The Chart Room Restaurant

Nice and polite staff. Food. My salad was super salty and so were my fries. It was hard to eat them. The chicken was very chewy and hard to eat. Steamed vegetables were good and tasty.

Amazing waiter who went above and beyond! Food was delicious, so much flavor. Grilled halibut is by far the best ever!

We ordered Sangria and Black cadillac for drinks, coconut shrimp for app, halibut and Rockfish as entrees and finished with Tiramisu. Everything tasted delicious, flavorful and fresh! Portion sizes were decent, service was attentive and very friendly. The views were spectacular! We saw Orcas, Otters and Seals while dining!!!

The food was enjoyable. We got the blueberry hill and kachemak sunrise mocktails. There were both tasty. Both were more on the acidic side. Then Shirley temple was very good too. The server and staff were pleasant. The food came out- halibut fish and chips was on dish and halibut lliamna. These were both good but not very hot. Cold slaw was quite subpar, being dry and not fresh. We also ordered the colossal king crab leg. This was tasty, cooked perfectly, and severed with butter. The emphasis here is on the singular with the crab leg. For the costs of the meal I expect a bit more from what I’ve seen across the coastal west. By and large it was a great time and meal. I would go back again.

The view is really the highlight of this restaurant. In winter a windows seat in summer out on the deck. Stunning view across the bay. Snow capped mountains, boats coming and going, eagles soaring. The food is decent, I've eaten here several times. I've never had anything bad but then again I've never had my Sox knocked off either. The wait staff has always been pleasant and patient. The ambiance is nice. I'm not trying to knock the food it is decent to good it just doesn't compete with the view. That said I'd eat there again anytime.

The view of the glaciers across Kachemak Bay was beautiful while enjoying dinner. Our waitress was great. The house Cabernet was delicious and smooth. We got a bowl of chowder and a half house salad with sweet vinaigrette dressing. That dressing was amazing! It was the best dressing I've ever had. 10/10 stars, highly recommend. We then got a seafood fettuccini Alfredo and blackened rockfish. Yum and yum. We briefly thought about dessert but were both stuffed. However every option from lava cake to creme brulee sounded delicious. Next time. Overall good experience. We did the Getaway Package where you get a room + an entree and glass of house wine for two people. I've done it almost every year and it's worth it. You have to call the hotel to reserve it.

My wife and I order halibut fish and chips. First the food showed up and the portion was disappointing. Then I cut into the fish. The batter was so greasy it was hard to cut, the fish was so dry it fell out of the batter like saw dust and distilled water has more flavor than the fish we were served. I would never serve something like that to my friends, let alone charge $35 for it. Very disappointing experience and the manager was very uncaring about the situation. The waiter was nice and appeared to care. Paid $100 for dinner and you can see we left the fish. Went to another place for food. We will never go there again.

Wow. WOW. This food is incredible, AND it has the ocean view!! We even got to see otters in the water! We shared the spinach crab dip and the caesar salad. Caesar salad was decent but the crab dip is a MUST. I ordered the fish and chips which were awesome and my friend ordered the reuben which was also delicious. We shared the cheesecake for dessert (pretty okay) and a DIVINE creme brûlée. Please check these guys out when you’re visiting Homer!

The Chart Room was a delightful experience. The restaurant is part of The Land End resort located at the end of the spit in Homer, Alaska. There are breathtaking views both from the dining room and the outdoor deck. The staff were all attentive and experienced, which was a pleasant surprise. The grilled salmon I ordered was a bit disappointing as it was slightly overcooked. It was very fresh and beautifully presented. I had a taste of rockfish from my generous dining companion's plate, and it was delish! Man, I wish I had ordered that!

Sloooooow kitchen service. We had a 7pm reservation and did not get our food until 8:30 pm. Luckily we got the salad at about 7:30 so that helped. It was a beet and arugula salad that was huge. Definitely big enough for 2-3 people BUT there were very few beets in the salad so it was just like a huge bunch of Arugula with a tasty dressing. We ordered the halibut topped with artichoke/crab sauce and a side of asparagus. The halibut was meaty, over cooked and luke warm. The crab sauce was to die for and the asparagus was cooked to perfection. We didn't have time for dessert because cause we had reserved the hot tub for 9pm so we had to shove our food down. The service was terrible but the serve comped one of our meals so that made it more palatable since it was a pricey restaurant. I would not return just because the service was so bad and the food was only okay.

