The Original Pancake House - Sandy — Restaurant in Sandy

We are frequent visitors at the Sandy, Utah location of The Original house of Pancakes. This morning 1/9/2019 at 8:25 AM, we arrived. There was no hostess out front. We watched as 2 servers (Jennifer and Kaylee) rushed around serving food to their tables and Jennifer made rounds to EVERY table with hot coffee and cold water. We looked toward the back and saw 2 young women (we later found out were the hostess and a server named Maddie) stood around talking to each other.

Eventually Jennifer finished serving drinks to every table, and Jennifer herself had to come up and act as hostess. Jennifer seated us at the booth we requested and we overheard her telling Maddie that she had new patrons on her table, followed by Maddie's response that Jennifer can keep the table if she wants. Jennifer came with a pleasant smile and explained that Maddie is busy at the moment, so she will take our order and Maddie can finish. We let Jennifer know we heard Maddie's response, and we DID NOT want Maddie to come in after Jennifer did all the work, so Jennifer agreed to keep our table.

After submitting our order to the cooks, we watched as Jennifer brought food out to 2 tables and make another round with coffee and water (while Maddie and the hostess continued to visit). Eventually we saw Maddie come to a table that Jennifer had been serving to see if the food was alright. I sure hope that table made sure the tip went to Jennifer who EARNED it.

Before we left, 2 more servers came on duty (Daveo and another server we haven't seen before), and the 2 new servers were immediately more attentive to their patrons than Maddie was to 1 table and 1 person at the bar for the entire length of our stay.

We wanted to recognize Kaylee, for how well she took care of her tables; We ESPECIALLY want Jennifer get the praise she deserves, not only how fast and efficiently she was with HER tables, but also how well she also did the job of the hostess and Maddie, who never stopped visiting with each other. If they were too busy with their conversation, they should have stayed home and talked to each other on the phone, to allow management to fill the position with people who actually want the job and care about the patrons and the reputation of the restaurant.

If we were rating this location based on Maddie and the hostess, we would have wanted to give if -0- stars.

Thanks to Jennifer's 5 star performance, as well as Kaylee, Daveo, and the other server, we changed it to average 4 stars. 1 lousy waitress and 1...

LONG POST I had a rather disappointing experience with the server who attended to me and my family. Throughout our meal, the server did not meet our expectations and failed to deliver our orders correctly. Despite our attempts to get his attention, he seemed disinterested and neglected to check on us. We had to actively seek him out multiple times for drink refills and other necessary items.

To make matters worse, when it came time to settle the bill, the server brought us the check. Due to the subpar service we had received, we made the decision not to leave a tip or pay any gratuity. I paid the bill with my card and made it clear by crossing out the tip portion and inputting the exact total. As a precaution, I even took a photo of the receipt for my personal records. However, later that day, I received a notification from my bank app indicating that the total charged did not match what I had signed for.

Upon reviewing my copy of the receipt, I discovered that the server had added a 20% tip without my consent. I was outraged by this for two reasons: firstly, the server did not deserve to be tipped, and secondly, adding a tip without authorization is fraudulent and against the law. The following morning, I returned to the restaurant to speak with the manager. Unfortunately, the manager was not present, so I relayed my concerns to the supervisor on duty. The supervisor assured me that she would pass along my message and contact information to the manager, who would then reach out to me.

However, when I did not receive a call back, I decided to contact the restaurant an hour before closing. The person who initially answered the phone, which I suspect was the same server who served us, gave me a hard time when I requested to speak with the manager and ultimately hung up on me. After making several more attempts, I finally managed to get through and spoke directly with the manager. I explained the entire situation and expressed my frustration.

ADVICE... It is advisable to keep a copy of your receipts and even take pictures for your records. This way, you can protect yourself in case a similar incident occurs. It is unfortunate that servers like this one tarnish the reputation of gratuity for good service. It is important to remember that tipping is not mandatory and certainly not a free service fee, especially when the service does not meet expectations. Why should I reward you for simply doing your job, and even more so, why should I reward you for doing it poorly? It truly is...

The food has been good both times I've gone - don't get me wrong, it was good, but I've had equal if not better in the area (Black Bear, Penny Anne's, etc). The service is absolutely horrid. The first time I went was a Saturday morning - obviously going to be busy and I get that. But while me and my sister were still CLEARLY eating, our waitress came multiple times to ask if we needed boxes. I get that they're trying to turn over tables, but when you're still eating and have only been there for 20 minutes, CALM DOWN.

The second time I went, I met a friend there for Sunday brunch. I arrived and told the host there would be 2 of us but my friend wasn't here yet. I was told it'd be a 20 minute wait but was seated within 5 minutes at a bigger table. Again, when the host sat me, I told him that my friend was on her way. When the waitress came to get drinks, I told her I'd have a water and my friend was coming. Granted, my friend was late, but I told them THREE TIMES that I was not a complete party - it's not like I hid the fact that I was alone when I came in. After sitting there for 10 minutes (my friend was running late), the waitress very rudely asked me when my friend would be arriving. I told her I didn't know, I just knew she was coming and maybe she was in traffic or something. She acted super annoyed and said "Ok because we sat you at kind of a bigger table and didn't realize that you were an incomplete party" -- how do you not realize I'm an incomplete party when A) I'm ALONE and B) I TOLD YOU MULTIPLE TIMES. Haha.

The waitress eventually asked me to move to make room for a larger party (why did I even get put at that table to begin with when they needed it for a bigger party)???!?!?!

I ended up leaving and met my friend elsewhere. I totally get that I was at a bigger table that they needed and that I wasn't ready to order, but I communicated that to them multiple times and it's not my fault that I got sat early, without my complete party, and at a larger table. Their food is what saves them, but being treated like garbage is only acceptable for so long. Save your sanity and go somewhere else for equally...