her tables that were seated after us. We never got the appetizer that I really wanted to try and I never got more cream sauce because our server didn't check on us till the very end. (No refills on drinks either.) The fish really needed the sauce because it was a little too salty. It would have made the dish perfect. So we left dissappointed, but decided to give it another try for breakfast the next day. We ordered a pork/egg tortilla and a veggie/egg tortilla. The pork one needed a sauce. The veggie one was excellent, but... both came out on one plate. They were super tiny and didn't even curb my appetite. So disappointing. I know many will say this is not a nice post, but my sincere hope is that the restaurant uses this to train their staff to be more attentive and please make your breakfasts worth the price. I hope your restaurant continues to thrive, but visitors will expect...