Waffles, INCaffeinated, South Side — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

This review is about the location in Southside. There's a tl;dr at the end. I did take-away so it was a limited atmosphere experience. Seemed like a normal kind of diner, just more brown and wooden? I was VERY excited when I learned they make gluten free waffles (I have Celiac disease). It's only for the "design your own" section, at least when ordering online. Not for the specials. You also can't specify decaf for any of the coffee drinks (I ordered the signature drink that was supposed to have hazelnut, vanilla, and maple flavor with foam on top). But I figured I could deal with full caf for a day, and if I happened to get there before they made it, I could always ask them to do decaf instead. The order was supposed to be ready to be picked up at 16 past the hour. I got there shortly after that and it wasn't ready. The place was basically empty. As far as I could hear and see there were two tables there, two servers, and two kitchen staff. They were all sort of meandering around slowly, and when one server finally came to greet me, they weren't pleasant at all. I've been a server multiple times in different places, so I know how hard it can be and always try to give the benefit of the doubt, so I was friendly to them and told them my name and what I was there for. They had me sign a receipt (we'd already tipped 15-20% online, our usual for take-away), then set it down and just walked away. Another server came out and started prepping a to-go hot drink and I asked if that was mine and if so, could they make it decaf please, since there wasn't a way to request that online? The server just said "it's not yours," and finished what they were doing. Apparently didn't tell the other server. I waited another 10 minutes before the other server brought out the bag and said "here you go!" (the friendliest anybody had been). I said I still had a drink. The signature. Then I remembered we'd ordered it separately, trying to do it decaf, so I apologized and explained it was a separate check. They sighed and started prepping it and I quickly asked about the decaf, explaining the order issue. They didn't respond, but I could tell they were unhappy about it. I felt badly, but I had been very friendly, and when I was a server I was happy just to have someone be friendly and kind to me. Nobody ever tipped me on take-away orders. I only had 45min to have lunch with my spouse IF the food had been ready on time, which it wasn't, and now because of the very long wait I was going to have about 10min with him. I just wanted to get out of there, so I wasn't paying much attention while the server made my drink. I thanked her when I got it, and rushed out. It wasn't until I tasted it a few minutes later when I was at my spouse's office that I realized it was plain coffee/espresso. I don't even know if it was decaf. But it tasted terrible and had none of the things from the signature drink in it I'd paid for. I wasn't going to go back, obviously, because we had no time at that point, and it looked like it was just those employees on the floor. So my spouse drank it instead because he can drink motor oil if it smells like coffee. Tl;Dr It was super depressing atmosphere inside, servers were rude, food wasn't ready in time, so it ruined rare lunch date with spouse, and I was given plain coffee instead of signature drink I paid for. Lame. 2/5 stars. Only gets even the 2 stars because of the gf waffles, which I haven't been able to have since developing Celiac disease after a major surgery....

I had received the worst service ever from this restaurant. It is my boyfriend's birthday today and we wanted to try something new. We get to the restaurant with our friend. We wait a while for our table, no biggy, and then get seated. A couple next to us had seated after us and two tables received their drinks before they did that came in after them. Actually, the couple never got greeted at all. They ended up asking for a manager. The waitress told them they don't have a manager at the time. When the couple decided to leave, I said to them that I noticed they didn't get greeted neither and acknowledged that I also noticed the tables that came in after them received service but they didn't. When the couple left, a group of six girls came in and got greeted immediately. My boyfriend said "Wow... They got their drinks fast." I replied, "it's because they just received a complaint." Our server heard us and started chuckling. The whole time we waited, multiple servers came out and were chuckling at our anger.

Before any of that happened, we waited for a while before our waitress, Kaitlyn, asked us for our beverages. Even then, she walked away in the middle of our drink order to which we had to ask her to come back to complete our drink order. I had ordered two meals and my boyfriend and friend only ordered one. We waited for our food and a two top and a three top that came in after received their food before us. The three top actually got their check and cashed out before we even received our food. We finally get our food and it's all cold. I'm already irritated from everything else so I asked for a box because I didn't even want to eat there anymore. She brings us a box and afterwards, she asked us how our checks are going to be. We told her and she immediately came out with checks. I asked her, "Excuse me, why is it that we waited for our food for a while meanwhile people already left who came after us but once it's time to get our checks, it's an immediate situation?" She said she didn't know what was going on in the kitchen and tried making excuses. That was the end of that. Two minutes later, a worker came from the kitchen and came to our table and said, "It's because you got more food!" First of all, I am a current server and have been working in the restaurant business since I was 14, and it has never been acceptable for a cook to come out and say anything especially when it's with attitude. I got up and walked over to where he was and asked him if he wanted to repeat that again... Once I said something back, finally, no one in that restaurant wanted to get smart again. The cook's name that was given was Jake, by the way. Finally, the only decent waitress in that restaurant came up and apologized and said we didn't have to pay for our bills and gave us the information for who we could contact to report this. Overall, it was a horrible experience, actually the worst that I have ever received. Not to mention that I am a white woman with two black friends... The couple that walked out was also black... The six top of girls were all white... Seems like there is a serious issue here. First impressions mean a lot and I will never go back there. I will also tell all of my friends...

Don't waste your time. I am an avid breakfast lover. Of all the breakfast dishes, anything with waffles has always been my favourite so you can imagine how excited I was to try Waffles Incaffeinated. I only rate as high as 2 stars because the food was actually pretty good. The service however was HORRENDOUS, and because of that, I will not return. It was terrible from the start. I walked in and though it was a Sunday and they were just finishing up the brunch crowd, they were not slam packed. So I walked up to the host/server at the desk and said I had 3, he took my name, typed it into an iPad, then looked behind him and said "We have a table free right now, it just needs bussed, as soon as it is, we'll seat you." I said perfect thanks and say down to wait. As I did 3-4 groups came up gave their names and appeared to be put on a wait list. Then the rest of my party arrived, which prompted a new man at the desk to ask if we'd been helped. I told him we had, he asked my name, after giving it and looking down, he said he didn't see it. I told him that someone took my name earlier (I even pointed over at the young man who did so) and relayed what I had already been told. Rather than apologize and say there was a misunderstand or miscommunication, or say we'll seat you next; he didn't even acknowledge it. He took my name and put me at the END of the list. All the people that were standing behind me in the line originally were taken and seated before me. After finally being seated almost 30 minutes later, it took a full 20 minutes before a waitress made it over to our table and took our orders-food as well because we were more than ready by then. Mind you, the place was emptying out, not getting busier. I understand that a server can be overloaded, but no one even came over to say "I'll be right with you," or "I'm sorry for the wait-nothing at all." THEN we waited over half an hour for our food. For 2 simple waffles and a BLT. If this were a full meal it would be one thing, but you'd think a busy waffle place would be able to churn out waffles pretty fast eh? Not here. Not to mention several tables seated after us got their food before we did too. Now the food, it was pretty good. I asked for extra whipped cream, and got it, and they use real whipped cream not the fake stuff which I appreciated. Now my waffle was luke-warm at best, not hot, but I let that slide. My companies BLT was also very good and they enjoyed it. Our server, though very sweet, did not once check on us; we had to ask for our cheques, ask for a box, we might as well have served ourselves. My love of waffles and breakfast was simply overwhelmed by the pathetic service here, and I will not be going back. There are plenty of other breakfast places that I already know and love in Pittsburgh to bother wasting my time here again. If the service had been as good as the food, I'd happily be returning. Sadly that is...