Buttermilk Eatery — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

When we walked in, the restaurant looked very neat and clean. The host, who was wearing leggings so they didn’t interfere with her “ankle bracelet” donated by the local sheriffs department, was friendly and the wait to be seated was not too long.

We were waiting when we first noticed the robot carts that were bringing the food to each table with a server following behind it. Kind of cool at first! But also kind of confusing…each cart had someone following it to actually hand you the good and drinks.

The negative experience began once we were seated. The host gave us a quick explanation about using the tablet at the table and then we were on our own for a while. Using the tablet wasn’t a new experience, but the ability to special order or edit your order was confusing and no one even stopped by the table for quite some time! The meals were good size but way above average for pricing! Each drink was a minimum of $4 each and did not come out until the food was ready! They also expected you to leave a tip and complete your payment before being served.

There were three of us dining and two of us shared a meal and the total was $46 which was two breakfast meals and three drinks! We then proceeded to sit there and wait and hope that we ordered the meals as we had attempted to complete properly. Not one person stopped by our offered help until the meals and drinks were delivered by the robot cart.

Based just on the actual quality and proportions of the food, I would have left a 4/5 star and this kept me from leaving a 1 star. So I guess it all depends on what you are looking for when choosing a dining experience. I probably will not go back again but I guess it was a...

I’ll start with giving a glowing facade compliment. This is where it started to tumble downhill quickly. I should’ve gotten a clue since there were only 3 tables seated in the whole place at 9:45AM on Thursday. A place located on such a busy intersection nestled in a shopping center next to successful businesses like Petco should have a waitlist.

Moving on, we were greeted by an employee who told me I couldn’t have my own water and would need to leave it in the car. Next, we were seated at a table and instructed to order from a wall-mount tablet. A cup of coffee here was more expensive than a venti Pike Place drip from Starbucks. By the time we put 2 normal meals and 2 coffees in the cart, we were at $47. We were then instructed to prepay and add gratuity.

Really… no server, prepay, and pre-tip… putting us well over $50 for a breakfast we hadn’t even seen and service not given? How can you possibly expect a business like this to survive?

Brandy, the person who helped us was polite and understanding as we explained why we walked out and will not return. We wound up tipping her as well for her time.

This wasn’t about the money, this was about the whole experience. We were dumbfounded, that we had to order ourselves, pre-pay, and then give a tip for services that had not even been rendered. Seems to me like this model needs to be thought through a little bit more.

As we drove off later, we realized that they don’t even have the wait staff, It that is what you want to call them, deliver the food. They have a robot do it.

So much potential wasted in technology and policies that are...

My overall experience was average. Great atmosphere. I love breakfast places but I will have to say there is room for improvement. The robots are a neat thing to see. To start off you have to order on the app which is fine and they do provide paper menu if needed. I went on a Saturday which it was average but wasn't super busy at that time. The price point is above what a normal breakfast should be. For example French toast with eggs and bacon really should be under $10. They weren't anything special which I thought it was a lot but I decided to give it a try. If it's a French toast with fruit to add additional cost then 14.99 I would understand. They're just plain Jane ones I ordered. However the presentation is nice. What kind of ruined my experience was the long wait for my food. Four pieces of French toast ham and two eggs should not take 30 minutes. Once I went back to see what time I ordered the food I looked up and only like two tables had food. If it was busy, I would however understand. I have gone to many breakfast places I would seen busy as normal. The service staff is nice and friendly. But by the end of the 30-minute wait I was hungry and upset. I just found what I ordered was disappointing for the price and on top a long way. Some improvements would make this great like bring down the food time competitive pricing for some items. My experience with pleasant but I would rather prefer other places. I might get a shot again...