Elissa

Ratatouille in Eugene, Oregon
Dec 19 07

My co-workers and I had been very excited to try this new restaurant. As a vegetarian, I am always eager to support local businesses that are meat-free and use organic ingredients. My mother was visiting this past weekend, and when we saw the advertisement in the Eugene Weekly for brunch, we decided to attend.

I must say, firstly, that the girl on the phone was very nice when I called to make a reservation. She did have a table waiting for us and we were seated right away. The restaurant was clean and nicely decorated, although temperature was fairly cold.

Once we were seated, we waited for 17 minutes before anyone even offered us coffee. There were only two very young ladies working the floor, and making their own espresso drinks. When the girl came to take our order, my mother ordered a decaf cappuccino and we placed our food order. The waitress did not write it down, but that is not an uncommon practice in fine dining, so I only let the thought linger for a second.

My mother asked for Splenda or some other kind of non-sugar sweetener, and the waitress said “we only have sugar.” I questioned this, asking what they do for their diabetic patrons, and she said, “Well, we have agave syrup.” I told her to bring it.

Another 15 minutes later, the girl brought a shot of espresso. I informed her that my mother had ordered a cappuccino, not a shot of espresso, and she said something ridiculous like, “We don’t have the right roast of beans for that.”

Being a former fine-dining server and barista, I had to strongly quell the urge to offer to make it myself – or teach her how to make it. But I told her to, at the least, mix it with some steamed milk. What she finally brought was a huge cup of fully caffeinated, over-pulled espresso with a strange foam on the top and coffee grounds trailing from the inside of the cup down the side. Neither of us were ever provided with a spoon of any kind, and my mom had to stir her coffee with her fork.

I must add that this waitress had her long hair down, not pulled back, and she was constantly playing with it and pulling it out of her face while she was preparing drinks and running food. She even vigorously rubbed under her nose while taking a food order from the table next to us. At one point, the other waitress came over. She said we "looked upset" and asked if everything was OK. We told her that we were just having an intense discussion. She asked what we had ordered, and SHE wrote it down and took it to the kitchen.

Forty-five minutes after ordering, we got our food. My mother’s omelet with greens was dripping with oil, and the potatoes tasted like they were re-heated from a former day. My 10 dollar quiche consisted of a handful of greens for salad, a small portion of potatoes, and an absolutely flat, small, re-heated piece of “quiche.” I put it in quotes because it was flat as a pancake, maybe half and inch high and really small – for $10.00!!!

The neighboring table ordered the quiche as well and I heard one of the party exclaim, “This was 10 dollars?” We ended up chatting with them as they sent two items back for being cold and uncooked in the middle. We were all just shaking our heads in disbelief.

We left really disappointed and disgruntled that we had spent so much time at a place for such a disappointing meal. I had such high hopes.

I really hope that someone from the restaurant reads this and realizes that major things must change if they want the business to be a success. As of right now, I will not go back. I have told work friends about my experience, and they are appalled. There are a lot of excellent vegetarian restaurants in Eugene. If this one wants to continue, they had better call Gordon Ramsey, because this one is a nightmare.