McDuff's — Restaurant in Redlands

McDuff’s in Redlands – 233 East State Street, Redlands, California I visited McDuff’s in Redlands yesterday with my grandson for lunch. He requested a plain pancake rather than the Mickey pancake. I simply asked if the fruit that normally decorates the Mickey pancake could be placed on the side. That was the entirety of my request. As a regular customer who has frequented this establishment many times, I was deeply disappointed by what transpired. The blonde female employee with the was later revealed to be the manager, approached the counter to hand the ticket to the cook. At that point, I clearly overheard her remark: “She’s so picky. She should have just ordered a regular pancake.” In fact, that is exactly what I had ordered. Such a dismissive and unprofessional comment, made audibly within earshot of a customer, is wholly inappropriate in any service setting. Having worked in the legal field, I can state unequivocally that professionalism requires restraint and courtesy, not disparagement of the very patrons who support the business. As a Hispanic woman dining in a restaurant that was overwhelmingly white at the time, the comment carried an undertone that felt discriminatory, especially when contrasted with the markedly positive demeanor she displayed toward other tables.

When I requested to speak to the manager, I was surprised to discover that the individual who made the comment was in fact the manager herself. I then asked for the owner’s contact information but was told by this manager that she could not provide it. I later took it upon myself to track down the owner, Larry McDowell, and spoke with him directly. Unfortunately, rather than taking my concern seriously, Mr. McDowell dismissed it outright. He told me he had never received a complaint about this employee, praised her character, and recited his own contributions to the restaurant—despite no longer working there. Instead of being heard, I felt ridiculed and brushed aside, which only deepened my disappointment.

To further highlight the issue, several neighbors have since confirmed to me that complaints about this establishment are, in fact, not uncommon—one even mentioned a mother and daughter walking out recently due to similar poor treatment. The food itself is mediocre at best and offers nothing distinctive. In today’s competitive market, establishments should be striving to earn and retain customer loyalty through excellent service. Instead, McDuff’s appears content with complacency and, worse, tolerates management that openly disrespects its patrons. As consumers, it is important that we utilize reviews to hold businesses accountable. Supporting establishments that fail to respect their clientele only perpetuates poor practices. Restaurants of this nature are, frankly, a dime a dozen. My recommendation is to spend your money where professionalism and customer service are valued. McDuff’s is not that place.

Note to other customers: if you experience similar treatment and wish to escalate it, please feel free to message me through Yelp. Since the manager refuses to provide the owner’s information, I am willing to share it so others can make their voices heard—because no business should be allowed to act as if they are “too perfect” to be held...

This is a lengthy review but it’s necessary in order for you all to understand the extent of what I went through. I’m giving this place one star because of my experience with Sandra, the waitress there. She has a very nasty attitude, was so disrespectful, and was very aggressive to me. I am an artist that frequently participates in the Redlands art events, and I was at an art event as a vendor this past weekend when I purchased breakfast burritos from this restaurant. I paid for the burritos and went back to my art booth, as I was told it would be 30 minutes before my food would be ready. However, when I went to pick up my food, I waited at the counter for a while, when I finally waved down Sandra to help me so I could get back to my art. She begrudgingly came up and I told her I’m here to pick up my order, told her my name, and she found it, but refused to give me my order because she said it wasn’t paid for. I tried to show her my receipt, and she told me she doesn’t want to look at my receipt, she would prefer to talk to someone else first. I told her to please look at my receipt which would show her that I purchased exactly what she was holding. However, she refused, I explained that I needed to return to my art booth, and she said, “Fine! Here, you want the burritos so bad, take them!”. Then proceeded to talk about me to the customers behind me saying, “ugh! oh boy!” I was so disappointed and taken aback by this blatant display of disrespect and poor customer service, as this was my first time here. It was not my fault as the customer that there was disorganization and disorder on the restaurant’s end, yet this is how I was made to feel by the waitress, Sandra. I asked to speak with a manager, and I was told there is no manager or owner on site, but I spoke to Chelsea, who quickly agreed that Sandra was wrong for what she did and tried to rectify the situation on her end. However, I hear Sandra say, “Ugh! She’s back? What is she doing back here? What else does she want?”, and then proceeds to come outside to confront me. She came out very aggressive and further disrespected me telling me that what she did earlier was justified and she was not in the wrong for what she did and stormed off. I will never return, nor recommend this place to any of my colleagues,...

I go to McDuffs on a regular since I was a child with my family. I know it’s a small place and at times gets busy. I take my daughter there once a week to get breakfast so I know the staff and I know the chef Oscar and the food is always on par. Today I went in to mcduffs the day after Christmas and was greeted by a new host she was a young girl there were only two hosts working and this one I had never seen before she told me it would be a 20 minute wait and she asked for my name to get me on the list. My daughter is hungry I’m hungry it’s 10:30 so I tell her ok that’s fine. 30 minutes go by I walk in to see where I’m at on the list and the girl tells me oh I’m sorry I forgot to put your name in and she scribbles me in somewhere in the list of names and tells me I got 2 people in front of me I patiently tell her ok that’s fine thank you. I go back outside to wait and she comes out another 20 minutes later and call 3 different people and looks at me and says I’m next at this time it’s 11:20 I tell her ok cool. At this time a big family comes up and asks how longs the wait and she says 20 minutes. She goes back inside and returns another 20 minutes late and calls that family in she looks right at me and tells me there is some more people leaving right now I’ll get you in as soon as they go and I looked at her and had enough it was 11:45 and I had been waiting while she was letting other people ahead of me so I told her you know what I’m good and I picked up my child and left and she had the nerve to tell me she’s sorry??? I won’t be going to mcduffs for awhile I’m just going to take myself my daughter friends and family are going to just go to Carolyn’s from now on at least I don’t get put to the side and lied to. I’m extremely upset with the service today and it’s rude and...