Shoemaker's vs. Shoemaker's

If you are unaware the owners of the longtime truck stop on West O street called Shoemaker's split a year or two ago and one of them built a new Shoemaker's directly across the street from the old one.  The new place brought the name with them and the old place is now called the Cobbler Cafe.  My friend Michele gave me the idea to try both places and then blog about which Shoemaker's is better.

New Shoemaker's:

We decided to try the new place first on Halloween morning.  The new building is very large and very nice and when we arrived the restaurant was about 90% full, but we didn't have to wait to be seated.  It seemed to take quite a while for the waitress to come to the table. Took a while to get our drinks. Took a while a get the waitress to come back to take our order.  And that was just the beginning of the waiting.

Abby ordered her usual B&G's, Z his usual Pancakes and bacon, and myself ordered the chicken fried steak and eggs.  It was the first thing on their menu and listed as their "specialty".  Sounded good to me. 

A while after ordering we noticed something very odd:  No one in our entire section of the restaurant had any food.  You could tell people were getting restless, and finally when the table next us got theirs they informed the rest of us in the hungry mass that it took an hour and fifteen minutes from the time they ordered.  A gentleman at the table at the opposite side of us joked about having to change his order from breakfast to lunch.

An hour after ordering we finally got our food.  I'd like to say it was worth the wait, but it wasn't.  Abby's biscuits and gravy had no visible signs of sausage in them and the biscuits were overly chewy.  I would rate my chicken fried steak as average at best.  The coffee was ok, but I never did get the cream that I asked for.  Z had no complaints about the food, and thankfully they had crayons for him to color with.  I wish I could say more about the food specifically, but it's really nothing to write home about. (Man, that is a very lame but true pun)

Old Shoemaker's:

Yesterday we ventured out to the old Shoemakers, now the Cobbler Cafe.  Joining us for breakfast was the Arney family.  The restaurant was busy but we were seated right away.  We arrived before the Arney's so we were not in any sort of a rush, but neither were the wait staff.  Right away I started to notice a trend between the two Shoemakers.  It took 20 minutes for them to bring menus, two of them for the six of us.  I cant remember how long after that it took for them to return take our orders, probably not less than 15 minutes.  After we ordered I really wondered if they completely forgot about us.  It was nice having another family there for the conversation, and the two kids seemed to keep each other occupied. 

Finally, after a solid hour most of our food came.  Biscuits and gravy for Abby, pancakes and sausage for Z, Aleena had toast and scrambled eggs, an omelet covered in chili for Josh (Josh had to wait for his omelet), and the "Benedict Arnold" for Christy and myself.  The "Benedict Arnold" is a layer of hashbrowns topped with eggs and Canadian bacon then topped with another layer of hashbrowns then smothered in hollandaise sauce. They have several varieties of these hashbrown monstrosities and all of them looked pretty good.

The food at the Cobbler Cafe was tons better than the new Shoemaker's.  I liked the Benedict Arnold quite a bit, and I would go back and have it again. Christy agreed.  Zander finished his pancakes and sausage without taking and breath and even stole a piece of toast from Josh.  Abby's biscuits and gravy were very good even though they were lukewarm by the time she got them.  They were the sausage biscuit sandwich covered in gravy variety, and the sausage was remarkably good.  After finally getting his omelet, Josh said that it was good. 

To me it seemed like the Cobbler Cafe offered a lot more variety than the new Shoemaker's and there are several other items that I'd like to go back and try, if I have the time.  They had some gigantic homemade cinnamon rolls that looked phenomenal. 

Verdict:

In the battle of Shoemaker's vs. Shoemaker's I have to say the the OLD place wins.  The Cobbler Cafe's food was better but both places tried VERY hard to lose this battle.  I would caution anyone from trying either place without a couple hours of your day to kill.

Here is an off the cuff rating that I just came up with:
New Shoemakers:
Food - C-  Service - F

Old Shoemakers:
Food- B  Service - D-