Lone Oak Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Eagan

This place was a lie! The look and atmosphere is very inviting. I love that about this place. But as far as this visit goes for me, there was no substance behind the sizzle. The main reason I came here was for the food. Unfortunately this seems to be one of those "bars that's happen to serve food" places. I ordered the ribs with fries and my companion ordered the salmon burger and potato salad. The place was busy and it did take a while for us to get our order but that's the nature of the beast sometimes. However once our food arrived, I was ready to dig in.....if only I had some utensils to eat with. No one had bothered to bring them to us during the 20 minutes we waited. Not when we first were seated, not when we got our drinks, not even when we were told our order would be arriving shortly. Not even when we actually got the food. Small error. Can happen. But that was compounded with the rest of the meal. The ribs were very hit-and-miss. They looked a bit dry but upon biting into them, they were tender on the inside. The outside was dry and chewy as opposed to crispy. And SALTY!! Not sure what they used as rub but it seemed to include a LOT of salt!! I decided to balance it out by trying my companion's potato salad, which LOOKED amazing! But as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. Despite the appearance, the taste was 😐. Bland, boring, no flavor other than the potato. I thought maybe it was because of the "salt lick" ribs so I had a few sips of water and tried again. Nope!! Still no flavor! I looked closer at the dish. Yes, I could see other various ingredients in there but for some reason, couldn't taste them. I then went to the fries but they are the usual bar variety fries. Usually most places have them seasoned with salt, pepper, or a variety of spices. These were as plain and basic as they come. Maybe they forgot to season them? Possibly. But this time around they were as naked as a newborn. Maybe this was intentional and the customer can season them to their own individual taste. Not sure. Kind of a letdown in any case. I tried the salmon burger and it was passable. I'm not a fish person so I'm not sure but it wasn't something I believe I would order again. My companion said it was "ok" so I took that as "meh". All in all, a bit of a below average experience. Maybe it was my fault for expecting anything decent other than the usual burger fare that most of these "bars that have food" have. Very nice and cozy place if you want to have knock back a few and have appetizers or a burger. But as a destination for a meal, I think...

I was not super impressed our first time but know that new restaurants need their time to settle in. So, we tried again.

Positives-

Location and atmosphere- obviously great location and space. Fresh paint and expanded gaming area.

Service- both times the service for us was pretty good. First time we kinda felt forgotten about after we got our food and second time the waitress checked in often.

Foods we liked- their ranch is great. I have a ranch problem so I often judge restaurants on their ranch lol. I was pleased. Their pickles are pretty good, side salads are huge, cheese curds were excellent and we liked the fries.

Negatives-

Atmophere- the music makes no sense. It is all over the place in types. There will be a cool song then a song I am like huh? It is also too loud. I miss the live music guy..... my kid just said the atmosphere is weird and kinda empty. Basically no personality and the music selection is confusing.

Foods we did not really like- 3 of us have had burgers there and were not impressed. Also tried the pork and it wasn't bad but didn't find it that great either.

The worst negative= prices and they nickel and dime you- soooooo over-priced. $16 burgers should be amazing but what really irritates me is the nickel and diming. You want cheese on your burger= $1. You want ranch=$ 1.50. They even charged me for mayonnaise..... the second time we went I asked for one extra ranch and I was brought 2. I initially was like okay thank you as I love ranch but they charged me for 2 when I asked for 1?

Overall- very limited menu and mediocre food. Wait staff are doing a good job and are not at fault for the ridiculous prices. I was hoping and expecting just more from this place. You have big shoes to fill and also sounds like community tension in you even taking over this location. I know nothing of the politics but we enjoyed the previous restaurant. But obviously wanted to give you guys a try. The extra charges for meal basics or condiments are a huge turnoff for me. If I am paying for a $16 sandwich I except whatever condiment I want to...

I have been going here for years, however my last two visits have been pretty bad to be honest. I have brought my son in his wheelchair, although they have handicap parking, the doors are not automated at all. Today as I struggled to open the door and push my son's wheelchair in at the same time not 1 but 2 servers looked at me struggling, but did not open either door to help. Upon leaving the host said good bye, clearly understanding we were leaving and did not hold the door. Last time and today my son and I ate inside, this meant we were bothered by multiple flies the entire meal. I know flies come in from the doors they have open for the patio (although they weren't open today), but there must be something that can be done to help control the flies inside. Last time my son and I ordered beef nachos to share, we were given chicken, the waiter did not come back to check on us until we were neatly done eating, when I told him we had gotten chicken instead of beef he took them and replaced them with beef right away, he never asked if we wanted them replaced or if we would rather remove them. Given the fact that we were done eating by the time the nachos arrived I would have opted to remove them, we took them home, but as you know left over nachos are just not good. We had the same waiter again today, my son ordered chocolate milk, the waiter ignored him and despite my prompting my son to tell him what he wanted. When he brought the cup of chocolate milk it was literally dripping milk that had splashed out, meaning the cup was covered in milk drips, this made it difficult for my son to pick up with the tremors in his hand. I order a breakfast burrito, with no salsa verde, but extra cheese cause. Not only did the waiter charge me for extra cheese sauce ($1) he charged me for extra cheese too, yet I don't see a credit on my bill for removing the salsa verde. In short this is not very wheelchair friendly and I will maybe consider returning after a freeze when the flies have died.

Edited to add: Lone Oak Grill now adds a service charge...