Aug 22 2010
101 Cafe: Food, Charm Fine, But a Little Service Would Help
Cafe101 in Oceanside, Calif.
At any rate, I stumbled upon Cafe 101 (or vice versa) while returning from Mexico, where I had my teeth worked on. Since even with insurance, I couldn't afford to have the work done in the U.S. ($4400 estimate after insurance copays!), I opted for South of the Border and found a great dental clinic in Tijuana to do the work for a fifth or less of the U.S. estimate.
And I was impressed; the attention to detail and service (and work) were equal to or better than anything I've ever experienced in the U.S. of A.
Driving back in grinding-to-a-halt Saturday afternoon traffic, however, I grew hungry about 3 p.m. as the anesthetic wore off near Oceanside, so I turned off the freeway and spotted the 101 Cafe.
The corner stop definitely exudes the feel and charm of a '50s diner, and the food is good diner-style fare as well (I had a BLT with fries and an iced tea). However… Regrettably, the service on my visit was nearly abysmal. The waitperson was certainly nice and courteous enough, but she was evidently overworked (as a trainee stood around and did next to nothing to help).
While I was there, three people got up and left after 20 minutes or so without having their orders taken. My experience wasn't quite that bad, but I never was able to get any napkins, and trying to pay seemed to take forever as well.
There's a sign outside about something served for breakfast "Daley." I thought, "Wow, what a weird misspelling of daily," until I spied a picture on the wall of the two owners from about 50 years ago in their Little League garb. One of them was named Daley.
Anyway, my suggestion is to pay some more attention to your restaurant operations, Mr. Daley. You may need to hire some more servers. It's not a good sign when people bolt because they're not attended to.
Charm, yes; food, yes; service, no, at least not on this Saturday afternoon.
I am Mr. Daley. I am so sorry you did not get the service we pride ourselves on providing. There are no excuses for poor service. We strive to provide an authentic experience in our 82 year old Cafe
(101 Cafe)the building last remodeled in 1954, the food is real comfort food and the service reminiscent of the hash slinging waitresses from the forties. It sounds like we came through in all but the service. We do listen to our guest so thank you very much for your comments. We will work to improve immediately.
Unfortunately,a mealy mouthed reply from the owner is about all you’re going to get. uneven service is a long-standing problem there. He parrots the same line about giving good service, etc. on every negative online review.