The Cockeyed Rooster Cafe — Restaurant in Smithfield

I genuinely want to give a 5 star review here. I really do. But I just can't, it would be lying. Make no mistake, the food is very, very good. Burgers, fries, pancakes, waffles...and especially the carrot cake. WOW. Prices are very reasonable, selection is aplenty, and quality and taste are above average for what you might expect if you've never been here before. Where Cockeyed goes cockeyed is in customer service. There's no consistency at all among the staff. Some are true professionals, in the business for many years who know how to take care of customers. Stephanie is one of them that truly shines. Blair, Detrae and Bonnie Sue are others that know their stuff and it shows. Most of the rest are hit and miss. Some servers will forget refills or even to come check on the food to see if things are needed. Most servers have to be asked to bring extra napkins or refills, though some are so good you'd swear they read your mind. All of them are good at remembering what you like to drink and eat if you visit regularly. Electronic devices for taking orders are cute, but the problem is when staff call out your bill amount verbally in front of your party. Anyone in the restaurant business knows this is highly unprofessional and rude; those I surveyed said they'd never go back if a server did that. Rooster's Management seems to not be very good about training, setting standards for staff or making sure they're adhered to. If I asked to see their policy & procedure manual, I doubt one exists. Any complaint typically isn't corrected until two complaints later for the same thing, and in frustration a public comment in social media yields a rebuke from management not to embarrass them where customers can see. Trust me, if I'm upset with how things are handled, others are too. They've already seen it. Cockeyed Rooster could become huge, I can even see it as a franchised corporation one day. But before that can happen, they've got to their ducks, er--chickens, in a row. I hope that happens soon. I detest giving low ratings in a review, but I...

Arrived at exactly noon not by plan but it was a full house. I wasn’t expecting anything fast with such a crowd and told our server Faith we were in no rush. Wow! Quite a large menu. This always makes me nervous it usually means the food will be good/ average because having to be prepared for all items on the large menu doesn’t allow you to be really good as you could be with a more specialized menu. My friend and I ordered he a club sandwich and fries myself corned beef hash skillet 2 eggs over medium w/ biscuit. I misread the menu reading that it was served with fruit and your choice of toast or biscuit. For $11.99 the fruit should be included the menu hypes the corned beef as “real” not from a can well it was square diced small and had virtually no flavor, the seasoned potatoes were a very generic salt, pepper maybe a hint of onion powder? But lots of oil in fact it was puddled in the bottom of the skillet after it was empty. Fried eggs are often iffy when ordered out if they sit 5 minutes under the warming lamp after being plated they’re overcooked. My over medium were hard cooked not even soft yolk. But I guess the worse thing was how small the portion was! Potatoes and 2 eggs w/ maybe 3 ounces of corned beef $11.99 and it wasn’t even level with the lip of the shallow skillet! To be fair my friend’s club was huge it was falling off a larger plate than my skillet was served on it was stacked high cut into four and fries mounded atop in the middle. Easily more potatoes used in the French fries than in my seasoned potatoes yet the club plate was also $11.99. Sadly as it too often happens with me I was half way done eating before I thought of taking pictures for my review. I give them credit for cleanliness the place was spotless, from my seat I had a view into the kitchen again everything was organized and clean the cooks were on top of their gave easily moving around and past each other. I would also recommend that when presenting the tablet for payment set it on the table the server holding it...

Today we decided to give The Cockeyed Rooster a try. Tucked away in a little strip mall it wasn't widely advertised, but not too hard to find.

Upon entering the restaurant the atmosphere was homey, and friendly. We were seated immediately and brought water and menus.

Typical breakfast fare, not a lot of options for celiacs but they do offer gf toast. I ordered some sort of skillet with scrambled eggs and gf toast. My son got gf pancakes with bacon and eggs. His meal was definitely better than mine. His bacon came out perfectly cooked, the eggs looked great, and the pancakes, though dry looking likely had some flavor. They do offer sugar free syrup upon request.

My meal was quite bland, aside from the old grease taste of the bacon. Just a guess, but it appeared that the bacon in the skillets was likely the leftover bacon from the day before. 🤷🏻‍♀️ There was no flavor in the potatoes which were overcooked. The toast was unremarkable.

Wait staff was friendly and attentive, restaurant looked clean from our view, and it was quiet and peaceful. Price was reasonable with the exception of the local tax. 🤔 Not sure what that is, but, not something I am accustom to, nor appreciate. To be honest, I am tired of paying more and more to feed greed under the guise of hidden "taxes". If a restaurant needs more money to pay their rent, etc... that should be reflected in the prices. Don't tack it on at the end of the meal like no one will notice it. For anyone who thinks I am being silly, it's not about the $1.30. Its the way they went about it.

As I eat for taste, this is not a place for me. The food was edible, but, I won't be back.

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