Village Inn — Restaurant in Lincoln

Alright, look. I love Village Inn. The choices for breakfast food or dinner food, and PIE?!?! It's great. So this post isn't about the food quality. This post is about the bizarre experience at the particular Village Inn on the particular day I was there (July 8, 2019). We were seated on the side of the restaurant that the kitchen opening was. We weren't sitting next to the kitchen, but it was close enough that we could hear the staff arguing. As a matter of fact, everyone in the whole building could hear the staff arguing because they were not shy! I heard things SHOUTED back and forth that didn't exactly make me feel at ease. "STOP IT! STOP IT!!!! STOP IT!!!!!!!" She screamed. "YOU HAVE TO STOP!!!!! I HAVE TABLES TO DO! SSSSSSSSSSTTTTTOOOOOPPPPP!!!!!!!! "Put bananas on this! DO IT!!! DO I HAVE TO DO THIS MYSELF?!?! WHERE ARE THE BANANAS?! I DROPPED THE BANANAS IN THE EGG!!!!!" While he(?) yelled back, "I DON'T WANT TO DO IT! I'M NOT GOING TO DO IT!" So, this lasted the duration of the meal. Insults being hurled, back and forth. Turns out our server was one of the people in this ongoing screaming match. I don't know who needs a talkin' to, but please pick one or both of them because our meal, albeit entertaining, was incredibly uncomfortable. We couldn't have been the only ones confused and uncomfortable. But hey, the french toast was...

This was an experience that gave me mixed feelings. The food was wonderful, my waiter was so kind and patient. Really had a thick skin when it came to his boss.. The manager around 8pm on the 31st was really, mm, rude, to the employees. And a little short with the customers. I can understand the pressure of being short on help at a job, I used to work at a VI downtown about 3 years back. But this manager was making a list of names for the customers, and put an empty plastic tub on top of the host stand, covering the list. And the waiters were coming up trying to seat people, and the manager would snap at them to "use the list" and they were visibly confused, they werent even hardly that busy. They apologized to the group of customers, saying hes never had to use a list before. Bless those boys for having thick skin. Wish I knew their names, the waiters were very kind, but the manager was very short with them. And and little impatient with the customers and the "name spelling" that was unnecessarily done. Poor guy is putting way too much pressure on himself, if he treated the employees better, he'd have more help. I was about to ask if they needed help long term, until I saw their treatment. Place needs a turn around. Good food though,...

I have always been a fan of Village Inn, but unfortunately, this location is very poorly managed. After we were seated, it took about 15 minutes before the hostess came to ask us if we wanted something to drink. It was then another 10 to 15 minutes before anyone took our order. Then, it was another 20 minutes or so before our food arrived. When the food made it to our table, everything on our plates was cold. No one ever stopped back at the table to see if the food was okay, but to be honest, we were not going to send it back because it took so long to get the food in the first place. So, for breakfast today, I ate cold chicken fried steak, cold eggs, and cold American fries along with a cold bowl of grits. I have heard other tables complain about the lack of hot food, but no one is sending their food back because it takes so long to get served. I do not blame the kitchen here at village inn, it looks like everything was prepared properly.... It obviously sits for a very long time before someone delivers it to the tables. In my opinion, the manager should be monitoring this...