Going Back: Hat Creek @ Burnet Ln

It was not the plan to eat at Hat Creek last week. The idea was to have some chicken and waffles which were craved by one of us. It was a desperate drive to get to Lucky J’s that was inspired during the weekend after he saw one of those TV shows. We got there a little past noon to discover that even though the OPEN sign was lit. The place was closed. We twitted Lucky J’s during the week and apparently they were out for a short period of time that coincided with us getting there. After such a disappointment, we return back via Burner and we saw the big hat smiling at us. Our chicken waffle friend had never eaten on Hat Creek so it was the perfect opportunity to go back.

We ordered a combination of small and big hat combos. I added to mine their jalapeno and grilled onions which I believe is an incredible feature on their menu. As previously, the hamburger and fries were delicious. They were as we remembered and their value is fantastic.

However, this time there was a small but noticeable change on the service which at the end affected the final TAVS. Last time, we have our order delivered to our table. We thought it was a nice gesture that placed Hat Creek above the rest. Unfortunately, this time we just got called and we had to pick up our tray. Well, this time Hat Creek was just fair with the service.

I tried to see if they could recover from this and had an opportunity to go beyond. So, I went to ask for a scoop of strawberry ice cream. They carry Blue Bell ice cream for the shakes so they had it. I didn’t want a whole shake even on their small size. Therefore, a scoop was the perfect size. I know it was not on their menu so this was really a test. How much they would be able to accommodate a customer request? Well, they couldn’t for two reasons. The first was that they didn’t have a cup to put the scoop which I offered to them to give it to me on a small cup used for water. The second was that they had to charge the full price of a small shake for me to get the scoop. It was a little disappointed even though they were honest and kind with my request.

For these reasons, Hat Creek has drop on their TAVS score from an incredible 4.0 to a 3.8 knocking them out of the minimum score to qualify for the Top ALR Choice Award. We’ll probably go back since we love their combos and overall value.

Link to Hat Creek Co. web site