Old Tahoe Cafe

PLEASE READ THESE REVIEWS & THINK ABOUT WHETHER YOU WANT TO SUPPORT A RESTAURANT THAT TREATS PEOPLE BADLY.

Something is rotten at the old Tahoe Cafe and it's not the food.

In the summer of '09 my partner & I went in for breakfast & we ended up being insulted & having eggs thrown at our car.

We went in to eat breakfast & after a very long wait, the waitress/owner came to the table to take our order.

I ordered a turkey patty & she told me that they didn't serve turkey patties until 11am. It was 10:45 am & the restaurant was empty. I told her I was on a diet and asked if she could make an exception to the rule. She responded that rules could not be broken and that if she made an exception for me that she'd have to do so for everyone.

Since we were alone in the restaurant, I thought she was joking so I smiled & looked around the empty restaurant & said, "it's just us, I won't tell anyone, I promise". I even said that if she needed me to wait the 15 minutes to put the order in that I could live with that.

She became very upset and told me I was impossible, had no respect for rules and screamed, "FINE, have it your way!" and stormed off.

Throughout the meal she was rude and very hostile and when it was time to pay the bill I told her so, saying, "this was hands down the most unpleasant and hostile dining experience I have ever had."

She smiled & replied, "Oh really, do you know what I think of that?" and she leaned in to me & whispered in her German accent, "You disgust me. Your kind shouldn't be let out of San Francisco. You should be quarantined, all of you, and left to rot."

I went back to the table & told my partner that we had to get out before I went ballistic on this woman. I was so rattled that as we walked out, I booted a plastic flower pot off the porch. Surprisingly, even though it arced through the air, it landed perfectly upright in the middle of the driveway, completely unharmed.

When we got to the car the cook was running out of the back door in full combat mode, with a handful of eggs. He tried to open the passenger side door (I suppose to throw eggs inside) but it was locked, so he circled the car, pelting us with about a half dozen eggs as we started the car and drove off.

Since then I have wondered how many others have experienced conflict at the quaint Old Tahoe Cafe, so I did a little research & ran across a site called Merchantcircle.com, and there I found two very telling reviews, both from 2008:

Reviews of The Old Tahoe Cafe Homewood, 96141

DISCRIMINATION - Did not even get to look at the menu

This labor day weekend, I experienced the most traumatic moment of my life at Old Tahoe Cafe. On Sunday, my husband and I walked in with another couple and seated ourselves at the counter. The waitress, Julija, who turns out to be the owner, gave the couple sitting right next to us menus and walked passed us. When she returned, she took their order and ignored us. The other couple passed their menus to us and Julija grabbed the menus from our hands and told us she could not take our order, then told us to get up and wait at the door. We were humiliated... we have never been refused service in our life and felt like were were in the pre civil rights era. Customer service and hospitality is HUGE part of what makes an eatery successful. Julija treated us with such disrespect. I know that prejudice still exists, but I cannot nor should anyone, patronize a business like this one.

September 02, 2008 by Rose-Stella in Rancho Cordova, CA

First off, the price range says that the most you pay is $11.95.. yeah, that's if the waitress doesn't chase you out of the restaraunt verbally attacking you how you didn't leave a tip, when she already charged 18% tip and expected an additional one. The service was terrible, the employees were rude and impolite, and I would NEVER return to the restaraunt. I have never been treated so badly by any business and was appauled at the way the waitress mistreated my friends and I, along with wrongfully accusing us of not leaving a tip, when she received well over $10 from us all because she cheated us. I hope they take into consideration these comments in order to improve and hopefully no other customer will ever have to experience their meal the way my friends and I did.

August 04, 2008 by The Old Tahoe Cafe in Homewood, CA

So, there you have it, you've been warned. If you do choose to venture in, I'd suggest that you take a dozen eggs & perhaps some mace.