Oskar's Cafe — Restaurant in Alabama

My mother and I went on a Tuesday night; we arrived around 6:30pm. We were greeted within about a minute and asked if we would like a table or booth, we chose a booth.

Not long after we were seated, our waitress asked what we would like to drink, we both had sweet tea with lemon. The drinks came very quickly, large cups, and two lemon slices per cup!

The waitress asked if we were ready to order, and we said we needed a little more time. We looked over the menu, quickly I found that my options were limited due to my diet (kosher), though, they have a large menu.

The waitress came back and took our order; I ordered the double chicken breast with toss salad and fried dill pickles. My mother ordered the barbecue plate with onion rings and fried dill pickles.

The waitress got my salad quickly, I was impressed by how fast the service was. My salad came with Captain Waffers (a basket full).

It did not take long to get our food, I was impressed with how quickly it was. The food was cooked well (not dry, cooked all the way through), though, my mother was missing her onion rings and realized the sauce that comes with the barbecue was too hot for her. We waited for the waitress to come back, she got a larger table and was taking orders.

We tried to get another waitress’ attention, to no avail. After several minutes (about 10) the waitress came to check on us, we reported the missing onion rings and asked if a different sauce was available, which the waitress rectified. She quickly brought back the onion rings and two types of sauce (mild and sweet).

We ate. I noticed that the other waiter and waitress were promptly serving their tables. The was one couple that got there after us, ate, and left before us. Time went by and the waitress was out of sight. We finished and waited for a to-go box and the check. A long period went by, the whole section was gone, and we were passed by, by the other waitress. Finally, our waitress came and asked if we needed anything, we asked for a to-go box and to-go tea. She promptly brought the box and to-go tea. She left us; I was expecting her to come back with the check. She stayed away for a long time, then went into the kitchen and we never saw her again.

After waiting about 15-20 minutes, the other waitress brought the check.

Overall, the food was okay (decent, nothing special, other than the fried dill pickles), the service was sporadic, and the cost is comparable to other restaurants.

Honestly, with Niffer’s being so close to Oskar’s, it is a better choice. Overall, I am reminded why I have not came back to Oskar’s...

Well known local eatery. Generally well liked by most, though it can be wildly inconsistent. The onion rings are very good, as are the burgers (if you order them “wood grilled”). On a recent visit however, the side salad was a few pathetic and browning lettuce leaves topped by a single tomato slice and a thin onion ring. Also, the baked potato was dry (and the potato appeared to be rotting). Additionally, the fries had clearly been cooked some time ago and then left under a heat lamp. Finally, they had run out of diet soda. We have made several visits, and the trend in food quality and service appears to be downward.

Adding another review after several more visits. Upgrading rating as food quality has become much better and more consistent. Service quality is also consistent and high quality. Servers are friendly, plentiful and well-trained. Wood-grilled burgers are excellent and best burgers around the lake.

Adding an update and severely downgrading the rating. The New business modelnat Oscar's is based on lower quality cooking and poorer service. They never used to have a problem in retaining quality staff, but now both the number of servers and their level of care have declined. Food came out late, lukewarm, more greasy and less tasty than previously. Waitress never came to refill drinks and never gave us a ticket...

Let me make one thing clear here… if we had an Oskar’s closer it would be my family’s “go-to”. But please continue to read…

I am a wedding florist in the Auburn, AL area and was setting up a wedding this past weekend at a local venue. Me and my family haven’t eaten here multiple times and me and my team actually came for lunch before setting up the rest of the wedding. Soon after the reception had started and we started to leave to head back home, the planner realized that the caterer the bride and groom originally booked never showed. I over heard what was going on and knew we had to think fast because there was quite a few people that were hungry and expecting food. So I called Oskar’s in a PANIC and asked them if they could help provide ANY food on short notice… first thing they asked was “how many people and is fish and chicken ok?”. They never had a bad attitude about the situation, never huffed and puffed, nothing. I got there, and they started loading food in the back of my SUV. They SAVED this wedding day, and if I could give them a million stars I would.

NOT TO MENTION- they have booths now!? Amazing food, wonderful service, and happy to serve their community. Love love love this place!!

Thank you guys again for helping make that happen, y'all...