The Red Hut Café — Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe

Watching a gaggle of staff (nearly outnumbering patrons) flub and fumble a basic breakfast this badly was actually more entertaining than annoying. From the opening remarks of our request for a bloody Mary (available at all other Red Hut Locations, except this one) which was met with a laugh - A Laugh! As if people on the hunt for bloodies think it's cute when a waiter laughs at your request. Things only became more silly from here folks; Let's get started:

Firstly, the food is barely above bland with absolutely nothing remarkable to be tasted or enjoyed. My comrade ordered "Chicken and Waffle" [sic] which claimed to be a 50 year old recipe, only to be answered with the standard frozen chicken strips easily found at most low-rent restaurants. The waffle, well, how can you screw up a waffle? Hardly worth it's price tag at all.

I procured for myself the Hamburger Steak and 2 Eggs, which was as expected, overcooked, chewy and skimpy. Luckily, I got 2 full pieces of toast (somewhere halfway through the meal) although another friend only got one piece with her's... Talk about glass ceiling!

On top of this circus of idiotic mistakes, our four top was served individually, with long periods of empty space and awkwardness between plate deliveries. Some would say it's better to bring the food out as it's ready so it doesn't sit in a warmer, and I would agree, however, I would argue that any short order cook worth his salt could put a four top up for service, with only seconds between the arrival of each plate. Meanwhile, we watched one as our food was put up to the pass and then left lying there, unsupervised, while our uncomfortable companions picked at their food to avoid the social norm of waiting for everyone else's meal to arrive, even over our general protest.

All told it was approximately 10 minutes (!) between the first plate arriving, and the last.

For this being "The Original" it's clear the company owners no longer care about the quality or service that must have been present to encourage the rapid expansion of these boring little breakfast joints.

Frankly, I'd rather visit a Denny's or IHOP in South Lake Tahoe than this paltry excuse for a beloved...

The service at the Red Waffle House was nothing short of appalling. Despite getting seated promptly upon our arrival, it was as if we had entered a culinary purgatory where servers' attention was an elusive luxury. For around twenty long, arduous minutes, we languished at our table, neglected and overlooked, despite our best efforts to attract attention.

The atmosphere only exacerbated the woeful service, as there was neither air conditioning nor fans to mitigate the oppressive summer heat. The sticky, uncomfortable ambiance, combined with the glaring lack of attention to our table, painted a rather bleak picture of the restaurant management's priorities.

The employees in sight seemed to possess an uncanny ability to avoid eye contact with us, a skill honed to perfection. The youngster cleaning the tables nearby didn't miss a crumb, yet somehow managed to miss us entirely. A simple glass of water from him upon being seated could have been a saving grace, a token of acknowledgment that we were, indeed, patrons of their establishment. Alas, this was not to be.

The final insult came when another set of customers were seated next to us and were immediately offered coffee and water. It was like a slap to the face; a clear, harsh demonstration of their inconsistent service and their evident disregard for our patronage. This shocking inconsistency led us to question whether there was any sense of organization or if the servers just waited on a whimsical 'first seen, first served' basis.

In frustration and disbelief, we chose to abandon our futile wait and vacate the premises. Predictably, our departure was met with the same indifference that had plagued our entire visit. Not a single worker batted an eyelid as we walked out, their inaction further proof of their lackadaisical approach to customer service.

In conclusion, our experience at the Red Waffle House was a study in disappointment and poor service. From the lack of a welcoming atmosphere to the conspicuous absence of any semblance of attentive service, we were left feeling more like intruders than guests. One star is given simply because there is no option...

As we were leaving Tahoe for home, early morning breakfast hunger hit both of us as well as our toddler. We Yelp'd for a good suggestion & The Red Hut Cafe (TRHC) came up. We saw the ratings as well as the pictures, loved what we saw and decided to have our breakfast here.

Food: We ordered Chicken & Waffles as well as a simple 2 egg breakfast that had the hashbrowns as well as biscuits with gravy. Now, I cannot stress enough that the waffles were beautiful (taste-wise), chicken was standard (albiet smaller in size than expected), eggs were good but what stole the show was the biscuits and their gravy. We never thought that the butter-laden biscuits with really simple gravy would steal the show. It really put the smile on our tired and still sleepy faces. Highly, highly recommended people!

Service: Great service, they were attentive and really nice people. Seems like a family-run affair which makes it even better. We wanted chai or a simple latte and understandably they didn't have it. Now, the best part was that they redirected me to the cafe next door and told us to bring it here and enjoy it with the food. This is how the service industry needs to support each other. I went over and ordered a chai but that's for a different review and for another day!

Parking: Ample parking in the front and the side. No worries there!

Ambiance: Felt like an older breakfast place vibe. We liked it there, it was slighly noisy like a hustling-bustling cafe should be. Nothing disturbing or intrusive.

Our next Tahoe visit, we definitely plan to visit and have a heavier...