Chit Chat & Chew Cafe — Restaurant in Searcy

Trying to support local while on vacation, we tried Chit Chat & Chew. How this place has a 4.5 rating is beyond me!

We walked into a nearly full house. No hostess at the counter (which is in the back of the restaurant,) no sign saying to seat yourself, nor a sign saying to add your own name to the list on the counter. Without being able to read someone’s mind, I asked the first employee I saw what the procedure was. She hurriedly yelled to add my name to the list and sit down (in one of the 3 chairs) and someone would seat us Asap. There were 4 names on the list ahead of us that no one had marked off to indicate they had been seated. 3 more couples walked in behind us and walked straight to an empty table. They were asked to go put their name on the list and all 3 walked out without eating.

We were finally seated. Dafne, our waitress seemed to be the only wait staff working. She was ALL OVER THE PLACE….. but was definitely very attentive to each of her tables. Our order came out a short while after we placed it , with only one small mistake (no butter on the toast.) We would’ve preferred biscuits but they were apparently out of them by the time we got to the restaurant. The hash browns were soaked in oil… so much so they had the distinct taste of Wesson! My bacon came out like pieces of charcoal (but I DID ask for extra crispy bacon.)

There was no distinct theme for this restaurant. It seems as though the decor had been pieced together with garage sale finds, thrift store goodies, or grandma’s basement bargains. Some things, like the Coca Cola mural on the wall and the old soda machine were cool … just no particular theme throughout. Why is there star wars in the bathroom — no other star wars anywhere in the restaurant?

Speaking of bathroom, it was dirty & had not one but two full trash cans in the same one occupant room.

Lastly, the flooring throughout the restaurant was mismatched and uneven with jagged edges throughout, very possibly the original flooring from some time ago. If someone wasn’t watching where they were walking, they could easily trip. I’d not recommend bringing someone in who uses a cane or walker! It’s an accident...

My wife and I have eaten here quite often, and the only bad experience we had was one time during the lunch rush. There is nowhere to wait without feeling like you're standing over someone, and the lady skipped over our name while going down the list. We easily solved the issue by coming before lunchtime.

They have a typical diner atmosphere with "oldies" music playing in the background. Usually, it's not necessarily the songs you're used to hearing. It may be someone else's cover or a different arrangement, but definitely familiar enough to sing along, which I do often.

I usually get an all the meats breakfast burrito with some fries on the side. The burrito comes out looking like a pretty normal-sized burrito, but it is definitely more filling than it looks. Unless you specify a full order, they only bring a half order of fries when you ask for them on the side with the burrito. I'm usually pretty disappointed not to get a full order, but that's just because I like their fries, not because I actually need more. They offer the fries seasoned, salted, or unsalted.

I also like the pancakes, and omelets. Their burgers are typical diner burgers. I personally don't care for them, but I've kind of gotten to not like diner burgers in my "old age" anyway. I got the Monte Cristo once. It was tasty, but GREASY.

We're in here enough to get recognized as regulars, and the service is pretty good. Definitely a place to check out if you like diners...

I have had several servers at that place that have been rude, but this one tops them. Oh, and I tried calling three times but no one answered so that is why I didn’t talk to a manager and if I waited until the next day, it would have been too late. The server my daughter had was pissed because she didn’t get a tip so she threw away my daughter’s retainer and then told my daughter “you can look in the grabage for it” WTH!!!!! SHe wasn’t even outside yet and she had it sitting on a napkin in plain view. I bet if the server had to shell out 600 bucks to replace them she wouldn’t have been so snotty and rude. Never going back and and I will tell everyone about how rude and horrible the service is there. I don’t care if it was my daughter’s responsibility, it was the actions of the restaurant and the employees that caused this review. This place can never get decent servers. And the owner needs to learn how to run a decent business and hire people that actually know what the hell they are doing.

P.s. the owner put up a post calling me out harassing me and my family just because I left a bad review and I told the truth. I was pissed but I guess I am not...