Golden Bear Pancake & Crepery Restaurant — Restaurant in Thornton Township

My first time time there a while back. My wife and I wanted to try it. We saw the sign that said the tip is included. We sit down and ten minutes later we walked out because no one ever came which was a good thing. My wife really wanted to try and that’s why we were seated. My policy is I never eat at a place that takes a mandatory tip. They choose to take away our right to tip based on service so I choose to move on. To walk in and no one acknowledges you for ten minutes or more is a sign of how the dining experience is gonna be. So what they are saying is that no matter how bad the service is, we’re going to look out for the staff who might not deserve it. I also want to bring to your attention that if they add taxes to your tip, it’s illegal. You don’t tax a tip but people don’t realize it because they just look at the total. The tips put on the bill makes it better for the business because they supposed to make up the difference if what they make is less than minimum wage. I encourage customers to pay attention to their bill and keep the receipts. If they are in fact taxing the tips then it’s a lawsuit on top of a crime. To the owners, you’re losing customers based on the added forced gratuity. I saw that the person in charge said they will look into the bad service but never said anything about why are we paying a tip for terrible service. If you care about your customers you should never force them to pay someone for a terrible dining experience. You should also know that if the staff does their job well, it’s possible that the tip would be better that what you’re forcing customers to pay. You guys remember when Cracker Barrel was being racist by making black and brown people wait longer that others and was making them pay before their food showed up? I hate when people open a business where black and brown customers are the one patronizing the business but includes tips because they believe black and brown people don’t tip. Get rid of the mandatory tip. I can’t believe what the person said about the reviews and people leaving bad ones who’ve never eaten there. The whole purpose of reviews are to educate the public and staff of issues. There has been plenty of times that I chimed in on a review for a restaurant I’ve never eaten at. Simply to let them know that the reviews are what’s stopping potential customers from patronizing your restaurant. The unprofessional statements made by those writing replies shows that they more than likely never went to school and obtained a degree in business nor marketing. IHOP and Dennys has been around for 50 years and if it took them 50 years to get down to three star ratings yet it took this location a couple of years to get as low as you are shows the disconnect you have with patrons. If reviews are causing your business to lose potential customers then I would like to know this info if I was running a business. The fact that you feel that people shouldn’t comment or leave a one star review if they’ve never ate there is a clear sign that potential customers mean absolutely nothing to your business. By the way, I’ve never eaten at your restaurant because no one ever came once seated. If o had read the reviews first I would have never went and still left a review saying why. You think a person who decided not to patronize your business because of reviews should post a negative review under a 5 star rating? The author of your replies should be fired. Think of all the lost business due to mandatory tips/ service charges and your uneducated replies. Own your mistakes, consider what the reviews are saying, and fire whoever is representing your company with the responses because it’s better to be thought stupid than to speak and remove all...

I went in for take out (my order total was $60 +)and got my order to realize that they are charging an additional 18% “gratuity”($10.71), I spoke to a manager (A Hispanic woman) and explained to her that is not lawful or ethical and is against the law in IL. (I also wonder if this is being practiced at both locations?) Next, I requested a refund and she gave it to me grudgingly.

She became very upset and spoke to me in a demeaning and disrespectful tone and said,”it’s legal” when in fact what they are doing is illegal as I tried to explain.

First, there was no warning to me as a customer of this demand. Second, they should’ve posted it visibly on the door or verbally tell you and not place it on a 8x10 paper by the register. Normally, “gratuity” is earned by service as well.

This is law: A restaurant’s policy of adding an 18 percent service charge to the bill for parties of six or more is a service charge rather than a tip because the customer did not have the unrestricted right to determine the amount of the payment – it was dictated by the restaurant’s policy – and the customer did not make the payment free from compulsion.

They can’t dictate how much you leave as a tip or gratuity. They do have the right to have a service fee for large parties. I have even seen a “service fee” charged to those who pay with a card, but a demand for 18% is absurd.

I really think this is so unethical and disrespectful to the families they serve in the surrounding area. I’m pretty sure they are aware of their demographics. And it’s so cliché to say, “we aren’t racist or discriminatory”, but practices like this feel otherwise to me.(It’s rooted in systematic oppression of minorities;fyi for the owners who may read this)Because when I dine at Lumes in Orland they don’t do this to their customers.

Everyone is trying to survive and rebound from what has taken place and to take advantage of people is wrong. To go through the global crisis we all have had to experience and to have these practices is WRONG!

I hope this “gratuity” is going to the tipped wage employees and not the business and I also hope that Lansing SBA get aware of this and advise you to do better practices.

As I was leaving I noticed that they forgot to give me two of the orange juices that was supposed to come with my meals. I go back and the same “manager” (a Hispanic woman) became very passive aggressive with me and said, “ I only saw one orange juice on the ticket”.She was wrong I ordered an additional orange juice with the kids meals I ordered. She didn’t apologize, but a worker who brought me the juices did.

The person (a Hispanic male with glasses) politely corrected her. I also, addressed her and told her to calm down and stop being mad from me pointing out their new unethical practice.

I will never come here again and anytime I speak of this place it will be of frustration and disgust.

And please don’t respond a generic rebuttal of concern, but “team golden bear “ respect and value your customers by doing what’s RIGHT and FAIR and not haggle your way in business. Also, make sure your managers have proper training in speaking and handling dissatisfied customers in person. It’s so easy to reply online, but the same courteous should be given...

I read SO many good reviews for this place and was excited to finally try them and wanted to love them and tell everyone I know, BUT unfortunately the crepes were not good at all and the service in responding to a customer complaint was even worse.

I went Tuesday 12/7 and ordered 2 sets of crepes to go. I was told it would take about 10 minutes (actually took 21min...no big deal tho) When the food was finally ready, I anxiously opened and began to eat immediately in the car..

Although they LOOKED good, the crepes were bland and had a weird aftertaste. My cinnamon sugar apple crepes , which were only filled about 40% with apples, etc, tasted very bland, almost no flavor. There were definitely a small amount of apples, but no real sugar cinnamon taste, just this overwhelming off taste of the crepe.

My family member got the taffy apple crepes...surely they had to be better right? WRONG! again, basic apples and topped with lots of pecans but no caramel to speak of, no whipped cream, just really basic and disappointing.

I thought, I should call them and let them know...maybe this was just a one time thing and they would surely show excellent customer service and address my issue right? WRONG AGAIN!

I explained to the young lady who answered that I had been so excited and heard such great things, but my crepes tasted off and were not good at all. After a long pause, the completely unhelpful woman actually stated, "well maybe you just dont like crepes" great rude response lol I explained that No, I actually LOVE crepes, these were just bad. She said, "well sorry to hear that" and thats it! like, what do you want me to do? lol no, how can we make it right? no, would you like something else? a refund? anything? NO, just bad customer service.

So I asked for a manager...I was put on hold....I was hung up on.

I called back, asked for manager, put on hold for several minutes and finally the same lady came back on the line and said, there is no manager here but I can give him a message and he will call you later today...ok who is going to call me...our manager, Alex....Soooo, you probably guessed by now....no one EVER CALLED.

from the subpar crepes, to the poor customer service, to no one ever actually following up with me...this place is a joke

*I get that theres not many breakfast options in the area, but anywhere is better than this. Ive had IHOP crepes that were way better than these....sidenote: the original pancake house has amazing crepes. not as many fancy options to hide the fact that the crepes are bad, just good delicious quality food and great...