Red Oak Kitchen — Restaurant in Odessa

We went to breakfast there yesterday morning with family who were in town for a funeral. We got there at 8:15. It looked like the place was closed. I walked in & saw a waitress, & told her we were outside on the patio. I could tell she wasn’t prepared for customers. We visited with family for a while, & she finally walked outside and asked what we wanted to start with. We got coffee w/ cream, & orange juice & 4 waters. She served our 3 cups of coffee, finally with cream, but wasn’t too big on refills. Our coffees got cold before she served us one more cup. We were the only ones there, so they were not busy except for our group of 6 adults & 2 children. We finally were served a second cup of coffee, but no cream. We all order a meal. 4 ordered the $15 breakfast with bacon or sausage, potato’s, & what was supposed to be 2 eggs. I make scrambled eggs all the time at home, no way was that 2 eggs on our plates. I ordered crispy bacon & it was so hard I couldn’t eat it. & it tasted like leftover from the day before. The bread they made toast with was cheap white bread, really thin & skimpy,& more like a half piece of bread, & TASTED STALE!! We had eaten this same meal for Father’s Day recently & it was all good. They used a specially bread with butter on it Father’s Day!!! This was a skimpy piece of white bread, toasted with no butter. No butter or jelly was offered either. My sister said the waffle was Ok, but nothing special. The small children ate off their Mom & Dad’s plate. This meal costs over $100. My brother in law picked up the tab. I was embarrassed that I recommended your restaurant to my out of town relatives based on what we had eaten for Father’s Day. The atmosphere was nice & good for a couple of little ones under 5. The bathrooms were clean ed & well maintained. ,but the breakfast served to us was pathetic & the waitress acted like she could care less. However, I alway try to remember, I don’t know what is going on her/their life & always am pleasant to servers, AND WE ALL WERE!!! . The waitress had no personality & never responded to any conversation we tried to engage her in. We all left generous tips too !! I probably won’t waste my time going back there ever again for breakfast! We should have gone to a Denny’s or a I-Hop & will next time where we know the food & coffee are always the same & good!! Maybe not as great an atmosphere, but at least you get good food & portions which was why we went out...

I am incredibly disappointed about this place. That is a pity, because the place is gorgeous, but the management of this place is absolutely terrible. I spoke to the manager about my experience and it felt like a total waste of time, I felt dismissed and that my concerns were barely heard. I am hoping that this comment reaches the owner of this place. As someone that has been in a management role for many years, and a former owner of a business, I would like to know that my investment is treated properly. Looking at this place, I cant imagine a business owner not caring and not wanting to know what really goes on. I will list my complains as follows:

The service was very slow. The server was very nice though and I have no complains about her, but she was covering pretty much all the patio and first wing tables. She was very busy. That tells me the restaurant is either understaffed or it is poorly planned.

*Prime rib was not cooked properly I do not mind paying $45US for prime rib, but my coworker and I, had to return our prime ribs. They were overcooked. The second round was still overcooked. Perhaps the rest of the menu is delightful, and if we wanted a nice cut of meat we should have gone somewhere else. The restaurant should remove from the menu items that will not deliverer the expected level of quality.

*The bill I had to ask the manager to get someone send the bill, we waited forever. I am disappointed that on top of the wait and poor performance, the prime ribs were not comp. It is not about the money. Our company pays for our meal expenses. I feel a fine establishment would do something to make up for all these legitimate shortcomings. I did mention this to the Manager. I feel it was not our place to ask. I explained this to him, but he did simply seem to care about our unsatisfactory experience.

*The manager He was polite enough, but both my co-worker and myself left feeling that our concerns were brushed under the rug. again, this is not about the money. When you go to a restaurant, you also pay for the experience. In this case, both the food and the experience were substandard. That is a pity, as this place is beautiful. The prettiest setting in Odessa-Midland, but it just has long ways to go.

Anyway, I do not wish for people to get fired. I also don't want this incident to go ignored. That is exactly how my co-worker and I felt yesterday and that is not right either.

Best...

I am very disappointed. Red Oak Kitchen has been one of my family’s favorite places to eat for years, and I used to consider it one of the best restaurants in the Midland/Odessa area. However, tonight me and my family went to eat and received terrible, awful service. I always bring my dog (which is allowed) and we always sit outside, away from people. Typically, we are treated very well and no one has a problem with us sitting outside. Tonight, the hostess did not seem very happy about us being outside, but she still got us a table, which is fine. Unfortunately, a few moments later, another women who didn’t even look like she worked here, essentially belittled us for sitting outside, acting as if the restaurant and staff had no clue we were out here and that it was our own fault that we were waiting. I’m not sure the internal miscommunication that went down, but the hostess knew we were there, and I watched her put us down for a table, so I was sure that the staff was aware. Plus, we hadn’t been waiting. We were outside for about 30 seconds at that. It was not OUR FAULT that anything happened. Food was mediocre, service was terrible. I shouldn’t go to a restaurant just be treated like a child and have the staff act like I don’t know how to get a table. I’ve never had an issue before, very sad that I won’t be going back for a while. I truly hope they fix this situation with they’re disrespectful hostess and waiters, and that random lady who told us off, meanwhile she was wearing pajamas. Incredible disappointed. Everyone, save yourself and just go somewhere that guarantees good food and service. Not worth spending $150 on poor food...