Haystacks — Restaurant in Sulphur Springs

Haystacks has a systemic issue that starts at the top. It wont get better until the owner and managers are honest with themselves and make the choice to stop ripping people off and start making food worth a damn.

I've been to this restaurant multiple times because I live nearby and I can walk there. I love the location and I love that I can sit outside and enjoy the atmosphere. I want to support local businesses like Haystacks, but today's experience was the last straw.

And speaking of straw. What's up with the bails of hay wrapped in plastic. Can we not?

My number one problem with Haystacks is that I have never had a warm meal there. Never. The food is always cold or room temperature. When I bit into an insipid, cold and slimy egg today, I'd had enough. We were the very first customers today, and the food was still cold. So now I understand it to be a phenomenon--something consistently dysfunctional in the restaurant--and not just a one-off incident.

In the past, I've always paid for the meal but graciously asked them to PLEASE do something about the cold food. Nothing has changed. I always leave asking myself why I keep going back just to pay a premium for sub-par food. Either the kitchen staff doesn't care or they lack experience and understanding on what it means to expedite food. Again, I emphasize, we were the first table in the restaurant this morning!

The other problem--among the many I have--iis the quality vs the price. Last week's breakfast tacos had pre-packaged shredded cheese on them. Unacceptable. Not when I can go to Titos Ricos and get a street taco for 2 dollars that will make Haystacks look like dog food.

Today's sausage was weird---almost like over-rendered bacon fat with no flavor or actual meat. I asked for my child's pancake to be the first thing to come out, and it was the last. The employees never seem to understand how to use the point-of-sale system, and they always seem awkwardly undertrained. When I was there last week the waitress completely forgot about us.

With that, I will not be returning. I'll just cook my...

This place was incredible. My girlfriend brought me here last Saturday for the most amazing experience here and to get my fix on Chicken and Waffles. She claimed that theirs was the best. However, I'm not one to boast too often but when it's an experience like this, I have to share it.

We first walked in, we were at the host stand when a gentleman (James - Aka owner) who was a pleasure to talk to.

We were seated and instantly greated by Shannon (apologize if not spelled right) who was such a pleasure to talk to the entire meal. She helped us select a tasty memosa flight and had us try a Apple Momosa and it was probably our favorite one but they were all sooo tasty. We shared the Chicken & Waffles and something called a quiche which came with some tasty fried potatoes and some kind of spinach strawberry salad which was also tasty. There wasn't one bite that tasted off. We also got to try their raspberry parfait that I personally destroyed.

The food was amazing but the atmosphere thats created and the hospitality thats presented was by far one of the greatest experiences. James later stopped by the table to bring us a sample of his Lemon Custard he had made that morning, that too was amazing but listening to his passion about food and the items he wants to create, that alone makes me want to come back and try everything he makes.

Shannon was so on point and such a pleasure to talk too.

This place deserves more than 5 stars in my opinion. I've not had such a perfect experience like this in forever.

If you're in Sulphur Springs, stop here. Meet with James and the staff, try all the food, especially the Chicken & Waffles as they were definitely one of my top 5 spots.

Thank you all for setting the tone to what ended up being the perfect date day...

This is specifically about the CATERING because I love the restaurant. The owner is kind and the food is good but the manager of the catering is extremely unprofessional. I booked Haystacks catering for my wedding of November 2023. For three weeks my wedding planner, my aunt, my mother in law, and myself called and left multiple messages and even got a few answers saying that they would have to get back with us. They never did. We did not hear from ANYONE until 8 days before my wedding, with the excuse that they were streamlining their phone system (it was the catering managers personal cell, which I was very adamant about not using past a certain hour to give respect and privacy). Then we continued to struggle with communication up until the day before my wedding. I would call and leave a message and would not get a response for at least a full day sometimes two. We were charged a $200 administration fee that was never explained even though they only brought and set up and they did not bring enough pasta sauce for the amount of pasta they brought. We were also originally over charged $100 and it wouldn’t have been noticed or fixed if I hadn’t brought it to his attention. It’s also interesting that since the wedding this person who I won’t name has contacted me every day since the wedding for payment. My mother in law just tried to contact him to pay about 5 minutes after he called me and it went straight to voicemail three times. There seems to be a very uneven amount of expected accountability on our payment than there ever was on the product being offered. Brides I recommend looking elsewhere, save yourself the...