Edith Lucielle's Bait Shack & Wing Depot — Restaurant in Iowa

I have been to Edith and Lucille's Bait Shop a few times. We always try to hit them on a Friday for their prime rib dinner special. The very first time we went it was excellent, I talked them up to my family and friends. I was so happy to have found a fun local place to go. As a local business owner myself, we seek out other local businesses to support. This past Friday, my husband and i went there to celebrate my birthday. Ordered the prime rib dinner for both of us and the Iowa Eggrolls. The waitress was obviously busy as it took at least 10 minutes to be approached and she tried to walk away 3 times before the order was fully placed, like she really didn't have time to deal with us. The place was less than half full but I did noticed they seemed short staffed. The egg rolls came out piping hot and delicious. Then the meals came out, the prime rib was cold. Our waitress disappeared quickly so I waved over another waitress. (Our prime rib had been cold on our last visit so I immediately checked) everything else was hot. This other waitress acted like she didn't believe me. Started talking about how they temp the food before it comes out and it is up to temp. But she could take ot back to the kitchen and have it seared if I wanted. Yes, I want my prime rib warm. So she took our plates and I sat there dumbfounded at plain fact that she argued with me about the prime rib being cold. I have never in all the service places I have been in my over 50 years had a waiter talk back to me and argue the way this girl did. When she brought back the food it was still the same cold prime rib yet she still was saying that the food was temped again and it was fine. Basically telling me that I am wrong. At this point I just said thanks to get her to leave the table because I was getting upset. In my opinion, all they did was take the plate back and set it under the heat lamp. Because the second time it came back all the food was colder, the potato that was previously hot was now luke warm. And if you tell me the kitchen is going to sear it, I expect it to have a crust or at least it to change color from pink to a medium doneness. Nothing, looked the same, just drier and not even barely luke warm anymore. Our original waitress check on us and asked how things were. My husband said mediocre because the food was cold and barely luke warm. She apologized and offered to take it back to heat up. I said no. That has already been done and nothing changed and the other girl argued with me. That waitress was walking by when I said this and came back to the table. She proceeded to tell me that she didn't argue with me, she was simply explaining that the food was up to temp. The other waitress left. This one continued to insist that I was wrong about the food being cold. I finally got frustrated and said rather loudly that I didn't care. At this point she started to tell me I was being disrespectful and I had no right to treat her as such. At this point my husband stepped in and told her she was the one being disrespectful by arguing with me. She then very snottily said "I hope you have a great dinner" and then "yeah right" as she walked away. And I could hear her talking smack about me in the back. It was an awful experience and ruined my birthday meal. The original waitress came back and said she was sorry, that should have never happened and offered to heat up my dinner. My husband ate most of his cold as he was hungry. I said, no just get me a box and the check, I wanted to leave. When she brought back the check, she said she comped $10 off for our trouble and apologized again. It wasn't itemized though and was still $75 for two prime rib dinners and 12 dollar appetizer, only ice water for drinks. So I gave her $10 back as a tip for not arguing with me and apologizing for the other waitress. I will not go back. I am so very disappointed. My husband really doesn't like eating out and this was one of two places he would approve of. The other being the Lighthouse which we all know had a tragic fire and no...

We've visited Edith Lucielle's 3 times. The first time, we had pretty good expectations. Our service and food was good. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual.

The second time, we tried the wings since that's what they're known for. They were the full wing and leg, so we found them incredibly difficult and messy to eat, plus they tasted a bit undercooked. We also had pretty slow service, even though we were there at a non-peak day of the week and time.

Now to today for our third - AND FINAL - visit. It's a Sunday and we've been hearing they're known for their breakfast. We called at 10 am just to ensure how late breakfast was served and we were told noon. We arrived at 10:45 am. The tables were about half full. After waiting several minutes for a waitress to arrive, we were then told no more breakfast will be served as of 10:54 am. What?! After a few more minutes wait, the waitress returns telling us they're out of eggs. So we asked if they're still making pancakes and meats and again, another wait and a return of yes, they will. From the menu, there is specifically an item called "stack of pancakes and meat." This is what we order - mine with bacon, my husband with sausage. After THIRTY MINUTES, we are brought out two of the most undercooked pancakes I've ever seen, and both orders with two of the tiniest pieces of bacon, which of course my husband didn't order, but rather his with sausage. We wait another 10 minutes for a single sausage patty. I don't know if their pancakes were supposed to taste like eating raw pancake batter? I choked mine down since I was starving. My husband refused to touch his and was also never given a coffee refill in 45 minutes. When we asked our waitress if a "stack of pancakes" really means two undercooked, she said it's normally three pancakes but they would have charged us for eggs so she only put in two. Never did we order eggs, plus they were out of them. She started getting defensive saying they were understaffed and busy - seriously, NOT my problem.

Terrible service and terrible food experience... sorry, you lost...

First time I came here things were ok, soggy catfish sandwich that I had to add salt to. Second time I came by there were flies everywhere. Dead bugs in my drink, and the cup the applesauce was served in had other food at the bottom of it. Looked like meat, maybe? The third time I came it was hotter inside than outside- we were all sweating. Flies were everywhere again, and so we ordered our food to go. When we were walking out there was grease on the floor so I slipped and fell on the concrete. No one asked if I was alright. Got home and the food was saturated in grease, and the catfish had worms in it!! Thank goodness I broke the fish apart before eating it. (This was about a week and a half ago).

NOTE: It is common for catfish (any fish, really) to have worms in it (they are not harmful if fully cooked), but a good restaurant will choose fish meat that has little to none. My fish was infested.

The bathroom is appalling. The ceiling is covered in crown royal bags- like stuffed velvet bags scaled together- making perfect housing for many spiders and more dust than a vacuum. The sink! Goodness me, that sink probably harbors more bacteria than the toilet. It's full of standing water (due to a cosmetic design that prevents proper draining) that is a questionable color and gives off a smell of mildew. I would have preferred an actual outhouse.

On top of that, they have a fish tank full of big fish that are all crowded together. I have many years of experience keeping fish and there is NOT enough space for those fish. The Plecostomus can't even keep the algae clean because so many ornaments are shoved in the tank. A gallon of water per inch of fish is the bare minimum that should be provided, so these poor babies are squished together, have no space to swim well, and likely suffer from nitrate issues since they are all related to carp.

Everything just got worse every time we went so I think I will avoid a 4th visit. I recommend taking your...