CoreLife Eatery — Restaurant in Town of Webster

I originally posted a very negative review, because I was frustrated with the app and long wait for my food. The owner reached out, very quickly, and offered a free meal. Thank you for your help and understanding.

Instead of being negative, I would rather share somethings constructive, that may be out of the control of the owner and could be of help to other customers. I ate at the Webster CoreLife a few times before the pandemic and the food and service were good. I am used to the typical American fast-food diet, so it is an adjustment to eating healthier, more natural foods.

What I ate back then tasted good, but wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Last month I received an offer for a free meal for my birthday. I planned for my family to buy their meals and to have my free offer. I activated the offer in the app, then found that it didn't apply to the mobile order and could only be used in-store. I tried to un-do this so I could order ahead, but there was no way I could find to do this. I was really frustrated because just about every other mobile food app allows you to redeem in app and apply to an order to pick up.

I reluctantly went to the store and used the free offer and ordered three meals. I was told that the soup base for one order wasn't available, so I substituted it. I was told the peppers and onions for a second order weren't ready but they could cook some quickly if I wanted to wait, so I waited. This ended up with me waiting an extra 20 minutes.

When I got home, I found the order with the substituted soup broth also was completely missing the chicken that was supposed to be included. At that point, I was just angry and felt I would never go again.

After thinking this over and seeing the owner's quick response I want to be more reasonable about this. CoreLife Eatery does offer a lot of healthy and nutritious options. The food is prepared well and usually tastes good. I think the pandemic has messed up everything for store owners nationwide with short staffing and supply chain issues and we are all just tired.

Thanks again to the owner for help with...

In the past, we've always loved this store, but some of the value and customer service seems to be lacking. I came in with my mother to order 4 dishes altogether. We ended up waiting 30 minutes in a line of 6 people because they allowed the first group to keep adding people in as they arrived (which everyone in the growing line was getting upset about). I'm used to it being a wait, and I could appreciate that they had a stack of orders, but it was discouraging to watch multiple people allowed to budge a line after arriving 15 minutes after their party. When we got to the front, the stress the first two girls were under was very much on display. I'm sure the stack of online orders the first was trying to simultaneous address and the now out-the-door line didn't help. We ended up omitting some simple substations (one veggie exchange or asking questions since the menu changed since I was last here) and sides since it was made pretty clear every addition was a burden. That said, the guys at the end of the line were really nice and didn't seem as put out about the busy time.

Sauce is apparently VERY limited now. We had asked for it on the side, and apparently they will only give you 1/8 of the way up the one ounce container. I asked for extra sauce on the Korean BBQ... which basically equals 1/4 of that container, all of which ended up wiped out by the water in the lettuce in the bowl. Keeping in mind that the amount of sauce we received was approximately 3 to 8 mL, it did not even begin to cover the salad or even just the meat in the Korean dish. Since their flavors are critical to the dishes, this was frustrating. I am currently debating if I want to run to the store to get salad dressing or see if I can make my own (cilantro lime) so I have something on my salad I saved for today.

Overall, I do miss the way the dishes used to taste. The ingredients are still fresh, which is nice. However skimping on key ingredients and failures in customer service (maybe low staffing?) lead me to think we may not go back anytime soon if at all for...

Usually good food, decent portions, good service. Not today. I waited to order, very busy behind the counter, that's okay. Finally order and she starts making my bowl then stops to take the next person's order, a picky person with a lot of instructions. I wait. And wait. And wait. Still not working on my order. I finally hear her ask when someone is bringing out more sprouts. I let her know she can leave off the sprouts. By this time I'm frustrated and hungry but trying to be patient. Got the egg on it but it just sits there. I finally asked the gentleman for my food. I'm sitting in the restaurant eating while I type this review. The amount is smaller, hardly any cabbage, not much purple rice. Just want to eat and leave. Corelife please, communicate better. Taking an order then seemingly ignoring it isn't acceptable.

Update, I've been back twice more since I left this review. Both times the barbecued pork was different. It was still good but it didn't really taste barbecued and this last time there were big chunks that I had to break apart myself. The Korean pork Bowl has an egg on it. The young lady called out for an egg when she started preparing the bowl but apparently nobody heard her. I had to ask a young lady that came from the back if she could do the egg for my bowl which was just just about finished at that time. She went ahead and put the egg on to cook while I waited. Young ladies behind the counter seemed to be a little distracted with other things. I had to ask for the egg to be put on my bowl before it was overcooked. Seems like things are slipping a bit. I wonder if the manager is on top of things. It's a good place to eat I'm hoping things...