Michael's Casual Dining — Restaurant in Athens

The service as friendly and the restaurant facilities were clean, but I'm sorry to say fir the most part the food was sub-par to abysmal. This is my first one star review ever, so here goes...

My order of the bbq trio with pulled pork, ribs and brisket was served colder than room temperature and some of the pulled pork was so dried out, it resembled jerky! When I got it back from being warmed up, it still tasted like left overs heated up from the fridge. The ribs had very little meat and were dry from reheating and the brisket was also also dry and not very tasty. My sides of green beans and macaroni and cheese were good though.

The Texas burger was liked by my grown sons, but those who got the Philly sandwhich said it was dry.

For an appetizer, we got the loaded fries, which though very tasty were hardly loaded - potato wedges smothered in queso cheese with some bacon sprinkled on top.

Perhaps this should've been the first item, but those that ordered beer noticed there was stuff all over and inside their mugs. At first I thought it might be salt, but it wasnt - ew! One of my sons reported a buttery smear inside their mug. All I can think is that a dirty rack of mugs was mistaken for a clean rack and I'm fairly certain they would have replaced the mugs if we had asked, but they had already gulped down half the beer before they noticed and figured it wouldn't kill them so nothing was said and it was a family celebration dinner so I guess nobody wanted to spoil the mood with complaints. I didnt hear of some of the beer mug issues until we started comparing notes on the way home.

It was a memorable visit in...

I don't understand the high rankings for this restaurant. I have eaten there multiple times with friends and alone, trying different menu items, and have been underwhelmed on each. I have been my last time, however. I met with friends and family (a party of 8) the other night and ordered the brisket. I would have been embarrassed to serve someone what I received. My brother in law heard my order and later told me I wouldn't be happy, and he was right. What I received was 3 small pieces of over-priced, dry jerky, and not even tasty jerky at that. It was board stiff. Absolutely the worst brisket I've ever had. Really, I should have sent it back, but it took so long to be served, I didnt want to sit there waiting on another item. The appetizer I ordered was served midway through our meal, which was slow to arrive to begin with. At least my sons chicken fingers and fries were edible, but they were just OK, nothing special. We had to bring them home however, because my son excused himslf to restroom and said it was so nasty he lost his appetite. The whole party was either unhappy or unimpressed with their meal. When I paid the over $50 tab for my son and I, I told the manager how bad it was and that I would not be back. This is only the second time I've reviewed a restaurant, once was for the best restaurant I've ever been to, and while this restaurant isn't the absolute worst place I've ever been, it doesn't even approach the chains it aspires to compete with. My advice is to find somewhere...

First time eating at this place. Easy access right off the main highway. Good amount of parking. Was greeted by hostess and waited about 10 minutes to get a table. This was on a Thursday night. So far so good. Upon being seated at the table, We waited a few minutes before the server, whom never introduced themselves, walked up to the table and asked for our drinks. Wife asked if they had Mountain Dew, the staff member scoffed and proceeded to inform my wife that they have neither Mountain Dew nor Mellow Yellow. That was the first sign this was gonna be quite the experience. As the wife and I waited for our drinks, we noticed a bread loaf at all the other tables, so we thought they may have like a appetizer bread of sorts. So after our drinks were brought to the table, the staff member asked a question but it was hard to understand what she had said. So I asked if they had bread, and the staff member, again, scoffed and stated that is what she just asked... So this young woman has now been just plain rude twice... So we get our food. Wife ordered a 12 oz ribeye it was $18. She said it tasted like it came from the dollar tree... I had their beef stroganoff and it was just plain bland. Not a lot of flavor. I will say the kids menu is suitably priced, don't think I saw anything over $6 on it. All In all, I think we will go back one more time, hoping to get seated in a different section, and try some different foods. Will give it one more shot. Only time will tell. Till next time......