Jake & Dorothy's Cafe — Restaurant in Stephenville

Really confused at how this restaurant has more than 4 stars on Google. One of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve had in a long time. Let’s start with the food, shall we? Since that’s the most important thing. Everything came out room temperature or cold. Chicken fried steak- disgusting. Meat was so chewy and fatty I couldn’t even swallow. Waffle fries- soggy, flavor-less, sad. Side salad- literally just a chinch of iceberg lettuce and a small slice of tomato but completely drenched in so much ranch I wanted to gag. And for me to complain about that is wild since I am a ranch fanatic and dip literally everything in it! Onion rings had potential but were also cold. Chicken sandwich was okay, but also lacked flavor, seasoning, and life. Literally didn’t enjoy any of the food we were served.

Now for the service. Waiters and hostesses seemed friendly enough initially, but barely came to our table after first encounter. We waited WAY TOO LONG for each part of our meal from the drinks to the salads to the cold, lifeless entrees. Pretty sure they forgot about us or lost our order. Who knows but it was ridiculous. We probably waited a good half hour for our lettuce, I mean salads, and only got them when we were forced to question the waitress why they were taking so long. We watched several tables who were seated and ordered much later than us receive their meals first. Everyone in the restaurant industry knows that’s not how it’s supposed to work. I don’t care if your regular of 40 years just walked in the door. The tickets should come out in the order which they come.

And finally, the atmosphere is something I can only describe as strange and off putting. Obviously, the restaurant is old and has never been updated, which I take no issue with. Sometimes that old diner feel can add a sense of charm. However, that is not the case here. In some restaurants it’s hard to have a conversation because there is an echo or music blaring throughout the room. This was the complete opposite. The room was full of people but it was strangely quiet. I felt nervous about having a conversation because everyone in the restaurant would be hearing my every word. Not to mention I already felt everyone’s gaze toward us. Maybe because we had a baby at our table? Maybe because at our table sat the only non-white individual in the entire establishment? Maybe because we were the only table with customers under the age of 50? Who knows the true reason, but all of these things were true, and there were definitely glances aimed towards us during our visit.

In addition to all of this, our bill was the wrong amount for what we ordered, and we were being charged too much, which we had to address with the waitress.

Overall a really uncomfortable and disappointing experience. No real redeeming factor for us to ever...

I GOT A RESPONSE BACK FROM THIS MESSAGE LAST NIGHT AND THEY GIVE THE SAME RESPONSE EVERY SINGLE TIME TO ANYBODY THAT SEND A REVIEW. They have no intent on fixing any problems they have because if you go back eight years, everybody’s complaining about the taste of the food ,no seasoning ,they do not know how to cook waffle FRIES which are horrible. All they ever say is they’ve been in business for 71 years and they do not serve bad food. Well that’s a bunch of bologna. YOU wanna prove ME OUT THEN YOU NEED TO GO EAT THERE AND YOU’LL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT !!

Do your self a favor and keep driving. This place would not have lasted a year in a bigger market.

We stopped in today after going to the great Peach Festival in Weatherford. We drove all the way here because of good things we heard.

Flavor does NOT EXIST HERE. There is No taste on anything we had .

We both had the Chicken Fried Steak- I will say it is probably the most tender and Flavorless CFS ever. Absolutely no flavor and No seasoning. They have been making excuses about Not using salt and seasoning for years and years” Please read past reviews as far back as 8 years. The server did Not listen to me- I SAID I WANTED CHRISPY FRIES. These waffle fries who they claim Who ever Jake is , that He invented them. They are absolutely HORRIBLE. “ soggy and raw in the middle” People been saying this for So many years. I do not eat mash potatoes and that waffle mess was the only option- nice size portion - but soggy and cold.

They have been making excuses for many years that cooks do not know how to cook them. Time to throw the waffle fry cutter away and buy quality fries that have flavor and that will be Chrisp!!

I have never put So Much Salt & Pepper on my food ever- and they are Proud of no seasoning.

We paid over $50.00 for this mess when we could have got great steaks with flavor somewhere else.

Do not tell me you have been around 70 years and you do not serve bad foods. You need to bring a consultant in to review this mess you serve.

Sorry to be harsh but this is the honest truth and we certainly will...

I came up to visit my nephew who goes to Tarleton state. He had heard from alumni that they used to always go to this café and they had great prices. We looked up online and the prices were awesome. It said the chicken fried steak plate was $7.95 appetizers were $4.95. I had my puppy with me so we weren’t going into the café. We were just gonna order to go food. I ordered it without even looking at the menu. I had already seen the menu online.. At counter waiting for my food, I decided to scroll through the menu. Come to Find the prices to be more than triple. The chicken fried steak Was $17.95. I had ordered two of them and an order of jalapeño poppers. My bill was almost $50. My nephew and I took our meals to the park to eat while my puppy ran around. I am not kidding when I say the worst in my entire life. It tasted like they made chicken fried steak and the waffle fries in the microwave. They were both the batter was not crunchy. I was telling my nephew maybe the salad is the best part of the whole plate. I will say, thankfully the lettuce was crisp but….. Instead of the letters, be chilled or cold it was lukewarm. Neither of us ate a quarter of the chicken fried steak and we probably had about two waffle fries and piece. We had both been very hungry, but both our stomach were upset after eating a very little amount. We threw the rest of the meals a way. Oh, I forgot to mention that the jalapeño poppers were disgusting as well. I have never in my life a worse than this. After we threw away our me, we headed back to where we were going, and even when we passed the café, We both felt like we were going to puke just...