Annie's Place — Restaurant in Topeka

I used to eat here fairly often, but havent been back since moving back to Topeka a few years ago. I used to LOVE the food and service here (especially the fresh baked goodies). Went in around 5 on a Wednesday (fairly early), maybe half a dozen tables taken. Took forever to get seated as there seemed to be only one person in the front of the house, period.....seating and waiting tables. Ok, not that outside the norm for early dinner, But....no amazing bakery smell. Before they were baking all the time....and at the very least had rolls baking every hour or so. But the ovens were cold, the baking area looked as if it hadnt seen use in a while. I ordered the chicken fried steak, wife ordered a philly dog with chili cheese fries. Service wasnt awful, but the food took a while. When we were finally served my chicken fried steak was burned on the outside, yet they managed to still make it soggy (imagine partially cooked shake n bake cooked by a 12 year old with ADD). It had obviously been either made weeks/months ago and frozen for quite some time, or they order it in frozen and reheat it. Regardless, it was the single worst chicken fried steak I have ever had in a restaurant...the worst since my Jr High cafeteria. The mashed potatoes tasted like instant. The "gravy" was partially congealed and seemed as if it had come frozen too. Chunks of something in the gloopy mess that I think were supposed to be chicken, but I wouldnt swear on it. Horrible! Oh....and the "dinner roll" was prepackaged. WHY serve that when you have an amazing bakery right there? So disappointing!

Wife's hot dog was passable, she said, but the fries were soggy (yeah, yeah, I know! Air baked fries often are. But Annie's fries used to be a hallmark!). The chili was Hormel (without a doubt). The cheese wasnt actual cheddar, but some imitation. Not entirely melted, and a lot of grease from the "CHEESE" (as you sometimes see when cheap cheddar substitute separates).

One thing we noticed: we're in our 40's and I swear the average age dropped 35 to 40 years when we walked in (yes, waitress included). The wife thinks that the owners and/or alleged cooks just stopped trying, since their average clientele will just eat it and smile. Dont know. My grandmother died at 82 and was demanding as all hell when she went to a restaurant, and wouldnt hesitate to send back a meal with a message for the cook, "perhaps a job at McDonalds would better match your obviously limited ability". I should have taken a page from her book and sent my meal back!

Anyway, this whole mess and 2 drinks ended up costing almost $30. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!! You can get MUCH better MUCH cheaper in Topeka. Avoid this place like the plague. I know I will never set foot in...

To say the least my experiences with this restaurant have continually digressed since my first meal there. In the beginning probably 8 years ago it seemed like a very respectable establishment with good food and even better deserts but the next couple of times there would be minor problems with our orders. For example asking if the rib tips had bones in them waitess would say no and there would be bones in it. Also just a few months ago my mother and i decidied to split a burger and was appalled by the rubbery tar they served us, though i requested a medium-well burger, the center was chilled while the outter was charred and barely warm. But because my mother used to work she let the terrible food slide due to the nostalgia factor. A few days ago my moms birthday comes around and she ends up choosing one of the few restaurants in Topeka that I loath-Annies! On this particular day I wasn't starving so I respectfully rejected any offers of food. Except a fry with gravy on it which tasted like peppered mush on top of mush with soggy patato skin on it! Anyway as the night went on the waiting staff all flirted and pranced with each other as we sat there with empty glasses patiently waiting for a refill for what seemed to be all night! We got our food it was alright but my aunt recieved the wrong order, concidering there was less than 10 people in the restaurant I see getting a baked patato instead of a hamburger is a pretty foolish mistake. Ussually the desert is good so my mom ordered a piece of the apple pie and ofered me her birthday cookie. I believe on the menu the cookie is depicted as chocolate chip. Because of my severe allergy to Peanuts one bite into the cookie later and I came to the realization that the cookie was PEANUT BUTTER chocolate chip! My throat started to swell shut immediately otherwise i could have died. Luckily i had my epipen on me, i could have died in that dive, BECAUSE SOME IDIOT WAITRESS AND 20 YEAR OLD MENUS COULDN'T INFORM ME THAT THERE WAS PEANUT BUTTER IN A CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE!!!

TL;DR- It was good at some point but now it terribly outdated and is a waste of resources! Do Not...

Annies was recommended by a client of mine, so my co-worker was looking for homemade dessert to go and not from a big food chain restaurant. With that being said, we entered the restaurant and read the front foyer menu board. The young man sitting on a stool looked up. I told him we wanted a dessert to go. He points the direction,saying walk to the bar and order from there. We proceeded to walk towards the bar area in the next room. A lady at the cashier with a blank stare looked at us and then put her head down. She was punching up a ticket for a table . She grabbed the receipt. Turn around, went to the table behind her.. gave them the ticket. Turned around, walked right past us.. and went around the corner and disappeared. We stood there and waited. Still no acknowledgment of any kind from her or anyone else, we thought might have come from the kitchen(atmosphere) was dead like the restaurant, 4 tables, and one table was on the way out.. So we gave up, turned around, and walked towards the front door. She then spoke.. as we walked by and said in a condescending tone, "I'm the only one here." "I can get it, I can get whatever you want".. I said no, thank you. Obviously, your way too busy.. the young man on the stool looked up again.. as we walked by, we told him .. she's too busy to acknowledge us on what's going on. Anything would have been appreciated to us . But all we got was a no verbal welcome, no nod or acknowledgment, no motion of a hand gesture as in I see you, I'll be with you as soon as possible.. nothing. Again, anything would've. have been better than just the silent treatment of unwelcoming. That...