Located at The Lands End Resort at the end of the spit in Homer,AK. Large dining room and a bar, all with views of the water and mountains. The first night there I had elk meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It was very good. Last night there, had the sockeye salmon, and it was fantastic. Service was great. Definitely a bit pricey, but I would recommend it and I would go there again.

Highly recommend. I had the Empress Lavender Lemonade, filet with crab leg, hubs had the seafood Alfredo, oysters, and crab and artichoke dip. Oh and the apple pie. It's been a very long time since I've had zero disappointments. But our experience this evening was absolutely incredible. From the cocktails to the dessert and everything in between, the wait staff, everything was fantastic. Please just go there and enjoy the wonderful view and the amazing food. Thanks Chart Room for giving it the Full-Send experience for us!

- Gave restaurant 2 hour notice about a group of 15 coming in. Nothing was set up and we arrived 5 minutes before our reservation time. We had to wait about another 10 minutes after reservation time for them to set up and get us seated. - One waitress for the whole section of the room where we were at. - Took about 20 minutes to get our drinks and even longer to get our food. - All the food that came out was lukewarm to the point where we thought some of our food/seafood was raw and undercooked. One dish came out raw and had to be sent back. - Had to get up multiple times to flag the waitress or someone else that worked there. - Since they left the table too close to the window, had to help the waitress and busgirl with handing out drinks and plates and giving them things. Overall the service and food service has gone way down since the last time we were there. The day before they burnt our steaks and then undercooked them the second time around. Will not be going there again. Cost of food is high and quality of food is not good.

Every year we go to Homer and make it a point to have dinner at the Chart Room. Unfortunately this year my dinner was less than stellar. In previous years, the Seafood chowder has been the best I've ever had, giving it 5 stars in previous years. This year, 2 stars. The flavor was mild, mainly because out of all the spoonfuls of chowder I had in this bowl, I only tasted 3, maybe 4 clams. It was 98% bacon and potatoes and a real disappointment compared to previous years where seafood reigned supreme in this dish. For my main entree, I had the Elf meatloaf, and it was horrible. When eating a meatloaf, everyone enjoys the outer crust with the moist loaf inside. This was like eating all crust. It was incredibly dry and the brown gravy they placed on it was the only way to lubricate it so it wouldn't get stuck going down my throat. Its the only time I haven't been able to finish an entree completely due to taste alone. Tough, chewy, incredibly dry and gamey--it was all I could do to keep down the mild taste of rotting carcass from making me sick. All in all, the food wasn't good this time, the Fats Domino drink was flavorless in contrast, but our servers were nice. Hopefully next year it will be better.

Lands End is an all time favorite in our family. they hand a New chef this month. I hope he stays. The waitress told me he didn't like to do substitutions but he did for me. For this reason, I hate to complain. I just wish I could get word to him about how my entree turned out. I requested the seafood Elfredo over steamed broccoli instead of over pasta. The vegetables were blackened so it made the sauce have black in it. Not a pleasant looking sauce. The combination of starchy vegetables instead of broccoli wasn't great either. The salad was very beautiful. My father's Alfredo over pasta was a hit. the halibut was moist and fresh. A good time was had by all!

Ordered the Seafood Fettuccine last night for dinner. The sauce tasted wonderful, The menu states there was Halibut, Scallops and Shrimp in this fettuccine dish . However, my dish did not have a single Scallop in it, which is why I ordered it. This was disappointing... but there was lots of Halibut in it and about 6 Shrimp. I let the waitress know this but she seem very disinterested in my concern. The Manager never came by to discuss either, so guessing the waitress did not share the information with him. But kudos to the Manager, because he was obviously pitching in and helping his team out as busy as they were by delivering food to some tables himself (but not ours). .

This place has a remarkable location with outstanding views. This place could be the premier spot in Homer if they actually managed it. I went there for breakfast on Sunday and they had a buffet. That sounds like it could be ok at a nice place but not here. When we arrived we had to wait for a host to seat us ( even though they only had two tables full) They told us it was $25.00 a head ( like we were cattle) when we went to the buffet there was just five mostly empty metal serving dish's (troughs) serving scrambled eggs, cube potatoes, bacon, sausage, cold French toast, biscuits, and gravy. It was all cold and old, an extreme disappointment! The owner should be ashamed to serve this.

