Red Lion Smokehouse — Restaurant in Thunder Bay

I took my boyfriend out to the red lion for his 30th birthday tonight, we both have heard really good things about this place and we were excited to try it out on such a special night. We were both very badly dissatisfied with the entirety of our "meal" for how expensive it was is not worth it alone for the horrendous food we got. The only upside to our meal was the potato skins weren't half bad but way to big of a portion for an appetizer and the food we ordered were way smaller than that! The noodles in my boyfriends mac and cheese were severely over cooked and kind of bland. The spicy chicken appetizer was coated in grease and so was the buttermilk chicken taco which didn't feel like they had even drained the grease from them when coming out of the fryer! But I have to say the worste part of it all was the beef brisket taco I tried... it was covered in sauce and probably to make up for the fact that it didn't even resemble the taste or look of brisket! It tasted like it was cooked in a microwave and then drenched in sauce to try and give it flavor! The meat had no flavor what so ever and was tough, not how brisket should be at all! I asked for the buttermilk chicken taco as a replacement and it tasted like the chicken wasn't cooked enough and drenched in oil like it hadn't been drained long enough, needless to say I got sick after one bite! I don't know why this restaurant is calling itself a smoke house when there were barely any items on the menu to resemble one! Also, I really appreciate a chef who takes there time to perfect recipes in the kitchen and what they serve their guests and this was not it! I have no idea who was cooking but they either need way more training or a different chef all together! You guys must really like your smoke seasonings that you add to everything and that's all you can taste! When adding flavors or seasoning it is not supposed to be so overpowering that, that's all you taste! We both left upset especially after the waitress who did do her job and took the 2 items off of our bill because they were basically inedible and we didn't eat them but also felt like she was undermining me when I complained and told her what my complaint was for her to say to me "well lots of people come here and eat the tacos and they love them!" Well good for them but I DID NOT have a good experience and when I say the food tastes bad and this is what it tastes like I'm not saying that to cause trouble but when I go out and pay for a meal like I did, I expect way better quality of food and service! Plus you're supposed to let someone at the time when things aren't up to par and you dislike your meal! I left so incredibly sick to my stomach from the small amount of food I did eat! Never going back and will never recommend to anyone! I'm sorry but you guys just lost quit a few customers unless you do something about the food your churning out! Felt like the cooks didn't care about the food they were putting out! I've worked in many kitchens myself over a long period of my life and I wouldn't have even sent food out for...

When Red Lion first opened I absolutely loved going here, between the atmosphere and food it was the perfect combination.

However, sadly, it seems that more recently the quality has declined. The last time I was at Red Lion, we tried to order some specials from the menu listed beside entrees to which we were told they were out of, so not a problem, we ordered the chicken burger. To our surprise, they were also out of that. We must have tried 3 or 4 different dishes and all of them were out of stock.

In the end, it turns out management had forgotten to let the servers know that they now had more chicken and every single item we tried to order was in fact back in stock. So of course we re-tried our original order: Heartbeat hot sauce popcorn chicken and also Heartbeat Tacos.

The final surprise came when our order showed up at the table. Even though the items we ordered were shown under specials (beside the entrees) they were the size of a small appetizers. The popcorn chicken was just cubed chicken breast deep-fried without any batter and then tossed in hot sauce, which made them extremely dry and just plain. The tacos on the other hand weren't bad, nothing to write home about but nothing terrible.

Suffice to say I was deeply disappointed and both myself and the person I was with were glad we were going to the theatre afterwards so we could have something to eart otherwise we would have both been hungry all night.

I sincerely did have a hard time writing this review as I always love local cuisine and businesses but the experience was just exceedingly sub-par and was likely the last time I'll be at the Red Lion Smokehouse.

*All that being said, the staff were always extremely kind and apologetic, just a poor experience, it's not the servers fault, just a blunder in management and menu...

I really want to like this place.

It's beautifully decorated and I love the atmosphere, but the service and food leaves much to be desired. My most recent trip here was Thursday May 31st. It was vegan week, so it was busy and that's fine, we were prepared to wait. When we finally got a seat it was quite a while before our drink orders were taken, again, it's busy so this is okay. We all asked for water as well as our cider and beer orders, and the waters took an incredibly long time, we though the waitress had forgotten.

My husband and I shared the spinach dip (which was absolutely fabulous) and I ordered the taco salad. When ordering I specifically asked if the salad contained onions, and if it did I was more than happy to try something else. I was assured it didn't come with any onions. Great! I looked forward to it. The first few bites tasted alright, a little skimpy with the chicken, but then I quickly noticed there were in fact red onions in the salad, they completely ruined the taste and I didn't even finish half of the entree.

Our waitress was not very attentive, I had to grab her attention to let her know. She checked with her manager, and apologized. She offered me a free dessert, which I was not pleased but I was with a group of friends and didn't want to make a scene. So we had our dessert, the S'mores with peanut butter ice cream, it tasted good. But then when the bills came the dessert was on it!

We had a different waitress taking care of the bills, so I had to explain everything to her and get her to take it off.

Overall, although the food was okay, the service was poor and I don't think I'll be...