MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill & Pub — Restaurant in Crestview Hills

We went to Columbus/Polaris Ohio for the weekend to get away for a couple nights. We wanted to try somewhere new, so we tried Mackenzie River, the food was good, kids had a bbq pizza thing and they loved it. My wife got some kind of alfredo and it was delicious. I got the Cajun pasta and it was ok, not my favorite but I like trying different versions of Cajun pasta, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The server at first seemed decent but annoyed to be serving us. Then towards the middle of our meal the server went MIA and we all needed refills. Our food took forever to come out, about 40 minutes, we were patient and didn’t say anything because the kids were all able to play with the cornhole and Jenga sets that was next to our table which was kind of cool. They didn’t bring us any plates for the pizza or appetizers we ordered, the server also failed to bring any silverware for us to eat, after I asked someone else for some silverware they went to go get some and came back and said they are in the dishwasher and they will have to roll us some when it gets out of the dishwasher, I told her I hope the food doesn’t get cold while we wait, so we just got to stare at our food until they could get us silverware, about 5 minutes, doesn’t seem that long until you take into consideration we are all hungry and we have our 5 kids. Time to pay and again server was nowhere to be found, it was cool out and I was tired of waiting so I went to the bar to pay, the bartender said she would get my server, she tried but got the wrong one, another server or maybe manager knew our servers login info and said she could cash us out. I was paying cash for a $95 And some change bill, she asked if I wanted my change back, I said yes I will leave the tip on the table for my server. She gave me $4 back, I said where is my change? She seemed shocked/confused. I asked where my coins were, she said we just round up, I said no I didn’t agree to that I’m going to need my change, she proceeded to tell me that most restaurants now-a-days just round up or round down, I informed her no one asked me and that is stealing. She said we don’t have to argue about it. I find this interesting as we eat out multiple times a week and spend way too much money eating out and this is a first. She just had a condescending attitude about me wanting what was mine. Then as we were loading in the van the server decided to show up to clean the table and started to obnoxiously wave and yell bye and have a great day, almost as if we should be ashamed that I didn’t tip more. Serve better and...

We made our first and second trip to McKenzie’s within a week of each other with mixed reviews. I’d rate our first trip a 4 but our second trip a 3. In our first trip, we ordered three salads, a spinach, a Caesar, and a house salad. The spinach salad was well put together but I opted for the house vinaigrette and that was a mistake - it had a bitter taste and did not complement that salad. Ditto on the house salad - lesson learned. The Caesar salad was ok. We had a bbq pizza with a traditional crust and while the toppings were very good, the pizza was slightly undercooked - no crispness at all to the bottom of the crust. I had fish tacos and an order of fries. The fries were excellent but there wasn’t enough fish for the oversized taco shells and the protein got lost between the tortilla and the toppings. The fish and chips were good but the fish lacked salt. We also got a bowl of chicken chili verde and it was delicious.

Our second trip was with a different third party and we ordered wings, dry, with hot buffalo and bourbon bbq sauce on the side, a smokin q thin crust pizza, a taco trio, and southwestern salad with sliced seasoned steak. The wings were cooked well but a bit on the small side and I wondered how the breading would hold up after they were coated with your sauce of choice. The pizza was very good and cooked perfectly. The taco trio came with three different sauces. The chicken sauce was weird so we substituted the hot buffalo sauce I got with my wings and all was well. The shrimp taco fell apart when we picked it up which of course made it awkward to eat - tasty but awkward. The southwestern salad was a total disaster and I was surprised it was served. I had no idea what was on top of the salad so I asked my wife and she said “sliced seasoned steak”. Not what she had pictured. The steak was indeed seasoned but was more chopped than sliced and grossly overcooked. We did what we rarely do and that’s send it back. She got a large bowl of chicken chili instead which was just ok. A real disappointment compared to our previous visit so it makes me wonder if we’ll be back.

I’m guessing their burgers might be nice and their pasta dishes sounded nice but you’ll have to...

It is a crying shame that I have to rate this place so low, however the service that was received tonight, 25 MAR 2023, ruined this place for me. The food is fantastic. We had the hummus, a Flatbread with pear and blue cheese, the Kodiak burger and kids chicken tenders. All were delicious!! The service was so awful. Things started off nice and friendly when the waitress arrived. She took our drink order and returned with them a short while later. Once she took our order, it was a disappearing act, which is funny to say because we could actually still see her. My wife and I drank our drinks, coke and sweet tea, and they remained empty until my wife went to the bar and asked the bartender for refills, along with silverware and napkins, because none had been given to us by that point. The bartender was the one to bring is silverware. The hummus plate arrived to the table next, which was bad timing because we still didn't have anything to drink. The waitress finally showed up at the table to refill our drinks and when she brought them back, she wasn't sure if she gave me sweet tea or unsweetened tea. My wife and I are given our food, but the waitress brought a salad out with and was like I'm not sure why have this because she (our 9 year old daughter) ordered chicken tenders. When she arrived with our daughter's food we asked for a cup of ranch. After several minutes of waiting, we had to remind the waitress we still needed the ranch. She finally brought that out. By that time, my wife and I were half way through our meal. My wife had to again go to the bartender to get a to go box. Had the service been marginally better, I would consider returning, but will not be returning due to the...