Ridgerunner Cafe — Restaurant in Prairie Grove

VERY DISAPPOINTING!!!! We were really looking forward to eating here but left because the waitress was extremely rude and acted like the customers were bothersome just for showing up! We witnessed her refuse to serve, tables get up and leave. We also saw a couple of different groups open the door and then turn and walk out even though the place wasn’t busy.This place lost a lot of business because we love to go out to eat and always reward good service as we have family in the restaurant business. Hopefully the owner will teach her about customer service before they lose any more business!

UPDATE: in response to the owners reply. Your employee flat out lied to you as there were other customers around to witness her actions. Yes we brought a dog in and when she told us to go out to the patio we did exactly that. I attempted to call the restaurant beforehand to see if it was ok but no one answered. I called the park office and was told they weren’t sure, but to try. She became upset because in an attempt to help I cleaned off a table. That is when she became rude. If she wasn’t going to serve us why did she say we could sit outside on the patio with our dog and eat? After some time waiting I went inside without our dog to get menus. Your waitress pointed at me and then the door rudely said “No! I will bring menus when I can. I have other people to wait on first!” I said “ I know you are busy. I wasn’t asking for you to wait on us now. I just wanted to get menus.” Once outside someone from the table next to us got up and went inside and came back outside saying “they aren’t even busy there are only 2 tables inside” and someone else said “the cook had to serve us yesterday, the waitress wouldn’t, she’s not very nice,maybe the cook will wait on us again”. I said “she wouldn’t let me get a menu.” 15-20 minutes later she comes outside * with no menus for any table * and says “I’m not going to serve you, you’ve verbally abused me!” Everyone on the patio was surprised because nothing of the sort happened. She went back inside yelling as we were leaving. I believe I said something like “I want you to be happy today.” I was nice to her even though she was extremely rude. I am well aware some people have bad days and it comes out on the people around them especially if you be are in the service industry. The only one berating was your waitress. No yelling or defying on my end. We went outside when she said we could not have our dog inside. If she says anything different she is lying to you. Other customers expressed bad experiences with her as well. Your statement should say “ we don’t care how our staff treats our customers” instead of “we don’t allow customers to berate our staff” Believe me the words please never came out of her mouth! We saw park employees when we were leaving. They told us unfortunately they leased the restaurant out to someone else but they’ve heard guests complain about a waitress.

In the grand scheme of things it’s not important however people that serve the public should have a certain skill set she obviously does not possess. And as an owner of a business you obviously did not attempt to get to the facts of what happened or you would know without a doubt your employee made false accusations about a potential customer!

As I said in the initial review we were really wanting to eat here as the menu looked great. We were glad there was a restaurant at the park. It’s unfortunate that my review is 1 star instead of 5 star and includes nothing about the food and only speaks for the unpleasant, unprofessional, rude waitress! And yes people need to know how they will be treated if they show up and someone is having a bad day...

Great service! Great portions. Really really great food! How to find it: you'll park in the lot next to the pool and walk past the pool towards the building/pavilion. The door is a solid wood door inside of the "back" of the pavilion area, there is a open window/door that it seems you can order and sit in the pavilion, we went inside the indoor seating area. Indoor seating is a rustic look (wood tables, wood chairs, wood walls, and large wall filled stone fireplace). I believe it was 9 tables of 4 per table. We ate here on a Sunday morning for breakfast/brunch. Only one family (of 8) was sitting inside and no-one outside sitting. So, we didn't expect much of a wait. It's a seat yourself place and they'll come out to you. Unfortunately, like many food places, they are understaffed and there was only 1 young lady working who was taking food orders AND cooking everything. We waited about 20 minutes before she came out and even saw us (she was cooking the food for the family of 8!). We felt pretty bad for her, and she was apologetic and very professional. We didn't mind, but we were pretty hungry, so it could have been a better experience, but this is NOT her fault, she deserves a TON of credit for what she was doing. Orders and how it went: I ordered Lee Creek Benny (look it up, it's interesting) and a coffee. She made the coffee fresh just for us, it was hot and great. The Benny was freaking AMAZING! I was shocked as to how good the food was, tbh - I mean, it's a campground, and she should be cooking for a classy restaurant! The presentation was fantastic as well, super surprised. Wife ordered biscuits and gravy, with cocoa gravy, and a sweet tea (only because they don't have a good selection of coffee creamers). She said the sweet tea was homemade and very good! Her order came out wrong (was sausage gravy, not coca gravy), but she felt bad and didn't say anything. 5 minutes later, the gal came back out having herself realized the mistake and she greatly apologized - again, super professional! She didn't charge us for that. Wife didn't mind, she said it was delicious! It was also a LOT of food for her. Kids shared the Breakfast Platter with pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. She brought it out perfectly split onto two plates! So nice, so they didn't have to split it up and argue, lol. They both got 2 pieces of bacon, 1 sausage patty, 2 pancakes, some scrambled eggs, and a slice of watermelon. It was so much, neither finished it... so I helped. HA! It was delicious as well. My son also ordered a chocolate milk. It was kind of fancy and he loved it. She really really went above and beyond. She deserves a raise and huge tip! BTW: they don't allow tips if you use a card, so you will want to bring cash to drop on the table because she definitely deserved it (we left a tip, even though the receipt hints NOT to do it). Again, this is a gem hidden in a nature park. Go find it, even if you're just driving around the park or going for a...

We bikepacked to Devil's Den expecting to eat what we could carry but heard there may be food there. Boy were we delighted to find this place. It's a bit hidden back behind the pool so stays quiet, but walk in and seat yourself in the rustic(but very clean) dining room and you'll quickly be greeted by the most friendly(and helpful) staff you could hope for. For those with dietary restrictions, have no fear, they’re quick to understand and accommodate. The menu was initially a challenge because everything looks so good! So we compromised and just kept coming back till we tried everything and it's all a slam dunk. They also pay their staff well enough tips are not required, while keeping food prices fair, but the service is so good you'll want to tip anyway, so bring some cash as there's no way to tip with card. Devil's Den is an amazing place on its own, but being able to eat excellent food without having to cook makes it an absolute delight, we have new...