The Merchant Tavern — Restaurant in Akron

June 6, 29, 2025. Still no response. So I guess I will leave my one-star rating as a one-star rating. I prefer companies that actually care what their customers think, especially when their customers were unhappy. See you when I forget why I'm not seeing you April 26, 2025 Not Good. Kitchen sent out a cheeseburger with tomato and lettuce. Tomato "slice" was 3/8" and the center third was white, tough, and trying to cut it ruined the sandwich Had to be eaten with knife and fork AND the knife wasn't sparp enough to cut the tomato. It just crushed the sandwich into a casserole. Not what I ordered. No, didn't send it back because it's stupid to waste food over something like that. But it's also stupid to keep doing that. And I understand from talking to people there that the kitchen regularly does this and could not actually give a damn if people are bothered by it. Hence ones across the board. I hope that I hear from the restaurant that this issue is being addressed. Because some guy or girl with a bad attitude is ruining your reputation and ruining my interest in coming there as my sort of go to place for when are we going to do for dinner.

I like the place more and more with each visit. Jan. 2025: TILT: if you want to get something to go, like you have to get home for the Cavs game, you can. I got the country pork. The gravy is in its own microwavable container. The cutlet was on top of the mash. Generous serving. I held it in 140 degree oven for about 90 minutes and it was great anyhow. So now I have my new to-go from them. Second order was shrimp and grits. (Please peel the shrimps!) It held well and we already know that it reheats well as a leftover. Poutine worked well BUT it won't hold for long without melting the curds. It was still very good. Leftover poutine reheats well. Next time we won't hold it- just add a touch of heat when ready to eat. Actually, we can buy curds here, now. We can always add more or ask them to leave them aside if we need to hold it too long. Hmm. Too much cheese? July 2024: The distillery spirits are good and for sale at Silver Spirits. I dislike the gin but I like juniper gin. This struck me as more like Hendrix so if you like the florals you will love this gin. They have a summer gin which is more London Dry style Like the Bourbon. Their Bourbon Manhattans are pricy, but worth it. AND GET THE NEW WINE CASK AGED BOURBON! Omg. In an Old Fashioned or Manhatten? Divine! And the bill encourages people to drink appropriate amounts. But oh, so worth it! (Try perfect Manhattan or Old Fashioned. We have a deaf guy we go out with (cochlear implant) and they are most accommodating to get us into a space where we can talk. Never have had a bad experience with the staff. They are bright, courteous, and hard working. Tip them I've been going through a hamburger phase and I love them. I recommend medium. They hold together well and are...

The food here is so good but they have some weird policies now that make the experience a bit inhospitable. I ordered a soda and they told me that I'm only allowed a single refill of my soda the entire meal. If they're going to limit soda refills, then they shouldn't be charging 4 dollars for a soda. It's not like it was from a can or bottle either, just a normal fountain soda that costs the business pennies. At one point the waitress offered a refill but my soda was still 1/3 full, so I had to tell her no and have her come back because I had to ration my soda, which left a very bad taste in my mouth.

I also love their burgers but I'm trying to eat a little more healthy. So I tried to order their mixed vegetables as a side substitution, expecting an upcharge but happy to pay it. Instead I was told that there are NO side substitutions at all for burgers. I understand if the side substitution was something like mac n cheese, that might require a special dish, but all I was asking for is a pile of veggies instead of a pile of fries. I left half my meal on the plate because my only option was fries and I didn't want to eat those.

Finally, I went back and forth on mentioning this in my review because they did apologize and make it right, but there was metal fried into our appetizer. They apologized, gave us the appetizer for free, and also gave us a free dessert, so we're not particularly upset about it. But if the young kid we were dining with had been the one to eat a piece of metal, we would be having a very different conversation here, and that could've easily happened.

I have to imagine some of these policies that grated on me are new, I know I've been to this restaurant many times before and never been limited on soda refills, maybe it's a shortstaffed thing to keep them from running back and forth, or maybe a larger party thing because I was there with a lot of people? But this whole experience made me sad, because I really love this restaurant and have been here quite a few times, but next time we consider it we're going to be thinking about their lack of support for healthy sides and overpriced one-refill sodas and potentially skipping, despite the amazing food.

Anyway the brie burger and the nachos are...

The experience in the beginning was very good, however, after ordering a cocktail that tasted horrible, I really tried to not send it back, by ordering additional ingredients to add to the cocktail. However, this did not remedy the horrible flavor, and I had asked if I could send it back and get different drink. The waitress acted funny about the situation, but did not mention that there was a ”no return policy” for my drink, nor did she mention that I would be charged for both cocktails at the end of my meal. After receiving my check, I realized both were on the bill and questioned why. I was THEN told that it was their “policy” and that I would have to pay for both. I asked to speak with a manager who approached the situation in a hostile manner from the get-go with his demeanor and attitude. He refused to credit me for my first drink that tasted horrible, and it said “if you order it you buy it“ I tried to explain that if there was an issue with a food item, would they not take it back to the kitchen and try to remedy the situation? And why would it be not the same way for drinks? Especially if I did not drink any of it. He again stated it was their “policy“. I then questioned why the server did not mention it to me upon my ordering a new cocktail. He then stated “why should she?“ I thought the situation was handled very inappropriately, unprofessionally, and just overall in a very rude, dismissive, manner for a nine dollar cocktail. I told the manager, that I’m very sorry but I would not be tipping my server because of the situation that he refused to remedy, and he replied “that’s OK I’ll pay for her tip“. I was in the service industry for over 10 years through college, and I had never been in a situation where we did not try to please the customer, especially for an untouched cocktail that tasted horrible. I was very disappointed in this experience, especially after I had independently dropped $65 by myself on one check, and I had five other guests that had also spent a lot of money...