It’s a red building, seen on your right as you head north on highway 69. It’s not the easiest to get to, nor the easiest to find parking for, though signs for parking exist and eventually will get you to the right spot. It is small, the converted house, and the size is the eventual cause of our misfortunes here, because being small and also being popular create unique issues for any eatery.
We came here for breakfast. Waysider serves a variety of breakfast items. There are good looking pancakes, good buttery biscuits, excellent buttery grits. Rich starchy foods abound. The Paula Deen axiom, “You can never have too much butter,” is in play here. Walls, like so many Tuscaloosa eateries, are covered with Bear Bryant and Alabama football memorabilia. There aren’t many staffers but they constantly move, remaking the eatery for every new family, or group that eats here. Groups of eaters often exceed a dozen in a party.
Good juice, tiny glasses of it.
The only plate of food that came as we ordered it.
I had ordered steak and eggs.
Hash browns missing here.
Our issue with Waysider is a little exceptional, and a product of the need to feed many mouths. Our waitress didn’t get our order accurately, and to be plain, she goofed big time. I had hardly half the food I wanted, and big portions of my wife’s order were simply skipped. So much of it was missing I simply assumed that it was coming on a separate set of plates. Now, in 99% of other establishments, this gets fixed. But not in the Waysider.
When I finally told our waitress that there was a problem with the order, staff came out of the kitchen and in a loud voice exclaimed
WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? ARE YOU TRYING TO TAKE ANOTHER ORDER? YOU CAN’T TAKE AN ORDER TWICE HERE!
At that, we decided the best approach was to pay our bill and leave.
I just have a few more words to add to this. Our situation was unusual, but the actions were not hard to understand, given the crowd of eaters behind us. That said, the actions were hardly “Southern Hospitality”. In fact, we were treated quite harshly, the worst treatment I’ve suffered in my nearly 2 years of food blogging. This isn’t a failure of the waitress, or the staff. This is a wholesale management failure. Management has to step in and fix this, or decide if they want a reputation for ruthlessness in dealing with customers to dog them the rest of their days.
Verdict: Good food. Staff is broken, literally. Recommend as long as they can get your order right.
Waysider
1512 Greensboro Ave
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
(205) 345-8239
January 4, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Love the Breakfast menu, Enjoy the Servers (they make us feel at home), Like the Cozy Atmosphere (close and tight) and the Prices are a Value in today’s economy. Mom and I meet for breakfast once a month at Waysider’s and completely enjoy ourselves. But, today, my 60th birthday breakfast with Mom brought a big surprise! I ordered my eggs over easy with the whites done. I had to send them back twice because the whites were very runny, no problem for me, I was in no hurry. But upon returning them the second time, the owner shouted from the kitchen, “What Now!” and came from the kitchen to publicly instruct me on how to ordered my eggs for the kitchen. My Mother and our waitress was astounded and embarrassed, I figured the owner was just having a bad morning. Surely, this is not normal behavior for her! Either way, Mom and I will not be returning to the Waysider, until Mom forgives the incident and she’s known to hold a grudge for a very long time.
If this type of incident would have mortified you, the next time you dine at the Waysider- DON’T return anything to the kitchen, just suck it up and eat it raw. Marci
June 23, 2012 at 3:32 pm
My girlfriend and I make regular trips to this establishment for two reasons: 1) the food 2) the entertainment of the most incompetent staff you’ve ever seen run a restaurant. I swear they can’t find their ass with both hands. It’s endearing, to be honest. Having been a server before, it’s simply mind-boggling that they’re THIS bad. The food is such a cheap, guilty pleasure that the service just seems like a penance for the sin you’re about to commit.
Just last month they gave my lady the wrong plate. She had taken a few bites before she realized it wasn’t her order. When she informed the staff, our server took the plate to the correct customer! We had to YELL across the restaurant that we’d already eaten some of it.
I still love this place and I’ll always eat here, but you’ve got to realize that it’s akin to a lemonade stand run by 4th graders that simply makes the best damn lemonade you’ve ever had in your LIFE.