Tru North Cafe — Restaurant in Livingston

This update to my review of Tru North Cafe (below) in Livingston is because of the laughingly unprofessional, passive aggressive, reply from the owner. He implied that I am lying and I'm also a chronic 1 star reviewer. He also praised himself for his "straightforward honesty" so let's look at the facts and how honest he really is:

When we were at his cafe that morning he rudely said he was the one to take my call confirming his hours and that he was right and I was wrong. His equally rude sidekick sneered and bellowed loudly from the other side of the kitchen about it being New Years Eve, which is why I had called to confirm the hours in the first place.

In his response to my review the owner is now implying I am lying, by saying "we simply let you know that we were just about to wrap up the day. If you had called we would have confirmed that our online hours are correct". So which is it, he took my call that morning or I didn't call, both cannot be true.

I have a screenshot of the call details, complete with date, time, and duration, along with the online listing saying they were open till 1.30. It was 11.40 am when he refused to serve us, saying the kitchen had just closed, at 11.30, I can post them here if need be. So much for straightforward honesty! I

He also said "I noticed that you leave a significant amount of 1 star reviews with angry multi paragraph rants". Once again not remotely true. He is obviously trying to paint an unfavorable view of me as a chronic complainer but covert bullies like him don't intimidate me, they just annoy me. The facts are, I have only ever left 35 reviews in total and about a dozen reviews relating to restaurants and hospitality. Of them, most are 5 stars and only two are 1 star, with this being the worst experience we've ever had. I would hardly call that “a significant amount of 1 star reviews''.

It’s actually far less than the amount of 1 and 2 star reviews he has for his cafe due to rudeness and poor service. People can easily verify that in seconds by looking at them and his responses. Some are actually very entertaining. He seems to love praising himself, blaming others, telling customers they are wrong, making excuses, and whining about how hard it is running a cafe. All the while doing his best to belittle anyone who dares to leave an unfavorable comment.

As I suggested originally, people looking for lunch in Livingston should not go by my comments alone. They should check out the other 1 and 2 star ones relating to rudeness and service before deciding where they want to go for breakfast or lunch in Livingston.

My Original Review This is a review about Tru North Cafe in Livingston, Montana, and the rude, arrogant men running it.

They somehow seem to have acquired a lot of exceedingly glowing reviews for a little cafe so don’t just go by my comments.

Read for yourself the other unhappy reviews of Tru North Cafe, here and elsewhere, and you will find some relating to poor service, food, or cleanliness, but the majority relating to the aggressive rudeness of the men running it.

I couldn’t rate the food or coffee because we did not stay after being talked down to, and yelled at by two of the men who inferred we were either wrong or lying about their opening hours. This was despite us calling beforehand to confirm that their online hours were correct.

They were incapable of acknowledging they made a mistake or changed their hours at the last minute, which caused us to drive all the way there instead of dining at one of the many wonderful places closer to home.

It could have been a total waste of time for us but it was a lovely day and fortunately there are several great lunch options in Livingston. So we went to one of the other local establishments and had a wonderful lunch, with competent, friendly staff and full table service.

We ended up having a great day despite...

My family and I had the most amazing experience at this unique café in downtown Livingston. The staff greeted us warmly as we walked in and the hilarious owner James took the time to point out some of his favorites on the menu. (Luckily we got there just before their lunch kitchen closed at 2.) We’d spent a week exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks so we arrived famished and ready for lunch. We were so impressed with the quality and presentation of the food! My daughter and I both had the avocado toast with poached eggs and their specialty bourbon bacon. My son had the breakfast sandwich and my mom had the Hillbilly Brunch Filet. We all finished our plates and enjoyed the specialty drinks. My personal favorite was the Maple Mountain Cloud – I don’t drink many coffee drinks but that was the best one I’ve ever had. Afterward we explored Livingston and a nearby town. I was surprised when the kids asked if we could go back to Tru North for dinner that night but it was so delicious I agreed. We tried their new dinner menu with their loaded bowls. My favorite was the Tru Far East Rice Bowl – that coconut curry sauce was out of this world. My mom’s oversized baked potato with meatloaf was delicious and both my kids finished their bowls too. We drove on to a new town the next morning and it made me smile that my kids both asked if we could go back to Tru North for...

The food was good. Takes a bit to come out but I think it was worth the wait. The coffee felt a little off (dare I say a bit toooo roasted)but maybe it was just an off day? Anyway, they have teas as well. The place ended up getting a line and Someone from the kitchen came out and said that if they expected food to be ready "fast" then they can just leave and go to McDonald's. I thought that was a little odd, but it did make me laugh. But the place does have a "like it or leave it" vibe which kind of meshes well with the small mountain town vibe it has. It did take us a bit to get our food (small kitchen) and when it came out, they kept taking it to different tables. Since the tables were full when we got there, we grabbed seats on the couch. But I eventually heard my name and I got up to grab the plates. So just be patient when you go as it seems they are understaffed for the amount of customers they get. Heard a worker tell someone that Montana people dont like CA people so I sat there, as a Californian, wondering if this was real life Hahaha. Will I be returning? Yeah, probably. Should you try it? Yes. But if you're from CA, keep it on the dl.

Oh, and get the fluffy...