Full disclosure: This is a follow-up to the review by Alexis L. listed below about an experience we had when dining here on September 1st, 2023.
After arriving at Kelleys Island for our week long vacation, our party decided to grab a late lunch from Dockers. An adult member of our party is rather particular with her food, and often orders off the kids menu because those foods are relatively simple and appeal to her particular appetite. While ordering our food, our party member inquired about ordering a grilled cheese sandwich off the kids menu. However, our waitress did state specifically that adults were not generally allowed to order off the kids menu. Our party member stated that she had done it before (I'm unable to corroborate this claim, just stating what was said for full transparency) and the waitress was pleasant and stated again that while it isn't usually allowed, she would see what could be done. All other orders were placed off the menu without issue.
When the food arrived, a different member of the wait staff brought out our food and told the adult guest of our party who had requested to order an item off the kids menu that this wasn't allowed per the restaurants policy however the grilled cheese was prepared and brought out as a one time courtesy. It was also stated by the waitress (with some condescension) that it would be appreciated if we respected the rules of the restaurant, and that if nothing could be found on the menu that we were more than welcome to visit any other establishment on the Island.
Ultimately, I agree with the establishment to not allow adults to order off the kids menu - after all, it's their establishment and they can run it how they see fit. However, what I don't agree with is the attitude with which we were told, essentially, to go "anywhere else but here". As regular visitors to the island, this made us feel especially unwelcome here and cast a sour note to the remainder of our meal.
Now, compare the events stated above from the establishments response to our Adult party member's comment (which I will admit, was written somewhat unprofessionally):
Dockers has an unpublished kids menu with discounted food as a courtesy to our customers with large families and small children. Most are grateful for this option and some are disappointed, but the rules are clearly laid out for our staff that, kids menu items are for kids only. Our staff can't simply change the price of a menu item at will or the rules we set before them. To treat the staff the way you did when they were just trying to do their job is the definition of "Rude." At the end of the day you were given your kids meal and politely told that this was a one time allowance.
There are many other fine establishments on Kelleys Island with a wide variety of offerings. Our menu is posted at our entrance, if you did not see something that interested you, we politely request that you move along instead of demanding our staff to meet your wants.
To address a few things here:
1.) I would suggest to use this as a training opportunity for future employees to simply say "No" to adult requests to order off the kids menu - and not to even entertain the request. If we were told "No" (which we weren't - our waitress stated she would see what she could do) this would have left us in a much better opinion overall of the experience
2.) To be clear, the statement "To treat the staff the way you did when they were just trying to do their job is the definition of "Rude." - Our party was anything but rude to any of the wait staff. Our party member simply requested a menu item off the menu, and did not make a particular fuss about it. However, the review that was left was rather impolite, I do agree.
Overall - the food is good here, and I would visit again - but some practice in professional communication and intonation can...
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