Bacalls Cafe — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Ate here last Friday night. My boyfriend used to come here all the time when he was younger and we wanted to try something new together. I'll start with all the positives: Everything we ordered was delicious. The Wisconsin cheddar soup was some of the best soup I've had in a long, long time. I got chicken fingers and fries for my meal - the fries were cooked perfectly and the honey mustard dipping sauce was amazing. My boyfriend got the reuben with onion strings and he also had nothing but good things to say. We split a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. This, too, was delicious.

Now for the negative: Our server had a really bad attitude to start. Not sure if it had to do with us ordering water to drink, but he started off on a bad foot with a snotty comment. He brought us our waters and then never came back to take our order. We sat there for almost 15 minutes and my boyfriend eventually had to flag him down. When I placed my order, he said something along the lines of "I suppose you want ketchup, too?", which isn't really a bad thing to say, but he just sounded so condescending saying it. His service improved slightly throughout our meal, but still left me with a bad taste in my mouth. He never introduced himself, either. We didn't get his name until we got our check.

Despite the bad to mediocre service, I would still go back. The menu here looks to have a lot of other really tasty things and the soup alone is worth going in for. I just hope service is better next time...

EDIT 3/4/19: Changing my review from 4 to 5 stars. Finally made it back and the service was much improved, no complaints whatsoever. The soup was still amazing. Their philly cheesesteak is phenomenal, though not exactly what you'd expect with a side of au jus but the flavors were so delicious. Will definitely be back and will probably try something else, which I'm sure will be very good based on my previous 2...

I hadn't been to Baclls since before Covid-19. I was glad to see it reopen because I live in tne neighborhood. I feel when you are placing your order if they are going to be additional upcharges the waitress should let you know that at the time of placing the order. I ordered a Turkey burger which came with lettuce, tomato and red Onion. Plus a cup of the soup of the day. When the first order came out it was a fish sent back to be redone. I asked if the onions could be sauteed and I was told they could. When the order came out the soup of the day which was a chicken and sausage gumbo head okra in it. Okra is not something everyone eats and I think they should have mentioned place in no order. The burger arrived with sauteing onions that were white onions I mentioned it to the server but I kept them. The upcharges on my bill were 85 cent for sauteed white onions if I was gonna be charged 85 cent it should have been the red onions. I asked for pickle on my burger because it didn't come with pickle and I don't understand why a burger wouldn't come with pickles but there was a 85 cent charge for pickles. If I go there again to eat I would have to question everything that I order before I place it so that I don't end up with additional charges on my bill. That I'm not expecting. I feel they just nickled and dimed me for things and didn't tell me ahead of time where I could choose whether or not I wanted to pay the...

I've not been to Bacalls for a long time.... went this week for Burger week and took 2 friends who've never been there. Had very good service and our server was supported well by bussers and runners.

Food was quite good and very reasonably priced. I took advantage of the Burger Week/Sam Adams special.

My friends were impressed and we would go back in a heartbeat. Server did a good job and was fairly attentive, but she was perhaps the loudest person I've ever been around. I felt like I was working in a deaf school. Honestly, if I were around that very long, I would need earplugs.

Here is the only negative with this visit and it's not that big of a deal. When we started to order, everyone wanted to order the Burger special. My friends ( 1st timers to the restaurant) wanted to make some small modifications to not include some of the toppings that were part of the Burger week special. Server was very clear that no substitutions were permitted and it was almost to the point where my friends were treated rudely... All of us understood why they felt the need to limit any substitutions, but it just did not make for a very friendly welcome to the restaurant. Fortunately, the food was good and my friends were very happy with the choice...