Starwood Cafe — Restaurant in McKinney

The atmosphere is POWERFUL. It feels like if a club mixed with a cafe. When I walked in, it felt so alive, it uplifted me emotionally, the workers are happy, enjoying themselves, joking and having fun while being blown away with all the orders, this place is PACKED. The manager is super friendly, checked up on me, was very sweet to the people who are always coming in, he smiled to the man next to me, shook his hand, asked how we was doing like they were real friends. It was so sweet, everyone working here acknowledged him like family. I ordered the hot chai tea with biscuits and sausage gravy that came with hash browns and the strawberry pancakes. I had to ask the waitress if she could open the honey packets for me and she did, she got a little frustrated because of how difficult it was to open them, but she still did it, it was very kind of her. The biscuits and gravy weren't anything worth writing home about, the hash browns were nice and crunchy, but the pancakes were OUT OF THIS WORLD. It's amazing how the pancakes are exactly as described, super fluffy and sweet. Now the strawberries aren't mixed in the batter, they're fresh and put on top. The prices are perfect, nothing over $20, not even reaching up there even during a recession with inflation where everyone is struggling. It's an absolutely perfect place to forget about negativities and enjoy yourself with some amazing pancakes, I 100% suggest this place for pancakes, again...

The food is flavorless. It’s the 2nd time that my husband and I ordered from there, this time to go. The amount of food is great, the service is friendly, but the food just doesn’t cut it. They put the tiny butter packs in with the pancakes, which completely melted it. I don’t want melted butter with my pancakes, softened, sure, but melted? No. My pancakes came in a tiny container to where they were going up on the sides. There was no way I would have been able to eat them out of the container if that’s the only “plate” I had. Thankfully I came home with the food and not to work, so I could put it on a real plate. The pancakes are not fluffy or soft, they’re thick and dense, I only took a few bites and put them to the side because who wants to eat dense pancakes? I asked for salsa with my western skillet and didn’t get any. By looking at the skillet, it’s visually pleasing but when eating it, it just tastes like oiled potatoes. I’m someone who never adds extra salt to my food, I eat it as it comes but this I had to salt twice. My husband got the bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes and had to salt his food 3 times. For the amount of food, the price makes sense. But it just isn’t tasteful and we won’t be returning. There’s another cafe down the street that’s a similar price point and the food is...

Starwood lost our business and that of our friends this morning - because apparently they don't want or value it. My wife and several girlfriends meet every Saturday morning for breakfast. They know, from previous visits, that Starwood won't seat them until every single person has arrived. When my wife arrived this morning she was the second (of 4)to arrive. Her friend was standing waiting with a cup of coffee that she had ordered while they waited. My wife got a server's attention and asked to order a cup of hot tea since she's not a coffee drinker. She was curtly asked if she had a table, and said not yet since they were waiting for 2 more to arrive. At that point she was rudely refused service and told she couldn't order her tea until they were seated. Not sure why they were willing to take an order and serve a cup of coffee to her friend while flat out refusing her request for tea, but they've definitely lost all of the girls and their families business in the future. There are too many other places to choose from who actually treat their customers like they appreciate them...