Sweetie's Cafe & Catering — Restaurant in Redding

Over the weekend, my son and I visited Sweetie’s for breakfast. Unfortunately, our experience was not the best, and I doubt we’ll be returning.

When we first arrived, there was a sign instructing guests to “wait to be seated,” but no one acknowledged us for about 7 ½ minutes. Eventually, a woman—who I later found out was the boss—told us there was an open booth down the way, so we ended up seating ourselves. Upon sitting down, I noticed something sticky on the table, which I initially thought was syrup. Later, I learned it was wax from the table.

A woman, who I assumed was our server, brought silverware and my first cup of coffee. She was very nice and attentive. Before I could even ask for a dishcloth, she came over and wiped the table down before we were even handed menus, which I really appreciated because the table was dirty. When I started scraping at the sticky area with my spoon, she reassured me that it wasn’t syrup but table wax. I apologized, as I had no idea. Shortly after, the same woman who assigned us our table came over with a rather snobby attitude and told me not to scrape the wax off. I let her know that the other lady had already explained, and I apologized again, but the interaction left me feeling uncomfortable.

Thankfully, our actual server, Tiff, was great. She was very sweet, attentive—maybe even a little overly attentive—but she made sure we were comfortable.

My son ordered French toast, country potatoes, and bacon, while I ordered the house special: country potatoes, a ribeye steak, an egg, and a choice of toast, English muffin, or pancake—I went with the pancake. The food arrived in about 10 minutes, which wasn’t bad, but it was not hot. The one thing that was consistent was the coffee refills.

On top of everything, I was shocked when I got the bill. I had no idea that my plate alone was going to cost $28. I walked out of there paying $67 plus a $10 tip, bringing the total to $77.10. In this economy, that’s ridiculous—especially for breakfast. I take responsibility for not asking the price of the house special, but I would have never ordered anything over $20, especially something listed as a “special.”

Overall, I’d rate Tiff’s service an 8/10, but the overall experience was more of a 5.5/10. As a woman of color, I didn’t feel particularly welcomed when I first walked in, which only added to my disappointment. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be dining...

I absolutely love the staff and the food is great too!!! The cooks are great at their job. Colorful, delightfully delicious food. I have made this my only place to eat. The waiting staff are wonderful. They have coffee hot and ready or if you like, they have iced coffee as well as many other drinks. I find the waiting staff, cooks and bussers to be in great moods most days, that is when the owner is not present. The staff are always on top of everything. They get your drink order as you come in, your cup is never empty, and they are attentive but not overbearing. You will never have to wait for coffee they are always making fresh. You will find they are always laughing and smiling. They get to know you and pick up conversations as though it was yesterday. I love this staff they are what make me always come back. The cooks are great at their job food is tasteful and just wonderful. I have never had a bad time with any food they are great with my food allergies. They have not gotten my food wrong or my allergens in my dishes. The owner makes the dinning experience you have very uncomfortable. When walking into the cafe often i think of leaving due to the owner but the food is good. When the owner is attending a shift tensions are high. I often hear her berating diners once they leave and she does this to the staff as well while infront of active diners. She often leaves her young children for her employees to supervise, as they are actively waiting tables. Your staff are working for you as waiters not babysitters. Stop taking advantage of your staff. This happened on my husband's birthday. It has not just been one time of experiencing the owner leaving children with staff it has been multiple. Overall I would give 5 stars 🌟 but it's the owner that brings down the experience. THANK YOU to the cooks, waiters,...

Went here for lunch with my family the food was decent but not for their prices, also our waitress was ok and did her job but we won't going back because she had chased us down in the parking lot for a tip when I didn't leave one because the food was not that great and service was nothing to tip about. But the entitlement of the staff at this restaurant went above grotesque when having to explain to our waitress while getting my family into our car that your prices and service were not going to enable me to tip. Beyond ridiculous I will not recommend this place to anyone and I will be relaying this story as to why. I remember who she was but not her name hopefully she gets her issues dealt with and when I called later after I had left this restaurant they hung up on me when I started to explain that their waitress did. WIll not go back ever or reco anyone does utterly disrespectful rude and the food decent at best, prolly could make better at home as well. Clean up your acts. This place is an example of why some restaurants need to go out of business it will be better for the community as a whole. We were a party of 3 adults 1 who was elderly and we all each ate 1 meal so we weren't a large party not did we order a lot of food. You can't Shame your customers into tips it doesn't work like that. Your restaurant is an affront to real hardworking eateries in our community who deserve our business and our tips. Never going back to sweeties ever and anyone reading this stay far away youre life will be...