Susie's Station

Tourist trap. Food was too salty and way over priced. They added 18% tip for themselves. They get points for plenty of parking and service was good.

Stopped for a late lunch. We were only people there. Sandwiches were OK, slaw was a waste of cabbage.

Bill came to $49.00..... I added it up and found we were overcharged by about $19.00.  To make things even worse, the server had added a 20%  tip to the bill. And  when I got the corrected bill, I was told they only take cash.  What I thought would be a nice lunch turned into a disaster.

I will never go back.

Susie's Station is just off the highway 29 as you come in to Everglades City and past the County statehouse. It's a kind of retro-themed restaurant in the spirit of roadside stops in the golden age of American highway travel.

They do have some quite interesting antiques, mostly related to gas and oil companies. Some actual antique gasoline pumps, many advertising signs, and various ephemera that one might see along the highway.

It was also interesting the variety of people who came into the place, there were groups from France, Germany, Quebec, and Israel, all speaking in their native languages at the same time. Actually I think we were the only Americans there at the time.

Given that it's a very Americana-themed restaurant, it was kind of incongruous. "Wait, what nation are we in again?"

So, that demonstrates both the importance of tourism to the local economy of the Everglades, and the "melting pot" phenomenon which has helped to make the USA great.

They had some framed newspaper articles from the 1980's which announced the opening of Susie's Station, I believe it was originally in another location but clearly has been going steady for quite a while.

Unfortunately, we could not be served. When we came in, the woman, whom I think may be Susie herself, said "Don't worry, I'll be right with you." But after 20 minutes we had not even been given water or silverware. The reason was because some employees or co-workers had not come in during the holidays.

I felt sorry for the woman because she was working all by herself, I think she was even the only one cooking in the kitchen, and she was drenched in sweat from the intense activity of working over the hot stove and trying frantically to serve everyone in the dining room.

What she should have said instead is something like: "We are understaffed now, you can stay if you would like, but it may be a very long wait". Eventually we realized that we had to get on the road and could not wait any longer, said our apologies, and walked out.

The Israelis and the Quebecois soon followed us out into the parking lot, having also concluded that they wouldn't be served any time soon. Kind of similar to the video game "Diner Dash", in which the poor waitress has to multi-task and attend to all of the customers at once, lest they become dissatisfied.

The antiques are not so spectacular that you should go out of your way to see them, but this place might be a good choice on a more fortunate occasion.  

Based on the newspaper articles, I think the owners must be nice, down-to-earth people. They were just having a bad day.

* Note: The address above inaccurately says that Susie's Station is in Naples, actually it is in Everglades City.