Black Sheep Social Club — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

First timer.

Atmosphere:. My wife and I went tonight. The atmosphere was relaxing and enjoyable. There was background music, loud enough to notice, once in a while, but not loud enough to drown out conversation or normal restaurant din.

Drinks: Their cocktails were made very well - flavorful, tasted like they were supposed to instead of flavored alcohol. We both had the Black Limeade, which was sweeter than I expected, but delicious and refreshing, my wife also had an I Remember My First Drink, which she liked, but she liked the Black Limeade better.

Dinner and appetizers: The food was excellent. My wife had the pork chop, I had the lamb chops. We also had duck fries as an appetizer - which were OUTSTANDING. We did not do desert, instead we had a second drink and moved to the patio. That's where it fell from 5 starts, and it fell hard.

Patio area:. There was limited table seating - which is fine - but the other options were "couches" that were outdoor furniture, made from heavy duty plastic. THEY WERE TERRIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE!!!!! If you plan to sit on the patio get a table, if no table is available, don't go. The patio furniture needs to be replaced!!!!!!!

Cost:. More than Olive Garden by about 20-25%, but worth every penny. It's a higher end restaurant, with higher end dishes, obviously prepared by a better quality chef. At Olive Garden, my wife and I usually spend about $60, for drinks, appetizer, and dinner, and another $20ish of we both have dessert or if we have more than one drink (not including tip) less than that if we have their cheaper meals, sometimes as low as $50. Tonight we spent $96 (not counting the tip), with two drinks each. The mixed cocktails were about $8 each, and I had one 2 finger pour of Dalwhinnie 15 scotch for $12, so about 30% of the ticket was drinks ($96 ticket without the tip, $36 of which was drinks, so prices are nice restaurant prices, but not going to break your bank - highschool kids on prom dates be warned, this is not high-school date night prices, but the special occasions like prom might be ok, but it will cost you!). Non alcoholic drinks, or beer would save some money - my wife also had a rum and coke, paied separately later, which was only $5 - about the same price as any bar. The dinners were mostly low to mid twenties, with a couple under $20 and a few over $30. The portions were generous, but not overly so - about like your'd get at home. There was also a lower priced section of sandwiches and burgers - they looked fabulous, they were big, and smelled great, but we went looking for a nicer meal, but that is another place to save a few dollars compared to what we spent.

Overall: An excellent restaurant, well worth the trip, and we look forward to going again, but... REPLACE THAT OUTDOOR...

I ate here twice in two months to preview it as a potential venue for our large group of mostly retired professionals visiting Cedar Rapids as part of our 24th annual Memorial Day motorcycle ride.

The feel is industrial with lot's of hard surfaces but inviting and comfortable. On both occasions the dinner crowd was sparse but ambient noise still moderately loud.

The first time I had the signature crusted tenderloin sided with a house salad and white cheddar mash. The salad was very sparse. The tenderloin was cooked well, had good depth of flavor, and paired nicely with the cheesy mashed spuds. Good enough to warrant a second visit!

The second time the food was was less successful but still OK. I started with seasonal dill pickle soup which contained no discernable chunks of vegetable or pickle and turned out to be a disappointing puree that tasted overwhelmingly of dill pickle juice cut with cream. The seared duck presented medium rare as promised but with a greasy rubbery skin with no hint of crispiness. The fig compote was great!

Service both times was inattentive, lackadaisical, and seemed out of step with the upscale dining experience Black Sheep Social Club appears aspirational to deliver. Maybe because they were slow nights.

Talking to the manager about a reservation and accommodations for our group of at least 20 folks for an evening of food and drink was outright repugnant. We talked about using the separate dining room. In a condescending tone she stated a minimum per person, to be set by GM, that MOST people have no trouble meeting but would need to be guaranteed. If the minimum set was $600 and the total tab was only $400 someone would need to pay the difference. This was a first for me. Why is that? Louder and with an air of patronizing disdain she stated the restaurant has right to protect it's profit margin against YOU PEOPLE who take up our space and time and don't order anything. Wow. Even though I had already ordered, I asked if I could try a teaspoon or so of the carnitas. In a volume sufficient to attract the attention of diners two tables down she said I'm not giving you anything for free. If you want to taste it you need to pay for it we're not a shelter giving away free food. She got up, asked if I had any more questions, and walked away. My server seemed aghast and suggested a more hospitable venue.

After relating this account to the group, those members I could reach were no longer interested in Black Sheep Social Club.

Thinking this may have been an anomaly I called the GM a couple days after and related my experience. He was anything but solicitous and with an air of arrogance lauded the professionalism of the manager I had spoken with and reiterated her every point.

Our group was very nicely accommodated elsewhere and I'll...

I came for lunch in a Saturday after running an event. I ordered a cranberry mocktail. I settled on the beet salad with chicken because when I asked for the steak on the caprese to be rare, the server explained they can’t serve it that way. (Whether that’s a food safety law or kitchen rule, it’s misguided.) So I settled on a different salad and a side of fries.

The cranberry mocktail was all lime juice. Overpowering, bitter, gross. The server was apologetic and took it off the bill.

My salad was delivered by another staff person, maybe a floor manager? The chicken was refrigerator-cold. I asked if it could be warmed up. She explained it could not, and the chicken in that salad was always served cold. If I’m going to pay 17$ for a salad, it would be great if the chicken were fresh grilled. If not, at the very least, not served like I just bought it pre made in a grocery cooler.

At that point I asked for a to go box so I could take it home and prepare the salad as I preferred it. She was apologetic and brought me a box. I also asked for containers for the dressing, which took three requests- two to the floor manager- before my (very sweet) original server brought them to me. I brought everything home and ate it. It was fine. Four beets in a beet salad is pretty miserly though.

Also, the floor manager (?) mentioned the manager (?) would be stopping by my table, but I never saw them. I had no intention of complaining, so that’s fine. But if I’m told someone is coming to talk to me, I expect them to… come and talk to me.

I paid the bill with a generous tip and left. But not before I finally asked the (very sweet and respectful) server to please stop calling me ma’am. Over and over. 😅 I’m an Elder Millennial but damn, I felt like she was telling me YOU’RE OLD every time we spoke. She really was so sweet and meant it respectfully, but I think it added a bit of a kick in the pants of a disappointing experience.

I don’t think I’ll come back to Black Sheep again. Ironically, the first time I went there was pre-pandemic, where I went on one of the worst dates I’ve ever been on. It ended abruptly and I wound up leaving behind nearly an entire order of the duck fat fries, which I hear are very good. The fries I brought home today were soggy upon re-heating (obviously, this is not a criticism, it’s what happens to fries you don’t eat immediately and then re-heat).

TLDR: What a bummer. No rare steak allowed, no warm chicken provided, mocktail was bitter and one note. Server sweet and atmosphere good, but I came for the food… and that...