We didn’t have any Mother’s Day plans yesterday. When Joe asked me if I had heard of the The Ohio House, I said yes, but when he replied, “Did you know they serve food?”, I had to say no. The Centennial Cafe opened just a few months ago in The Ohio House, one of the only remaining structures built for the 1876 Centennial Exposition (Memorial Hall, where the Please Touch Museum is moving to in October is the other). We decided to check it out.
When we walked into “The Centennial Cafe at The Ohio House”, we weren’t sure if we had to order at the counter or not. I asked the woman at the register, and she acted surprised that we wanted to sit, but had a man lead us into a dining room. A large group was right on our heels, and the man started setting up tables for them, without letting us know where we could sit. We got his attention, and he said we could sit at the table we were eyeing. There were paper placemats on the table that had the remnants of the last customers’ meals. They never offered us a high chair (Lil is okay in a regular seat, but she likes high chairs– she’s also short). We piled the three dirty placemats over to one side, and when the man came over, he took 2 of them (left one with coffee rings on it) and never replaced them. We looked over the menu, which had things like 2 eggs and toast for $3.29, and a side of meat for $1.50– seemed reasonable. When the woman who was at the register came over, we asked about specials. There was a Mother’s Day special– 2 eggs, meat, toast, hash browns and a small coffee. We both ordered that with bacon, I got scrambled eggs to share with Lilia, Joe got over-easy.
The food showed up– brought by a third person. Joe had sausage and scrambled eggs. We had no silverware. Lilia had no plate (eventually she got a cool zebra plate). They gave Joe bacon, but didn’t change the eggs. He tried to eat them, but he doesn’t like them, so he had to send them back. He asked for silverware– we got plastic utensils. When they took his plate back, he lost his fork and had to get another one. I kept making Joe ask for things we didn’t have– napkins, ketchup, salt and pepper, jelly for the toast (when he asked for a jelly, the man handed him ONE packet).
Meanwhile, a woman who I thought was the owner came by a few times to say hello to Lilia. She also gave me a little votive candle, which I thought was a nice touch, but would have rather had her invest in some good service! I think her husband was there too. We were not the only ones having issues– the large group had some trouble too.
We finished up and never got a bill. We decided to just go up to the register, and when they rang up our food, the total was almost $30!! I was almost speechless! The register was computerized, so they needed to take off the extra bacon or something– but I still thought the meals would be about $7.00 each, right? It turns out the Mother’s Day special was the opposite of a special– it was $10.99! Fine, whatever, we paid, and then spent some time walking around the outside of the building– Joe took a bunch of pictures– it’s a pretty cool building. But man, what a lame breakfast experience. To sum up my review: The Centennial Cafe: Cute idea, I wish them luck, but the service stinks and the food wasn’t that great, and they jack up the prices for Mother’s Day. We said, MAYBE we’d go back and get something to go. MAYBE.
Afterwards, we drove past Memorial Hall to see the construction on the Please Touch Museum. We saw two signs for two historic houses– Sweetbriar and Cedar Grove. I’m not sure if Sweetbriar was open– we stopped and walked around to see the view (of the Schuylkill Expressway– we tried to imagine what it was like before…) and we admired a very very VERY large Mulberry Tree. We continued over to Cedar Grove, and two tour guides were outside and invited us in. We had a great tour of this house which was built as a summer house in Frankford– and moved stone by stone to the current location in Fairmount Park. The Morrises of the Morris Arboretum donated it to the city in the 1920s. My favorite items in the house were old-fashioned women’s pockets, and a squirrel cage like this:
After Cedar Grove, we went over the the Japanese House and Garden, which Joe and I have been to before. Lilia was getting tired by this point, but still enjoyed feeding the Koi in the pond. I think Joe has pictures of that, maybe he can share in a comment here? After we explored the house, we walked around outside– there is a beautiful picnic grove that we will need to revisit.
