Village Square Cafe — Restaurant in Redmond

I've been a semi-regular customer here since 1994. I live just a few blocks away, so it's been a neighborhood gem to me for three decades! Their food is usually consistent, their restaurant is always clean, and their menu has something for everyone, in any food-mood. I love their omelets (esp with egg whites -- they just know how to do it right🤌🏻) but their prices are way too high for a pretty UNexceptional "Breakfast & Lunch Diner" experience, especially when the service isn't always as it should be, relative to their prices. As an example, I'm not a fan of having to ask for more water and they never seem to add more ice after the first glass so it feels like it would be an "imposition" to ask for more ice too. I was in the service industry for 20 years and well recognize that "oh darn, more customers are getting seated & I just wanna get the heck outta here!" vibe. I get it. I was that cranky server once...okay, many times. 😔 But, as a paying customer, it would be so much easier to swallow the high prices if the server(s) had made us feel welcome, or like it was worth their time to serve us on such a beautiful day on their lovely patio, one of the happiest places in all of Redmond!? We arrived more than 30 minutes before closing time & we were kind of ignored for longer than I'd expect if they were anxious clock out. So I kind of resented the $40 tab for an egg white omelette (it was excellent, as always, but do they really have to add that punitive extra charge for a pretty normal dietary preference? I've had Prime Rib dinners cheaper than that meal!) served with tasteless baby red potatoes (usually so delicious!?), a pretty inedible "fresh" fruit cup, some chicken strips with fries & cole slaw (also tasteless) and 2 glasses of tepid (but really clean) water. No coffee, no dessert. Not even any more ice than I was given in my first glass, even though, when I had to interrupt the servers who were cleaning up & tearing down the patio tables like there was a storm coming in or something, I asked for "ice water" with emphasis on ice. It was a really hot day! ☹️ It pains me to leave a critical review of one of my all-time favorite places, but I'm kind of doing it out of love for one of Redmond's oldest and most beloved neighborhood spots -- as reflected in all of these positive reviews about the food. It also pains me to leave a smaller tip than I normally would, but I just couldn't allow myself to plop down nearly $50 for what we had just experienced. I wish I could afford to go back there during this painful time of inflation, in the hopes of reversing my disappointment, but it's no longer in my budget to eat at my local diner anymore, unless the meals are...

TLDR: Fresh berries. Good hash browns. Crepes are tasty.

I ordered delivery.

Delivery items packed neatly and all sauces/syrups/whipped cream was packaged into their own containers, which was nice. You can rest assured that your food won't arrive soggy.

Salmon Eggs Benedict: overall lightly flavored and mildly salty. The salmon patties were a bit on the dry and tough side. I think there are some green onion bits in the patty, which I liked, but the overall taste of the patty was a little too "fishy" for me (like the fish wasn't at it's freshest moment). The English muffin was chewy and difficult to cut with a butter knife--I ended up eating the salmon and egg separate from the muffin because it was hard to cut and get that bite sized cut of all things stacked. Generous proportion of hash browns and they were soft and slightly crunchy--the best part is that them taters were not overly greasy. Some places use the hash browns as a sponge for the leftover grease on their pans, but not this place!

Berry Blintz Crepes: I ordered the half order, which is 2 crepes and it comes with syrup and real whipped cream. I'd say the half order is a safe option if you want something sweet to go with your breakfast because the proption is a pretty good size. The crepes were nice and thin and the lemon filling had a slight custard texture and had the tartness and bitterness of a real lemon along with a sweetness that wasn't overpowering. Very refreshing. It comes with real whipped cream which was a plus--not too sweet, nice, thick and fluffy. The strawberries and blueberries it came with were fresh and juicy--not soggy or wrinkly like how some places serve. These berries were supple, haha! I'm totally a fan of fresh berries as opposed to ones that seem like they were withering on the shelf until the last days of their lives and then offered to you as...

I've been a faithful customer at Village Square for over 6 years, and I must say their service is declining. The food here is consistently good, however the wait times are ridiculous on Saturdays and the service staff are slow to respond. I think the real culprit is the fact that food doesn't get completed fast enough from the kitchen. The last time I was there it took 30 minutes to be seated, an additional 10 minutes before the order was placed, and 15 minutes after that the food arrived. I had been at this place for nearly an hour before I ate. This is not a 5 star restaurant that is worth that kind of wait. It should never take over an hour to eat at breakfast at a restaurant. The food was good as it usually is, but I had to leave a $2 tip, because the service was awful. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I had to go up to the cashier and pay for the meal, because I was ignored by the server once again.

I work hard for my money, and I will not patronize an establishment with poor service. I'm sure many other patrons don't care, or don't say anything because they are used to the mediocrity of most other restaurants in Redmond. In the past, service has been excellent. I do not blame the individual servers or cooks for this lackluster performance, I blame the management and ownership. They need to re-think their staffing and training methods and principles if they wish to succeed as a business. And for heaven's sake, watch a few episodes of...