The Rochester Cafe & Country Store — Restaurant in Rochester

we come in 6 times per year ,i live in fla. and have a condo in vt. the food is good and normally the experience and service is also good . but today we came in at 9 30 am ,and there were 4 empty tables available , i sat in one that HAD TWO USED CUPS OF COFFEE. had not been cleaned . no one told me to wait to be seated . 3 other couples walked in after us and also sat down ... then five minutes after we came in 6 new tables came in after 3 left. the waitress , the short blonde , walked by and took the empty cups and brought us 2 menus .and a cup of coffee that we asked her for . 3 minutes later she walked right by us and took orders from 2 or 3 tables .that had come in 10 minutes after us .....we asked her about us and she replied that we had sat on a not cleaned table. she kept taking orders from other tables ....we said nothing ...then another friendly waitress came by and took our order .......BUT . I SAW THE SHORT WAITRESS PLACE ALL OF HER ORDERS SOME THAT WERE TAKEN AFTER OURS ,behind the others in the cook ordering board . summary ..all the tables that came in after us were served , finished eating ,and we had not yet received our food. after 45 minutes i got up and told the nice waitress that we were leaving and we left ......at no time did we say anything . all we did was ask for coffee in a very nice manner and then placed our order .period . we left and walked across the street and had breakfast there ..took us all of 1 hour 15 to go thru this . i think...

My friend and I stopped in for lunch. Our waitress took our order and we waited...and waited... an hour later, waitress comes over and asks "You haven't gotten your food?" No. She goes and checks. Comes back and tells us that our order went into the system but didn't get prepared and told us that it was being prepared and would be right out. It came out 20 minutes later and looked like it had been thrown together in a huff. Both meals were fine but it was clear they had been prepared in a rush, as we were approaching closing time. For the whole 60 minutes we waited for our food, the waitress did not check in on us once. Once we got our food, another waitress checked in on us twice, clearly to let us know that they wanted us to get going. We ordered shakes to go while we were eating just to give her something to do so she wouldn't bother us anymore, after all, it wasn't our fault we were there past closing time and I refused to shovel down food I was paying for, for staff that didn't serve us. We watched everyone else get their food and leave, people who came in well after we did. Really poor experience, I'm sorry to say. They are known for slow service, but it's usually worth it because the food is good. Not this time. Service awful and food...well rushed. And still, we left a generous tip. I used to run a cafe. If this had happened there, I would have comped, at least, the milkshakes. We didn't even...

I’ve been a loyal customer at the Rochester Cafe for years, and my family for decades, but we will be giving the cafe a pass in future. A manager was extremely rude to me. They made me cry, which has certainly never been my experience there before. I’m giving three stars rather than two or one, because the food was and has always been wonderful, and the staff was and has always been completely lovely and excellent. The truth is, I’m heartbroken. We’ve made a point of supporting the cafe as much as we can during the pandemic, and have been so relieved to see it survive. It’s been one of my happy places in a dark time. I truly care about it. That’s why I brought up a concern in the first place, a concern that I’m quite sure was never heard or understood. I was met with defensiveness, and eventually with contempt. I finally gave up trying to communicate, went out to my car, and burst into tears. I felt so unheard and dismissed, like my attempt at communication had been turned into an “I’m right” contest that the other person was determined to win. It hurts to be made into an enemy when you aren’t one! I hope the cafe will continue to succeed, but they have thoroughly lost...