The Egg and I on Gunbarrel Road
The Greek Frittata
The spinach and bacon omelet
My baby sister Myrtie was in town and we went to breakfast at the fairly new place on Gunbarrel Road, called “The Egg and I.”
I thought it would be a small café type place, but it was bigger and the building was pretty tall. It looked too big for just a restaurant. It was very spacious and clean looking.
Myrtie said that she wasn’t too hungry and she planned to take some back for her little poodle she brought with her. I knew I wouldn’t eat all of mine either, so we planned to cut ours in half and ask for a box.
Myrtie ordered orange juice to start with and I ordered their pumpkin spice coffee.
I had had one at Starbuck’s recently and I liked it a lot!
But, their pumpkin coffee wasn’t anything like Starbucks. I realized that it was ‘just coffee flavoring’ and without the bells and whistles. I was a little disappointed, but when I added cream and sugar, I did enjoy it.
Myrtie decided on the spinach, bacon and mushroom omelet with grits for $9.49 and I wanted the Greek Frittata and breakfast potatoes for $8.99.
The waitress brought our meals and she said she forgot Mrytie’s hollandaise sauce and said she would bring that right back. I knew I would have to hurry to get a picture of our food so I did. When she came back and brought the sauce, I was cutting my frittata in half and, with the waitress standing right there emerged a shiny paper clip in the center of my egg. I said, “Is that a… oh, I have a paper clip in mine.”
The waitress knew I wasn’t one of those folks who might do something like that on purpose to get their meal free, because she saw me cut into it and the surprised look on my face. But, I did expect them to take off a little of the cost for my meal – that is just the right thing to do for good customer service. The bill for this hobby of mine is taken care of, so I don’t fret over ‘getting my money back’ if something goes wrong but even so, I like people to do the right thing.
The waitress apologized and asked if I wanted them to make another one. Well, I wasn’t sure I wanted anything after that. I don’t like to cause trouble, but I told her yes. I still had no idea why anyone would use or even have paper clips in the kitchen.
While waiting on my re-cooked egg (without the office supplies) I nibbled on my potatoes and English muffin and the manager came out to apologize.
By the time my new egg arrived, I had already lost my appetite, but I cut it in half and ate a couple of bites. The eggs in Myrtie’s omelet and my frittata were light and fluffy and they tasted good. Myrtie said, “Oh this is a good omelet,” and she really liked her grits.
Myrtie is a foodie person so she likes to try strange things and she put a little of the hollandaise sauce in her grits.
She tasted it and said, “Hollandaise sauce is not good in grits.” I told her that she better not get any ideas of becoming a chef.
I liked the flavor of the frittata, I just wasn’t very enthusiastic about eating it now and we asked for a box.
When I was given the bill, I was surprised that nothing was complimentary over their mishap. When someone leaves any business unhappy, they are likely to tell folks about their experience and no business can afford negative word of mouth. Most places will make sure a customer leaves happy. I guess it is Karma that the patron who they made a mistake with is one who writes her restaurant experiences for the online newspaper.
The manager took our money at the register so I almost expected her to take something off then. I was pleased that she handed me an envelope with her apology for the mishap. But then she let me know that it was a ‘secret envelope’ that had a percentage-off figure listed inside to be deducted from my next purchased meal and not to open it until I pay for my next meal.
Was that her way of making up for a bad experience by giving an already produced marketing gimmick to folks to insure more business? Ol’ Willie Mae wasn’t born yesterday, but I didn’t say a word I just minded my own business.
Folks, I am not here to say anything bad about a place but I just tell it like it is and let you decide. I know we all have bad days - I am a forgiving person, but I expected them to handle their mistake a little better.
The food was pretty good and I liked the atmosphere, but if you go…you might want to bring your metal detector to breakfast.
Hours:
Weekdays - 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Weekend -7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.