Walter's Coffee Shop by Sergio — Restaurant in Palmetto Bay

I am a vegetarian [I eat eggs just not meat] and simply want to know when I go into a restaurant what are the vegetarian choices. The response of this waitress was entirely substandard. She made both mistakes made by waitresses when asked this simple question.

Not Knowing the Menu. Most restaurants today have vegetarian choices. That's because there are millions of vegetarians in the country as well as other people who are not vegetarians but simply may not want to eat meat on that particular day when they order the meal. [Maybe their doctor told them to stay away from sausage and bacon because they don't want to die prematurely of a heart attack 🤣].

This waitress did not adequately know the menu. So I had to scour the menu which took me quite a long time to read all of the descriptions of the food to determine which ones did not have meat. I chose a vegetarian omelet.

How hard is it for a waitress to know the menu? This is not rocket science. That is her job. Moreover, there are so many vegetarians today, and others who do not want to eat meat that she must certainly be asked this question regularly. It should not be a rare or unusual request.

The Ridiculous Answer. The next mistake that this waitress made as many other waitresses make because they seem to be lazy and ignorant of the menu is simply to say you can choose anything but take the meat out.

This answer is infuriating to vegetarians, and it's extremely offensive. Why? That is because in many dishes meat is the central part of the meal and to take the meat out means that all the vegetarian gets to eat are potatoes and bread, yet pay the same price as the full meal. I can assure you I am not going to go to a restaurant and pay $20 for breakfast, including a tip to eat home fries and bread.

Many restaurants have substitutes for meat and would say we can take the meat out, and in its place, we can add tofu or some of the meat substitutes. But to tell you to choose anything and take the meat out is like saying we're going to sell you a car and you'll pay the same price but we'll take the engine out.

To be honest, I don't need to spend $20 for breakfast and be aggravated by a clueless waitress who doesn't want to be bothered with helping a customer.

I'd rather go to a fast food restaurant, pay $7, and not be bothered with a tip. Thanks, but no thanks.

To the owner: Just think for a minute how stupid it is to tell a vegetarian to "just take the meat out." It's like a slap in the face. I interpret it as a "screw you" answer whether intended to be one by the clueless waitress or not. It's like saying: "So you're a vegetarian, screw you, just take the meat out of any of our choices and stop bothering us." I'm am sure the waitress did not intend to imply that, but that's how it comes across to me. This was an answer more prevalent in the 1970s, 1980s when meat eating was more central in society and vegetarians were regarded as kooks. Yeah, I'm old so I've seen the evolution of how vegetarians are responded to. "Just take the meat out" is about the worst answer you can give. We vegetarians tegard this answer as crude and ridiculous.

Just think how much better it would have been for the waitress to say: "Yes. Walter's has vegetarian choices, perhaps you'd be interested in the vegetarian...

So I went here with my family in order to try it because I've seen it on my Instagram more than once... It was a Saturday morning around 11am. It was packed, so I was happy because that's a sign of a good place right? Well we got seated after 30 min which was good, no issues. We looked at the menu and our waitress was extremely pleasant. She said the kitchen was a bit backed up that it could take like 30 min to get our food. Ok no problem, wish I would've been told when I gave my name at the table, so hubby and I agreed to stay, we were committed at this point. Place our orders and have our drinks... So we're chatting and chatting, no problem... Until my kids start saying they're hungry... when I look at the time, an hour had lapsed from when we ordered... the waitress sees me and apologizes and says the food is gonna come out soon... ok, fine... we're committed... chatting and chatting again... a few coffees in... my son, who doesn't really complain, especially about being hungry... says that he's hungry and why is it taking so long... he's 5 btw... take a look, we've been sitting down for over 2 hours and no food... now I'm hungry and a tad bit frustrated... the waitress sees my face and tells me something about the kitchen backed up and they're understaffed and I don't know what and she's sorry and blah blah blah at this point because it's been a WHILE already... another 20 minutes and the food comes out. WOOHOO ITS GAME TIME! The food was in a nutshell, not so great. Not so hot. I am one who hates wasted food and I had to toss out half of my Santa Fe Benedict. The sauce made it unbearable to eat. Hubby disliked his food... Luckily the kids were so hungry they ate theirs... Just overall disappointed from start to finish... I'm giving 2 stars because the poor waitress was the sweetest and apologized profusely and stated to come back another day please because that wasn't representative of their food and service etc. As much as I want to give this place another try, I'll pass. This place was at par with Denny's and maybe a bit worse. I'm sorry :( I'm hoping it was a really bad day and I picked the wrong dishes... oh wait which reminds me, I had their pecan waffle and it was pretty good, nothing to write home about, so at least I didn't...

Walking in the greeting was “sit right there that one (pointing at a booth) okay..sure Good Morning or hi…whatever. Waitress arrives and asks our beverage order, my partner says Cafe con leche please in a mean voice “I DONT SPEAK SPANISH” oops sorry! (She was with her other 2 coworkers who were beside her as we walked in were speaking Spanish, we assumed- our bad) so we ask for coffee and milk pls, creamers are at the end of the table. You sell milk..it’s on the menu, would it kill you to bring milk or suggest it? Whatever, time to order is here and now we wait. The hostess sits with a table because those are her friends, the lady at the to go is cleaning, serving, refilling, our waitress? Who knows her location because not us for the 41 minutes it took to get our food with a restaurant sitting 4 other parties… the to go lady asking the hostess to do her job as a table sat themselves because she was chatting it up & sitting again with her friends, the new table received both their breakfasts and their kids pancakes within 11 minutes of sitting and ordering, how did our food take over 40? And the food wasn’t even cooked right plus cold! We saw our waitress with our drink order, food order and a minute before food came out…for the check I asked the hostess who was sitting behind me at her friends table chatting it up again if I could have the check or do I pay at the to go station? I couldn’t tell you my waitresses name, however the other waitress there was kind, sweet to her table, communicated, asked how their food was…you know…did her job….We were so excited to eat here and enjoy some great food, don’t know what happened or if there were kitchen issues or why our service and food time was different than the other table but whatever it was if it keeps up you’ll lose more customers which you know you need right $$? We are Never going back and I suggest you take your hard earned...