Eggcetera breakfast and coffee shop. 8:30 am Monday morning. Ft. Myers, Fla.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
Scene: I decided to try this breakfast place—“Eggcetera.” I like the name, and the front entrance looks inviting. So I suspect that they are a good place. I walk in at 8 am. It’s a cavernous breakfast and coffee restaurant; but no customers are there. A waitress appears, and I jokingly say to her “Do you have a table for me?”
No smile and no customers, so I am concerned.
She takes me to a remote table far to the left, off the photo. I ask if they have bagels. She says, “Yes.” So I say, “What kind?” And she says, “Plain.” OK.. I ordered plain, toasted twice; –the empty ceramic green coffee cup on the table was 6 ounces.
Here are some more of our conversations:
Me: Do you have Wi-Fi?
She: Pancakes
Me: (louder suspecting a hearing disability) Do you have Wi-Fi?
She: Pancakes
Me: Uh OH! That’s the password!
Me: Can you please pour my coffee into my travel coffee mug? (Mine has three insulating layers and stays hot for a week.)
She: No
Me: (hesitating) I guess I can pour it myself…. (as she fills my 6 oz cup, I know that I will not succeed and will spill coffee all over the place)
Me: Can you please get me a cardboard cup so I can safely fill my travel mug?
She: No. You can ask the cashier. I get a Styrofoam cup from the cashier. I fill my mug, but still spill some on the table; So I steal another napkin from the next table, keeping one eye out for the waitress (Do you recall the waitress in “Five Easy Pieces?”)
She: —brings the bagel. It looks pale and unappetizing . It comes with one small prepackaged cup of cream cheese, good only for half the bagel.
Me: Can you please get me another cream cheese? (She brings it , but I find a $.75 extra charge on my check)
The bagel was the worst; the coffee was mediocre. By all indications, Eggcetera should have been an excellent place. After all, it has a winning name and it looks great. But it turns out to be a losing proposition.
The bill was $7.19. Out of guilt I gave a $1.00 tip. At Wegman’s I pay $2.70 for a superior coffee and bagel, and with no tipping.
Moral of the story: Don’t judge a book by its cover, and as Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?”
CAMILLE: “Le Festin” (tr. the feast) from the soundtrack to the Disney film Ratatouille.
Oh yes, Eggcetera looks charming, but looks are deceiving. The one time I ate at an Eggcetera chain restaurant in Florida the breakfast was so so. Ordered lobster scrambled eggs and they were nothing to rave about. Definitely not a repeat experience for a future visit to the sunshine state.
It’s too bad that your experience was not a good one. Here’s hoping that with more customers the prices become more reasonable and the wait staff more pleasant and helpful. The place looks very inviting.