The day out ended with a trip to Trader Joe’s for supplies (Lilia slept in her stroller), and last night, Joe made my new favorite meal, Collard Greens and Garlic with Sausage. Yum. For a day without any plans, it ended up being pretty nice
6 Comments
Victor LOVES this place. For what it’s worth, I was talking to them about an art show for the Caucus and they tried to CHARGE us a fortune. We have never eaten a whole meal–just a bagel and coffee or something. You should go to Ida Mae’s in Fishtown. YUM!
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Victor reply on May 21, 2008:
Bonnie Mac & I stopped here for coffee on the way to her parents’ house one Sunday morning. I recall everything going smoothly. We even discussed stopping again for a meal.
At another table a priest was explaining his mild manic depression to an older priest. He seemed to be really enjoying his food, but got very depressed when he saw the bill.
I have wondered what that place was like — I think it’s the same one I’m thinking about. On the corner of Belmont, down from the pond and across from the Japanese garden (fence, anyway). Right near the Mann. Well I will cross that one off my “to-try” list. Yikes.
Glad to hear you had a lovely day anyway!!
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laurushka reply on May 21, 2008:
If you just want to stop for coffee, it might be okay– Victor and Bonnie both left comments saying the place is okay for grabbing something quickly– but have never had a sit-down meal.
Thanks for the heads-up on that place! I am excited about the opening of the new Please Touch also! We made breakfast at home for Mothers Day but I think for Fathers Day I’m going to take Josh to Fonthill and the Mercer Museum and to the Victory Brewery for lunch. It will be new… love trying new things too! Although being disappointed on a holiday is kind of a bummer.
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laurushka reply on May 21, 2008:
Fonthill & Mercer Museum will NOT disappoint– I haven’t been to the Victory Brewery, but the Doylestown Museums are AWESOME!
Victor and Bonnie both left comments that they like the Ohio House for quick coffee/bagel pick-up. If I find myself needing a coffee (maybe on the way to the new Please Touch), I might stop by again– but I won’t go out of my way to try a meal there again!
Laurushka:
The Ladies who support Sweetbriar Mansion regret that we missed you on Mother’s Day. Please consider a return trip to Sweetbriar to take a tour.
Sweetbriar is open for tours Wednesdays through Sundays, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, July 1 through December 15, 2008. We recommend you call 215-222-1333 to make a reservation for your tour.
In the meantime, visit our website at http://www.sweetbriarmansion.org. It was recently redesigned and re-released to the internet just a few weeks ago.
We look forward to meeting you at Sweetbriar.
Celeste B. Maschmeyer
President
Sweetbriar Mansion
Fairmount Park
Philadelphia, PA
http://www.sweetbriarmansion.org
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Laurushka:
I am the General Manager here at The Centennial Café and I would like to first offer my apologies for your horrible experience here at the café. We are always disappointed to hear that we “blew it”. It is comments like this that actually help us to improve the areas that need improvement. We have made some major changes to improve service (new certified cooks, experienced servers, friendly cashiers to name a few). I ask that you not count us out just yet. Our food here is absolutely fabulous and we never have complaints about the food. I would like to personally invite you, your husband and Lil back to the café to enjoy a breakfast or lunch on me! (please contact me to set this up)
I would like to address the plastic utensils. The café does not have a mechanical dishwasher, like the building we wash dishes the old fashion way (by hand). The café is very limited in space and could not fit a dishwasher and to make matters more challenging we have a older septic system. We believe it is more sanitary to us the disposable utensils since these items enter the mouth. We do use real plates, but these items do not go into a person’s mouth. I hope this clears up the silverware issue.
For those of you who may be reading this, I ask that you give us a chance. I always say take into consideration what one says but try it for yourself and you be the judge!
Thank you all,
Doree
The Centennial Café
4700 States Drive
corner of Belmont & Montgomery Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19131
http://www.thecentennialcafe.com
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I think the main point about the utensils was that they had to ASK for them AFTER they got their food. (that they were plastic was a much more minor issue) The table was never cleared or set for them and they didn’t even get what they ordered - even after sending Joe’s back. And, as she said, what they got wasn’t that great.
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Anonymous reply on August 20, 2008:
You are correct. In the start of my comment I addressed the horrible service. As mentioned we have made major changes to improve our service. I would truly like for them to give us another try.
Thanks for your response.
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