We enjoyed our dinner at the Chart Room. We had the special Copper River King Salmon and it was great. Serving was large, huge in relationship to lower 48 standards. Cooked to perfection, moist and flavorful. The sauce was a nice compliment of lemon and butter that hid none of the wonderful fresh salmon flavor. Would highly recommend this special. We also had the rib eye steak with crab legs. The steak was the full 16 oz advertised and cook just to the rare side of the order medium rare. The serving sizes will take care of a healthy appetite. Ended with the Key Lime pie and Crème Brûlée. Key lime won!! Crème Brûlée was very good but the pie had a wonderful tartness that had us both smiling. Our server, Tiffany, was excellent and very attentive. We had refills of hot water and iced tea without having to ask. Her timing was very good and she obviously kept tabs on our progress throughout dinner. A very nice experience

Very slow service with two of our three entries wrong. Must be a bad night, have had some fabulous experiences in the past

Bartender is insanely rude and has no customer service skills. Fast food is a better option and more friendly.

The halibut was phenomenal! Went there for dinner the first evening of our stay and after we a long day, we really didn't want to get in the car again. We were so happy that the hotels restaurant was open and recommended. The meal started with quail shooters, which were ok. So we quickly moved on to the cocktails, the Pimms Cup and a Black Cherry Bramble were delicious! Dinner was the Halibut and OMG- yum! Dessert was the Warm Black Opal cocktail and it was perfect, the mixed berry cream pie was light and delicious! The crime brûlée, well we will just skip that next time around. Overall, 5 ***** from me.

The presentation of the food was great! The food itself was pretty good (would really recommend the clam chowder!). And the staff were nice too. It's a beautiful space and we were able to have a large group accommodated. There's a lovely deck space outside to get some fresh air and a bar as well.

Great food! This restaurant is open year round with great service and delicious food. We had the halibut iliamna and the fish and chips. Both were fantastic! We ordered to-go but the atmosphere appeared warm and comfortable

This is the prime example of a million dollar view and 10 dollar experience. The breakfast sandwich was bland. They couldn't poach an egg. The over medium egg was so runny it burst all over my hand when I took the first bite (so nowhere near an over medium egg). The potatoes were okay. Not much flavor and not piping hot either. I asked for decaf coffee. They had to brew a fresh pot. (I'd prefer to wait for fresh coffee, but my food ended up coming out at the same time. As a result, I had to wait until my food was almost entirely eaten before I could drink my coffee. Service was a little gruff. But it was mostly on the ball. I was trying to enjoy the view and my now cooler coffee when the server tried to make me pay/run me off. I told her, "I'm just working on my coffee." But she pushed me to pay. I resisted. And then felt miserable the rest of my time there. Not impressed with anything but the view.

birthday dinner for our party of 6, good service, view of ocean, white linen tablecloths, prices reasonable for Homer. easy to talk w others at table. food quality good for everyone. recommend it. new chef is big improvement.

I had the filet mignon tonight, and yes, the price makes you assume it will be top shelf, but it was indeed amazing. So I had to make sure I wrote this review. The medium rare was perfect, the atmosphere and service is amazing, I was impressed and would recommend it to anyone visiting.

I had dinner at the hotel restaurant twice during my stay. Once, dinner in the bar, and the second night had dinner to go. Friendly service, delicious halibut and seafood chowder. Goes without saying , the view is wonderful from the restaurant. Thank you to manager who packed up my chowder to go on second night.

Very good meals and priced reasonably. Service is outstanding. The halibut is superb as was the rockfish.

I'm surprised the reviews here aren't better. Our experience was really good. Let's start with the ambiance... this place is BEAUTIFUL inside. It's a tastefully nautical themed restaurant with gorgeous wood and glass. The view of the Kachemack Bay is breathtaking. There are also a handful of tables on the deck, and a few couches as well. I also appreciated that the bar area has a solitary television which is partitioned by glass, so your meal will not be disturbed by TV noise (I find the fact that so many restaurants have TVs really irritating) We went for breakfast which is NOT my favorite meal, but I absolutely loved the choices I practically squealed when I saw the menu. For example, they have things like quiche flights, and yogurt with fresh berries, in addition to more traditional breakfast options. I got a peach turn over and center cut bacon since I'm not a big breakfast person and it was perfect. I recommend this as a great way to start your day!

