Muskie Jake's Tap & Grill — Restaurant in Ontario

We intentionally passed into this place for a "pit stop" from Toronto to Montreal. I found out about it from a blog online about the "best restaurants in Gananoque". (Spoiler I don't think it's one of the 'best').

I'm not here to berate you or make you look bad with a negative review. I'm just stating facts. And this is not my "opinion" as you said to other reviewers. It's more like areas of improvement.

I really wanted to like this place. The location is really nice on the water with nice views. The music and ambiance was nice. I went in April so obviously not peak season. And not busy. Only one other couple in there. So that goes to say that we didn't have the wait time or rude staff problems others had. Our waitress was really nice, did what she had to do, took our orders, asked if we were good etc. So of course we tipped unlike some other reviewers who didn't. I believe the problem with this place is not with the waitstaff.

The entire place needs some sort of upgrade/renovation. Booth seating was dated and worn. Dirty. Clean the place. Change the upholstery/furniture. Toilet was dirty and everything you have to touch (no automatic taps) door you have to pull to open. Kind of gross in COVID times.

Food: Meh, I expected a lot more from this place. The menu is diverse I guess. A lot of variety to choose from. But definitely not gourmet and barely meeting the pub food quality standard. I feel like if you upgraded your menu a little bit more it could go a long way. I get it, you are trying to save on costs. But frozen fries? I had the avocado chicken sandwich. The chicken seemed like a fake ground up chicken patty not even real chicken breast. So probably frozen. It tasted good, like not bad or horrible, just more like fast food good, not pub or restaurant good. My wife had the chicken supreme. OMG we were SHOCKED that all she got was a scrawny wing hahahahaha, we actually laughed. Chicken supreme is usually breast. Talk about cutting cost. I'm not a chef but I know what good food could be - and doing a little more in terms of quality with your food could go a long way.

Since it was dead (not busy), not sure what the turn over is on the food there and what you're doing to ensure we are not being served stale or spoiled food.

We got a glass of milk for my toddler kid, the glass was stained and had some black fingerprint/muck on the outside. come on, that was a bit gross so at least wash your dishes properly. The local tap beer was good even though there not much choices.

I was reading some of the negative reviews and the responses by the owner. I get it, some of the patrons may be complaining short stay tourists, and I get that it's COVID times, but some of them have valid points and the responses from the owner are sometimes too defensive and sometimes acusational. Just take the feedback and apologize. Saying "I'm sorry you feel that way" is not an apology - even if you don't agree with the customer. If you know you are understaffed ramp up staff in...

If I could give this place negative stars I would.

Me, my husband and my brother went here hoping for a nice night out and some decent food, they brought our drinks out with no straw in my brothers cola, my drink was a blue hawaiian and it tasted like nothing but club soda, I couldn’t smell or taste any alcohol in it, none of us could, it looked and tasted extremely watered down, once we ordered our food, we waited for 25 minutes for my brother and husbands food, the waitress forgot my brothers guac and was very rude about it, we ended up waiting another 20 minutes for me to get my food, I ordered the curry poutine and it was cold, it tasted like a watered down version of the frozen food section pc butter chicken, no flavour at all and it was neon orange, we mentioned to the waitress that it was cold and she started to get defensive, I told her honestly that it taste like frozen food and when she went to the kitchen and came back, she came back and argued with us saying its not frozen, something I strongly doubt still, she had an awful attitude and told us “Thats not my problem.” And never apologized once for the inconvenience and only made it more uncomfortable and inconvenient, she went back and forth from the kitchen to argue with us a few times and we told them we weren’t gonna pay $20 for something that tasted so awful and ended up having to have a DEBATE with the waitress about this, she was extremely rude the whole time, my brothers quesadilla was good but he didn’t get his quac and they gave it to him at the end of the meal instead of deducting it from the bill and my boyfriends bacon was practically raw on his burger, we definitely won’t be coming back here and BE WARNED TO ANYONE who wants to go here, just don’t, the nice view isn’t worth the crap, we paid over $100 for bad food and a bad experience, the prices are insane especially for the lack of quality in the food and service. They should change their name to Musty jakes instead of Musky jakes because their restaurant, service and food is absolutely musty...

In hopes this will help this restaurant become aware and have a chance correct what led to my poor experience. I went there with my family to support local business. I ordered the beef dip ( piled high) with fries. When my dinner was placed in front of me I immediately said to our waitress I’m missing fries. There were only 18 I had to count them sorry but it was the smallest amount of fries I’ve ever been served. She looked at me and ignored the situation. These were not fresh cut but frozen that only makes things worse. The beef on the sandwich didn’t even come to the edges of the small bun. And at best the beef was a half inch high in the centre.. That honestly can’t be considered “ piled high”.the other members of my family that had the same order at least faired a bit better in the fries department. My cousins husband had a chicken dish that was to come with roasted potatoes I believe but came with the same frozen fries again. He faired better then In the fries department. My cousins son had the beef dip and asked for salad. But when the meal came surprise fries. And yes he even faired better than I again in the fries department. On a stronger note at least our server had a smile. In summation the food was mediocre at best. And has left a bad taste in my mouth. Here is the kicker. I went to this restaurant last year and the service was alright and the food was disappointing. So I will not go Muskie Jakes again. I tried twice and gave them the benefit of Covid last year. Their is no excuse for this year. I hope this is taken as constructive criticism and they make the necessary changes for their customers and their for...