Duke's Brewhouse — Restaurant in Lakeland

NOT for ppl of color! 1st visit my husband, me and adult daughter visited for brunch. We just moved to the area and it looked like a nice sports bar, but they are a wannabe hooters with daisy dukes instead of tight t-shirts! The hostess was fun, cute and welcoming. Our food didn’t take long to come. I ordered some wings and thought they could have been cooked longer. They had active mgr interviews during launch and did not display any professional privacy to candidates! At this point, I’m thinking this is a country dive bar, but figured we’d give it another chance. During the 1st visit , the mgr asked everyone if they enjoyed their meal and looked at us without a word! The server acted like it was only her job to try and be nice to the brown ppl, but she was not very attentive. We didn’t take it to heart and said we’d try again. Finally, the second and LAST time we went Saturday. It was me, my husband, brother and his wife. Our server was Kendall. She was fake friendly to the brown ppl. We were seated with people who had a dog on the patio. Kendall was not attentive and was very annoying asking if we needed anything after we asked for the bill. She visited the table at least days times or more as though we were running out on the bill. I paid $150 for everyone and left the table to use the restroom in a hurry. Things went left when I tried to return to the table after visiting the bathroom. I passed through an area that appeared to be where servers were located, but I was unsure. On the return from the restroom, I attempted to take the same route and was stopped by a very rude server . She Informed me that I could not come that way, and that it was some sort of insurance risk. I said that’s OK because I will call my party and let them know that I’m out of the restroom and then we can leave. I proceeded to call my husband on FaceTime and told him that I was not allowed to walk back out the way that I came in and that it was time for us to go. It was a big mouth, privileged, gothic looking server that decided to break into my conversation with my husband and became very loud and said that I had a choice to walk around if I wanted to go back with my party. I told her I was not talking to her and that I was talking to my husband and that it was not an issue and that she needed to mind her business. From there things went left . She started an argument, and then a co worker walked over to her and then to me. She had on a blue T-shirt and asked me the name of my server. I told I was waiting for my husband and the remaining party to meet me at the door to leave. The gothic chic kept running her privileged mouth. Finally, the manager came over or someone who was a bald head manage. He had a defensive stance and at that point my husband and party arrived to leave and asked if I was OK. I told him I did not like the way the Gothic thing was speaking to me and that I was ready to go. I told the manager that we were leaving the establishment but that he needs to get control over how his servers talk to customers. As we exited the door, Kendall decided to walk over and with her smart mouth and said girl you just have a good night girl in a very sarcastic voice. I replied to her and just kept walking. I called the manager back once I got home and calmly explained the situation and told him that I would never visit his establishment again. It was not welcoming, and I do not feel it was for people of a minority race. He replied and said that his sister is a black attorney, and that she is very loud and that I was quiet compared to her. , H said he did not feel that I did anything wrong. He apologized, but I would’ve appreciated a return on my tip or percentage money for our meals. We are not broke, and I’m not hurting for money, but the principle is that we paid for a horrible experience. Next time I will take the gentle hints and not return or visit a place that looks like they do not specialize in diversity. Polk county sux...

So being new to Lakeland we found Duke's on S. Florida Ave and thought this would be a great place to watch out favorite sports teams and grab something to eat at the same time. Until, our server decided to add a $20 tip to our bill when we had already left her a cash tip. The Manager was kind about it and took care of our meals that night. He made sure we knew that the GM would call us the next day. We never received a call from the GM. Then, last night we went to watch the conference champoinships and again grab something to eat. It took about 20 minutes for a server to come to our table. She brought us our drinks and walked away. When she returned she asked if we wanted any appetizers, when we said no she said ok thank you and walked away. I got her attention and said we were ready to order. 30 minutes later we received out food. Cold. I had the steak fajita wrap. It was conpletely cold and was not made accordingly to the description on the menu. I alerted the waitress and was told the manager said the lettuce makes the meat cool off faster but her would be out shortly. 10 minutes later the manager came out and stated that he has been in the kitchen helping. I told him our issue and he again tried to explain that the lettuce makes the meat get cold. I stated if it was fresh it wouldn't be cold all the way through. He simply said "so what do you want me to do?" I said take my plate and take it off my bill. He took both meals off our bill. THEN the server that ran our card through to pay charged out card the full price of both meals. Sooooo I called the waitress over again and told her this is incorrect. FINALLY the bill was corrected but the receipt didn't have a place to sign. Just a cluster of issues. We will not return to...

Good food! Great open layout! Can't wait till fall kicks in a little so we can enjoy the outdoor seating area! Pretzel bites were good, chicken flatbread was tasty but the chicken tasted like it had been cooked way too much, very dry and chewy. Service was quick to get started but our server only had 1 other table. That table stayed dirty after those guests were gone, and we waited at least another 15 minutes before she came back to check on us. Almost another 10 minutes just to run credit card. I think we came in at a slow time of the day, after lunch , before dinner . I would definitely go back for another try! Great views! Water out back is nice and the TV's all over were great! Problem is when you have to wait so long to check out, you have nothing to do but look around and you see more problems. .. You can see from pictures, it wasn't busy enough to wait so long. I'm sure my next visit will be better..UPDATE!! NOV 2ND 2020; my wife and I came back to try Duke's again, and the chicken and steak on the fajitas were very dry, again, and had hard pieces from the grill and burned chunks, that would chip a tooth. I talked to the manager and he took it off the bill, but he also noticed my fajitas were not on a sizzle plate either, like Chili's would have done. I'll try 1 more time, but not this location next time. I always want to give the benefit of the doubt, but this place might've had 6 tables in the whole restaurant while we were there.. No excuses! He didn't make any excuses and he apologized. He was really nice and listened to all my complaints. I'll try Winter...