Country House Cafe — Restaurant in South Carolina

The main purpose for this review is to let the owner know my findings. This is a very unique place that should be experienced and reviewed individually. I have waited and considered my review before posting. I was there visiting from out of state. An old friend had gone there a couple of years prior and suggested it to me. I went for supper one night and for breakfast the next morning, met my friend there for breakfast. Two meals, two very different experiences!!! Upon arriving, I was pleased with the ambiance of the exterior. Everythibg was quite lovely, donning fall colors and seasonal decor. The patio lighting gives an inviting allure while the gentle cascading waters of the fountains have a relaxing effect. Upon ascending the steps, I'm greeted with a sweet hen pecking around the porch area. As it was dark when I arrived, I had not seen the other animals available for children and adults to enjoy... that would wait for the morning sun. On to the dining... Meal 1) I was greeted with a smile and promptly seated. I ordered coffee, which was good and fresh. For the meal, I ordered the beef tips , mac and cheese, and the blackeyed peas. The key descriptive words are first, TIPS and then CHEESE. There are some things to be said about Mac too. Lol What I received looked like a pulled pork, no TIPS to be found. While the gravy had a nice flavor, the meat was... well the more I chewed the bigger it got. Needless to say I could not even swallow it. The sweet attentive waitress noticed my reactions and asked if everything was OK. I explained the problem and she offered me to make another choice. I requested the GRILLED FISH. She made a few steps turned and confirmed "GRILLED" She brought out two of the prettiest FRIED filets I've ever seen. Too bad, due to medical reasons, I can't eat fried food!!! So I tried to eat Mac which was mush and cheese which apparently is only in the name. The peas were hot and good. While checking out paying full price and tipping, I was informed that the problem was because the cook was spanish and speaks no English. COMMUNICATION IS VITAL!!! LOL I asked to speak to the owner who was not present. Meal 2) EVERYTHING WAS LOVELY!!! THANK...

So most recently we dined in, but I want to talk about our journey with this place. We came here a good bit when they first opened and everything was amazing, but it has gone very quickly downhill in the past few months/year. I’m not sure if they have new management/owners/staff, but it’s been rather disappointing. We used to order out frequently because we live close by and noticed a few months ago that the portions were nearly cut in half but the prices had not changed to reflect that, they had actually gone up. We would get different things for breakfast (I generally got the biscuits and gravy and it went from four large pieces of biscuit to two much smaller ones at one point) and generally salads for dinner and both changed a lot in what felt like size, ingredients, and taste. Most recently (about a week ago) we actually went to the restaurant to eat for a night out and got burgers. When paying $9-12 for a burger plate I assume it’s not going to be the size of a tiny McDonald’s cheeseburger, but here we are. The fries looked and tasted like frozen crinkle cut fries from Walmart. And the tiny amount of cole slaw they gave was also terrible. We also spent more time swatting flies away from the food than actually eating it which was disappointing. I also saw Country House respond to a review that included this about how they are in the country and are doing all they can to combat the flies, but I’ve been to plenty of places in the middle of nowhere near farms and in summer that do NOT have this problem, so I kind of hate and don’t buy that excuse. As someone else here said, I hope some of these bad reviews from more-or-less regulars are a wake up call for these guys and they can get their game back together. We used to love this place (hence why there is more than one star) and I hope it can get back to where it was. Not sure when/if we will be back. Maybe after a long time to see if things...

I had heard such great things about this place so it is very disheartening to have to give it a 1 star.

‐------------------------ Pros: clean very nice, friendly waitresses

Cons: The wait-they brought the wrong food out to us the first time...we waited over an hour, other tables came in after with the same or more people in the parties and got their food before

The price for the value--- way over priced for the quality, even with the national hike in product/ingredient pricing accounted

The quality- ZERO flavor. I ordered a monster burger and the only thing "monster" about it was the atrocity of a patty. I'm pretty sure McDonald's has thicker burgers, seriously flatter than a pancake... I was shocked. My son had a meat and three consisting of a hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, fries and Mac n cheese. The hamburger steak was insanely dry and again no flavor. The mashed potatoes were also missing seasoning and definitely tasted like box mix or dehydrated mix. The Mac n cheese had zero flavor....how is that even possible.

Misc-- I had a hair in my burger/egg combo

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Our waitress was extremely over stretched past what one person could even handle during rush. As a former front of the house employee/waitress, what I saw today was so disheartening for so many reasons. Instead of the hostess seating according to the capacity of the kitchen and wait staff, people were seated after being told there will be a wait. Waiting is fine, but after waiting over an hour for food that was practically inedible, there's a problem. I know this review sounds harsh, but it's not the fault of the waitresses. It seemed like today was just a perfect storm for disaster that could've been helped by limiting how many parties got seated. It was just like everyone there was set up to fail.

I really wanted to like this place but we sadly...