Roots 89 Roadhouse — Restaurant in Ephraim

I don’t usually write bad reviews, but this was one of the most unprofessional and uncomfortable dining experiences I’ve ever had.

I was in town visiting and heard this restaurant had great breakfast, but we arrived after breakfast hours and decided to try their lunch/dinner menu instead. I ordered the Chili Brisket Mac and Cheese, one friend got the Buffalo Mac, and the other ordered the Brisket Mac.

From the start, the service was terrible. Our waitress looked annoyed to even be serving us, had no warmth, and showed zero customer service skills. (I’ve worked in customer service for years, so I notice these things.) We ordered onion rings as an appetizer, and I asked for ranch — it was thick with an odd taste, and the fry sauce had visible clumps of unmixed mayonnaise.

When the food came out, I was immediately disappointed. My Chili Brisket Mac looked okay but smelled off. One bite in and I could barely eat it — no seasoning, no flavor, just bland noodles with a faint chili powder taste and unseasoned cheese. My friend with the Buffalo Mac had the exact same reaction, and we both stopped after just a couple bites. Normally, I don’t complain and just move on, but with two meals basically inedible, I politely asked the waitress if she could remove them from the bill. She said she would take care of it.

Then things got truly bizarre. A woman who said she was the manager came over — no greeting, no courtesy — and immediately told us she couldn’t give a refund. She stood close, spoke aggressively, and demanded to know why we didn’t like the food. We were shocked but immediately agreed to just pay to avoid escalating the situation. Even then, she kept pressing us, insisting on an explanation. When I tried to brush it off with “I just didn’t like the taste,” she got upset and demanded “honesty.” My friend chimed in with a polite reason, and the manager argued with her too, saying “everyone loves this dish” and that they can’t just lose $20 in food.

Finally, after putting us through this awkward interrogation, she switched gears, said “thanks for the honesty,” and announced she would take the meals off “this one time” — but only if we promised to come back. The whole encounter felt hostile and manipulative. I felt unsafe and just wanted to leave.

To top it off, one of us accidentally left a phone behind and when we turned back to get it, we overheard the staff openly mocking us for not liking the mac and cheese.

This entire experience was like something out of a bad sitcom. Horrible food, worse service, and the most unprofessional management I’ve ever seen. Needless to say, we will not be...

This place is an absolute blessing to Ephraim, it's been needing a solid sit-down restaurant! I was extremely excited to try this place out since I love the grill location in Spring City so much! Going in the restaurant the atmosphere is very welcoming, I love how the space has been utilized. My friend and I visited on a Tuesday evening and so it wasn't too busy. Our server was very kind and quick to get our orders in. We ordered Mozzarella sticks as our starter and oh man! Definitely beats the hour drive to Denny's! They had soooo much cheese in them (almost too much in my opinion haha), but the thin crust was very complimentary. Definitely would hit a late night cheese craving, we had to stop so we wouldn't make ourselves sick. After that we got our main dishes, which by far the pot roast was my favorite! I was a little surprised it was served with corn and felt like there was a little bit too much mashed potato, however that might just be because I have a small stomach. Focusing on the meat though, it was very rich and moist, perfectly tender in my opinion. Definitely set the bar as an expectation of restaurant pot roast for me, I also love that it's not swimming in the sauce. You're definitely paying the quality and quantity of what you're receiving! Now onto the improvements: I felt like the biggest cons to me was the lack of clarity of what you were receiving as sides. The menu listing doesn't mention what vegetable you'll be getting and unfortunately I don't like corn (my friend ate it for me). In addition, I wish I had the option to chose a different potato type! I'm not a big mashed potato person so I would've picked fries or even a small baked potato, probably would've paid an extra dollar or two for a twice baked if given the option even. I want to make a small note that our waitress didn't ask my friend how she wanted her steak done, but I assume that's because she was new ☺️

TLDR: Pros: Bang for your buck, good portions, and dang good food (though Mardell Kitchen always seems to take the cake with their restaurants!) Cons: No choice on the sides

Overall it was good, especially with how new this place is (y'all should post more photos of your food online!) I already want to go back and try the Loaded Mac n Cheese next. It was really good and I know with a little bit of time and settling that all the kinks...

Worst service I have ever experienced! Very unprofessional. We sat for 30 minute and no one ever acknowledged us, or brought water , nothing! We will never visit this joke of a restaurant again. I will dissuade anyone from going there. Terrible! Follow up Jan 25th 2025. A response from the owner to my review was posted today. To answer her question, there were six of us who visited this place yesterday at approx 1730hrs. I was mistaken about the 30 minutes we sat there with zero service of any kind. It was actually 45 minutes. The waiter, who I believe was assigned our table, waited on and served at least 3 other parties, who arrived well after us - without ever visiting our table at all. He was serving a group on the other side of the restaurant long long after we arrived. We were completely ignored the entire time we were there. We finally got up and left totally disgusted. We visited a Mexican restaurant on the south end of town and were promptly and courteously seated and served. We left generous tips. This incident has been passed on to large numbers of friends who visit the Manti/Ephraim area regularly. None of us will ever patronize...