78 Main Dining — Restaurant in Lava Hot Springs

When we arrived we walked through the patio area and noticed several tables with trash and dirty dishes. I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt and assumed they were too busy to buss the outdoor tables. When we entered, the party in front of us had 3 people and the hostess looked around as if confused, and finally told them where to sit. Keep in mind, there were maybe 6 tables with customers, everything else was empty. When it was our turn she did the same. I say this because we counted 7 empty tables that had not been bussed yet. Maybe she was trying to decide if she could have us wait while she cleared them, which she could have done, but chose not to. Our table was horribly sticky, so when a waitress came to get our drink order, we politely asked them to wipe it down for us. The hostess then came with a dingy dish rag and halfway wiped down our table while telling us that this specific table is always sticky no matter how much they wipe it down. (Maybe try a cleaning spray? Or just get rid of this table since it's so mysteriously sticky?) While we were waiting to order, we watched the hostess bus one table, seated guests, stood behind the bar on her phone, then bussed another table when more guests came. All the while using the same dishrag, no cleaning spray, soap, nothing. Perhaps she could have just bussed all the tables in one go? I'm not sure if she was new or just lazy. I can understand being short staffed, but in my experience if you have time to get on your phone, you likely have time to take 5 minutes or less to clear some tables.

The food: Chicken Alfredo = cold mushy noodles + thick chunky Alfredo sauce (looked like it came straight from a jar) + cold semi grilled chicken. House Salad = Yellow cucumbers that tasted horribly bitter + wilting, brown, spoiled lettuce. My fiancé ordered one of the burgers, it was extremely charred on the outside, making it hard to chew. My friend ordered a sandwich and stated that even Arby's would taste better. Other friend got the turkey club and it seems that must be the only thing they could get right, as she enjoyed it. Sweet potato fries were great, only a bit cold. Regular fries were oily and unseasoned. The waitress we had was fantastic! Didn't get her name but she had purple in her eyelashes. No bad things about her, she was very attentive. This place could have an exceptional environment with decent hostess, bus...

So the place was better than some of the other fine dining in the area, but could still use some small tweaks to get 5 stars.

First, be reared to wait. We came with a party of 8. Unfortunately the large table that could seat us had 4 people at it. Another was filled with dishes. It took nearly 45 minutes before the could clear the table of dishes so we could sit down to eat. (I'm still not sure why they couldn't push tables together so we could sit down sooner. There were a number of open tables and they definitely had the room.)

Sill, once we sat down our drink orders were taken quickly but it took nearly 20 more minutes to get them. We placed our order shortly afterwards. Appetizers were also served.

We waited about 45 more minutes before our food arrived and Unfortunately it arrived cold. My steak was also overcooked. (I ordered medium and received one very well done.) They quickly offered to fix the steak. In the mean time I had the mashed potatoes and veggies. Although cold, they were very good.

When I did get the stake back it was flavorful but more rare then medium.

Others in our party had veggie burgers, which I was told was very good. Another one of their specialty salads which went over well. Another had chicken Alfredo, also went well.

My kids were not a fan of the macaroni but they did finish off the appetizers in stead.

I should point out that delays aside, the staff were friendly and helpful. Overall, if the delays could be reined in this could be a 5 star establishment. I will revisit at some point in the future...

Honesty is the best policy right? My husband and I walked in and were walked past multiple times before we we’re greeted… which is fine the workers looked busy so it was understandable. Looking around it’s a cute little place. A little dirty though. Plants were dying in the window and the tables and floors were a little gross. Other customers looked a little irritated. It made me question our decision to eat here a little bit but we gave it a shot anyway. The woman who sat us was very nice. Our waitress was also very nice. She had gorgeous purple hair. We ordered in a timely fashion I felt like. The mimosas we ordered were yummy and got to the table quickly. Getting our food was a whole other wait time… about 1 hour from ordering to the table. When we received our food it was slightly cold and pretty bland. They could have use a bit more seasoning. The hubby’s pancake was pretty good though. Over all it was okay. Will we be back? Possibly. My recommendation is to maybe get a new program in place for the kitchen and maybe getting people to tidy up if they aren’t doing anything at that very moment. (before any worker gets up set reading this recommendation I say it because I saw three ladies standing behind the counter leaning up against it chitchatting before we left.) I also think maybe telling people the wait will be exceedingly long and is best to have patience with the kitchen. Again, honesty is the...