Overall, great experience at this restaurant. I ordered the Grilled Alaskan Salmon and it was really good, it came with Yukon and asparagus. The view was amazing and I enjoyed it while eating my food.

I had one great experience and one bad experience... after many days I got a call from Jeannie and she was very apologetic and I believe she will ensure that a customers complaint will be addressed more expediently... so if you are at the resort... why not try it... my bad experience was carry out and I certainly DO NOT recommend. T Just wow. While in Homer you can't miss the mermaid cafe.... get the mousse.. soo good!

During the height of the late December 2020 national coronavirus pandemic, we enjoyed the Chart Room Restaurant's safe dining environment to celebrate two birthdays. We had a round table near the windows and away from any other diners. Our waiters wore face masks, and Meagan waited on us and she had a great sense of humor to add to our enjoyable dinner and celebration. We have been served by her on past visits to the Chart Room during day trips. We enjoyed brussels sprouts appetizers, prepared two ways. Several had the Halibut fish and chips, a pasta dish, and hamburgers. Everyone enjoyed their meals.

Seemed to be one of the few places open on the Homer Spit to eat. The view from the dining room is the best! Food was really good and pretty fairly priced. I had the halibut. Perfect portion size. I didn't leave hungry or over stuffed. The potatoes that come with it are delicious. I did feel like the veggies were lacking. It seemed more like one piece of asparagus cut into 20 small pieces to look like a lot. Someone got the soup and salad. The soup is a very large portion! I don't think he finished it. Our other friend got the short rib sandwich and it looked delicious. Very friendly service. Instead of having to ask for water refills they left us a nice pitcher which was really nice. Recommend it in homer

I love this place and have never had a bad meal. Their service is top-notch and their cocktails are amazing! You have to try the Ginger Smash!

Stayed at the Lands End "Resort" lastnight and was told about their "amazing breakfast buffet". Let me start by saying the only thing amazing is they're still open. For $15 a person ($12 plus mandatory gratuity per person on a party of 2) we received a small scoop of eggs, some limp, undercooked bacon, a few potatoes and a cup of coffee. They also offered waffles. If you've ever stayed in any chain hotel and had the free breakfast, those are better than what we received. I've stayed at Resorts all over the world, literally, and have been glad to pay for the breakfast in the morning but when I paid $15 a person I got a full spread of food, cooked to order and fresh. The people serving this food and charging $15 a person should be ashamed. At least now I know why they have a mandatory gratuity, who'd tip for what they're getting in a place like this.

This place just sucks. Had reservations for 7:00 p.m. They call us at 5:15 p.m. to say another large group added people so they no longer could accommodate us. What? Who does that? No other options, no offer to help us find another restaurant. This after we spent $2200 in lodging!!!!!!!!

After a full day of fishing this place was great to have a good bite to eat. The clam chowder was on point. The bowl was really good and needed on a colder day. I went with the halibut fish and chips and it was really like and tasty. This place seemed to be one of the few places open on a Monday night. They are located at the end of the spit. The service was really good. The view was pretty great too.

Stopped in for a quick snack. Ended up with the Alaskan clam chowder and baked macaroni and cheese. The chowder was better than average and baguette were tasty. It tasted homemade and we really liked it. The baked Mac was really good and definitely a solid spin on a childhood favorite. The atmosphere and scenery were also fantastic. The service was solid too. We didn't have the entries but the plates of food were large and looked good too.

Tried the Elk burger; asked for it medium and it was overdone and not tasty. Service was OK but slow. Others in our group has a fish plate and like it.

We had a great dinner. Ordered the rockfish and an elk burger. The burger was good but that blackened rockfish was excellent. I had never tried rockfish before and I am now a huge fan. The beer and wine selection was good. We had the best table in the house, with a great view of the shore and mountains. We got to watch people catching fish and the bald eagles landing on the shore. A little pricey but was a great night.

The Alaskan Cod fish and chips weren't anything to rave about. The batter was pretty plane. The fries were alright, but for the price, I would try something else on the menu. The service was great, and we definitely enjoyed the view!

