Wild Berry Diner — Restaurant in Mesa

LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS AND STAY AWAY FROM THIS TERRIBLE ESTABLISHMENT

Owner said they would give me a refund and then asked if I was going to leave a bad review. I told them I just might, and then they tried to backtrack the refund they had already agreed to.

That’s pretty shady business practices.

Absolutely awful experience food and service wise. All of the staff seemed like they did not enjoy their jobs.

Coffee tasted bad and was very watery.

The food itself was very mediocre. My medium burger came well done, but still somehow managed to have no color on the patty. The flavor of the patty makes me think they just use ground beef and no seasoning. Fries were also bland.

The omelet was tough and overcooked. Pancake was large in diameter, but very thin. The outside of the pancake was tough, with the inside being almost pasty. It made me think of box mix pancakes.

The biscuit was okay, if not a bit dry. The jam served with it was actually quite good.

The service here is atrocious, unless you’re a regular I guess.

Our waitress checked on us twice. Once to take our order and once to bring us our food. We never received any refills nor did anyone bother to check if everything looked okay with our food.

We only finished half our food, because the taste was so mediocre.

When finished, we cleaned up as best as we could and stacked our plates at the edge of the table. After several more minutes of being ignored, we asked for the check. Our waitress said she would get it for us, and I am not kidding about this part, it took her longer to bring us a check than it took to get our food. From the time we finished eating to the time we received our check was over fifteen minutes. All the while, our waitress was bringing refills for other patrons and stopping to chat with other staff and patrons that I’m assuming are regulars. Around the fifteen minute mark, we stood up from our table to try and get someone to give us our check, at which point our server was finally able to produce a check after a small wait.

Needless to say, I did not leave our waitress a tip, as she was both rude and inattentive. As we were walking toward the door, she shouted “have a nice day” in a nasty tone.

I asked to speak to whoever was in charge to voice a complaint about our service. I’m assuming I talked to the owner, as our refund receipt had the name Christina on it. As I was voicing my complaint, the waitress walked up and started arguing with me, with the owner allowing it, calling us rude even though we were nothing but nice until it took fifteen minutes to get our check.

At this point I was so fed up that I asked for a refund. The owner said “you don’t get a refund just because you don’t like your server” I explained how it wasn’t just the service, but the food and also now this situation. With a very condescending look, the owner said “I’ll give you a refund, but I bet you’re just going to go and leave a bad review.” I said to her “I wasn’t going to, but now I might.” The owner looked me dead in the eye and said “so why should I give you a refund then?”. She just stared at me for a while. I could see the gears turning in her head before she finally agreed, again, to give us a refund for this...

TGIF. It was in between brunch and lunch, we were starving and not familiar with any places to eat at in the area so I googled “breakfast places near me” and this diner was 5 minutes away so me and my sister took a chance. Talk about a hidden GEM! This restaurant will not disappoint you! Everyone was so friendly and welcomed us the minute we entered. My sis ordered the Huevos Rancheros plate and it was almost 11am so since it was a Friday , I saw that they had an all you can eat fish fry with clam chowder, a choice of fries or baked 🥔 potato and coleslaw for $10 ?!!?!! That’s it? The clam chowder was creamy and delicious. I’m very particular with how soup or chowder is served, I like it fresh out the pot and served immediately not luke warm sitting on the counter waiting to arrive at my table. My chowder was perfect and hot. The fish platter was the best all you can eat fish fry I’ve had in 16 years I’ve resided in Arizona. I’m from California and I love my seafood, especially a good fish platter. Fish was crispy and NOT greasy at all! It had a great crunch and the fish itself was so moist and seasoned well. It was real filet portions, not bite sized pieces like you’d get from other restaurants. The fish was so delicious, I had a second serving even though I was already full from the first 2 pieces. It was that good! Tartar sauce was really good but I prefer my fish with hot sauce and ketchup so that’s how I ate most of it. I’m not a fan of coleslaw but this slaw was delicious and I ate most of it. If you want fresh homemade meals, food made from scratch. You have to try this place! It feels like eating at your family’s house or eating at a friend’s house who can cook lol The beans 🫘 served with the Huevos Rancheros are slow cooked not canned. You can tell the difference. Pico de gallo and salsa was fresh and it had a little kick to it but not over powering. I can’t really elaborate more on the rest of the Huevos rancheros plate because I picked the fish fry and I was too busy grubbing on the crispy fish. Our server Christina was so sweet and catering. She was busy with the amount of customers dining in but she was attentive and on top of everything. If you’re ever in the area, try it out . I didn’t see a kids menu but I will be dining here with my little one and telling my friends about this place. The menu has a great variety to choose from, I had to take a double look at the prices because they were extremely reasonable. The quality of food they bring to the table can easily cost $18-$20 per plate but it is half of that and it tasted better than a lot of places in the valley. Thank you for a great experience! Thank...

UPDATE: Responding to Wild Berry's response - We would have gladly asked to have our meals re-cooked but as mentioned in our review we didn't see our server again once the food was delivered to our table. She never ever checked back until the end. Only one other server was in the dining room during this time and she was busy with the customers at the counter and never approached our table. There was another server working but both times we saw her she was on her phone. The hostess who sat us (maybe a manager or owner) was absent most of the time also. You mention that I did not identify our server...sorry but we don't know her name. If I told you she was the tall one you'll probably know, right?

Wild Berry Diner, located at 4805 E Main St., Mesa, AZ, is a breakfast spot we've visited on a few occasions, typically enjoying our meals there. However, our recent visit was a departure from our usual pleasant experiences. On this day, the diner fell short of its usual standards.

We decided to try the Huevos Rancheros and Christina's Breakfast Skillet. The atmosphere remained as we remembered it—warm and welcoming. Unfortunately, the service and food did not match the ambiance. The server took nearly ten minutes to acknowledge us after we were seated. When she finally approached, we were ready to order since we had ample time to review the menu.

My Huevos Rancheros came with eggs I requested to be over easy, but instead, I was served eggs with hard yolks. The potatoes tasted bland, reminiscent of just boiled, diced cubes without any seasoning, and the beans had an odd sour flavor. I ended up leaving much of my meal unfinished. My wife had a similar experience with Christina's Breakfast Skillet. Her eggs were overcooked, and the dish overall lacked flavor, leading her to leave a good portion of it uneaten.

Unfortunately, the service compounded our dissatisfaction. Apart from taking our order and offering a premature drink refill shortly after placing it, our server was notably absent. We didn't see her until after we had finished our meal, at which point she offered coffee refills when it was evident from our cleared plates and soiled napkins that we were done. Additionally, after waiting at the table for our ticket for another ten minutes, we eventually went to the hostess stand to pay and leave.

While the pricing at Wild Berry Diner is friendly, on this particular day, the combination of lackluster food and inattentive service left a disappointing impression. This visit did not reflect the enjoyable experiences we've had there...