Cafe Fourteen — Restaurant in Palatine Township

If I could give zero stars I would. Awful customer service when it comes to pickup orders. If you feel like ordering from a place that makes you feel like you need to provide a DNA sample to prove your pickup order is yours (even after you provide the full name on the order), this is the place for you. We order from here several times per month and also dine in almost every Sunday. Even after providing the name on the order, the employee still didn’t believe me and said he needed to see my confirmation. It felt very discriminatory to me.

I wouldn’t come back here if somebody paid me.

Response

First- my name is not Matt. Secondly, I’m not an Uber or Grubhub driver. I am a CUSTOMER who orders the same order several times every month for pickup. When I walked in I gave the employee the full name on the pickup order. When he grabbed the bag, I reached out to grab it and he pulled it back and demanded an order confirmation number before handing it over. This was a prepaid order.

How would I have known to show up at the exact pickup time and know the full name on the order if it wasn’t mine? As much as I wish I possessed psychic powers, I do not. I don’t know what kind of logic was used here. Several family members of mine have ordered for pickup here dozens of times and never had to go through this- only me. No one ever asked for additional verification after providing the full name on the order. All I can think of is the employee was being discriminatory....

This place used to be so much better, but went to hell at least 6 years ago. Figured to give them a try again, and see if they recovered their game. Sadly, they have not. Permanently on the do not dine list for me.

In response to the owner asking "What was the problem" - Well, we had previously been served ice cold matzo ball soup here, and had a dish (veal cutlet) that had both spoiled and fresh meat on it. That in itself is a neat trick! My ex had gone here within months of my bad visit, and gotten spoiled meat as well. So, we put your restaurant on the don't dine list.

Years passed, and amazingly, your doors remained open. So, we gave it another try. We were a party of 3, and 2 of us had been there before and knew of the issues we experienced before, but did not tell the 3rd person who had never been there. We had our meals, and when we were done, we all relayed our thoughts on what we had gotten. Very happily, nothing was spoiled, or ice cold, but nothing was actually "good". The food was very unimpressive, and we all agreed that we would have had better quality, flavor, and value, if we had gone down the street to Burger King. I hope that helped answer...

Cute breakfast spot. Mostly smaller 2-4 person booths, but some larger tables in the back. There isn't a waiting area, so it's best to call ahead or keep to smaller groups. The menu is expansive, with healthy choices listed along with the more standard fare, and additions like a "stuffed waffle" utilizing marscapone cheese along with berries and whipped cream. Missing is a kids' menu, other than a huge pancake stack with Nutella, Oreos, and topped with candy; a deal at $9, but overkill for any kid under, say, 10. The hot chocolate, on the other hand, is served in a mason jar glass with whipped cream and sprinkles, will dazzle even the adults at the table. Service is friendly and attentive, although staff seems to be working in somewhat cramped galleys, swimming upstream against bathroom-bound patrons and bustling busboys. This cafe seems to be a hit beyond their initial plans. Smaller, adult-only parties will revel in the selections. Larger groups with youngsters should pack their patience along with some crayons and coloring books, and enjoy the...