Roughstocks grill — Restaurant in Dunnellon

From the moment we stepped through the entrance, I had an overwhelming urge to turn around and leave, but my husband encouraged me to give the place a try. As soon as I touched the sticky menus, my inclination to walk out only grew stronger, but I kept quiet because my husband was still hopeful. We've been searching for a decent restaurant in Dunnellon since our town has very few dining options—only two places consistently offer good service and quality food. Regrettably, Roughstocks did not earn a spot on our list of favorites tonight.

The atmosphere left much to be desired. Cheap, wrinkled curtains hung over the windows, blocking out much-needed natural light. The tables were covered with black tablecloths and napkins, perhaps in an attempt to create a fine dining look. However, this effort clashed with the rundown appearance of the building, resulting in two entirely incompatible styles. I only used my napkin when absolutely necessary; it made me uncomfortable to wipe my mouth with it, as I couldn't trust its cleanliness. In my opinion, the people of Dunnellon aren't looking for a fine dining experience. The tables underneath the tablecloths were in good condition, so it puzzled me why they chose to cover them and darken the already small room even more.

We ordered well-done cheeseburgers and received them relatively quickly. However, my cheeseburger arrived without cheese and was cooked to a medium or medium-well doneness. Normally, I would have said something, but I was hungry and told my husband I would eat it and just hope I didn't get sick. For my side, I chose red beans and rice, which arrived barely warm and completely lacking in seasoning. I decided not to eat them out of fear of getting ill. When my husband cut into his burger, it was rare. The waitress acknowledged this and immediately asked the cook to prepare a new one.

My husband's replacement burger arrived just as we were finishing our meals. We waited while he ate his burger, which was cooked through this time but had an overly charred, almost burnt taste.

I do have to say that the waitress, who is also the manager, was sweet, pleasant, and apologetic.

Unfortunately, we have decided that we won't be returning. We genuinely want to support local businesses, but when the menus are sticky, the atmosphere is dreary, and the food is neither cooked properly nor served hot, we have to say,...

My husband and I wanted so much to like this place. The outside has no appeal and the majority of the building is a bar, with about 1/8 of it set aside for a "restaurant ". I say that loosely because walking in, it was a dark hole with one window covered by dark dingy curtains. The decor inside was a sad attempt to look western.... I think... the tables were sticky and crammed into the small space. My husband said he thought it was previously a storage room off the back of the kitchen. Which would make sense by the size and and way it's set up. We walked in and almost turned right around then. When we walked in we weren't even acknowledged by any staff, after a few minutes just standing looking stupid, we just sat ourselves. Eventually a frazzled waitress came by, gave us lunch menus (it was 4pm) and walked off. Didn't ask if we wanted drinks or anything. After another good 10 minutes sitting looking at the wrong menu, no drink or waitress in sight, I had to interrupt her and another waitress talking to ask for a dinner menu and drinks. After a few minutes she came back with dinner menus and finally asked for our drink order. My husband went to order a beer and she informed us they couldn't sell alcohol on the restaurant side...that we'd have to go to the bar if we wanted a drink...like seriously? The door and windows on the restaurant side is even covered in alcohol advertising...but um ok...so reluctantly we ordered water and soda...and started to look over the dinner menu. $32 for a steak in this place? And one chicken dish? Or sandwiches. The menu was so small and expensive. I looked around at the 2 other tables that were sat in there and their food, and we decided to leave. We ended up driving to Texas Roadhouse in Inverness and paid $24 for filet mignon. Best decision we could've made. Sad, because we NEED good restaurants in Dunnellon but this one...

Roughstock Grill was a happy surprise of yummy food and decent service. First impression was of a very friendly server, who has a similar look to a young John Travolta. With jet black hair and backwards ball cap, this young man was a tad overly friendly sitting at our booth, but his charming smile, demeanor and prompt service quickly erased the awkwardness of him sitting at our booth to “take a break for a minute”. 😂😁 We tried the onion petals, nightly special of fish tacos and shrimp and grits. The blackened shrimp tacos were tasty. The coleslaw on it was delicious slightly sweet, appropriately savory. Clearly the chef has no problem with seasonings which is a refreshing change from the made for the masses bland food. Unfortunately they were drowned in sauce which took away from that good fresh taste and perfect coleslaw crunch. Still worth ordering again just ask for less sauce. The shrimp and grits were the best I’ve ever had! A perfect combination of creamy yummy grits with balanced seasoned shrimp. I can’t wait to return just for this dish! The sides of red beans and rice and jambalaya were well seasoned but a tad dry. I’d probably opt for different sides next time. Overall we were very satisfied with our first visit to Roughstocks grill. We’ll definitely be back and we encourage others to give them a try to support our small...