Spring Garden Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Rockford Township

Let me tell you a tale of three servers, all past their prime. Smokey's mere presence is enough to induce an asthma attack in those not acclimated to the fog of tobacco smoke that clings to her withering frame. Dazed seems confused about her role in, well, everything and seems to be great at wandering aimlessly for extended periods of time. Lazy seems incapable of doing much at all.

Lazy was coming in from her smoke break when our story begins. She huffed passed us, cursing another staffer for having closed the back door on her. Despite being only two strides ahead of our party, Lazy let the door slam between us while I juggled a baby in her carrier (ironic, isn't it, to shut a door on us?) and then failed to greet us as we entered.

Once inside, Dazed tells us to ignore the "Wait to be Seated" sign and sit anywhere. This would be a good thing, if not for the fact that all but one unoccupied table was littered with the remains of previous patrons' meals."Anywhere" was thereby reduced to a booth at the back in Smokey's section.

Smokey seems struggling to do much of anything yet she is saddled with a party of 9 and several full tables while Lazy's tables are occupied by trash. Unsurprisingly, our little party of three isn't greeted until we are ready to order. I get a skillet and hot cocoa, my husband a country fried steak and coffee.

His cup is overfilled not allowing him to add the required cream and sugar to make the stale coffee palatable. My cocoa arrives and appears nice enough at first glance until I nibble away the whipped cream to reveal undissolved instant cocoa on the brim. I choke down the the weak cocoa and about half way through am able to reveal a significant cake of powder at the bottom of my cup. I begin to stir and am then advised to photograph it by my husband.

We wait nearly 45 minutes for food. In this time Dazed walks around holding menus (not for anyone, just holding them), then repeats the process with a cup of coffee. Maybe she felt they needed a tour of the place, I can't be sure.

Smokey comes around and asks to top up the overfull coffee, my husband declines. Right behind her is Dazed - offering refills. To this we reply with a blank stare and she moves along unphased not realizing the ridiculousness of her attempt at being useful. After this the idea dawns upon her to rid one of Lazy's tables of trash, just one though.

Smokey now begins serving the party of 9, two plates at a time, each laborious trek to the kitchen visibly weighing on her, slowing her already sluggish gait. Once the last of the party is served, the first are done and request boxes.

Our food is next, my skillet is cold and served on a cool plate instead of the titular skillet. My husband's food is best described as a burnt and over-peppered brick of beef disguised as country fried steak drowned in a lightly salted but otherwise flavorless paste masquerading as gravy. Our "buttered" toast is cold and slathered in a thick helping of margarine.

We aren't spoken to again for over twenty minutes until Dazed yet again offers coffee. We ask instead ask for the check. At this, Smokey moves with heretofore unseen speed producing a $22 bill which doesn't seem to be an accurate reflection of our order. We pay and leave without thanks,...

I really wanted to like this place, especially since it’s so close to home, but unfortunately, the food quality just isn’t up to par. While the salads are usually decent, the rest of the food leaves much to be desired. The ingredients taste extremely cheap, almost like school cafeteria or soup kitchen quality, which is disappointing for a family restaurant.

On my first visit, I ordered the chicken quesadillas, and the chicken tasted like canned, low-quality meat—dry and lacking any real flavor. Hoping it was just a one-off, I gave it another try and ordered the Swedish pancakes. They were terribly dry, with a stretchy texture in the middle and rock-hard edges. When I called to address the issue, the person on the phone was dismissive and rude. I suggested they make it right, and her response was, “What do you want me to do about it?” followed by “Nope, thanks for letting us know,” in a tone that made it clear they had no intention of correcting the problem.

Despite these experiences, I gave the restaurant a final chance. I ordered the turkey with mashed potatoes and bread. The salad that came with it was delicious, and the ranch dressing was excellent, but unfortunately, the turkey was just as dry as the chicken in the quesadilla. To make it worse, there was a large slab of fat on the turkey, which was completely unexpected. The mashed potatoes were bland and watery, as if made from instant flakes without any seasoning. I ended up throwing the meal away.

After three disappointing visits, I’ve decided not to return. The restaurant needs to improve the quality of its ingredients and focus on preparing food that matches the standard of a family restaurant. I regret giving it multiple chances, as each visit was worse...

This is one of the worst restaurant I’ve been to in the longest time. There were only two waitresses on staff now after sitting for 10 minutes she finally came over and took our drink order so we were able to order food with our drinks. The best part is the woman sitting at the counter didn’t even get up to service to a table she sat there and continued to talk to people when she could’ve been making drinks and helping the waitresses . we received our meals before we got our drinks add top of that she never came back to the table.we had to get our check while leaving. this is one of the worst restaurant I’ve been to in the longest time it wouldn’t of been that bad if it wasn’t the last lunch rush and they were only two waitresses on staff now after sitting for 10 minutes she finally came over and took our drink order so we are able to order food with our drinks we received our meals before we got our drinks add top of that she never came back to the table we had to get our check while Leavy And if the service was bad enough the food was ratchet. the biscuits and gravy we’re like a thick paste and they were ice cold. I had to leave a star to post the review but they...