La Rana — Restaurant in Decorah

Rude service which I assume is because we brought kids with us. Called the day before to confirm they would make grilled cheese for children, was told yes of course, then had to argue with the server about it, who then had to calm down the kitchen worker that wanted to come yell at us (wife overheard the convo in the kitchen). My kids would have been fine with cheese on a hamburger bun, both of which were available for the dinner window. Ordered a bottle of wine and the response was “ok” which is weird to me as a food service industry worker of 20+ years because it’s the easiest way to increase your check and tip. I appreciate her stopping the kitchen worker from yelling at us but was not happy with the indifferent and sometimes rude service. I won’t get in to all the little comments and just general disgust towards us for bringing in grandparents and children. We are from a major metro outside of Iowa and frequent places like this. Food was ok but ultimately mid, especially for the price. Honestly it was the worst restaurant experience my wife and I have had in over a decade from a service standpoint. Just say no kids or 6 tops if you have a problem with it. We were prepared to spend $500 on drinks and food but left for much less with plenty of time left on our reservation because we clearly were not welcome.

Side note: not our experience but the table next to us was an elderly couple celebrating combined birthday and anniversary milestones. Their server (not ours) was made to tell them that a large group (presumably us) got their order in before theirs and they might get their food late. Ok.. then he had to tell them they would still need to leave at the 90 minute mark finished or not. They actually got their food before us which was a good call by the kitchen. But still.. imagine being 80+ years old, celebrating your bday and 60+ anniversary, then being told you might get kicked out before you’re finished. Just figure it out and get them their food before threatening.

If you’re a single couple, have fun. Food is decent and you will probably get better...

I was trying to reserve a spot for an anniversary party for Sunday and I know that they are closed on Sunday but I asked if they could make an exception for us since our friends love that place and they highly recommended it. We were willing to pay for the inconvenience that this might be to them. Here's how my conversation went with them: I talked to a person in the afternoon who listened to my request and said that he would ask the manager and told me to call in the evening and when i called i spoke with Joni who briefly spoke to me and disconnected within a minute without hearing my request. I called again and this time i got another individual who said that he is in a rush and cant speak to me and disconnected again. I was still WAITING for my answer. At this point, I should have stopped calling them but i thought i would try once more and I did. I spoke to Joni again and she mentioned that this was a bad time for them and they are not interested in serving us at all. This whole process should not have been so frustrating and they did not need to be rude. They could have been better regarding their customer service, i had waited all day to speak with them and their response was very bad. Poor...

Service: We stopped in around 3PM asking if we could eat. The owner (I think) was bartending and told us they were no longer serving food and recommended some other places to eat. We were disappointed and surprised that they didn't serve dinner, but after talking to some people around town we realized they were probably just opening for dinner later as many restaurants do. We called and made a reservation easily and were served well from then on out. I just wish the bartender/owner would have let us know that she would be open at 5 in the first place! At the same time, it's a good sign for the community that she was recommending other places, and maybe she was assuming we were absolutely starving.

Food: I ordered the hanger steak and my girlfriend ordered the special pork chop. My steak was great! Served medium-rare with thrice fried potatoes. The potatoes were incredible, so crunchy on the outside.

I wasn't as big of a fan of the pork special but it was certainly good.

We shared the Rhubarb pie with ice cream and that was also great.

OveralI: I highly recommend checking this place out if you...