The Southern Cafe — Restaurant in Schaumburg Township

I am so disgusted by the last experience I had at this place, I wish I could give 0 stars. My family & I have been there several times & each time we have loved it. The food was great and the environment was good, even though the service was always spotty. However, after the last experience I had when I went with one of my friends, it is safe to say I will not be back again. We went for breakfast and got sat outside right away. We proceeded to wait 25 minutes before anyone even came to greet us, even though it wasn’t busy and servers kept walking by and just looking at us. Finally, a waitress comes, barely apologizing for how long we waited. We decide to order our food right away, as we had been waiting an extensive amount of time. Our food gets to the table and immediately I see a long brown hair on top of my hash browns. Although I was frustrated, I nicely asked the waitress for another order, as mistakes do happen sometimes. Then, about 10 minutes later as I am eating my new order of hash browns, I am chewing and feel something strange. Pulling a long, white hair out of my MOUTH. At this point, I am completely disgusted, as I have literally just pulled someone else’s hair out of my mouth. Not only is it ridiculous that this happened twice, but this also means that the staff/restaurant is clearly not following health and safety procedures by tying or keeping their hair out of the way of people’s food. Our waitress did not check on us once, only coming after 20 minutes of us sitting there to ask if we were ready for the check. I showed her the second piece of hair in my food, stating that this was ridiculous and gross. I explained that after waiting 25 minutes to even be serviced along with finding two pieces of hair in my food, that I felt as though my friend and I should not have to pay for what we ordered today. The waitress barely apologized and proceeded to say “Let me see what I can do.” I’m not sure why this was even said to me, clearly what you can DO is comp my meal and apologize. She comes back out to our table with a sour look on her face, telling me that after “speaking to the manager” she could only compensate for my breakfast, and stating that I would still have to pay for my $1.25 soft drink! She then proceeded to say, “I don’t know how this could of happened” and literally walked away from us. I’ll tell you how this happened: disgustingly low standards for how you should treat customers and 0 care for health codes at a restaurant. Not to mention that this so called “manager” did not even come to our table to apologize, even after I pulled someone else’s HAIR out of my mouth. Will never be back again and for those of you who are considering giving it a try, do yourself a favor...

I wish with all my heart I could’ve given this restaurant five stars the food is good. Had I have thought to review it a month ago it would’ve but now my opinion has changed. I find the owner to be very rude and abrasive not polite or welcoming in anyway shape or form. We came in later in the day. As we walked in he loudly screamed at us that they close at 3. we responded with OK we can be quick. At this point, I already feel unwelcome and uncomfortable because we were shouted out as we walked in the door but we were still seated so I didn’t know what to think. I noticed the food was taking too long to come out so I went up to the register to pay making my husband and son box up there just arrive food and said I’d like to pay for the food now and he’s asks why and I state because you close at three. Mind you as he was cleaning up front. He was staring at us while we were waiting for our food so I’ve been stared at uncomfortably for about 30 minutes now. He states that’s not what he said but in reality that is what he said Word for Word. He asked my husband what he said my husband repeated the close at 3 statement. This man told my husband that we should know they close at three, but the kitchen is open till four he means we didn’t have to feel rushed or uncomfortable. it was very confusing and I admit I cussed I was very rude. I was very impolite because I felt unwelcome and like I had to get out of there by 3 and got a bit more mean after he started complaining about my taking a long to sign the receipts, but I am disabled use walking aids, have medical conditions and currently really bad arthritis in my fingers. I was also asked why I didn’t complain about it and I said well why would I complain about you to you? I complained about you to your waitress who brushed it off as though this happens all the time. I see this restaurant flourishing very well for the next few years, but as the manager/owner starts to take more of a role in the front of the restaurant which I hope he doesnt, I foresee it failing in the long run because he does not speak to customers with respect or remorse, or even the thought that he could possibly be wrong. He’s arrogant he’s rude. He acts as though he’s better than everyone, including his own staff. Told me is we were the only person he’d ever kicked out. Read the reviews. He’s kicked out a lot of people in fact, it appears he kicks out anybody that has a complaint about him. Even his Google review responses are highly inappropriate response to upset customers. We will not be going back which is sad as I love supporting...

I went there today, Sunday, September 10th, at about 8:30 AM. Helen G was my server. She was so pleasant and asked me why my wife wasn't with me today. My poached eggs with hash browns and turkey sausage were excellent!! Hot and fast!! My double espresso was perfect, hot!! Thank you so much for the great service and excellent food!!!

UPDATE: Silvia and I were there on Saturday, September 23, @7:00 AM. Our food was great; hot and tasty!! Jessica was on point with her great service and pretty smile!! THANK YOU!!

UPDATE: We were at your establishment again on Tuesday, October 17th @ 6:30 AM. Your poached eggs with hash browns and turkey sausage for me and Avocado Toast with poached eggs for my wife hit the spot!! There is nothing like a pretty smile and great service from Jessica to start your day!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH, Jessica!!

UPDATE: Came to eat on Saturday, February 3rd at about 9:30 AM. We had Bella as our server. Not a nice " hello " or welcome. The food was pretty good as usual. I asked for my two (2) eggs to be poached very soft. They were brought out hard and I returned them before she left the table. All of our other food was perfect. Not once did Bella even attempt to refill my wife's coffee nor did she check back about the food. Every time we have come there our server has been smiling, cheerful, and thorough. There wasn't even a smile the whole time we were there. We will definitely be back but not getting taken care of by her. A shame.

Silvia and I went for breakfast today, Thursday, February 15th, at 6:35 AM. What a pleasure it was to have Jessica as our server!! She always makes us feel welcomed with a pretty smile!! The food was great as we couldn't have had a better way to start our day!! THANK YOU!!

UPDATE: I ate there this morning, Friday, March 29th. I had Alyssa as my server. Just a cheerful young lady with a pretty smile!! My food was perfect as well with poached eggs, hash browns, and toast. Shhh, I forgot about Good Friday and had pork belly. Please forgive me!! Double espresso...