Undercover Diner Visits Carmela's at The Loft

21771 Timberlake Road https://www.carmelasattheloft.com/

Great Food--Service Not So Great

We do not live close to Carmela’s at the Loft, so we have only been there twice since they opened in 2018. Once was a couple of years ago, and the food and service were top-notch. The owner, Ralph Palmisano, came to our table, graciously gave us a brief overview of his dream of starting Carmela’s. I spread the word as much as I could to my friends about one of the few restaurants with a fully house-made food menu. It is also heartwarming to see the incredible sacrifice of local owners investing their time and money to provide Greater Lynchburg with a great dining venue.

Fast forward to Father’s Day 2024—my few Undercover Diner visits has yielded mixed results, but typically the food around Lynchburg is good, while the service often leaves much to be desired. Some establishments are understandably understaffed, which affects the wait staff. With a little training, things across Lynchburg eateries could improve significantly.

I got the impression that the service issues we experienced on Father’s Day were either training-related or that the person in the role was better suited for a different position. The restaurant, both upstairs and down, had multiple servers, so it did not seem to be a staffing issue. The restaurant was not yet fully packed as we arrived around 11 AM.

First, the great part of the visit—the food. We ordered:

Ribeye Steak and two Eggs, breakfast potatoes, and toast.

Italian Loaf French Toast, two thick slices of bread dipped in cinnamon egg batter, topped with berry compote, and whipped cream, breakfast potatoes, and bacon.

Made in-house Crab Cakes Eggs Benedict, English muffin, poached egg, breakfast potatoes, and house-made Hollandaise sauce.

The steak was ordered medium rare, had tasty seasoning, and the meat was tender. The French toast had a good, sweet taste and delicious flavor. The Crab Cakes Eggs Benedict were the best I have had around Lynchburg. You could tell the difference in the in-house preparation of the crab cakes and the Hollandaise sauce. The poached egg was prepared perfectly, almost over-easy with some yolk but not overly runny.

Now for the area of opportunity—the service. We realized that the food would take longer to arrive due to the in-house preparation, which we expected. However, the time between visits to our table for water and iced tea refills was non-existent. Our server took our order, delivered the food, and checked in only after we had finished. We had to grab syrup from a recently vacated table. Our table was in the back and could not see the main part of the upstairs area; otherwise, we would have asked someone for refills, syrup, etc. Twice, we went to the water station upstairs and once asked another server for an iced tea refill, which was never delivered.

Everyone we met was genuinely nice, polite, and pleasant. Who knows? Our server might have normally been working in another position within the restaurant and did not have the necessary training for this role, or they were not suited for that type of job, which is entirely fine—I know I could not perform well in that role.

It is our hope that this service snafu was an anomaly, as Carmela’s food is excellent and seeing a local entrepreneur succeed is great. To find a made-in-house menu, locally owned, and new establishment is something all of Greater Lynchburg should look forward to and be proud of.