"Heritage Hill is a place we used to enjoy visiting, but after today's experience and the recent changes they've made there, I am not sure we will be returning anytime soon, if ever. The kids love to be able to see the animals and run around while we wait for the food. The food and service used to be spectacular. I'd always tip well and sometimes even buy a 4-pack of their craft beer to take home, as I do like to support local businesses and local craft brewers. But again, today's experience was a complete 180 from our past visits.
We arrived today just after noon - my family of 5 and friends visiting from out of state (family of 4). Having never visited on a Sunday before, I was eager to check out the Chicken & Waffles on the brunch menu.
First problem: when we arrived, there is no longer anyone to greet you and a sign at the door said to seat yourself. Didn't think much of it at first, it was surprisingly empty/quiet. So we found a seat. Next problem: nobody comes to your table to take your order. You're expected to scan a QR code with your phone, which brings up a terrible online ordering system where you're expected to place your own order (see photo #1). There's nobody to ask questions (is "hot honey" spicy hot or temperature hot?) and there's nowhere to type in modifications (like "no hot honey," which I tried to put in the "who is this item for?" field since there was no other place to type things in -- but the kitchen ignored it).
After the chore of entering the 5 food items and 5 drinks for my family, I got to the payment page and had trouble getting my browser to auto-fill my credit card info. At this point, the page refreshed for no apparent reason and said "something went wrong." I tried to click "back" and my "shopping cart" was empty. Had to do the entire order all over again & then manually type in my CC info.
Third problem: when the server finally came out with the food, she brought everyone's food BUT mine. No explanation. I figured maybe it was too much to carry in one trip and she'd be right back. Nope. I had to go back inside, find her and ask. Only then, was I told that my food would be "a few more minutes" without any explanation. It was another ten minutes before my food came out -- the entire family was done with their food by this point. (My wife commented that some of hers and the kids' food were cold. However, the mac & cheese was excellent.)
So how about my chicken and waffles? For $18, PLUS another $2 for syrup (seriously!!) they were garbage. The chicken was just a processed patty you could get in the freezer aisle at the supermarket (see photo #2). It was hard as a hockey puck and very difficult to cut with the PLASTIC utensils they provide. The waffles weren't impressive either. I've made better chicken & waffles at home with frozen chicken tenders in the deep fryer and frozen store brand waffles. These were not at all worth the $20 they charge.
And to top it all off -- every online order comes with an automatic tip of 18%. We sat at dirty plastic picnic tables, we placed our own orders on our phones, we had to get our own waters from a dispenser, and the servers only showed up to deliver food -- never a check back to see how things were, so that's why I'm posting here. why are we being charged a tip for barely any service??? For the prices charged and the mandatory tip, I'd expect clean tables, metal utensils, a human being taking our order, a human delivering water to the table, and having ALL the food delivered to the table at the same time, not 15-20 minutes apart from each other.
This whole approach is just terrible customer service. I really hate places where I'm expected to tip before I even know if the food is right or the service is good. A tip is supposed to be a reward AFTER the meal for excellent service, not a mandatory charge up front before you know if it's deserved. Seems like the owner is trying save a few bucks by running the place with fewer staff, but in my opinion, this is a horrible move. Will not be back unless it goes back."