The Fern Bank Grille — Restaurant in Douglas

My wife and I had date night...something that happens once a year right now...and I have heard great things about this place and decided to try it out. We arrive at 7 pm on a Saturday Evening and the place was 3/4 full. The atmosphere was pretty cool and I was excited that I found a place that was unique. Little did we know the evening that we were in for. The first red flag were the chairs that had wheels to a low table. All I could remember was the episode of Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon Ramsey rolled around the restaurant in the chair similar to the one we were sitting in. It took the waitress a little while to take our drink order, about 10 mins and then the drinks came we finally received our 8.5”x11” paper menus. 2nd red flag was the paper menu with the steaks price listed as market price. I thought if they had paper menus they could at least put the price of the meat on them when they arrive and print....but maybe I am wrong. We did order the zucchini fries and I enjoyed them with ranch dressing, wife said a couple of the fries tasted like wet dog. I ordered the 12 oz filet with mixed vegetables and my wife ordered a salmon with rice. Both came with the salad bar. Great! Food order was in and we can go check out the salad bar. I get up to get a salad and it was empty. We watch as each waitress and other employees walked by the bar not restocking. After about 10 mins we asked the waitress if they were going to restock the salad bar and she said the they were out of tomatoes because it was a Saturday night and the last night they were open for the week. Apparently, they are open for dinner 4 days a week and closed 3....3rd red flag. We got our lettuce and ranch and went back to the table. Once seated, waitress came back and told my wife they were out of rice...so she changed her order to the 12 oz fillet and baked potato. About 20-30 mins later the food arrives. I cut into my steak that was cooked a medium rare and then checked out my veggies. They looked like they just came out of a frozen Swanson bag out of the microwave from Walmart. There was no seasoning, cold, and the water from the veggies was at the bottom of my plastic plate. Yes I said plastic plate. My wife’s steak looked wonderful and the baked potato was nice, large and soft. She started to eat her steak and really enjoyed it....but by the third bite it the meat was raw. She did order it a medium rare, but not extra rare and bloody. We asked for our waitress, she asked it we wanted to put that steak back on the grill. I said she needs a new steak. My wife did not want to wait, so the lady just took it off the ticket. I gave her a piece of mine and she spit it out because of the water logged Swanson mess of a steak they sent out to me. She said it tastes like frozen vegetables....I already ate more than half because I was just hungry. All in all, I am not going back and I hope that if your read this and still go you are ready for a lackluster experience. A $36 dollar steak that had frozen water logged vegetables on a plastic picnic plate. Overpriced and just not good. Save your money and go find you a place that takes pride in their food.

Sincerely

Hungry...

Spent almost $50 bucks on ONE steak 🥩 (Filet Mignon) and ordered it RARE (!!!) this past Saturday evening. Well, after returning home with my order … I sadly found out my steak was medium-to-medium well [and this over cooking caused my steak to be tough & chewy 😢 with very little natural flavor]. So, I called the restaurant back immediately and they wanted me to return the ENTIRE order … and then they would replace my over-cooked filet mignon. I’m like REALLY 🤷🏼‍♂️ (???) — it had been raining most of the weekend and I honestly didn’t want to go back out (especially since the college football game I really wanted to watch was now on TV). One of the employees said the owner’s wife (or some sort of owner) would call as soon as she got back to the restaurant, since I DID NOT want to go back to the restaurant— but NO luck … & NO return phone call either!!! I’m very disappointed with this whole deal — (and when you pay almost $50 bucks for ONE meal … the least the restaurant can do is cook it right…the FIRST time)!!! This is sooooo UNLIKE every other experience I’ve had eating at the Fern Bank Grille …. they are usually on-point and generally have the BEST steaks in Douglas, GA …. just NOT this time, for me that night + the completely TERRIBLE customer service—I mean WOW, like it’s really MY FAULT y’all screwed-up on my steak … well, that’s exactly how they made me feel...

Traveling from Florida to Pennsylvania we always look for a unique place for lunch and dinner. On recommendation of the local hotel we were directed to the Fern Bank steak house. Just the building we were looking for. The old teller cage, the brick walls and just everything you would expect in a building as such.

However, we three ordered the recommended steak special for $18.95. That is where the disappointment started. Salad served in a plastic bowel. Ok, that is understandable. But then the steaks came on a picnic type plastic plate. There was so much fat and gristle that all three of us only could eat a third of the meal. Thank goodness the knives and forks were not plastic.

The service was fine and as I said the building was beautiful. Looking back, we should of...