Sparky's Roadhouse Cafe — Restaurant in Eureka Springs

Went here with high expectations because of reviews, left never wanting to dine here again. First off, the diner is outrageously priced. I asked my waitress if they could do a chicken version of a philly cheese steak for me, listed the ingredients that phillies normally have for her. She regretted to inform me that I'd be charged an additional $10 for the ingredients. When they gave the check, I was in complete shock to be charged $26 for a sandwich at a DINER. I had a way better and CHEAPER experience at the Local Taste downtown. Please go there before you give this place a shot. I'm a server myself and have the decency to inform my customers when their add ons or sides are an additional 2.49. When we questioned why the sandwich was so high we were told It was my fault for not reading the chaotic menu. As our server, she should have let me know before hand how much of an upcharge it would be. $53 for a tacky mediocre experience. I don't see the whole hype of this place. Won't be returning. Not just because of the bad service; but the taste of the food was not memorable or worth a second visit. Also, I am aware that prices of food have gone up, but that doesn't negate the fact that I wasn't told and had my waitress just assume I'd be okay with the $10 upcharge. And before the owner comes at me with this, yes I did speak to your staff. No it's not easier to complain on here. I'm just doing my part by letting the public know that basic ingredients will sneak up on your check. Please keep your eyes peeled when reading the menu. Also it's quite sad when the food runner is more attentive to a servers table than the server is. The food runner was the best part of the whole place. She's awesome. You know those places where you think to yourself, " I have to have this again!" ? Well this place...

Big disappointment.

Deck seating had a gas leak or some serious issue with the space heaters that made it feel unsafe.

Moved into the inside where the air was breathable, but when the food came the fries were not hot or crispy, the burger bun didn't seem toasted and overall the burger was a big let down.

The packet of mayo I grabbed off the table/basket had been punctured and when I tried to open one end and squeeze the mayo out, nasty oxidized mayo gunk came out the opposite end and went all over my clothes.

The waitress at the table next to mine was speaking with her customers about being fired from her last job at the local library for having communications issues which made me feel uncomfortable.

I was there to meet other people who had arrived already, but felt like I was ignored a bit when two or three members of staff were just standing around in the entryway folding silverware or hanging out while I "waited to be seated by the host" it wasn't very busy at all, but the host was nowhere to be seen so I was confused why they didn't help me out themselves or just tell me to go on in and sit down with my family.

Half the people working seemed to be in highschool, although that was not really an issue since my waitperson did a great job. The decorations inside don't look like they've changed at all in 15 years(except the pathetic flat screen TV)

I wouldn't recommend the regular burger at all, specialty burgers might be better if you like blue cheese or bbq sauce.. the enchiladas looked okay and I'd enjoyed those on previous trips.

I've probably eaten at Sparky's dozens of times since 2000, but not in the last few years. Not sure what has changed (some things are DEFINITELY the same) but I won't be headed back anytime soon. Plenty of top notch restaurants...

We arrived around 7pm on a Saturday evening and after a brief wait to let the staff catch up on two rather large parties in the party room, we were seated without much fanfair. After a good 5 or 6 minutes, our server came to take our drink order and disappeared for a while -- presumably helping with the parties, but I couldn't tell if she was or not due to the layout of the restaurant and where we were seated. But I digress. After finally getting our orders taken -- a bbq burger, a turkey and swiss sammie, and some cheese dip, sne disappeared again until well after our food arrived. That's not to say we weren't taken care of, other staff kept our drinks filled and everything delivered promptly.

The food was top notch. The burger was made from fresh beef and was 1/2 lb of beefy goodness. My wife's turkey thingy was also excellent. Portions were average, if not just slightly larger than similar places. Like everything else in this town, prices were high for what you get. That said, the flavor made up for a good portion of this.

After dinner, we had to flag our server down once again to get our ticket as another large group was coming in and being seated next to us -- we wanted to be able to get out. Anyway, the party was seated before our ticket was paid out, so getting out was a lil more difficult than it could have been.

I think had I gone here when there weren't a gazillion parties goin on, this could easiy be a 5 star. But since I can only rate on what I...