Olde Tymes Restaurant — Restaurant in Norwich

December 2019 I had the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. None of the usual staff was on, a totally new crew... It took about 10 minutes to be seated.(the restaurant was nearly empty) We got our drinks relatively quickly except the waitress got my friend Coke instead of lemonade.. She thought it was funny and then 15 mins later our food came out immediately after our salads were delivered. Then my friend's steak, which was supposed to be medium rare, came out beyond well done. At this point she still hadn't received her lemonade. I was about three or four bites into my chicken (chicken cordon Bleu, which was smothered in gravy) and my friend asked me if it was just her or was my chicken raw ... Sure enough it was extremely raw. I was so hungry I almost didn't care. Almost. So we sent that back too . The waitress then avoided our table and let the busser/host handle everything from that point on... When she finally came over she didn't believe us that we had the issues and insisted she put the chicken in " oven thing that finishes the food"... It was a sad experience as I brought two friends who had never been before. The other customers that were near us experienced the same thing with their chicken dish. My friend's second steak came back less like leather. Not perfect or as she ordered but closer to medium well Instead of medium rare. I was put off by the meal I was eating, I just got a cup of soup instead of a meal. Within 30 minutes of leaving, I was extremely sick. This would be the last time I ever dined here. Quite the change from previous experiences here. Saddens me as I've known Rodney the owner and his wife for over 30 years. My dad took me here as a kid and as an adult working for my dad we would have breakfast together before work some days.

from 4 years ago: Ruthie was our waitress and made sure our food was excellent and brought out as quick as possible. Food was great!...

Got in line and the hostess took someone else who walked in after me. I think because she recognized him or he knew the right spot to stand in. He was elderly and she was very nice to him. But news flash - I'm a senior citizen working two jobs and no one to cook for me at home either. I had been standing there by myself a few minutes without anyone asking "are you eating in or picking up". Maybe I was standing in the wrong spot but I rarely go there. I think they need to watch for new customers. The entry isn't well lit so maybe they didn't see me. I would rather have it a little dim than too bright though. Quick service but the waitress seemed abrupt - asked me if I knew what I wanted. I didn't realize the placemat was the menu until I heard her say it to another customer - I didn't pay any attention to the placemat but I wish I had. I heard the people next to me ask her what she liked there and she did mention a couple things I would have tried instead of the same old basic breakfast - my fault. Parts of the ceiling in the dining room were peeling off. Seating was way closer than 6 feet and a lady on one side of me was coughing and someone on the other side was constantly sniffing. I felt like telling them to blow their nose! The "crispy home fries with onions" were like fried mashed potatoes - couldn't detect an onion or an actual piece of potato - I doubt they were peeled today. Eggs over easy- good - kinda hard to mess that up. Sausage - I've had better but I was thankful. Waitress changed midway through meal and neither one asked "how is everything". The outer bathroom door didn't close but there are stalls. The inside of the toilet had more than a little feces smeared on the bowl. Outside the restroom & the entry way are one in the same and was getting busy by then and so it was like a maze getting out around the people coming in. I didn't see any staff - wait or cook -...

Food: really good. Three of us went for lunch. One of us had a buffalo chicken wrap, one had a turkey club, and I had the fried chicken sandwich. In general the food was really good. My chicken sandwich had an enormous glob of mayonnaise on it, which was really gross, but easily scraped off. Both the buffalo chicken tenders and the fried chicken on my sandwich were hand battered and fried and we're absolutely delicious. Definitely a reason to go back.

Service: okay, but nice. When the server asked if we were ready to order, we said yes and then she walked away and didn't come back for 10 minutes, and we saw her take two other tables orders. When we ordered, my boyfriend ordered a cup of soup instead of french fries, which was completely ignored and he received french fries. One person asked for no coleslaw, so none of us got any, even though all our sandwiches were supposed to come with fries and coleslaw. The staff was really nice, but definitely not in a hurry, and may not have understood us when we asked for things.

Atmosphere: very country. Many American flags, lots of "down home" Americana vintage decor, country music on all the time. The vibe was kind of redneck, conservative, Trump-country-ish. If you are non-white or non-cis-hetero it could feel a bit unsafe to go in by yourself. If the management wanted to signal to everyone that they welcome all people, they could replace a couple American flags out front with a pride flag or a trans flag, or mix in some different styles of music with the country music. Then again, if you're not welcoming to other groups of people, you're probably doing a good job of keeping many of them...