Jake's — Restaurant in Northampton

I would give it one star if it wasn't for the fact they are usually pretty decent.

But I came to retrieve a food delivery and was met with all kinds of confusion and nonsense-talk by either the owner or manager.

I believe they were upset that either an order was late and left out cold (I immediately called 3rd party to figure out the improper ETA ) or because she forgot about the order, she also forgot they even took deliveries or pickups?

I have no idea what was going on but it only compounded multiple late deliveries due to a car accident so the delay only extended the day.

The staff needs to decide if it takes deliveries or if itdoesn't. I cant partake in this purgatory while employees decide what operations they run in the restaurant. At the end of the convo, she then states there is a delivery available but it is old (which is based on possibly driver getting into an accident) but still little to zero explanation on why she started off with that they didn't do deliveries.

I can only chalk it up to ineptitude of ones job or her dislike of my disposition, which was extremely bland and submissive, as much as a tourist seeking directions to the nearest landmark. She lead me in circles almost to the point I was going to just leave empty handed.

But horrible traits to showcase to a stranger that just needed help with operations that they are conducting. It's not like they dont do delivery, as she took my card and handled the transaction pretty easily. This obstination was somewhat disrespectful; with very small margins surviving this industry, interactions like this can make or break a restaurant.

I get it. It's hot today. It seemed very busy. She seemed overwhelmed. I was too. But I dont project contempt or stubbornness. It did no one any good, wasn't the ideal solution, and only delayed an already late order. Left a bad taste in my mouth and I ordered nothing off the menu lol.

At very least I'd expect ambivalence but awareness that an order was made to be picked up. I was made to feel my actions were wrong, even though I was vindicated at the end .

I care not for being right; I just need help so I can do my job correctly and go home. Jake, be better at this or disband the operation. I should have no reason to dislike your place. Its awesome to eat there. This event didnt leave me much choice . Very sad how I...

Jake's is now permanently off of our list of restaurant options in Northampton. We are a family of four with two young children, and this apparently precludes us from being allowed to eat outside. We'd called ahead to check on whether our dog was allowed. The answer was yes, so we were excited to enjoy an outdoor early morning brunch before the predicted record heat.

When we arrived, we saw three small tables for two outside, one of which was occupied. I went inside to say we had a party of four and could we sit at two of the tables. The woman at the reception podium looked outside where my family was waiting, then shook her head and said that no the policy was only parties of two. I asked if they could make an exception, and the answer was no.

I went outside to let my family know, and my wife wondered if we could just sit at separate tables and get separated checks. I went back inside to ask one more time if they could treat us as two separate parties of two with separate checks. She looked outside again and said that it would be ok so long as the kids each sat with an adult at a separate table. Ok, great.

Went back outside, and the kids were excited to have "dates" with mom and dad at separate tables. We settled in and waited. And waited. After a little while longer my wife went in to ask about menus and was told that they had changed their mind and we weren't allowed to eat outside.

At this point I was more than a little frustrated. I went back inside to ask why we were not able to eat outside. The woman who initially greeted us was not there. Instead a young man informed me that it was policy. I asked why we weren't allowed to sit at separate tables with separate checks. He rudely repeated that: it was policy, that I'd "already been in there several times, and I won't allow it." A bit taken aback, I left and broke the news that our parent/child dates weren't allowed here.

Disappointed, we searched for other outdoor options in Northampton. After coming up empty handed, we drove home, dropped the dog off and went to The Stables, where our family of four was allowed to sit at the counter by the kind and awesome staff.

To the staff at Jake's: you treated our family unfairly and rudely on our first visit, and you won't be getting our business...

The food is excellent but the service we received today was just atrocious from beginning to end. It started with us being seated right by the front door on a freezing day with customers coming in and out every 2 minutes. We only had glasses of water and menus when the table next to us left. That table was way more protected from the wind coming in so we asked if we could move to that table. The woman behind the counter completely dismissed my question and just blew me off saying that changing tables was not allowed in this restaurant. A few minutes later an extremely strong smell of chemicals started coming from the basement stairs (which were right next to us as well). We all started tearing up and we truly thought someone sprayed mace, but when we asked we were told they were cutting onions downstairs. Not sure how much they were cutting to make that smell so powerful…. The same woman said there was nothing they could do about this either. All the tables around us were also complaining about the same thing. Then our food arrived, we ordered 3 eggs Benedict and every single one of them only had hollandaise on 1 of the two eggs. We mentioned that to the waiter who said he would get us. Our eggs were getting cold at this point and still no sauce in view…. I had to get up to investigate and saw the 3 tiny cups on the kitchen counter just waiting there…. When we received the bill we were charged $9 for the hollandaise as well as 18% gratuity. When the waiter came to get my card I mentioned that I would not be paying the gratuity as the service we received was less than satisfactory. The same woman (apparently the manager) came right to the table and was extremely aggressive telling me that we would be banned from coming back to Jake’s and paying the tip was mandatory since they had a piece of paper taped on the wall saying that parties of 5 or more would have an 18% added to the bill and we had to pay it. Pointless to say we will not be going back...