Clayton lunch

Visiting the river is a heavenly experience since I grew up spending every summer here. So when I bring my fiance for a week long visit to a cozy cottage nestled between Clayton and Cape Vincent on the Saint Lawrence Seaway it's an obvious choice to go waterside when he offers to take me to lunch. We head into the charming little river town of Clayton and greeting us at the first sight of water is a big new place called Bella's. The sign out front boasts of serving breakfast, lunch, AND dinner! And the little patio seating roadside is charming and sparcely filled. The sun was shining, so it's a bit warm for sidewalk dining. And of course, I chose the place for the view, directly over the water.

We walked in passing a bakery counter filled with croissants and other goodies, with a bustling group of people near the register. I assume they are there either to eat, or to buy baked goods. Not certain where to stand to find a hostess, we move forward a bit toward the dining room. Waitresses are hustling around and so far the place has a good feel with all the activity! However, as the minutes pass and staff is whizzing past us and no one seems aware of our presence, it starts to feel awkward. Suddenly, a young waitress obviously busy on a errand, but holding a couple menus thrusts them in my direction. "You want menus?" She says as she passes. I take the menus, a little confused....and stand there a while longer.

Now we are actively looking for some help, so I flag another waitress down, and say, "two on the deck?". She looks over her shoulder and says, "It's full out there I think. But you can take a look. It's first come first serve."

I am fuming now. I think, if we are smart, we walk out the door and find another lunch spot. I ask her with some sarcasm, "So we should just go stand out there and stare at people while they eat until someone gives us a table?"

She chuckles and shrugs, "Yeah, sorda." Then she laughs and walks away.

My fiance and I have been back and forth to Denmark in recent months, and have become aware that service is not the same in every country. Over there the wait staff is on salary, and the service is mostly self serve. And we have learned to take care of ourselves when dining out. But being back in the states, and on vacation, it was a real bummer to have to do it here. But I charged through the dining room, with him in tow, and acted like I knew what I was doing. We got on the deck and spied some people finishing down below on the patio in the shade. It wasn't where I wanted to be, but at this point, I just wanted the discomfort to be over with!

Eventually we had a waitress take our drink order. She returned with the wrong drinks. And came back with the right ones. She, like the others, was friendly and bubbly, but seemed to know nothing about professionalism, or the service industry. They all reminded me of summer camp workers, with no training in the restaurant business. My fiance ordered Excelsior Shoal Caesar Salad with grilled chicken. He said the salad was not cold enough, the chicken not warm enough, and it was most certainly boiled and not grilled. The croutons numbered about 3. He wasn't impressed. I had the Tom Thumb tuna melt on rye and it was the only good thing about the entire experience. Delicious! We waited a very long time for the waitress to return to take our money. She brought us the bill and said, "I can take this up for you, or you can go in and pay yourself." And off she went. The card sat there on the bill for at least 10 minutes or so. When a bus girl came by I flagged her to see if she could run it in. She confessed that she was only a bus person. Sorry. Then after another long while, she decided to take it in for us. However, she never returned the card, so I began to suspect she ran off with it! Finally someone asked us what we were waiting for, and came back with the card and receipt.

Well. So much for a charming lunch on the river. We enjoyed ourselves in spite of it all, because the breeze was sweet, and the water charms me too much to let bad service wreck my lunch. However, if you are going to be in the area, I would recommend taking the boat to Foxy's instead! It's a bit further up the river, but a lot more fun! We went there for dinner. Stay tuned for that review!

Overall, I would rate Bella's a 3 on the scale of 1-10. And that is ONLY because they have a beautiful location.