My worst dining experience ever.
I don't say that lightly. And moreover I wish I was joking. I went to Bear Cafe for a meal with my wife and daughter. We attempted to make a reservation via the phone but to no avail as they did not return our call. Oh well, soldier on. We arrived and were told it would take 30 min. Again, no big deal. We were seated promptly actually and excited to eat.
Our server greeted us and got our order because we were ravenous and ready to go. We ordered a burger for my daughter, a chicken sandwich for my wife and a rack of lamb for me. We also ordered a Brussel sprouts and French onion soup for an appetizer. After a lengthy wait of 30+ min we still had not received our apps. Our server who had been mostly inattentive to us for refills(yes I would like to order a cocktail) finally says it will be out soon. Just waiting on the soup. So now that it's been recognized that it's slow, we wait another 20 min and see orders of soup and vegetables taken to tables that were seated after us. In fact by the time the appetizers arrived over an hour after ordering I saw two tables come and go in that period. And inevitably my Brussel sprouts were cold because we had to wait 20 min for that soup.
Now I am annoyed. We had spoken to another server about our meal because our server was too afraid to approach the table and she made it worse. An apology to say the order had been forgotten or the kitchen had misplaced it would've gone a long way. But nothing there. Finally the manager who has been walking around all night and seemingly taking care of everyone but us finally approaches us. He offers to buy our meal and we are on the verge of leaving. We did not leave because it's after 800 and most restaurants(in Woodstock) close early. I just want to feed my three year old and get her to bed.
So we stayed hoping the entrees would arrive soon. We look around and see that the place is thinning out. The lights flicker off and it seems like the night won't end. At 9 pm when we had ordered at 645 our entrees arrive. A burnt burger. A naked piece of chicken for my wife and a raw piece of lamb for me. It took over two hours and our food was grossly presented and incorrect. The chicken sandwich needs the chutney that is listed on the menu and ketchup for two orders of fries. Oh and we would like the salad my wife ordered and not the fries actually. We want to eat and leave. We get that it's a bad night.
But now I just want ketchup for my daughter for her crispy burger. I ask my server and she says she will check. She says that they are out of ketchup. Now I get that places run out of things. I have managed two separate places and in my experience I would've found ketchup or gone to the store.
The manager walks up and tells us they are indeed out of ketchup. No more explanation. No sincerity. No belief in this mans eyes. The manager was inept, Cold and useless to make this bad situation better. A real apology and attention to our actual order would've made any part of this better. Instead we received a laughably bad meal after a ridiculously long wait. It took us 3 hrs to have our meal. 630 - 930 pm.
I exaggerate none of this. I didn't ask for the moon. I didn't want the nicest whiskey or wine on the menu. In fact I turned down a glass of wine. I just wanted to see my food come out in a timely manner after the problem(hour from order to appetizers). I brought up the fact it had been an hour since we received our apps and it was like staring a wall when looking upon the managers face.
We walked out without anyone speaking to us. I know the owner and manager were cowering with the server in the kitchen because they didn't want conflict. So here is my conflict.
I now take the time to write this in the hopes that Bear Cafe finds new management, cooks, servers, owners or even closes. That's harsh. But my neighbor table told me that for 20 years this place was tops. But the decline is...
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