Rocky River Grille — Restaurant in Concord

Never again! Our dining experience began innocently enough when the waiter lets us know that the wine we ordered is out of stock, but these things happen – no big deal, simply ordered another although I was a little put off while he hovered over my wife’s shoulder as though he were an old school chum while studying the menu and muttering that he could adjust the charges later. Plenty of time to get the ticket straight, I’m thinking, as we have just been seated, and I’m still not certain whether the difference of a dollar per glass was to my favor or his. He is unsure of the soup of the day but thinks it might be chicken and rice and is still unsure ten minutes later when we place our order, but this was quickly confirmed when he took 3 steps back and hollered across the dining room to another server. Yep, it’s chicken and rice. We notice after a while that other diners appear to have been served bread and bring this to the attention of our server trainee who apologizes and asks sincerely if we would like butter with our bread. We look at each other and roll our eyes and agree that butter would indeed be nice to enjoy with our rolls. My wife had ordered fish and I had ordered a medium rare prime rib which was tonight’s special. I confirmed that this would be served with horseradish sauce which I prefer, not only au jus. When the runner brings our dinner, I notice immediately that there is neither horseradish sauce nor au jus and when I point this out he apologizes and runs back to the kitchen. Meantime, I slice through a quarter of the prime rib to confirm that it is indeed medium rare only to discover that it is well done. Quite well done. I’m 60 plus years old and have returned perhaps three meals to the kitchen in my lifetime; I swear to you that I am not one of “those customers” but my patience is being tested. Earlier I had noticed the guy in the suit with the ear piece and knew that a manager was nearby, so I insisted upon calling him over. He stands stone-faced at our table while I express my dismay. The waiter appears at his elbow and graciously offers to put my wife’s fish dinner under the heat lamp so that we may dine together which was our plan all along, not seeming to realize that overcooked fish is no better than overcooked prime rib. At this very moment the runner returns from the kitchen in record time with three-quarters of my prime rib (I have no idea what happened to my test slice) to let me know that he has consulted with the chef who has instructed him to inform me that I am ever so wrong and that the prime rib has been perfectly prepared and that I will surely agree if I would only notice the thumb size pink spot near the middle. Seriously? I admit I lost all semblance of patience at this point and said some choice words more appropriate to a locker room than an upscale restaurant, but maybe I needn’t apologize since this is clearly not an upscale restaurant. She has in the past run her own catering business and I’ve had prime rib before. The outrage is not the overcooked meat which happens sometimes. The outrage is in being told with a straight face that what I can plainly see is not true. The manager finally offered to “escort me out” which was his singular contribution to the evening....

Juan was amazing. Offered solutions for every issue which occurred. Restaurant manager/ fill in “supervisor” or whatever was lacking however. Stale chips with an $11 appetizer... no apology... steak cooked Medium well when ordered medium rare to rare.. no apology. Didn’t even table touch. The most we saw the manager do was show a server how to place silverware on the table correctly, I guess that’s as far as his skill level ranged. Tip of the day, don’t send the main chef home and keep your back up on the day after Valentine’s Day or well ever. People expect better from $30+ priced steaks that could be incredible but again lacked by far. A free app and dessert isn’t suffice and doesn’t make up for a simple apology from a manager and/or “supervisor” as he was called. From one restaurant manager to another I am simply appalled. Our first visit the food impressed us and during a revisit you have lost my interest. I’m assuming many others who know The business feel the same way. Needless to say I expected more and once again want to thank Juan for being a great server and making us feel as welcome as possible and being extremely apologetic. It is in no way his job to do so, it is a manager or supervisor, so thank him once again for me or better yet, have your “supervisor” in the blue...

We decided to do something different this year and try the Mother's Day Brunch at Rocky River. My husband and I have eaten here several times before and we've always had a great experience. However, this was not one of them. I had thought this buffet would be a relaxing experience and quieter than other places on Mother's Day. Wrong! For some reason, they thought it necessary to have a DJ blaring loud rock music right outside the banquet room. Not the kind of selections you would think to be played during a Mother's Day brunch. It was like being in a bar on Friday night. When we asked the server to have the DJ turn the music down, that lasted about 1 song before it was right back at where it was.

Being seated in the banquet room was not pleasant either. It was like you were herded into the overflow area. The food was good, but not worth the $200 bill we had for 6 of us. This was our first time trying this buffet and maybe this is something that happens every year. If so, it would've been nice to know that ahead of time. We would've chosen somewhere else. We didn't appreciate having to pay a 21% tip for servers who barely bothered to fill up our drinks either. Overall, we will not be back here on another...