The Breakfast House — Restaurant in Sarasota

It's tough to be a small local restaurant these days. We've been coming for breakfast here to enjoy the small local outdoor ambiance, the unique table settings, and great coffee for years -- each visit to see my parents in Sarasota. Always a 5 star experience.

Unfortunately, this time around they were under staffed and put themselves in a place to be over capacity. We were super respectful, patient, and over tipped. But I just wanted to make sure that proper feedback was provided in hopes of improvement so we can return in the future, cause in it's current state we won't be returning.

In the US, there's very few restaurants that have a unique ambiance and food. This is one of the few places that has managed to achieve it and I think they need to return to and then hold strong to those principles.

In the short term it feels like it'd be wise to either:

86 the pancakes since every table that orders them ended up either not receiving them or received them late due to how few can be quickly pumped out of the small pancake station in the kitchen.

We paid for pancakes we never received.

or

Reduce the amount of people allowed to dine to give the one waitress time to catch her breath and for the single cook to make sure every table gets their full order.

Obviously, since both reduce the amount of money the owner makes to cover overhead in the short term -- this initially may seem ridiculous. However, there's going to be a long term loss in that loyal customers won't be returning since the ambiance is ruined and food just literally doesn't come to the table on time. No amount of patience & civility can fix that.

The other issue, which seems to be a simple fix, is to not allow dogs in the super tiny outdoor dining area. While waiting on our food there were 4 separate dogs that came and went with embarrassed owners because the barking was overwhelming in such a small setting. This completely ruined the ambiance and caused a loss of 4 customers that should have just came without their dogs.

Today we saw the waitress and owner having a super bad day, the stress causing them to not work well together, and the dogs barking at each other seemed to be the cherry on top on their bad day.

Overall, my family & I legit just felt bad for everyone there and wanted to help make it better.

At it's most basic level, just controlling the queue and making sure you don't put the staff (however few) at maximum capacity. If you can't operate under those strict principles then it may be time to pivot to a hand-held breakfast menu + carry out/delivery model until the effects of covid19 on our small business job...

Usually I never post negative reviews, however I feel strongly about this one and will never be eating here again. I will also make sure I tell other people about my experience before they come eat here. Today My mom and I decided to go out for breakfast and we chose to go to The Breakfast House (we have been here several times before and we always take our out of town family here) and we generally enjoyed eating here. However when we arrived today, right off the bat the hosts was extremely rude. We walked up to the table to check in since we did a call a head and her reply in a rude tone said “I already have you down, you don’t need to let me know”. After which, we get inside (yes, it is cramped and we understand) but they put us in a table where we could hardly move. We asked if we can change tables since we were feeling a little claustrophobic. The owner right off the bat starts making a bigger deal than it needs to be, by yelling “what’s the issue? I can’t sit you at a bigger table because you’re a party of two and if a big party comes in we can’t accommodate them”. Which didn’t make sense because there was another couple who were a party of two sitting a table for four already. The owner then starts berating us in front of the restaurant and tells us if there is a big party, they’ll have to sit outside . While she is telling us this she is snatching the extra silverware off the table and while the hostess is slamming our menus onto the new table. I also need to mention that there were at least three more table that could seat four people. While she was cleaning up she kept making comments on how our original table wasn’t in the corner and started to move it since “it was an inconvenience spot”. While we were waiting for our waitress (Lindsey, if you read this, you deserve a better work place, you are the saving grace of our experience), the owner kept giving us dirty looks in our direction and making us feel highly uncomfortable. We asked if she wanted us to leave, since that was the vibe she was giving to us and she rudely replied “no, it’s fine, i don’t care if you stay or leave” (hind sight, we should have left) and stormed out of the dining room. After our order arrived, the owner was checking on all the tables to see how everything was, and completely neglected our table. This whole experience was blown way out of proportion and was not handled in a professional way. If you want a nice small-family owned restaurants that treat their customers with respect, I suggest: Station 400 or The Broken Egg (and another broken egg...

Upon our visit to a quaint, aged residence converted into a dining establishment, we found the cuisine to be quite satisfying. However, the atmosphere was marred by an individual, who I believe to be the owner, exhibiting signs of severe stress. Their negative demeanor was palpable, and their interactions with patrons were far from cordial.

From the way she walked, wiped tables and seated guests without able to even fake a smile, her negative energy could be felt from a mile away.

We were a party of four, including an infant in a car seat, and were graciously provided with toys to entertain the children. The children were seated and engaging in play, not causing disruption or roaming about. Despite their behavior, the owner saw it fitting to reprimand them for "screaming". She positioned herself merely two feet from their faces, emphatically uttering "shhh" for approximately twenty-five seconds, thereby creating a spectacle and discomfort amongst the other patrons. The adults in the establishment were engaged in conversation at a louder decibel than the children, yet the room fell silent upon hearing her admonition. Following her departure, the general sentiment amongst the patrons was one of shock and disapproval towards the owner's behavior.

Subsequently, we were pressured to vacate our table, by her snatching the toys from the children and insisted on seating another party. This occurred a mere twenty-five minutes after our arrival.

Upon our departure, i communicated our grievances to the woman, who defended her actions by claiming the children were disruptive. This was not the case, as the children were well-behaved and not causing a disturbance.

Should one seek a welcoming, amicable environment, I would recommend exploring alternative dining options. There are, indeed, many other establishments that offer a more pleasant dining experience than this particular, compact residence with its discontented proprietor. You can look up similar negative experiences by clicking LOWEST in the top right corner of the...