Katie's Cafe and Bakery — Restaurant in Livingston

I’ve been to Katie’s many times since they opened, both for lunch and dinner, and it used to be one of our go-to spots on weekends. Sadly, that all changed with our most recent visit, which was hands-down the worst dining experience I’ve had in a long time.

We arrived for an early Friday dinner around 6 PM. We ordered cocktails, an appetizer, and then placed our dinner entrée orders once the drinks came. After finishing our appetizer and waiting 45 minutes, our server returned to ask if we were ready to order—clearly forgetting we already had. We reminded her of what we ordered, and she brushed it off with, “Oh yeah, ok. Let me go check on your order.” She then returned to say our order was never entered, and casually informed us that both entrées we originally selected were no longer available. No accountability, no real apology - just a shrug and an unfortunate “update.”

We had to ASK for menus again to look for new options. While we were reviewing the menu, the server had also returned to tell us that the owner overheard what happened and had just ordered the last short ribs (one of the dishes we originally requested), but was willing to give it to us instead. That made me incredibly uncomfortable. If there’s one left, just say that—it’s bizarre and awkward to make it seem like we’re taking someone else’s meal, especially the owner’s. And if the owner truly knew what happened, why didn’t they come to our table to personally apologize or try to make things right? The truth is we might not have had to select any new menu items if our order was properly entered at the time we placed our order! No acknowledgement of this.

After dropping the menus off and telling us they are out of the meals we wanted, the server never came back to take our new order. We sat there waiting yet again, and finally had to get up and walk to the counter just to place an order. Since a different girl was working the counter, I had to explain everything that had happened before finally ordering a burger just so we could eat something and get out of there. The lack of follow-up and complete disregard for basic service was shocking. We ended up splitting a burger just to wrap up the night and finally left after 8 PM—over two hours of waiting, confusion, and total lack of hospitality.

As business owners ourselves, we know mistakes happen all the time especially when you employ inexperienced people who deserve the chance at employment. However, when a mistake happens, you ALWAYS personally make it right and you never dismiss the business of any customer - ever. I can confidently say these “owners” need a serious lesson in customer service and service recovery. I gave that young lady a 20% tip because she’s still learning, but the owners should know better. Shame on them.

While we’ve enjoyed their food in the past—and even on a good day, dinner service has always been a bit slow but we have always given grace for that—the level of disrespect, the lack of ownership, and the cascade of one mistake after another was unacceptable. That experience was more than enough to ensure we never return.

This was the worst dining experience we’ve had in Livingston. The food is overpriced, and the service recovery is nonexistent. Dine there at your own risk. There are plenty of restaurants locally that offer great food and treat their customers like they matter. Katie’s is not one of them.

We are sharing this experience with our community so others can steer clear if they want quality food, good service, and to be treated with even a basic...

3.5 stars. My family of 5 visited the first week of opening and we hoped it was just working out some kinks of a new restaurant. I visited again this weekend with girlfriends as some things had improved (wait time for food delivery) but others were still a problem: overpriced. We live in Houston and expect these prices there but not in a small town. 1 order of donut holes, 2 Benedicts, 2 Lattes and 2 Mimosas was $75 + tip = $90. -ordering: this was a problem both times. I understand the girls behind the counter might be new, but both times we ordered something was left off and it took a really long time to order because they didn't know what was available or what button to press on the screen. There were between 5-7 girls back there at any given time... Doing what??? It just wasn't a good look considering the person taking our order seemed lost. You have to ask for water and get your own silverware which could be done by any of these people just standing behind the counter. cutting boards. While cute, why does every single dish come out on an oversized cutting board that quickly fills the table? -coffee. Both people that ordered lattes said they were undrinkable and tasted bitter like burned or just bad coffee. The size is also 3x too big. I think everyone would prefer smaller cups with good quality coffee than a large cup of undrinkable coffee. Pros: -food. All of the food ordered was delicious this time. The first time there were issues, but they seem to have been corrected. Portions were generous and flavors were great. -Atmosphere: 10/10 on cuteness and being an elevated brunch spot in Livingston. We were one of 3 other tables dining at 10am on a Saturday so the time to get our food was fast. Overall, the food and atmosphere is good for Livingston, but I'm not sure how they are going to make it at this price point...

My wife and I went here for lunch on 4th of July. We were a bit early so we were the day's first customers. The ordering process was smooth. We ordered the tomato bisque, a chicken salad sandwich and the S.O.B. (sliced brisket on a baguette). The food arrived after a while. Well they forgot the tomato bisque but that was delivered fast. Now the issues began. The bread was at least a day old. Certainly not fresh as you would expect at a Bakery. We asked if the bread was fresh and the girl in charge, Meghan, informed us in a very harshly way that all the bread was baked fresh the same morning. With was clearly not true. I gave up on the S.O.B. and just said forget it. My wife wanted a new bread on the chicken salad sandwich. The waitress then brought back a new and fresh "flaky croissant" and my wife said, "Thank you so much". Then she realized there was no chicken salad in it. She looked at the waitress and said, "Where's the chicken salad?". The waitress said, "Oh I didn't know you wanted me to scrape the chicken salad over to the new bread". sic!

My wife then said she could do it herself. I have never, ever experienced a cafe/restaurant expecting their customers to scrape any kind of food over to a new piece of bread in the restaurant. Normally, my wife would have gotten a new sandwich. To be fair, the new flaky croissant was fresh and from the same day. And the fries were really good too.

Needless to say: We...