Heather B.
Yelp
Beware the upsell. I have been eating at the Original Pancake House in other cities so many times. Never had a problem. Took my family, two adults one teen and child and was looking forward to a nice breakfast.
We got an extremely chatty waitress who was also the hostess when we arrived.
We gave our order and she made suggestions would you like strawberries on the pancakes, powdered sugar on your pancakes.
I order eggs Benedict, how did I want my hash browns, she mentioned onion, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, I said sure load it up. I've been many restaurants when you order potatoes do you want butter, sour cream, bacon, cheese,etc.
Didn't think a thing. She never mentioned once there would be a surcharge or extra charge.
Once she got the order she disappeared, coffee cups sat empty, time went buy. Finally food came as well as the check, with a not to rush you but for your convenience.
We started to eat and to be honest I glanced at the check and could not believe that she had charged me individually for every item in the loaded hash browns. $12.50's worth, in addition to a small bowl of berries $2.95 and small bowl of whipped cream $2.95. So my eggs Benedict which I ordered instead of costing $15.00 was now $27.50.
I called the waitress over and by now her chatty personality was sullen I told her I had no idea you were charging me per item. She said that everyone knows those things are extra. And just stood there in a stare down. I asked to speak to the manager.
Manager came over and also pretty sullen and I thought rude. Explaining all the wait staff are trained to upsell and it is on the menu, and what did I want her to do. I said take the charges off. She glared at me and said well are you going to eat it. I hadn't even started eating yet, my food was getting cold.
I told her no, just bring me regular hash browns.
At this point everyone at the table was upset, my daughter walked out embarrassed and angry. The waitress now had an attitude, and the angry manager made me wait 15 mins for the new hash browns leaving the old ones to sit in front of me. I had lost my appetite.
It was a disaster, the whole upsell the patron and my ignorance of this practice ruined our Saturday, plus I paid $91.00 for a breakfast I wish we never had.
So please when dining there be aware of all these suggestions the staff makes. It's not to help you enjoy your breakfast. They are upselling you to increase your bill without telling you. I find the whole concept shameful. But unfortunately it is the world we live in where corporate greed overtakes treating people with respect, courtesy, and honesty.