Grain & Grog American Tavern — Restaurant in Gainesville

I was surprised to learn that the owners had been in the restaurant business previously because it really does not show. We arrived, as a 4-top, at about 5pm on a Friday night. Getting drinks took about 10 mins, no big deal, but slow. Had to remind our server for our waters three times, which seems a little silly. We ordered the bacon wrapped dates, which were decent , and the fried pickles. The runner came out with no appetizer plates - had to ask for those, which appeared to inconvenience the young man. And then I saw him bringing out appetizers to other tables without plates, so clearly not a learning moment for him. These were the worst fried pickles I have ever had. Burnt to a crisp, so bad that it was impossible to tell that there were pickles inside the burnt crisps. Please change the frier oil, I am begging you. Ordered the carbonara, which was a disgusting mess of cheese and linguine. It was more like a failed attempt at an alfredo. Whoever cooked the linguine BROKE IT IN HALF FIRST like they are making spaghetti for their toddler in their home kitchen. Please dont ever do that again. The Salmon that my wife ordered was cooked probably to 250 degrees, making it hard an unappetizing. The monte cristo was pretty good. Fries are frozen from a bag, which is fine, but worth noting. Service was absolutely abysmal for the duration of our time there. While we were eating, with all 4 plates in front of us, we had runners bring us someone else's food on 3 separate occasions. Super weird. It doesnt seem like there are table numbers because we were wrung up under 'bar' and the runners were super confused. The place appeared appropriately staffed so it is confusing why our server was so horrendously bad at remembering things, like water, bringing a box, a check, etc. Took us about 30 mins to leave because it was impossible to get our servers attention. She was clearly in the weeds and unable to perform more than one task at a time. Anyways, this is getting too long, but wanted to share some constructive feedback because this place has potential and a good location. I would hire a GM who knows how to train staff and run a restaurant or else i fear the worst for this place. Good luck, we...

My wife and I went to Grain and Grog today for the first time. We only live about a mile away so we had high hopes this could be our go to place for a bite to eat . We arrived about 4 pm on on Oct 15. We seated ourselves. There were about 4 customers in the restaurant. We waited about 10-15 minutes before anyone approached our table. We finally got a menu. Then we waited about 15 minutes before a waitress came to the table to take our order. Keep in mind there appeared to be a dozen employees and only four customers. We ordered and about 10 minutes later the waitress came bought to ask what we ordered. She said she couldn’t remember. My wife ordered a fried chicken sandwich and I ordered a club sandwich. We waited and waited. After a half hour we asked about the status of our order. We were told they were working on it. After 50 + minutes we got our order. Again no other customers in the restaurant. My wife’s chicken sandwich was overcooked and like rubber. My club sandwich was barely toasted and the bread soggy. The service was terrible and the food I would have to rate the same. The manager took $7 off our bill but never came to the table to apologize. It is my opinion the owners of this business do not know how to run a restaurant. Poor service and poorly prepared food. This is a recipe for failure. We will not be back nor will we recommend Grain and Grog to our neighbors . So...

Our experience as a family of three started on a high note, with a much shorter wait time than anticipated. Although initially told to expect a 45-minute wait, we were pleasantly surprised to be seated within 20 minutes. The hostess was welcoming, and the bartender who served us during our wait was equally warm and attentive. We began our meal with mozzarella sticks and fried pickles, which were enjoyable starters. We also ordered a bottle of Malbec, hoping it would pair well with the crab and shrimp carbonara. The wine itself was fantastic—rich and flavorful. Unfortunately, the carbonara was under-seasoned, lacking the depth and flavor we were hoping for, and ultimately didn’t complement the wine as well as we’d anticipated. The house salad was fresh and flavorful and our daughter enjoyed her mac and cheese from the kids’ menu. Overall, the atmosphere, service, and wine selection were lovely, though wouldn’t recommend choosing a main course here as our simple pasta dish was...