Lion Bridge Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

*After my post, Lion Bridge's response to my friend's (Raven S) post changed. I would have never posted if not for the initial response to my friend's post which was filled with untruths, condescending and disrespectful. Lion Bridge's reply to me continues to engage in a false narrative. We did ask TWICE, the waitress and manager, if we could have the cheese warmed up and both the waitress and manager said no. The manager did not offer for the kitchen to warm up the beer cheese and refused when my friend asked her if they could just warm it up in the microwave. My frustration is not over if the beer cheese could be warmed up or not, but with the lack of customer service and following untruths. Not once did the waitress or manager offer to warm up the beer cheese. If there is a hard line of not warming up the beer cheese, that would have been fine, but offer the customer another option. We did voice our dissatisfaction, twice. We asked for the check because we were hungry and ready to leave to get food somewhere else. I was polite when I left because that is who I am. Again, the waitress and manager had every opportunity to provide great customer service. Yes, this time you missed the mark.

Response Raven S reviews and Lion Bridge response. I meet my friend Raven S at Lion Bridge today. She was seated at a table when I arrived with no menus. She told me she had been waiting and the employees were at the bar talking. A minute after I sat down, a waitress approached with menus. We ordered the pretzel bites and beer cheese. The beer cheese was cold and we asked our waitress if this was normal as I have NEVER had beer cheese cold before. She did not know and went back to the kitchen and came back confirmed it should be cold. We asked if they could warm the cheese up, which we were told no. We asked to speak to the manager. She came over and explained that the beer cheese was served cold as is custom in Germany. I have never been to Germany and this was new to me. My friend asked if they could warm it up and the manager told she told us "no, that would be cultural appropriation". Not once did either the server or manager ask us if we would like something else instead. Lion Bridge's response to Raven S was condescending and filled with untruths. (FYI...If we wanted nacho cheese, we would have gone out for Mexican.) I was the one who choose Lion Bridge and was excited to try a small business in my community. Our whole experience could have turned out differently as we treated you all with respect and understanding, unfortunately, you did not...

EDIT: Gave them another chance last night.....nope. Service was mediocre but pleasant. Food was meh (though the Bridge Burger continues to satisfy). Ordered a cup of chili. If you like your chili cold and without any spices (kinda like a Midwestern grandma might make) then this is for you. Sent it back to a get a hot cup.....when it came back it was missing the garnishes, cheese and sour cream. Just a bowl of beans and bland meat. Oh well.

OK, not super crazy about negative reviews but think this one is necessary.

We've been going to Lion Bridge since they opened. Have been there enough times over the last 2 years to lose count. So that said...

The Positive: when they are on, the food can be excellent. Some things are verging on great while others not so much. The Bridge burger is always good, unique twist with the tomato jam and pretzel bun. The breaded chicken sandwich was also very well prepared and pretty tasty. Overall the food is usually a B- or better.

The Negative: service can be down right bad. Not the servers per se, they are always pleasant and at least medium attentive, but the system is all over the place. Not having a dedicated server for each table is a terrible system. Our last 2 visits had several servers asking either the same thing like "would you like to order" (we already had) to most of the servers spending more time flitting around and schmoozing. We waited a quite a while just to get the attention of someone. The food; we ordered the brisket sandwich, I wish I had taken a picture. This thing made a roast beef from Hardees look REAL good. It had maybe 2 ounces of dry shrivelled meat on it. I don't begrudge a venue from messing up on occasion, but this should never, ever have got past the cook/chef. It was so thin and sad looking it disappeared if you looked at it from the side.

Finally, a note for breweries, regardless of whether there is some external event going on or not, beer, especially micro brew, is unacceptable in a plastic cup. Period. You are telling your patrons that they are not important enough to warrant glass and that your beer isn't either. I'm not tail gating and this isn't your third cousins GED party.

If Lion Bridge reads this, take it as constructive criticism......we want you to succeed, CR needs these...

Not busy but the service was slow. Reusable menus, not a good idea during a pandemic! I ordered a small sandwich (off of the kid's menu) and a salad, the staff forgot my salad. Didn't offer ketchup or mustard for my sandwich, I had to request condiments. The salad was without a doubt the worst salad I've ever had! Half of the lettuce, the only ingredient, besides 3 slices of cucumber (I hate cucumber) and the croutons were too hard. The"ranch" dressing had no flavor at all, mayo and some dill for...color? The grilled cheese sandwich had a bare minimum of cheese on it. The sourdough bread crust was too hard, obviously stale bread that was burnt and too hard to bite into. Our napkins blew onto the concrete, I asked for 2 replacement napkins and I was met with a rude attitude. Today was my oldest son's birthday, I told one of the waitress it was his birthday and asked if the restaurant offered anything for birthdays,she sharply said no, they did not. I've never been to a restaurant/bar that did not send out SOMETHING for the birthday wishes. For a $60 dinner for 3, none of us enjoyed the food, the price was another bad taste in our mouths. Everything about this establishment confirmed that we...