Station 51 Truck Company Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Antioch

We were visiting Wisconsin & Illinois family all the way from Florida. This restaurant came highly recommended by my cousin & my husband, a firefighter, was super excited to check the place out. We were a big party (of 15), so we made reservations. When we arrived, the staff was caught completely off guard by our large party & needed to push a few tables together. It was a challenge to seat so many people at three tables, but we squeezed in. The waitress was willing to accommodate us having 6 separate checks, which we were thankful for. We ordered our drinks which took a pretty long time to arrive (12/15 of them were water or soda & three were specialty cocktails). The smoked Manhattans weren’t smoked. They arrived in Martini glasses and didn’t taste right, but none of us complained. We took it in stride. My husband ordered the “Station 51 Explosion,” but moments later the waitress returned to tell him that the meal was unavailable. Every time someone needed a soda refill, they had to get up from the table and approach the bar. Despite many menu items not being available, the restaurant being unprepared for a large party with reservations, and our drinks being slow and incorrectly prepared WE WERE STILL TOTALLY PATIENT AND KIND towards the staff. Three of us ordered the Connecticut Lobster Roll with French fries, but only one of us received it. While 10 other entrees were served and eaten in their entirety, a waitress came out to ask my cousin and I what we ordered. “Connecticut Lobster Rolls with French fries.” She disappeared. 5 minutes later she returned and said “We’re out of fries. Would you like sweet potato fries or kettle chips?” …Honestly?? NEITHER. Our entire party was having their plates cleared and I was hungry, tired, and forced to accept whatever side was offered (even though neither complemented a lobster roll). Everyone was waiting on US, so I just ordered the stupid chips. Mistake. They were cold and chewy. Did we complain? NO. It’s not the waitresses’ fault that they were short staffed and out of certain ingredients. After a $225 bill for a family of 4 was paid, I left extremely disappointed. On our way to the car my husband told me that a staff member was telling him that she was recently involved in a car accident and had to get a ride to work that night. My heart goes out to the staff member, however she wasn’t responsible for the poor performance. She was polite and trying her best. My cousin left a polite review about our experience and the owner immediately took to Facebook and used her review as a way to garner support for himself & imply that we were unnecessarily rude or unkind; Calling his followers to “give people some grace” during the holidays, and then writing up a laundry list of excuses for why our service was unsatisfactory. He even had the audacity to imply that his staff wanted to be at home with their families-after all, it was the day after Christmas. It takes quite a talented person to not only dodge accountability for the service and food in their own establishment, but simultaneously blame PATRONS for your business being open! Wow, maybe take better care of your staff: Stay Closed the day after a major holiday; so your staff can have adequate time with their families. If you have a chef walk out mid-shift on his first night, where is/was his trainer or mentor?? It’s not your staff’s fault that you were short staffed, it’s Yours! Then the owner mentioned someone attending their best friends sons funeral…You have NO IDEA what WE were going through or why My Family was there… maybe show US a little grace, your paying customers. My cousin recommended you highly, and you embarrassed her. She was kind in her review and you used it to garner sympathy and make excuses. SHAME ON YOU for doubling down and dodging accountability...

Coworker and I thought we'd try something new for lunch. Venue looked interesting, open street view, give it a shot. Inside the decor is firehouse themed. Great with some nice touches. Asked our server a few questions, great and knowledgeable of the menu selections. That's where the niceties end. Recommended seafood as a great intro to quality of Station 51. I'd like to remove 51 from the number of stations this establishment deserves on food quality. You can tell from the vastness of the menu this place may be scrambling to find their niche. Too vast, which usually suggests nothing will be a staple. The pricing of $20+/plate would also indicate the quality must be on par with the pricing. Well, alright, per recommendation each my partner and I tried the Lobster Roll for $24, Connecticut style and warmed. Upon receiving the dishes a fish smell entered the nostril and permeated the air. This is frozen lobster and I'd put dollars to donuts that is the case. Fine. The French fries looked like McDonald's. Fine. Tasting the lobster roll it was chewy in texture. Again, frozen. The size and quality of roll would be better served on any food truck for $8-10 tops. The French fries tasted like McDonald's same as they presented and the quantity served is that of a $2 medium order from said establishment. For a $24/plate selection, you'd think they would pair nice wedge fries, or handcut, or even waffle. Nope. Substandard, low tier French fry that is likely the lowest cost available option offered from their food delivery service.

All in all $24/plate in Antioch for what should literally cost $10-12 if I was downtown. They will not make it as they grasp for something to make them stand out and become relevant as a staple to the local scene. I'd be surprised if this is the quality they initially intended on offering when they opened their doors. If these are the prices they wish to charge they will certainly need to take it up a level from $5 McDonald's Happy Meal fare. Shame, as the server and staff are certainly trying.

There are few second shots to make it with clientele in the restaurant business. I have a feeling Station 51 has a bit of an issue with...

Decided to visit a new establishment in town and so here’s my honest opinion

Station 51 : 2.5/5 ⭐️

Atmosphere: 3/5 ⭐️ the place is cool to look at, plenty of TVs in the bar and they play sound for sports watching. The bar side is separated from the dinning side, they have big garage doors for windows that you can actually sit at and also causes a nice breeze through out the restaurant.

Food and drinks: 2/5 ⭐️ we ordered the cheese log, the melted cheese itself was great, the cold marinara was a good complementing choice but it was also served with what seemed like watered down ranch, over all worth the price $13. We ordered the burgers, pink or no pink really through me off. The burgers were good but not any better than Steak ‘n Shake and not worth $20 each in my opinion. I enjoyed the two specialty drink I had tried, I would say they were worth the price.

Experience: 2.5/5 ⭐️ we walked up excited to try the place since it finally opened this week. We sat at the bar for awhile before the bartender finally acknowledged us and told us she’d be back in a minute…. 20 minutes later someone else came to serve us as the bartender was just standing around. It took us 30 minutes to get our first drink. There’s definitely more than enough time to look at the very limited menu before someone finally comes over to check on you. I was really rubbed the wrong way while watching the women who served us running around while the other was stating “I don’t want to be bartender anymore today” and continued to not do much…. I noticed people who came in after us, did leave as there was a lack and wait time in greeting the guests.

I do understand this is a new restaurant and they are trying to find their swing in things, we are looking forward to going back to try some other entrees on the menu. Hopefully the next experience will be more worth satisfying. Otherwise this place will continue to be on the list of our little random bar crawls that we will do every...