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| - Rarely do I find a place where the food is really great but the rest of my experience is just so-so; usually, it's the other way around. But today at Alo Cafe I had very good food but the strangest experience.
Slow drip coffee was a wonderful start to brunch and it's nice they offer free refills - although I only got one and would've liked more. I'll get to the service a little later in the review. Ordered two of their most popular dishes: the french toast with hot fruit compote and the monte cristo waffle. Both were excellent! Also ordered a side of bacon but only got two pieces with my meal after being informed by our waitress that the cook dropped the other piece. Hmm...ok?! I waited, and waited, and after finishing the rest of meal finally got a new plate of bacon.
Which brings me to the rest of the experience. Alo Cafe is a super cute spot tucked away on a side street near Old Town Scottsdale. The exterior is quaint and reminds me of a cafe in San Diego. Unfortunately, the interior wasn't so clean and the floors were filthy. The bathroom was equally disgusting. I noticed the hand soap was watery, almost like it had been refilled with water to make it last longer -- yuck! I'll give them a pass on the overflowing restroom trashcan because I'm sure they had a busy Sunday brunch. But after a deep cleaning and with a few little touches of some cute decor, it would be soooo much better!
While we were eating, one of the chefs came out of the kitchen, walked out through the dining area and carried the most dirty, disgusting trash can out to be emptied in the parking lot. I understand a trash can is for trash -- but man, the exterior of it looked like it had never been wiped down. To walk through the dining area with it is not a good look...at all. It was unappetizing and made me think the rest of the kitchen must be filthy. I am glad I visited the restroom after eating. The floors and the rest of the interior of this cafe really really need a deep cleaning.
In terms of service, we lucked out with the ONLY waitress that was actually doing her job. But because of that, she was a little overworked. One of the other waitresses seemed to have major communication issues and some form of social anxiety. She kept delivering incorrect dishes and bills to tables. I witnessed customers having a very challenging dining experience with her. When I walked in to use the restroom, I noticed she was ducked down at the checkout counter texting on her phone. This job didn't seem like a great match for her personality. The third waitress actually seemed to be doing a descent job until I saw her walk to her car and never return -- and she still had open tables! WOW!
So... after all that is said and done, I was wavering between two and three stars. The food and exterior ambience really were great! And our waitress did a descent job for our table. So I decided to be generous and go with three stars. I truly hope they do a deep cleaning of the place and hire some better wait and kitchen staff that can serve customers because the food itself was awesome!
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