Huddle House — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

My son, daughter, and I stopped by around 3:15 PM on a Monday to try Huddle House for the first time. When we walked in, the restaurant was nearly empty—only one small party was dining—but we were oddly told to sit in a cramped section near the kitchen and bathrooms, away from the natural light and front of the store. My son tried to ask where we should sit, and the waitress repeated—almost impatiently—that we could “only sit over here.”

We sat and ordered drinks—my son got a soda, and my daughter and I asked for water since we weren’t planning to eat. We told the waitress this was our first time ever at Huddle House, and when she came back to take our food order, my son went with a burger. I almost ordered the stuffed hashbrowns but was caught off guard by an unexpected upcharge due to an “egg shortage.” That felt off, especially since I had just mentioned we were first-timers. So instead, I opted for a side of bacon, which looked great on the menu.

While we were waiting, my husband called on his break. We own a small business, so I had to take the call, even though the food came out mid-conversation. My son started eating and said the burger tasted good, though it wasn’t cooked to the requested level and didn’t seem like the “smash burger” he thought he ordered. The potato bun was fresh, and he still enjoyed it overall. His side of pickles came out late.

The real issue was the bacon. It was brought out extremely undercooked—chewy and barely crisped. I’ve never had to request bacon be well done at other restaurants, but this was inedible for me. I asked if it could be cooked a bit more. While waiting, I could clearly hear the staff behind me complaining about having to recook food—presumably mine. I got up to find a menu, and on my way back, I saw my waitress by the grill, lightly tapping the bacon with a spatula next to the cook—not even actively cooking it.

I then noticed some bacon sitting off to the side of the grill, cooked to the level I usually prefer. I pointed this out, and rather than finish cooking mine, the waitress took the fresh bacon and threw it down the trash hole on the griddle, then picked up the old bacon that had been sitting there. She brought it to me and claimed it was fresh. I calmly asked again, “Is this really fresh?” She insisted, but I knew it wasn’t—it crumbled when I bit into it and was clearly dry and not freshly made. I told her I could hear their complaints, and it felt extremely unprofessional, especially with my kids sitting right there.

I asked for the check again, and she said she’d already brought it. Turns out, it was upside down on the table, easy to miss in the middle of the chaos. Without another word, she abruptly grabbed the plate and the receipt and said, “You can just go.” It was clear we were being dismissed. I hadn’t planned to pay in cash, but since she essentially kicked us out, I left $10 in cash on the table and walked out—frustrated, embarrassed, and disappointed.

The final sting: as we were leaving, she turned to my son and asked if he wanted a to-go box—an oddly timed and tone-deaf gesture given how we’d just been treated.

Between the uncomfortable seating restrictions, poor communication, overhearing the staff complain about us, and the unprofessional way my concern was handled, I will not be returning. I’ve never been treated with such disregard at a restaurant—especially on a first visit....

I had a very awful and unfortunate experience with this place on Friday morning. I know very well that they do not accept redervations, but a bunch of my family really wanted to try the place, so I called ahead of time just to give them a warning that, "Hey, we're probably going to be around 12-14 people, we just didn't want to roll in like that and kind of overwhelm everyone." The woman I spoke to on the phone, who I have seen there before and who I believe is named Gerti, was extremely rude and unpleasant. She told me that they are a small place and that we would have to wait no matter what for space to open up. So, in order to be somewhat proactive, a couple of us in the group decided to show up early and get ourselves a spot, so that our people could just come in and take a seat once they got here. It was only supposed to be about 15-20 minutes of us holding the spot, and I was under the impression that if you got your spot for your party, then everything was fine. I had to step out for a moment and let Gerti know I was doing so, and she snapped back at me and said they were not going to hold any space for us, and that they would deliberately let people sit in the spots that we were trying to hold. I was so flabbergasted at how unnecessarily rude and awful she was being. We were a group of about a dozen, most places would be waaaaay more accommodating to such a large party. I was trying to enjoy a nice morning and breakfast with members of my family that I haven't seen in a while, and the treatment that I received from this place absolutely wrecked all of that. We had to change our plans last minute, because I refused to eat in a place where they could be so disrespectful. I will be posting this review for all to see, and my next step is calling the store and speaking to a proper manager to handle that employee. Up until this point, I really enjoyed this location, but this behavior was simply appalling, and I will...

Not once did we ever feel welcome. Our server was essentially one syllable responses and inattentive. We never got a “how is/was your food?” Never got a “thank you come again”. Nothing. It was New Year’s Day. I was even feeling generous to the lucky server we were going to get. I don’t know why I tipped the one I got at all. Maybe I did it because I’m a thoughtful person. She definitely didn’t deserve it. Or maybe it was the almost shoving the machine pretty much in my face. I mean really, who stands there and holds the machine basically isn’t their customers face area. Now onto the food. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more pathetic excuse for a sit down breakfast. Whomever they got calling themselves a cook back there would probably fail making McDonald’s fries. Hashbrowns were nothing but mush with a crisped top. The “toast” was just oozing out butter everywhere. Big old slap of it on EACH piece. Mine and hers. Not spread. Just globbed on one side of each piece. The bacon was either darn near raw (seriously, not over exaggerating) or overcooked and tasteless. And There was literally no flavor to it anywhere. I tried to make small conversation and ask which the server preferred and she said the bacon and I said I’m normally more of a sausage person but surprise me. She brought out the bacon because that’s the better one in her opinion. If that’s the case, what does the sausage taste like? The eggs honestly weren’t bad I guess. The best part of my meal was the coffee…. and it’s just coffee. I was excited to try this based on the reviews. Welp, I feel like I was bamboozled. It Sucks another place is all hype and clearly poorly managed. No good kitchen manger would be letting food like that go out. And no good restaurant manager would not be checking on their guests. You got my money. I won’t be back.

Sincerely,

A highly...