Village Inn — Restaurant in Seminole

Husband ordered beef liver, mashed potatoes, gravy on the side, coleslaw and pepsi. I ordered blt, french fries, and pepsi. Food came out, waitress plopped down the food hard, gave me the liver. I pushed it over to husband to make room for my blt. She rapidly dropped that on the table and took off. I noticed husband was missing his gravy. He mentioned his liver was raw and bleeding on the plate. My sandwich needed mayo, no ketchup brought to the table, nor was I asked if I wanted any. She left so fast there was no time to tell her any of this. Ten minutes later we flagged her down and advised the situation. Husband was then asked what temperature he wanted his beef liver cooked. Waitress left in a huff and didn't apologize or say anything. Husband looked up usda temperature for beef liver and found these organ meats require a temp of at least 160 degrees.. in other words well done. Another woman brought his recooked liver, served on the same plate the bloody liver had been on, with the now cold mashed potatoes, but still missing the gravy. Husband asked waitress why they requested temp and was advised so people could order it the doneness they want. He mentioned to her the usda says organ meat requires it to be cooked done. She debated saying they cook it to whatever doneness the customer requests. Husband asked to speak with the manager. We waited another few minutes with no server in site nor any sign of a manager. I called the Village Inn, and asked to speak with a manager. Was placed on hold for over 5 more minutes before lady advised the manager could not come to the phone, that he was in the kitchen cooking. I told her if he could not come to the phone, maybe he could come to our table, we were sitting in their restaurant. We continued to wait, and my drink glass became empty, with no refill. We ate, husband still without his gravy. As we were finishing, the manager finally came out. We gave him a brief run down concentrating mainly on undercooked raw beef liver and advised him what the usda says about temperature of beef liver. He repeated exactly what the waitress said about cooking it the way a customer wants and saying its the same as a customer ordering a burger they way they want. Husband told the manager, no it is not the same and repeated that the usda says beef liver should be at least 160 degrees. He then left and they brought out husbands gravy and my drink refill. We were done eating by then. The food actually taste good, with the exception of food being cold and bacon had been sitting for a while. That part is ok. Lack of food safety is NOT ok. Bad service is not ok. Free pie Wednesday ended with us leaving early, not drinking the refill, not eating the gravy, and no free pie for Wednesday. Honestly, with the attitudes staff AND the manager had, we were afraid to eat anything brought to our table after we complained. Looks like we will need to find a different Village Inn to support, not the one at Bay Pines in...

If you want pie, THIS IS THE PLACE! It's what they are famous for and the Village Inn certainlly serves it up deliciously. And if it's your birthday, you'll be treated to a slice of your choice at no charge making it even more delicious. Mmmm!

Walking in the doors takes you back in time with their nostalgic, retro decor and the staff also wears brightly colored uniforms to match the era. I found the restaurant to be very crisp and clean. Our hostess was prompt and quite courteous as she immediately welcomed us in and escorted us to our seats.

Communication amongst staff was spot on! Our server was quite busy with his many tables but that caused him no delay in greeting us within a minute of being seated. It was a nice surprise to hear him repeat to us much of what the hostess had already gotten from us on walking in. To me, it's important to know that we are not just speaking to kill time. If the hostess does nothing with the information she gathers from a customer, why ask? You see...we had a birthday in our party this day and we came in for that reason and our waiter already knew.

After drinks were served the waiter took our food order and we watched as he worked his way from table to table, booth to booth. The waitresses, waiters and even the management all seemed quite happy and everyone wore smiles. Honestly not something seen in all restaurants. It was mid-day and right about lunch rush but we still were received with smiles. I say impressive! Great attitudes!

Our food arrived promptly, nicely presented, hot and tasty. We enjoyed a pleasant meal, polite service and the birthday girl was treated to a complimentary slice of pie. The rest of us ordered ourselves pie too. Who could resist!?!?

On checkout, the manager and hostess made sure to advise the cashier to not charge for the pie (see!! the communication here is just spot on!) and went on to say happy birthday, even saying they could sing for us. LOL!!

We were proudly offered military discount and thanked for our service as we closed out the check. Then as we exited the restaurant each staff member near the doors kindly wished us a good day and hoped we would be back soon.

This was my first visit ever to a Village Inn and I must say that it was a pleasure. I only hope that other locations hold up to this one's standards. I give big kudos to the management and staff here for your efforts in keeping your place so welcoming...

Sitting here having a late breakfast. So far the host has come by twice to ask if everything was good. My waitress, twice as well. I realize most probably they are required to do this in the job description. Am I to think by asking these questions they feel that if they didn’t everyone would complain. Just find it amusing. Good breakfast. * Adding another review one year later basically…. I have been coming to Village Inn for three years mainly 1-2 times weekly for dinner , sometimes breakfast. June 18th , 2022 20:12 - After dinner I showed my military ID as always expecting to receive my 10 percent discount as I always receive. Not this evening. I am told I ordered off a senior menu and already received my discount. They showed me where I ordered an site enough in TINY print , senior discount. This is the first time in years that this has happened. I asked to speak to a Mngr. A Marni Brown responded. He could care less what I had to say. $1.45 discount on a meal for military ( VA hospital across the street) This Manager would rather argue and loose $30.00 worth of business a week than give a $1.40 military discount . Guess that’s why only a few of these places exist. ( wonderful...