Mitchell's Restaurant — Restaurant in Vernon

Okay so I have eaten here before and had good experiences, but unfortunately today was different. As being a waitress myself, I don't usually complain and I am very understanding of when restaurants are busy.. but I have to share this.

When my mother, son, and I came in we sat ourselves (which is fine and normal) but we sat at our table for at least 10 min before we were greeted and given menus, and yes the staff did see us sit initially. We weren't asked for our drinks when we were given our menus and when we finally were asked it wasn't even by our waitress. Also, there was only 2 sets of silverware on the table and we were never brought a third for my child, him and I had to share a fork. This normally wouldn't frustrate me because I know they were busy, but a table that came in after us were sitting with menus and drinks before we even got our coffee.

I honestly felt unwelcome because we aren't considered regulars and I could see more care and attention being given to other tables that obviously knew the staff there pretty well.

So, we get our drinks and we order. 2 breakfast sandwiches for us and pancakes for my son. And my mother asked for a glass of milk with her food when it came. I have to say we must have waited at least a half an hour to 45 min for our food, which is crazy for that small amount of food and usually I would just be understanding of the place being really busy, but as we were leaving we saw a table sit and get their food within like 15 min. And I finished my coffee before my food even came and was not asked for a refill until I was about to finish my meal. My mother was also not given her glass of milk until we asked again for it. Which brings me back to the fact of not feeling as well taken care of by the staff because we aren't regulars because I saw waitresses visiting certain tables multiple times and sitting and talking while pretty much ignoring us. This isn't to say my waitress wasn't perfectly pleasant because she was.

The food was okay, the sausages and buns on sandwiches were burnt, but my son's pancakes came out perfect.

Like I said I am never one to complain like this, but as I said I am a waitress myself and even on my busiest days, I always try my hardest FOR ALL MY GUESTS. And it honestly made me sad because I really enjoyed Mitchell's when ever I did go there every once and awhile and now I don't think I'll ever be going back. I'm sure you guys just had a busy day, but I just had to say...

I have been going here for breakfast occasionally for years. I usually am waited on by the owner, a very nice young lady who asks "the usual today?" as she remembers my typical order.

Today I entered thru the back door of the restaurant. There were 5 or 6 tables open and no one waiting to be seated so I sat at one of the booths. I waited about 4 minutes as the wait staff were gathered around the register talking.

A young lady eventually came to my table and proceeded to explain to me that they were seating all customers this morning. I mentioned I had entered at the back entrance and she told me that there was a sign on the back door to that effect. I told her I didn't see it, so I asked her if I should move. She said no. She then went on to tell me "I think we've had this same conversation before."

I told her no, we've never had this conversation before, and her attitude immediately went to rude, asking me "what do you want?" in a clearly irritated tone.

Trust me, she developed a very obvious instant attitude. I ordered and ate, at least the food was good, can't say the same about her service.

The reason I am writing this is because she made an extra effort during our initial conversation to make sure she had the "last word", so to speak, in an effort to make sure the customer (me) knew they had made a "mistake".

That is a terrible customer service practice, as my cash for breakfast pays her daily wage and her attitude is a fair reason for a customer to not return. Hopefully the $1 tip on a $14.76 breakfast catches her attention.

I guarantee, if it were the owner waiting on me, the owner never would have even mentioned it. I'll likely let the owner know what happened since good customer service is key in the food...

Today was my first and likely last time visiting this establishment. We arrived, put our name in, and were told to let the staff know once the rest of our party arrived—which we did. When everyone was present, we were told it would be about a 15-minute wait. I also made a point to let the staff know that my son is autistic, as he was visibly stimming while we waited.

What followed was incredibly disheartening. Parties of 2, 4, and even 5 were being seated quickly, many of whom walked right past the “Please wait to be seated” sign. Staff never enforced the seating process or offered any explanation for the delays. I watched another party—also missing two members—get seated before us. After 20 minutes, we were told to wait another 15 to 20 minutes, again with no option offered to split tables to seat our group more quickly.

Waiting that long with a child on the spectrum is more than just inconvenient—it’s emotionally exhausting and overwhelming. What made it worse was how invisible and unimportant we felt. The sign on the wall says, “Walk in as strangers, leave as friends”—but that could not have been further from our experience.

As a Hispanic family with an autistic child, I couldn’t help but feel that we were being dismissed or deprioritized. The lack of communication, understanding, and compassion was unacceptable. It is already difficult to feel welcome in public spaces with a neurodivergent child—this experience made me feel judged, ignored, and completely unwelcome.

We ended up leaving without being seated. I truly hope this business takes a hard look at how they treat all families and considers the importance of creating a more inclusive and respectful environment...