Lakeview Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Coventry

I feel compelled to share what happened during our visit to Lakeview on Saturday, October 25th, so others don’t have to endure what my family did. My husband, our 11-year-old daughter, and I went out for dinner with high hopes. We had always loved Lakeview under the previous ownership and were excited to try the new menu offerings. The ambiance was still lovely, and our server was truly the highlight of the evening … attentive, kind, and professional. Unfortunately, everything went downhill from there. I ordered the scallops with risotto, my husband had the shrimp salad, and my daughter chose the gyro. Oddly, our appetizers and entrées arrived at the same time, which felt rushed and awkward. I took one bite of my scallop and was immediately overwhelmed by a strong ammonia taste and smell, a clear sign the seafood was off. I gagged and couldn’t continue eating. Our server was apologetic and quickly brought me the menu so I could choose something else. I was hesitant to order another fish dish after that experience, and ultimately decided to eat the rest of my daughter’s gyro instead. That’s when things took a turn. The server informed me that the manager, Vikki, insisted I still had to pay for the scallops, despite the fact that I couldn’t eat them. She mentioned that even if I just bought a soup as the replacement for the scallops, I’d have to pay the price of the scallop dish. What?? For realy?? I asked to speak with her manager directly, hoping for understanding. Instead, I was met with condescension and hostility. Vikki told me, “I tried your food, it was fine. We don’t sample food here, especially the expensive food.” WOW! Her implication, that I came to “taste test” expensive items with no intention of paying, was not only insulting, it was deeply hurtful. I was there with my family, trying to enjoy a night out, and was treated like a scammer. Given no choice, I ordered something of equal value, the filet mignon. She walked away to order it. At that point, I was so upset I couldn’t stay. I asked my waitress for the meal to be boxed and brought with the check so we could leave. Vikki returned and asked, “You don’t want to eat your meal here?” I explained again how hurtful her words were and that I just wanted to pay and go. I told her I was going to write to the owner, in which she said she was the owner. I told her I was going to write a review because of how I was treated. She then asked, “If I take the meal off, will you not write a review?..... as if my silence could be bought after the way I was treated. I told her to do whatever she felt was right. She eventually said she’d cancel the meal and remove it from the bill, but didn’t even communicate that to our server, who had to come back and confirm everything with me. It was a terrible situation to put her staff in. We left feeling humiliated, angry, and deeply disappointed. I will never return to Lakeview, and I hope this review serves as a warning to others. No customer should ever be made to feel the way Vikki made me feel , especially not over a plate of...

My husband and I took my parents out for dinner tonight. When we were seated they informed us that they are currently in transition of chefs and menus (which was fine). Their limited menu didnt have anything that struck my husband or fathers interest, so they asked if there were still old menu options available. The waitress gave a list of items from the old menu that are still available. They both decided to try the pot roast dinner. My mom and I both got fish sandwiches. When dinner arrived both my husband and father were served a plate with meat, gravy and a pile of mashed potatoes. The meat was beyond over cooked and extremely salty. The mashed potatoes were not even edible they were so salty. Long story short neither my father nor husband ate much of their meals. When the waitress came to check on us the guys were honest about their meals. The waitress apologized and then the owner came over to speak with us. That's where it went from just a "bad meal" to instantly deciding I will never step foot in this establishment again. The owner came to our table to ask what the problem was. By then the table had been cleared and we had our bill. My husband and father started by saying no worries we are fine and we just want to pay the bill and leave. She asked again what the problem had been so they told her how their meals really was. They were both very polite and said multiple times we are willing to pay but it was just way to salty. Instead of the owner apologizing she got very irritated and began insisting that she filled this dining room last night and not one person has ever complained about her pot roast. That no one has ever said it was salty. When My dad said not only was it salty, there was no carrots, and usually pot roast comes with meat and diced potatoes onions and carrots so it overall was not what he expected. Again saying we would pay for it but wanted her aware so she could check the kitchen. She then argued more with him about it not being salty, and then said "we took the pot roast off the new menu because we dont want those kind of people here" she used hand gestures and said "there will be higher items on the menu to attract the kind of people i want in my restaurant....."

What "kind of people" are pot roast people? How dare you look at us and say you dont want "pot roast kind of people" in your restaurant. Good luck this summer when all of the "pot roast" people that have been supporting your business dont show up. If you are a "pot roast person" go down the street to the bidwell tavern...they welcome us...

Unfortunately, not a good experience.

I had a reservation for an inside "restaurant" table (options were restaurant, patio or bar booth) for 1pm for an after ceremony graduation lunch. We arrived about 15 min early to let them know our party was all there. They told us to come back at 1pm, so we did that. We sat at the bar for 10 min and went back to the hostess stand promptly at 1pm. We were then lead to an outside table that only had 3 mismatched and disarrayed folding chairs and no table settings. We were a party of 6. I then explained we had reserved an inside table and the hostess said, "Well, yeah, but we kinda filled up the inside already". I told her I had made a reservation for inside and that we were actually here a little early when they had open tables available. She returned to the hostess station and spoke with another hostess. They then seated us inside at a table with folding chairs that were too low for the table. We asked if we could take the chairs from another table or move to that table and were told that the other open table was a reservation. I had to tell them again that we had a reservation!

Once we were settled, thinking that was a rocky start, we were hoping the experience would improve. But, not so. We were then presented with a very limited dinner menu, mostly easy pasta dishes. We found this odd since this was a 1pm lunch, but no lunch type of food offered. Dinner portions and dinner prices. There was nothing on the website that said there would be a limited menu, in fact, one of the tag lines on the website had said, "Join us for Daily for Lunch and Dinner"...I find this to be deceiving and false advertising. They also failed to mention that the restaurant would be decorated for graduates. Which, was fine for us as we had a graduate, but certainly seemed unfair to the folks there for a Mother's Day meal.

Drinks were timely, but didn't get any bread for about a half hour after having to ask for it. Bread was cold and tough as if had just come out of the refrigerator...unusual for a restaurant to serve something like that. Food was ok...pastas that I could easily make at home with boxed pasta and jar sauce. Waitress was pleasant and understanding. The 20% auto tip was unprofessional and not mentioned before hand or on website, though we would have tipped that anyway.

The restaurant could have avoided all these the poor reviews and disorganization if they had proper management planning and thoughtfulness of what their intentions were to celebrate Mother's Day and/or...