This was a beautiful and relaxing way to end a long day of traveling. We tried the oysters on the half shell, which were $30 for a half dozen. They were small but very well presented and tasted great. We did traditional cosmopolitans on a whim and they were good (drink prices were very reasonable for the size, quality, and location). For entrees one of us had the steak, which was huge and tasty, and the other one had the halibut which was the star. We never would have ordered the halibut but in our brief time waiting we heard several people raving about it. They were right: it was light and flaky and tasted wonderful. Overall we enjoyed this dining experience very much and are strongly tempted to return again tonight!

Food was good, but not as good as other spots here on the spit. Touristy, food was hot, but over cooked.

We ate at the Chart Room on August 13th, 2020. The room was extremely forgettable and flavorless, but our sever was the worst I have ever had. I believe her name was Brandon. She made our dining experience just horrible. It took us 30 minutes to get our beverages. She forgot to bring our appetizer. She never checked to see how we were enjoying our food. We finally asked the other server for things that were forgotten and she immediately helped us. When our waitress brought our bill not only had she charged us for our appetizer, but she had charged us for two of them. That's $35 extra dollars added to our bill. If this restaurant wants to make it with their tasteless food then at least need to at least have competent help. Don't waste your time and money on this one.

Is it just me, everytime I've come to this place it smwlls like an porta potty I walked in and out because of the smell

It's all about the location which is exceptional. My review is about the food which is very average. Located at the end of the spit, there are great views from the restaurant. It's fun to spend time looking out over the beautiful water. Our server was very kind and friendly but clearly he wasn't quite comfortable with his job. He was here as a seasonal worker, arriving from another country, and he was working very hard to do a good job but his inexperience showed. Not an important matter to us. I ordered the clam chowder, which was generous but the clam flavor doesn't come through. It was alright but not exceptional. The texture was thick but not heavy. It was bland, not fishy, but tasting of not much of anything. If you're worried about a strong flavor, this won't be a problem with this soup.The pieces of clams were small (my friend said they were chopped) and I didn't find any potato in the soup. I was happy to have ordered the soup, looking for a budget meal. I'd read the reviews and talked to a person exiting the restaurant who was not at all happy with her meal. I wasn't prepared to spend a lot of money only to be disappointed. One of us ordered a green salad that looked fresh, made with dark greens. She was very happy with her conventional style salad. My other friend felt that her salad with goat cheese and smoked salmon, although tasty, was too skimpy on the goat cheese and salmon. The others in my party were not impressed with their meals but didn't have any specific complaints. I think most people will likely find their meal satisfactory if not memorable or impressive. In summary: nice atmosphere, great views, average food, good value, not too expensive. They are trying and if you don't expect too much, you should be pretty happy.

Expensive and understaffed. Limited availability, call days ahead of your arrival, even if you're a hotel guest. Homer is very hard to eat in on Mondays and Tuesdays. Lots of places closed. Food good but fish was overcooked. Consider The Green Can just off the spit.

So sad to see this place suffer in the quality of food this year. Have been back 3 times this summer as loyal customers only to find that the chefs are not meeting the mark by a long shot. The waitresses are not friendly, quick to exit your table and slow to return. With higher priced menu service AND quality of meals should match. Not so much though. Maybe they will find their way back to excellence and we will attempt one next summer in hopes to that greater dining has returned. As for now, we have shut the doors to Lands End.

Stayed in the hotel and what a treat to wake up and walk down the hall to breakfast here with this view, a good menu, great KBay coffee, deck seating, and relaxing atmosphere! Watching people fishing from shore and boats going by; thoroughly enjoyable.

