Ralph’s American Grill — Restaurant in Liberty Township

Just back from a v. nice dinner at Ralph's American Grill, at 68/71. (formerly Max and Erma's)

Just for fun of it, made a reservation on their link, 'Open Table' and it did show up on check-in.

Got table immediately, but for a Friday night at 5p they were almost full. Good for them, and I'm not aware any horse or gun shows going on right now.

Traveling Partner had the beer cheese burger and fries. Pronounced fries delicious. I had a couple, good. Not as good as Five Guy's, but that's a high standard. Said burger was v. good but only finished half - it was big. It didn't survive the evening though.

I was there for the Italian buffet and overall, pleasantly surprised.

Buffet had a small salad bar, three types of greenery mixes, other usual add-ons. Looks like in-house made croutons, also house ranch dressing - v. good. Had cute little caprese salad bites, but that wasn't mozzarella on them. Think it was baby Swiss, still good, but not what I expected. Rest of bar had bread sticks (pretty good) meatballs, It. sausages, rice, and veggies. Guy behind the bar was hustling, turning out made-to-order ravioli dishes. I had it with Alfredo sauce. Very rich and filling. Guy said they were trying different things, so no pasta this time only ravioli.

I never go to a new place for a month, six weeks just to let them 'settle in'. But everything seemed to be going well, wait staff busy but attentive.

Traveling Partner thought time for burger to come out a little long, but again the tables were full when we came in. I was on my second plate from the buffet when it did show (grin)

Pricing as expected. Biggest issue I have is the place is noisy, they need to put some sound deadening in the ceiling. That's a standard complaint of mine - my hearing isn't that bad, yet. I don't like leaning in to hear the conversation.

So we will put these folks in our restaurant rotation. I'll be interested in seeing how their seafood buffet...

Waitress had attitude from the start and clearly showed no desire to be present. Restaurant does lunch and dinner but somehow had no sweet tea ready at 1 PM. Waitress didn't get drinks correct despite the drink order being 2 water, 3 tea, and 1 coke. Waitress went to lengths to avoid our table for an hour after ordering food. No drink refills, no explanation of food delay, ignored attempts to get her attention including hand gestures and verbal shout of "excuse us, ma'am" (each time she had just talked to the table next to us).

As mentioned, food took an hour to be brought out and was luke warm which meant it just sat ready for that time. Food that was delivered was missing sides but the waitress still asked "do you need anything else?" (yeah, how about the fries and the rest of that "loaded" baked potato that only has cheese on it). Chicken was dried out, condiments that were requested to be left off were clearly on the items, and waitress ignored empty drinks until we pointed at the 3 empty cups.

Manager arrived to check up near the end of the meal. When told of the state of the food when it arrived and the 1-hour wait she only offered to have the dishes remade. It could clearly be seen that all of the meals were eaten at that point. I can't wait 30 minutes to be seated, 10 minutes to be asked for a drink order, an hour for food, and 30 minutes before a manager arrives and then tell my 3 year old not to eat. I would have expected the bill to by comp'ed to some degree but not even offered or suggested. Topped it off with the waitress dropping our bill on the table for signature and walking away before she even finishes saying "Have a good day". She avoided eye contact except to glare at us while we worked to leave the table.

$65 for two kids meals and two adults just to endure this crap service?! They scammed us good. Never even considering this...

My husband and I tried Ralph's recently for the first time. The young man who seated us threw the flatware down on the table and walked off. We asked for a booth, and were seated by two friendly waitresses. Our own waitress, Lindsey, was very pleasant, and attentive, and brought our wine with an apology for the fact that she had to wait for the drinks at the bar. The prime rib ordered by my husband was very good and flavorful although a bit overcooked. My mushroom burger was cold, and again, overcooked. The description included Swiss cheese of which there was very little in evidence. The mushrooms were tasteless. Caesar salad was ok, but, there were far too many large croutons in the bowl. The fries were very good, but, the serving was small. The restaurant is described as a paean to the trucking industry. Fair enough, given the location, but, there is zero ambience. I thought it would look more like a NY-style diner; the decor is disjointed, and the piped-in music too loud. Food is a bit expensive by comparison with other restaurants in the area.

Overall, our experience was disappointing. Notwithstanding the fact that our waitperson was a lovely young woman doing her best, I would recommend more thorough training of staff, and more thought be given to exactly what kind of restaurant experience Ralph's is aiming to provide its patrons. Right now, it seems to be trying to do too many things, and to appeal to too many different kinds of diners, at the same time..........with some tweaks, Ralph's could be be a real nice place to...