I'm so upset right now that I don't even know where to start.
My boyfriend and I were searching for a good place to get a gluten-free breakfast and NW Public House popped up. He'd been wanting to try it out for a while, so we headed over there for what we thought would be a nice brunch.
First impressions were good - cute little house, lots of patrons, menu looked good. While I could write a novel on why this was such a bad experience, I'll try and bullet it:
Pros:
- Cute building, good ambiance
- Friendly waitstaff
Cons:
- Coffee: they ran out of coffee not once, but twice, while we were there. On a Sunday morning? Seriously? This is really inexcusable in my mind. Granted it was pretty busy when we were there, but make more coffee then.
- Wait time: It took about 45 minutes for our food to arrive. Even at fancy establishments, it does not take this long.
- The food: I ordered the gluten-free pancakes, and they were tasteless. They looked really delicious, but even after smothering them with butter, fruit compote, and syrup, they still tasted like cardboard. There were three pancakes on the plate; I didn't even eat a whole one. I HATE sending food back, so I assumed that when the waitress came to clean off the table and I refused a to-go box, she'd ask if something was wrong. No such luck.
- The front door: something needs to be done with this. Three times we had to get up to shut it because people leaving the restaurant would not shut it themselves. It was chilly outside and really unpleasant to eat with the door open. My boyfriend, myself, and another restaurant patron all got up on separate occasions to shut the door during our meals. Please, just install a spring or something on the door so it shuts itself.
As I write this, I realize I probably should have just said something when I was there. But I really didn't feel like the waitresses had the time or interest in hearing what I had to say.
I certainly will not be back, nor will I endorse this restaurant to others. The only thing that would possibly get me back would be to watch football in the upstairs seating area, as long as I'm not ordering the gluten-free pancakes.
I can't believe I spent $25 on a meal that I hardly touched, coffee that was not refilled, and sub-par service.
This really could have been avoided if the waitress would have just asked me why I didn't touch my plate and offer to rectify the situation. Working in Customer Service myself, this was a huge failure on their part.
Really, really disappointed.
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