Connie's Cafe & Lounge — Restaurant in Sandpoint

I have been here several times and each tome something disappoints me. I don't like to complain or give bad reviews so if I do there is definitely a reason. At this visit I went with my clients wife for a much needed bite to eat and break. We had been at the hospital with my client for hours and were starving. I ordered a Tillamook cheeseburger with bacon and a salad with ranch. I had coffee to drink knowing the burger would make me more tired than the hospital already had. It took several minutes to get my coffee, I'm sure our server forgot as she brought my companion her hot tea prior. It was not busy at all being mid afternoon before dinner rush began. I had drank my coffee before our food came and set the empty cup neat the edge of the table for a refill. Having been a server not so long ago I would expect the customer wanted a refill however our server was too busy talking to another employee to notice my cup. When my burger arrived there was no cheese or bacon on it. I asked the server about the missing items and she said she would take care of it. I was confused when she left the table without my plate and burger! She returned fairly quickly with a small plate with a slice of cheese on it. I was literally shocked from disbelief! Never have I been given a slice of cold cheese on a plate to put on my hamburger! Also, still no bacon! After the cheese delivery I didn't dare ask for bacon, joking with my companion about getting it raw on a plate with a bunson burner to cook it myself! The burger tasted fine even with the cold cheese on it . I took a bite of my salad and noticed some wilted lettuce under the bite I just took. Of course I inspected closer knowing where it wilts it soon slimes! And yes there it was bad lettuce soft obviously past its prime lettuce. The server must have seen this before applying the ranch dressing. It was not one or two pieces of lettuce it was easily 1/3 of my salad. Needless to say I only had the one bite. I finished half of my burger and asked the waitress for a box for the other half when I flagged her over to refill my still empty coffee cup! When she returned with the box I told her about the lettuce and showed her. She looked and said oh ya I see that! That's not good. Then took my plate and left. She didn't apologize, or offer me a different choice for my side dish. The server didn't return until my companion asked for the check and still said nothing to me. I was not looking good for free food! I wanted a bacon cheese burger and salad. I was starving when I got there! As you can imagine I left disappointed. The server acknowledged the over kept lettuce but did nothing to rectify the problem besides remove it from the table. She acknowledged that the burger had no cheese OR bacon but only brought me a cold slice of cheese on a plate. She didn't even deduct the charge for the bacon from my bill! That is what made me decide to leave a review! At the very least the missing bacon should have been removed from my bill! I have no plans to return at this time however that may change, after I have forgotten this last experience! What happened to customer service? Or getting what you pay for? I cannot imagine reacting thos way when I was serving and can't imagine still having a job if I did! Time are...

Well… I should have known what I was getting myself into when I read a note posted on the front door but as a visitor I was hoping it would be as described by other. It was not! This posted note gave the staff and excuse to automatically have poor customer service. We came in and the place was pretty empty on a Thursday evening and they sat us in the back far corner by the kitchen. When we came in we were very nice and smiled didn’t think anything of it. One waitress came over and took our drink orders and then another one came by and asked if she could get our drink order we kindly let her know that the previous waitress had already taken it. She was kind and said ok and left about two mins later after we sat down they brought out the water and asked if we were ready. I am gluten free and at the bottom of the menu it says ask your server for gluten free OPTIONS. She looked at me and said yeah we dont have that you can have fruit I guess. I said ok and looked back at the menu for something like a salad. Another waitress came over and rudely said I asked and you should know what is gluten free like meat and salad that’s it. Again I let it go I’m sure they just had a rough day. We placed our orders and waited. While waiting for about 20 mins we had no contact with our server so our water was empty for some time. The kitchen had the music so loud that it was playing over the music in the dining area. We received our food and at that time asked for more water. When checking out we handed the card and the check back and was told they don’t take discover. This was not posted anywhere. We had a puzzled look on our faces and gave her a different card. While she was waiting seeing my husband getting a new card she stated well I guess I come back or are you goi g to get a different card. Again we handed her the new card and she came right back placed the check on the table and said good bye. Over all the food was good nothing special nothing to brag about the atmosphere was rigid and unwelcoming. It was not what a small town cafe normally feels like when you have guests. While I understand it is not her fault the restaurant does not take the card we gave it was the body language and the comments that rubbed us the wrong way. In this line of work your presentation, personality, and overall demeanor says a lot about a business. After seeing and feeling how we did it was not a good experience. To each their own and again this is just my opinion as we all...

Update 4/22/22: Finally had breakfast for once. It may not be most people's choice and simplistic but in my opinion, oatmeal can be easy to screw up. This wasn't just flat rolled oats either...we're talking the consistency of barley. Nice chewy and wholesome. It was accompanied by raisins, brown sugar, cream, and peanut butter on the side as well as an english muffin! The coffee was nice and dark and hot too!

Update 5/19/21:

Ok, so I have not done breakfast YET but this time I had a burger. OMG! So good. Presentation, flavor, and they grill the bun too! The fries were absolutely perfection! Again, I can't say enough of the warm vintage setting without the old wear and tear. I couldn't resist the homemade chocolate cake under the glass cake stand taunting me. Now the pic doesn't do it justice. Much like the imperfect fruits in a store, it may not look pretty but the taste is worth it. It was a tad dry but the not overly sweet frosting made up for it. Perhaps ask when it was made to ensure the moistness? Still didn't regret it.

I did visit the lounge as well. What a nice surprise! Super clean and welcoming variations of seating options including an outside patio. I was told they usually have live music nights too. There's a pool table (only 50 cents), and a gas fireplace area (wish I got a pic but there was a large group in front of it), a jukebox, one gambling machine, and a fully stocked bar with beer on tap. I had a huckleberry hefeweizen, yum! The bartenders were friendly and patrons pleasant. It's a one stop date night!

First Visit:

Connie's Cafe has a dark warm and inviting atmosphere of a nostalgic night cafe. In fact, they do have a liquor licence so it wouldn't surprise me if it used to be a late night eats place. That being said, yes, they do serve alcohol.

The menu is pretty much typical of cafe selections. I ordered a hot beef open faced sandwich (called a beef commercial where I come from) and it was pretty good. Now I only say that because the beef gravy was a mushroom gravy, which I was not aware of, and I'm not fond of them. The dinner salad was very basic and iceberg lettuce.

The waitress was kind, smiling, and not too pushy or constantly stopping by. I'll have to return to try some breakfast items in the...