Great Escape Restaurant — Restaurant in Leyden Township

First of all, I’d like to say that I’ve always enjoyed The Great Escape—the nostalgia, the baked French onion soup, the Reuben sandwich. I’ve been taking my coaching staff, work colleagues, and friends here for years. Not to mention, my father frequents the restaurant monthly for lunch with friends, too. My dad raves over The Great Escape’s BLT, always saying the same thing—the amount of bacon they put on it is second to none.

With my father’s health (pancreatic cancer) rapidly deteriorating, I decided to reserve a table for 8 this past Saturday. Granted, the place was hopping with what looked like a wedding that rented out the entire covered porch. Our reservation was for 2 p.m. We arrived at 1:55 p.m., and we weren’t seated until 2:15 p.m. No biggie in my book. We ordered rounds of drinks and entrees across the table. We even obliged the photographer who was taking pictures. Long story short, we spent over 450 dollars, which under normal circumstances is entirely worth it for “the experience,” especially for my father who was likely enjoying his last ever meal from one of his favorite places before going into hospice. What struck a nerve with me was after one hour and 30 minutes, at 3:45 p.m., we were asked to leave because the next party was already there.

If I had known that The Great Escape double-booked our table, I’d never have made a reservation. Subsequently, 450 dollars spent for 7 adults and a kid on an early Saturday dinner, I would venture to say, is enough of an investment to not get run off our table after only an hour and thirty minutes.

I reached out to the restaurant, requesting a professional email from the owner Brian Great, as I wanted to share this experience through a private medium. But after no response other than a “Hi, thanks for contacting us. We've received your message and appreciate you reaching out,” I’ve decided to post my feedback as a review.

The Great Escape is the kind of place local Leyden-area folks save up for in order to celebrate special occasions. Down the road, I truly hope the owner, Brian Great, ensures that all his patrons, whether returning customers or new diners, especially when they’ve made reservations while also paying good money, never have to “eat and run” like my family did this...

The roast beef is supposed to be PINK with creamy brown edges. No...this was just grey brown. And entirely tasteless. Broccoli was fine as it goes, but again, no taste. No seasoning. Not even olive oil and some basic seasoning...

I'd heard enough about the gravy on reviews and avoided it, minus a small amount. I don't remember it at all. Mashed potatoes were nothing to write home about. A bit lumpy.

Everything was either tasteless or too salty (a trick used to hide not fresh/healthy food).

Soup was something stew-like w potatoes. Considering the amount of salt (way too much), I venture to say it's canned.

I asked for a drink and a box. I asked twice for the box. Even the person sitting next to me said, are they ever going to bring it...? It was inordinately long for the drink, but longer for the box. Normally, if they're that busy, you have a bus boy bring it or another waitress.

I only saw one waitstaff, which is insane for a place that size. Especially since they knew we were coming...

And the boxes are usually right by the kitchen entrance, so I'd think they'd have to walk past there several times. I'd have grabbed them on the way back when I did that job.

Drink was ok. Forgot to ask for less ice, because as always, it was 3/4 full of ice.

I remember this being a nice restaurant before, but now this is clearly a boring chain of sorts. And not even of the Bennigan's variety or Hooters. Think more like Arby's. Just kind of blah food.

Ice cream desert was fine, but it wasn't like Häagen-Dazs or anything...

I didn't get to the chicken, as it was sitting awhile by the time I got the box when we were about ready to leave. That plus the drive back, and I might toss it. It was over an hour out. Not great for food safety.

The wait staff was nice enough. I wasn't buying, so I couldn't discuss prices, but I'd see no reason to go back, even if it were down the street.

They put up tacky casino games right by the entrance to the room. Yuck. I doubt they'll be there long. Even Wag's had better food back in the early 90s. (Walgreen's restaurant, I believe. Then...

So two nights ago I went to dinner for the first time at the Great Escape. I wasn't that hungry so I ordered something small. I ordered a bowl of French onion soup and a half order of the Grandpa's baby back ribs. Okay so first of all I have to start with the soup start with the soup. I think the only thing missing from the soup was it really needed more Sherry and it needed to be more richer. I thought it was fairly Bland and needed some salt. Is lack a lot of flavor and richness. Also the cheese was very thick and almost squeaky between my teeth and the cheese on French onion soup should not be like this I believe the menu said they use mozzarella which is the problem. They really should have used gruyere cheese on French onion soup. It melts better and it makes a soup taste creamier and richer. No onto the ribs. While they were fall-off-the-bone, which is not necessarily a good thing. Ribs need some substance to them some meaty chew. They lacked a tremendous amount of flavor. And even though there are fall-off-the-bone they were dry they did not taste fresh they tasted like they were reheated and made like the day before. It also tasted like they were parboiled so much that took the flavor out. I'm guessing it was a safe bet to say they were boiled first and then throw it on the grill to finish them. I could even eat one rib and I send them back. That was the end of that meal. I did finish the soup. One redeeming factor for this restaurant I came in the next day because I wanted to try the prime rib which was very good. It wasn't the best prime rib I've had and it definitely wasn't the worst. I wish they would have had some fresh horseradish. They had some horseradish sauce which had a slight aftertaste like it was old. It didn't taste all but the aftertaste made it taste like it was old never tasted that before. Obviously this place is well-liked it's packed. As far as the food goes it could use...