Maple Leaf Restaurant in Chardon, Ohio.
I want to start this with the preface that I am not out to purposely hurt anyone, nor am I a disgruntled anything so keep you suppositions to yourself. You were not there so until you actually go with me, what you have to say about what I say is merely your opinion ABOUT my opinion. Go out and get your own.
Now, let us get down to business. How many times have I said, the service in the service industry sucks these days? I know I can't even remember, since it is something I see on a daily basis. That said, this place was not the worst I have been to , but it, on the other hand, was certainly no where near the best. My cohort and I were out that way and wanted somewhere to eat, AND, being the basically only non-fast food joint around, we went there. I immediately got the "family restaurant" feel. It was very open, which you all know I don't really like, and seemed to be quite casual. I also got the feeling of being an "outsider" because there was a couple sitting in the first booth and they did not take their eyes off of us from our arrival to departure. It was a bit creepy.
We were quickly seated by a young woman who was to be our server, though she seemed a bit confused as to where to put us even though there were only about three full tables when we walked in. She never introduced herself so I cannot tell you who she was except to say she was the one without noticeable tattoos. We were seated at the very small booth nearest the restrooms. We noticed that the menu allowed for an all day ordering of breakfast, and I was quite into that, but it said, even though all day breakfast was on the menu, no sides were allowed after two. I found that a bit odd in that all the sides were on one or more of the meals. Anyway, I ordered the Hilltopper, which was two eggs (over medium of course) with hashbrowns, a sausage patty and pancakes. My companion ordered French Toast with a side of wheat toast and sausage patties. I did not realize until I got the bill that everything on hers was a la carte, what a rip.
The meals were OK size wise, though not the huge quantity we sometimes get. My eggs were almost done and the hashbrowns could have been left off, not a very good flavor to me. In fact they had a slightly woody taste that I could not figure out. BUT the sausage was very good and the pancakes were excellent. I haven't had pancakes that good since Patty used to cook breakfast at the Lakeshore. They didn't even need syrup.
The French toast was good as well. It was made with a French bread, which was a plus. The syrup was quite good also, as well it should have been since we were in Chardon.
There were, of course, some problems. I alluded to the "family" style of the place and my reason is this: The two servers had a very loud conversation throughout the restaurant which I found to be somewhat off-putting. Our particular server never came back to check on our food once. She didn't even say anything to us until we had been sitting ready to leave for about five minutes or more. I began to wonder if she and the other were "family" of the owners, because I would never allow such informality in a place I owned. (Which is probably why I wouldn't want to own one.) Another problem, though I know it can't be helped sometimes, was the fact that the woman's restroom was out of order and the sign on it said to use the men's. Can you just say, "disgusting?" I must say, I understand the thought, but... Oh, and speaking of the restroom, the other server was on the far side of the partition in the room and was talking to some of the other customers about the bathroom problems, loudly enough so that we could hear her, AND the man I assume was fixing the problem came waltzing through the dining room with a drill and snake rather than going through a back door. A little thought about where you are might have made that go a bit better, don't ya think?
When we were leaving, I paid the bill and my companion stayed at the table so I could get some change for the tip, which was minimal because of the lack of good service. On our way out the door, my companion told the server to have a good day and she didn't even have the courtesy to look up and acknowledge us, though she did say something on the lines of, "you, too."
I want to re-iterate the fact that she was not the worst by a long shot, but she seemed so preoccupied that maybe she should not have been there that day. BUT, again, if you want wonderful tasting pancakes, go to the Maple Leaf Inn in Chardon. In my mind you will not be disappointed in the food over all.
Now, let us get down to business. How many times have I said, the service in the service industry sucks these days? I know I can't even remember, since it is something I see on a daily basis. That said, this place was not the worst I have been to , but it, on the other hand, was certainly no where near the best. My cohort and I were out that way and wanted somewhere to eat, AND, being the basically only non-fast food joint around, we went there. I immediately got the "family restaurant" feel. It was very open, which you all know I don't really like, and seemed to be quite casual. I also got the feeling of being an "outsider" because there was a couple sitting in the first booth and they did not take their eyes off of us from our arrival to departure. It was a bit creepy.
We were quickly seated by a young woman who was to be our server, though she seemed a bit confused as to where to put us even though there were only about three full tables when we walked in. She never introduced herself so I cannot tell you who she was except to say she was the one without noticeable tattoos. We were seated at the very small booth nearest the restrooms. We noticed that the menu allowed for an all day ordering of breakfast, and I was quite into that, but it said, even though all day breakfast was on the menu, no sides were allowed after two. I found that a bit odd in that all the sides were on one or more of the meals. Anyway, I ordered the Hilltopper, which was two eggs (over medium of course) with hashbrowns, a sausage patty and pancakes. My companion ordered French Toast with a side of wheat toast and sausage patties. I did not realize until I got the bill that everything on hers was a la carte, what a rip.
The meals were OK size wise, though not the huge quantity we sometimes get. My eggs were almost done and the hashbrowns could have been left off, not a very good flavor to me. In fact they had a slightly woody taste that I could not figure out. BUT the sausage was very good and the pancakes were excellent. I haven't had pancakes that good since Patty used to cook breakfast at the Lakeshore. They didn't even need syrup.
The French toast was good as well. It was made with a French bread, which was a plus. The syrup was quite good also, as well it should have been since we were in Chardon.
There were, of course, some problems. I alluded to the "family" style of the place and my reason is this: The two servers had a very loud conversation throughout the restaurant which I found to be somewhat off-putting. Our particular server never came back to check on our food once. She didn't even say anything to us until we had been sitting ready to leave for about five minutes or more. I began to wonder if she and the other were "family" of the owners, because I would never allow such informality in a place I owned. (Which is probably why I wouldn't want to own one.) Another problem, though I know it can't be helped sometimes, was the fact that the woman's restroom was out of order and the sign on it said to use the men's. Can you just say, "disgusting?" I must say, I understand the thought, but... Oh, and speaking of the restroom, the other server was on the far side of the partition in the room and was talking to some of the other customers about the bathroom problems, loudly enough so that we could hear her, AND the man I assume was fixing the problem came waltzing through the dining room with a drill and snake rather than going through a back door. A little thought about where you are might have made that go a bit better, don't ya think?
When we were leaving, I paid the bill and my companion stayed at the table so I could get some change for the tip, which was minimal because of the lack of good service. On our way out the door, my companion told the server to have a good day and she didn't even have the courtesy to look up and acknowledge us, though she did say something on the lines of, "you, too."
I want to re-iterate the fact that she was not the worst by a long shot, but she seemed so preoccupied that maybe she should not have been there that day. BUT, again, if you want wonderful tasting pancakes, go to the Maple Leaf Inn in Chardon. In my mind you will not be disappointed in the food over all.
posted by johnathan e at 1:31 PM
1 Comments:
Ha ha as I read your post, I felt as if I was writing it! We had an almost identical experience! They do have a monopoly if you need to stay in Chardon to eat. We still go there though because the food was good, they serve breakfast all day and we had a great waitress that used to work at the now closed NY Deli.
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