Emerson Hotel Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Emerson

Booked a 1:00 Saturday afternoon reservation for 20-25 adults and one child at least a month or two prior to Sept 2. We arrived at the restaurant early and they were more than accommodating. We were put in what looked like one large room, but was really 2 rooms, one a small room attached to the main building and the second, part of the sun room. First, the small room was extremely cold and the second room, due to solar heat was quite warm. We asked if the air conditioning could be turned down in the one room. Well, they not only turned down the air cond in the small room, but came into the sun room and turned down the air cond in there, which we didn't know was happening right at first. It wasn't until some of the guests were sweating and feeling faint that we realized what this man had done. We asked to have the air cond turned back on for the sun room and they said they couldn't do one without the other. One of my guests, went to the air cond/heat gauge on the wall and turned it back on, as it was turned off, not down but off, and got the air back on. Next the waitress came out with one pitcher of Pepsi and one of ice water. Neither had i asked for. I understand the water, but i wanted my guests to order their own drinks. My husband then asked for pitchers of Iced Tea and the waitress had a puzzled look on her face. We did manage to get 2 pitchers of iced tea. The third table had to share the iced tea as they never got theirs. Next, our waitress, the only one we had, took the first table's order and left. We were puzzled, then one of my guests went to get her to order for my 2 year old granddaughter. She was nowhere to be found. We waited about 15 minutes, she returned to take half of the next table's order and again left. This step was repeated 3 times until all 3 tables ordered. of course by this time, the first table had their meal and was not sure whether to eat or wait for everyone to be served. i said they should eat. Most of the food looked ok, with the exception of their signature meal, the sliced steak sandwich. Now my family had been going to the restaurant since i was very small. For the most part most of the family has moved and not been back in many years. The people that ordered the steak sandwiches were extremely disappointed. First the look, may that ordered well had to send back the pink meat that they received. I am not a chef but I now realize on all the cooking shows i watch, season with salt and pepper. This was the most tasteless meal i have ever had. No one finished the "Signature" dish and no one took them home either. Next the waitress came out with the bill and my husband had to ask her to please go to each table and ask if anyone would like dessert. Again, she looked very puzzled but she did as he asked. After the luncheon was over, the waitress apologized to my husband and told him they were short staffed and only one cook. All and all a very disappointing and embarrassing $500 luncheon for my husband and I. This was for my father's Memorial Service. I'm glad he wasn't there, he would have been so saddened to see how the Emerson Hotel has gone down hill. Do yourselves a favor and don't go to the Emerson Hotel for any food. I'm sure drinks are ok, if they have any staff to make and...

Haven’t been here in many years. Was meeting up with family at the restaurant that I also hadn’t seen in years. When we arrived and told them we needed a table for 9 they said they couldn’t do that. Only 8 people at a table. When we asked to talk to a manager he restated the same thing but loudly and with such an angry tone. He was mad at us that we were annoyed with the situation. We didn’t raise our voices just said it was ridiculous and we wouldn’t be coming back. The manger yelled that it was the “house rules” and too bad. Normally we would just have left but we were meeting family members here, couldn’t contact them at the moment, and didn’t know the area to make a quick decision about going someplace else. My mother and father are in their late 70’s and they just had such good memories of this restaurant from years ago when they lived in NJ. They were excited about going here so I didn’t want to make a whole scene and leave. Though looking back I wish we had just regrouped and figured something else out. However, I think it’s important that customers understand how this restaurant treats people. I could also understand if they were busy or didn’t have enough staff but neither of these were the case. In fact there were only two other tables with people at them. In the end my 16 year old son sat at a table by himself. And the table was across the room. They wouldn’t even place the tables near each other. It was just so bizarre to have a manager mad at my 78 year old father because a grandfather was upset and wanted his grandson to sit with the rest of the family. The food was pretty good and the waitress was very nice. I had the ahi tuna salad and French onion soup and both were excellent. They are well known for their meat platter. It looked awful to me but my father did not complain, so maybe it was as good as he remembered. It was a huge portion so he appreciated that. The atmosphere inside the dining room section was poor and on the verge of dumpy looking. It’s been a long time since any money has gone back into making the restaurant pleasant for customers. So if you are looking for a place that will make your dinning experience awkward and unpleasant then this would be the...

The only “person” that enjoyed their “famous sliced steak” was our dog Scooby and I even felt bad serving him this awful food. I haven’t had a meal this bad in my entire life.

We had the absolute worst end to end experience, starting with the unfriendly host. She didn’t greet us initially because she was ‘busy’ and walked us past us when she saw we were at the host stand. She then cleaned the table after she had already sat us. Disgusting.

Next, the food took forever and the servers/bussers brought our waters and drinks with their hands like it was a truck stop diner off Route 66 highway. USE A SERVICE TRAY.

Speaking of drinks, our friend ordered an old fashioned which was not even close to being what the drink should be. They also switched our server in the middle of our meal which was very confusing. Introduce us to our new server and communicate that at the very least. Thank heavens for the new server who was at a pleasant person and recognized the atrocity that we went though.

Let’s talk about the food now. Our entrees came out before our appetizers that we had ordered 30 minutes prior. The bus boy took away our mussels and spilled the broth on the table almost getting it on me, and no words at all. Not even an excuse me or sorry.

Their “famous sliced steak platter” had no flavor at all. No salt no pepper could save this dish. Like I said in the beginning, I feel sorry that I fed this to poor Scooby, our dog.

Stay away don’t waste your precious Saturday night like we did. The discount we received doesn’t make up for the time we lost coming here.

My advice to the owner: allow a new restaurant group to take over and clean house. You have a charming looking restaurant from the outside that has potential, but it’s a sinking ship with what you have going on there....