Miller's Ale House — Restaurant in Jacksonville

We had not been to an Ale House in quite some time, so we were excited for the experience.

To set the stage, it's Wed evening, 21st of Dec, and all the schools are out for Christmas break. The time is nearly 8pm and there are 8 of us! So we were a bit concerned.

When we pulled in, the parking lot was packed, and we thought, Oh man, this is going to be a long wait! When we walked in, they were busy, pretty full, not packed, had some open seats, and it appeared we would be the first on the waitlist. However, much to our surprise, they were well staffed, and they sat us immediately!

The staff was amazing, very responsive, polite, friendly, and worked excellent as a team! We never went without during our visit, nor did we feel rushed.

The selection of food was amazing and the presentation of our orders was nothing less either.

We ordered the following and our thoughts on them. (Sorry, no pictures this time. it was a long night of Christmas light looking in the drizzling rain!)

Kids meals: Chicken Zingers x 2 - Chicken was moist, and well cooked just had no flavor. Fries arrived at room temperature and were just ok.

Mac n cheese - arrived warm and moist, which was perfect for the little to eat right away. Fries were the same.

Appitizers:

Zinger (garlic parmesan) Mountain Melt - fires were cooked well but Luke warm, plenty of cheese and bacon. The Zingers were sparsely tossed in the garlic parmesan sauce at best, so the flavor was lacking significantly. Then, for those areas that were naked, there was no flavor.

Mozzarella stix 12 count - came out super fast and were piping hot! For me , hey were cooked pperfectly right on the verge of being burnt, but no burnt flavor,. They ad that solid crunch when you bit into them , ut the center was a molten gooie cheese. My wife felt like they were slightly oovercookedbut still edible. The marinara sauce was excellent!

Loaded Fries - fires were cooked well , ut Luke warm, plenty of cheese and bacon. Flavor was acceptable but shadowed by their low temperature.

Pot Stickers Pan Fried - When they arrived , they had the appearance as though there were two separate orders of pot stickers in the plate. Some were burnt, others were undercooked , and some were perfect! Minus the burnt ones, the flavor overall was excellent t, includingthe dipping sauce.

Entrées:

Zingers platter - plain Zingers came out hot and fresh, just had no flavor.

Mahi Tacos looked and smelled amazing,. Theywere fresh and hot. Considering it was the first dish to be cleaned at the table, I'd say they were delicious!

The atmosphere was great, friendly and happy. Was a pleasant visit. Overall , it was near great experience , nd I will certainly give this location another try when we are in the area again and take photos! I am truly hoping that it was a oone-offnight for the cook staff , nd our next experience will be nothing less than AMAZING! Give them a try and let us know about...

The only positive I can share is that the hostesses were smiling, friendly, and accommodating. First impressions are key. Then, we stood at the bar for 10 mins, watching the bartender walk passed us with his head down, obviously unable to acknowledge us... moved about with no sense of urgency with a full house. We were kindly seated by the hostess and later greeted by a server with a flat tone and no smile (bad impression)... we ordered drinks and an appetizer. Drinks were incorrect, later fixed without an apology or mainly care( like it was my fault). App came, got cold waiting to flag down someone for app plates. Got a manager finally who brought 2 soaked plates when there were 4 of us. Service never got better, he did stop by to "ask" if we needed anything rather than bringing refills to our empty cups, had to ask him to please take the 4 piled high dirty plates as he walked away as we had no room on the table, boxes, a bag, etc. The check was wrong as we were charged for drinks that were supposed to be included with their meals, later fixed by the manager, but with no apology from either of them. In 40 yrs, I have never been so disappointed in hum drum, clearly untrained, and "idc" attitude service. Perhaps when his tips don't match up with his sales, maybe he will try harder. I know we are in hard times w staffing, but a smile, empathetic "I'm sorry, let me fix that for you", mentality goes a long way and is forgiven. Anything less, especially from a manager, makes for a bad experience. Perhaps better training is needed because these kids today lack the natural customer service vibe necessary that makes us want to go out in...

I've been to plenty of Miller's Ale House locations, so I was excited to go to this one. I sat at the bar, and was immediately greeted by a fast moving bartender who have me a menu and asked what I was drinking. Drink was made accurate and quick. I ordered a cup on French onion soup and the Big Red buffalo chicken sandwich. Food came relatively quick. Soup was good, but I didn't have any silverware other than a spoon (hard to get through a big glob of cheese without a knife.) The sandwich came out right after I finished the soup. The sandwich seemed smaller than I remember it being, and was quite thin. Flavor was fine, and I'm not super particular, so no big deal. I ordered a second drink, but this time it was made wrong (used soda water instead of still water.) I tried, unsuccessfully, for 20 minutes to get the bartender's attention without making a scene. Finally I finished my meal, without drinking the second drink. I now tried for another 20 minutes to get her attention so I could get my bill. Finally got her attention, and asked for my bill. She rushed off before I could even say anything about the drink. I then proceeded to watch for another 20 minutes as she did everything except get my check. Finally she brings it, and I asked for the drink to be taken off as it was incorrect and I didn't drink it. After 40 minutes of waiting to leave, I wasn't in a very good mood. I don't like leaving bad reviews, but this location was a poor example of Ale House service. I would have spoken with a manager on site, but it was so hard just to get my check, I didn't want to have to...