The Southern Cafe - Crest Hill, IL

While I thought the food was great it was quickly covered up by the fact that my group was over charged regarding tip.

Having been someone who has worked in the food industry for many years I have no issues tipping. I do however have an issue with being charge an ADDITIONAL 5 extra dollars on top of the tip I left AND the gratuity that was already add to the bill for a table of 5 (supposedly there is a disclaimer in the menu but I didn’t see it and it would be hard to find with how wordy the menu is). When I found out that the gratuity was already included and I had tipped on top of it I was surprised but honestly not too upset since it was just me on my bill so it wasn’t that big of a loss. However when I checked my bank account three days later the bill is $5 over the price I calculated with tip. While I know $5 is not a ton of money, I had already left a tip and gratuity and now am getting charged more on top.

It should also be noted that the two couples I was with were also over charged (when they found gratuity was already included they asked to remove their additional tip, they were told that’s fine and that their would be no issue. They were still charged for the tips on top of gratuity).

I will not be going back even if the food was great. If you decide to dine here just make sure to double check your accounts and make sure you don’t get over charged.

Service: 1

VERY disappointed with this establishment. The manager very unprofessional. I dined in on 10/13/24 at 10:36 am, and I was overcharged. We had a table of 5, which for most establishments, do not charge gratuity. I want to let everyone know, that it is located on the menu in fine print. With how wordy this menu is, it may be difficult to find.

Gratuity wasn’t the issue. I always LOVE to tip those especially those who work within the foodservice industry. The issue lied with the fact that when checking out at the counter. We were provided with one receipt, to split out check into 3 checks. We had a kind lady help us split the check. Now, it was NOT informed that gratuity was charged and nor were we provided with a receipt to show this. So it was just a total with an additional gratuity line. I asked staff if gratuity was included after I noticed this. She said yes. I did request to remove the additional tip. The manager said he would correct this in the system. We WERE NOT provided with a receipt to take home due to this complication and splitting checks into three.

When I called today to inform the manager I was overcharged I received nothing but rude and outrageous responses. Gaslighting would be a word to describe this action. He was unwilling to search in the system the time were dined in and the amount of the bill, without a receipt. Mind you, the receipt was NOT provided. I have worked in food industry quite sometime, where I have done this for individuals. Manager was not willing. Stated he would provide me the money cash in person. Unfortunately, living a great distance away I can NOT make this drive. I asked if he would mail this through check. He was not willing to do so.

Manager had no way to reimburse or compensate me for the money I was overcharged. Actions say a lot about a place. If he is willing to treat customers this way, imagine how he must treat the staff!! I will never be attending this facility again.

We all make mistakes, but it’s really how one works through and manages these mistakes to make it correct. From this example, we can see that it was not corrected and I will not be getting my money.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Very fast service
If you want to try a gringo breakfast and you are a tourist, this is the ideal place ?
Very good environment
Excellent service and very fast
The waitress's attention was excellent

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was fantastic, large portions... So come in being hungry.
Clean tables nice set up. Will gladly be back. Very happy.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Lemonade, The Nasty Skillet

I've only been once and I love it here! Good breakfast food! I ordered To-Go too so the quality was still good even after a little re-warming. The pictures that previous diners took really helped me decide to eat here plus a few family friends' interests!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Service was unfortunately really bad this visit. People coming in 30min after were eating and we were still waiting for our order and finally served and with many errors.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 1

We were seated right away but the young lady who was waiting on had an attitude.
Our order took a while to get to us and young lady kept forgetting things that we had ordered.Also I was charged two items on my bill good thing I checked my bill because I explained to the young lady we did not order those two items and she removed it from the bill and corrected it.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Lemonade, House Hash Browns, Sausage, Gravy

Everything was great! Too noisy but I don't think they can do much about that.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Everything was good until I paid dam look at the menu guys they charge 20 percent gratuity total of check for serving 5 people and expect a tip after dam.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Great place for breakfast or brunch. Good food, generous portions, and reasonable prices.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Love their breakfast. ?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was good, but not great. Coffee was decent. Homemade biscuits reminded me of a better version of buisquick biscuits. Ordered a skillet. It was average. Pancakes looked good and we're pretty big. But, I didn't try them. Service was ok, but the server didn't know the menu all that well and missed some little things like not having butter for the pancakes. The side room we were seated in was kind of loud. It's clear their dinning rooms don't have any sound dampening which was annoying at first. The place.wasn't that busy and it was still pretty loud. I'd avoid this place if you have sensory needs.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 4

The food is delicious. Large menu to choose from. Highly recommend any item with the chicken and especially the large biscuits. Inside it can be very crowded and loud. Sometimes the service goo could be better. I have had orders incorrectly made and they never fix it or compensate for it. Over the phone you can hardly hear them. Overall i give them 4 stars. 5 for food and 4 for environment and service.

Parking: This parking lot can be extremely busy during breakfast and brunch. Be prepared to wait

Wheelchair accessibility: There are several handicap spots and there are several ramps

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Chix & French Toast Stack, The Nasty Biscuit, Chicken Fried Steak, The Biscuit

The food was not fresh , I ordered a skillet, the hash browns, and biscuits tasted as if they had been cooked hours beforehand and heated back up . The oreo frap was amazing.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 4

French toast extreme got an ohhh from the whole table. Awesome!