Countryside Cafe — Restaurant in Renton

Came by for lunch here on a weekday. It was pretty slow, only a few tables around. I've been to the Burien location before, so we knew we were going to get good food.

Got coffee and our food ordered.

Multiple things went wrong with our experience today.

First: coffee refill was cold. First cups were fine, the refill definitely was old coffee from the morning, it was not fresh and lukewarm. We told the server and he got another hot refill. Cream was also never brought and was never asked if we wanted any. Waited til he came bac and asked for it.

Second: Husband got a sandwich and not the breakfast medley i know and clearly heard he ordered. We told the server when he came back, he got his correct order less than 10 min later.

Third: Syrup was not served with pancakes and waffle that was ordered. Had to wait til server came by to ask for it.

Fourth: Ketchup was not served until we asked for it, for goodness sake, we ordered hashbrowns.

And each time he dropped the stuff that should've already been at the table, never said one word. By this point, I was annoyed. My husband was the first to get irritated once his order was dropped off incorrectly, he said the server cut him off before he could tell him he wanted pancakes with the breakfast medley, but I've worked in this industry too long to know servers can make mistakes from time to time, so I told my husband not to be rude and be more understanding.

After all the other stuff happened, i knew at this point he was being rude on purpose. I'm not stupid, ive been a server for 10+ years, im now a restaurant manager, i know when someones being rude on purpose. I always give people a benefit of the doubt. So another gal asked how we were doing, i asked to speak to a manager, she grabs him. Same guy thats been helping us, and he says hes not the mgr but the one thats in charge. I told him this is regarding the service he's given us and i would just email instead.

I decided I didnt want him to get in trouble, so when he dropped off our change, i told him what the issue was. That i work in this industry and i know it doesn't take that long to repeat an order and bring things, basic breakfast staples to a table. That his service lacked and it would be upsetting to a lot of people to experience what we just experienced had it actually been busy. He had already put a discount and apologized after i mentioned wanting to talk to a mgr. And honestly, i dont care for a discount. Its the fact that we just wanted an easy lunch for the family. Kids wanted waffles and pancakes. Its quite upsetting to experience this, especially because the service in Burien is far more personable and efficient than what we received yesterday.

Food was good, (except i dont recommend the salmon Benedict, too dry and definitely prefer a smoked salmon over grilled ). Waffles and pancakes were delicious! Besides that, i would rather drive farther to Burien for better service.

Just saw another reviewer mentioned young male waiter giving terrible service. Must be the same person. He's not well trained or just...

This place has so much potential, if the owner read the reviews they could make some changes to make this a 5 star place. The food was good with big portions and the hash browns had a nice crisp on top. We ordered the chicken fried steaks and 2 kids happy pancakes. The country fried steaks and gravy had good flavor without being heavy. We had to wait 45 minutes to get our food. It was busy so we were trying to be patient but noticed that tables seated after us were getting their food before we did. Our food was cold when it got to us. We got our food before the kids got theirs too which was really annoying, it's kind of an unspoken rule that children get served first at a restaurant. Our server was very nice, personable, and friendly - it appeared that she was trying to keep up the best she could but the disorganization of the restaurant as a whole was working against her. The restaurant is dirty...the floors were unswept and had food everywhere. There are food and cleaning supplies stacked up in random places. The bathroom had fake flower decor that was covered in dust - if they can't keep up with cleaning it's better to remove clutter, especially in the bathroom! Even my daughter noticed that they still had Easter decor up on the wall that needed to come down haha. I know they are working in a small space and storage is at a premium but they should really have a professional come in and give them tips on how to get areas visible to the public more organized and clean. The music was on the loud side but it was a good mix of genres and I personally enjoyed it but I could see how it would not be...

Not even worth driving by. We got there on a Sunday around 10. They had a sign that said to sign in so we signed in and sat down. There were tables open and clean but we were t even greeted for another 10 minutes. There was nobody in front of us on the list or in the over crowded ‘lobby’. After we were seated it was another 5m before our server came and greeted us. She asked us then what we wanted to eat, we asked for drinks and she didn’t return for another 7min. After we ordered our food it was 22m before it came out. We asked her the status of our order she said yea I’m still waiting for it, it hasn’t come up yet. A runner shortly brought out food out, and a min later our server brought two plates to the table which could be understandable if they were the same items we ordered but they weren’t. She didn’t come check on our food or see if we needed anything for another 7m. I ordered the eggs Benedict. It was smothered in a very bland hollandaise sauce which made everything soggy. It came with a side of hash browns which i was looking forward to eating, they were crispy on the outside but mush on the outside and had a very weird reminiscent taste to them. Needless to say it was just the topping to the less than mediocre service. I wish we could say that the wait was worth it but it wasn’t. The service was horrendous and the food was slop. Hard pass, not even...