In Homer for two days, went to three meals at our once-favorite restaurant. Not anymore. Meal 1. We requested an outdoor table. The hostess said, come over here, seating us in the hot sunshine in the bar. We were told to wait and that the outdoor seating was being prepared and that "it takes an effort to get ready." No one was out there and it was already 30 minutes into lunch service time. Twenty minutes later, a group was seated out there. The very nice bartender Lisa offered to take our order while we waited. Now, forty minutes later, we were being served our meal, in the hot sunny bar. "Oh, did you want to sit outside?" The hostess knew, the waitress knew, and the bartender knew. Meal 2: "Halibut Illiamna" (supposedly stuffed with king crab -- one bite had what I'd call only a smear of crab). Halibut was dry, overcooked and salty. Husband's elk meatloaf was also dry, overcooked, and salty. Both overpriced at $35 and $25. We were seated outdoors this time, but as the sun receded as we waited a half hour for our meals, we asked about moving to the empty table in the sun since I had no sweater. This was not accommodated with the reason being a party was being seated there already. Near the end of our meal, finally a single person was seated there -- apparently the waitress's boyfriend or close relative per the intimate hugs. So, we sat there cold, finishing our dry meals. Meal 3: Stood waiting for the oblivious, chatty hostess who finally appeared after the manager prompted her out after asking us if we had been helped, this, after 7+ minutes of standing there waiting. She apparently had no clue that everyone, anywhere in the entire dining room could hear her and other staff loudly chatting on and on behind the partition. We were there for breakfast in this once-nice restaurant. First thing, our waitress at this supposed high-quality establishment rushed over and with no greetings, announced, "We're out of fruit. We only have one of ...whatever she quickly said.... and out of ...something else. You want water?" The hostess brought water and the waitress brought waters, confused that we already had some. Since there was no fruit, I asked for soy milk to moisten my oatmeal and was told, "that will have an additional charge. " In the photo, check out husband's "potatoes" with the Basic Breakfast. Old grease? Fried for too long? Both? Someone owns a lovely property in a spectacular location. We have been patrons at this restaurant and resort for years. Something is going wrong. The host on the evening before, wore his mask only 'sometimes', randomly taking it on and off. Sadly, someone needed to inform him that there was a big wet spot on one nostril side of his mask. Not attractive in a restaurant host. They're trying to play "Restaurant" with untrained players.

The food service was great! All the food was flavorful and looked great. The view is amazing if you're lucky enough to sit by the window or outside on the patio.

The Halibut Iliama was....strange. The Halibut itself was tasty but it was smothered in a crab-artichoke mix (which was stated on the menu) but the mixture was about 3 cups worth and full of mayonaise! I had to scrape it all off to enjoy. The veggies were good and bread yummy. The shrimp angel pasta was disappointing. No flavor, no sauce and maybe 1 stalk of asparagus finely chopped. Just drowning in olive oil. I ate the shrimp and left the rest. The waiter didn't even notice...

Last visit in 2017 with out of state visitors was dismal at best. Slow food, cold food, long waits for call backs. Fast forward to 8/16/21 4:45 pm:...walk in. "Please wait to be seated" signage. Outside deck open with people sitting out in the sun. Bar open with several Tables available. Resturant open with only 3 tables occupied. Options looking good. Greeter: hi, can I help you? Us: yes, can we sit outside and order food? Greeter: no Us: can we sit at the table in the bar then? Greeter: no, no food service in the bar. Us: okay, can we have the table over there then? Greeter: we are only accepting reservations, do you have a reservation? Us: no Greeter: no reservation no dining, we have a limited staff. Us: okay, that would have been good information to post on the door or on the wait to be seated signage. So even though there are literally only 6 people Eating right mow, we can't be seated? Greeter: no Me: I'm done with this place, never again will I step foot in this place or bring another visitor here. This is not the exception to service or attitudes, it is the norm. We literally drove to 6 dinning establishments over the past 3 days and have not found one open for dinner. Even McDonalds was closed to dining, had to sit in a 20 Car line or use the app and wait 30 mins for the cold burger. Homer is off my list...even Whittier has better attitudes and service and they most definitely appreciate the business.

The view at the Chartroom Restaurant is astounding, overlooking Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Mountains. But the restaurant takes dining seriously and offers up some delicious entrees. See my photo for the Elk Meatloaf - cooked to perfection. The house salad was also a something beautiful to behold, crisp and colorful. Portions are generous and the prices are extremely fair. When you find yourself in Homer and you're on The Spit, stay put and dine at the end of the road at the Chartroom Restaurant. Highly recommended.

Although their website says nothing about requiring reservations, they refused to seat us (a party of two) without one, despite the fact that they had about a dozen open tables.

Great food, clean upscale atmosphere, and friendly staff make for the perfect dining experience. As we watched out the big windows at the surf on the bay, our food arrived hot and fast. Our waiter, Grace, was polite and attentive. The food was awesome and the meal memorable.

We had breakfast and dinner here. Food was really really good. Great views to be had from the dining room. My wife and I had a very positive dining experience here. They also have a friendly staff.