Waffles, INCaffeinated, South Side

This review is about the location in Southside. There's a tl;dr at the end. I did take-away so it was a limited atmosphere experience. Seemed like a normal kind of diner, just more brown and wooden? I was VERY excited when I learned they make gluten free waffles (I have Celiac disease). It's only for the "design your own" section, at least when ordering online. Not for the specials. You also can't specify decaf for any of the coffee drinks (I ordered the signature drink that was supposed to have hazelnut, vanilla, and maple flavor with foam on top). But I figured I could deal with full caf for a day, and if I happened to get there before they made it, I could always ask them to do decaf instead. The order was supposed to be ready to be picked up at 16 past the hour. I got there shortly after that and it wasn't ready. The place was basically empty. As far as I could hear and see there were two tables there, two servers, and two kitchen staff. They were all sort of meandering around slowly, and when one server finally came to greet me, they weren't pleasant at all. I've been a server multiple times in different places, so I know how hard it can be and always try to give the benefit of the doubt, so I was friendly to them and told them my name and what I was there for. They had me sign a receipt (we'd already tipped 15-20% online, our usual for take-away), then set it down and just walked away. Another server came out and started prepping a to-go hot drink and I asked if that was mine and if so, could they make it decaf please, since there wasn't a way to request that online? The server just said "it's not yours," and finished what they were doing. Apparently didn't tell the other server. I waited another 10 minutes before the other server brought out the bag and said "here you go!" (the friendliest anybody had been). I said I still had a drink. The signature. Then I remembered we'd ordered it separately, trying to do it decaf, so I apologized and explained it was a separate check. They sighed and started prepping it and I quickly asked about the decaf, explaining the order issue. They didn't respond, but I could tell they were unhappy about it. I felt badly, but I had been very friendly, and when I was a server I was happy just to have someone be friendly and kind to me. Nobody ever tipped me on take-away orders. I only had 45min to have lunch with my spouse IF the food had been ready on time, which it wasn't, and now because of the very long wait I was going to have about 10min with him. I just wanted to get out of there, so I wasn't paying much attention while the server made my drink. I thanked her when I got it, and rushed out. It wasn't until I tasted it a few minutes later when I was at my spouse's office that I realized it was plain coffee/espresso. I don't even know if it was decaf. But it tasted terrible and had none of the things from the signature drink in it I'd paid for. I wasn't going to go back, obviously, because we had no time at that point, and it looked like it was just those employees on the floor. So my spouse drank it instead because he can drink motor oil if it smells like coffee. Tl;Dr It was super depressing atmosphere inside, servers were rude, food wasn't ready in time, so it ruined rare lunch date with spouse, and I was given plain coffee instead of signature drink I paid for. Lame. 2/5 stars. Only gets even the 2 stars because of the gf waffles, which I haven't been able to have since developing Celiac disease after a major surgery. Those were tasty.

I have been ordering online. I am very very sensitive to gluten and I believe that the last time I ordered I received waffles there were not gluten free, after paying the additional fee for gluten free waffles. My order is always wrong. I order choclate sauce I don't get it, I state I want the sugar I don't get it (then they blamed that on allergies), When I ask for the things I paid for, the staff is always so hesitate to get me what I paid for. I also noticed that the place is DIRTY. There is so much grime and I have never been past the register. That hallway that you can see thru is always disorganized & covered in some powder.

Great gluten free options! Edit: changed from 5 star to 3 for service. Visited 7/10 around 1 pm. There were 2 tables of 2, with us being the 3rd table of 2 and 2 servers. Initially, our waitress seemed fine, there was a good hour until close so we figured we weren’t being a problem. A table of 3 was sat after we were, with a different server, and that was it. We placed our order, I ordered a waffle with bacon and two eggs. I asked, for clarification, if you can order half a waffle when choosing the make your own waffle option and the waitress said “yes”, so I told her I would like a half waffle, two eggs, and bacon, as the waffles are a bit big. When out food came out I received a whole waffle, bacon, and one egg. I told the waitress that I ordered a half waffle, two eggs, and bacon, and she said “ya well he just made a whole one”, and ran off. I was fine leaving the half I didn’t want, but she didn’t even offer the egg. I’ve got over two decades in the service industry, so I’m not a “get the manager type, so I just let it go assuming the bill would reflect the issues she blamed on the kitchen. Instead, we were charged for the whole waffle, and the egg I never. So, she entered the waffle wrong, AND the kitchen forgot the egg she never offered to get. My son was kind enough to take me out for lunch so I definitely wasn’t going to make him pay extra for these mistakes. Whatever, easy enough, I’ll go get the bill fixed. Nope. I brought the check up to the counter, where the same waitress was at the register. I handed her the check and stated, “I ordered a half a waffle, two eggs, and bacon, you brought me a whole waffle, one egg and bacon and told me the kitchen messed up, but you still charged me for a whole waffle, two eggs and bacon”. At this point she reads the check I handed her and says “No I didn’t”, with attitude. At this point I’m kind of dumbfounded, and all I can say is “Do you need me to read the check to you? It’s right there”, and I have to argue prices with her. Finally she rolls her eyes, like I’m the problem, and says something like “Well we can always fix it”, with attitude… like she’s my teenage daughter and I just asked her to clean her room. With my years of experience in the service industry, and my son also having a few under his belt while in school, we are habitual OVER tippers. We will never leave nothing, but this is probably the first time he’s ever under tipped and one of very few times that I have agreed to participate in under tipping myself. They weren’t even busy and we were out the door 15 minutes before close, with a table still seated that just got their food. I typically love this place. What a disappointment.