Anchor Bar — Restaurant in Loveland

My wife and I have dined here a LOT since they first opened last year (a number of the servers come say hello to us as repeat patrons). When the food is good, it's very good. And when it's off, it's really off. That's the trouble with this place, it's consistently inconsistent. (We've heard on a number of occasions they've had some serious issues retaining reliable kitchen staff.) What's bothered us most though, is the owner has shown a pattern of being CHEAP. Four separate examples: (1) One time we waited almost 2 hours for a pizza to come out, and asked to speak with the manager (the owner actually came to the table). He apologized, and explained they were having a major kitchen issue that day - but didn't offer anything (not a complimentary appetizer, dessert, NOTHING). In my opinion, he should have comped the entire meal at that point (for everyone waiting, not just us) - but any small gesture would have been appreciated. (2) Another time, we brought a friend in, and the entire meal was a mess. It took forever, they brought out the wrong side(s), much of the food was cold - and when they remade my wife's dish, it came out cold again! The solution? We were offered 10% off the bill. WHAT?? Are you kidding me?? (3) Yet another time, we brought a group of 6-8 people in, and the entire meal was a disaster (again it took forever, most everyone's food has an issue, and some of the food was plain terrible). Again, we asked for a manager, but none was even in the restaurant that evening. So the waitress asked what we thought would be fair, and I suggested they should comp the entire meal (it was a nightmare experience). She called the owner, explained everything that happened, and he told her to comp 50%. This time the gesture was more appropriate, but in my opinion still not good enough. (4) Finally, my wife and I ate there last night, and we saw two separate charges for $1.99 (one for switching her fries out for tater tots - they're pretty much the same thing! - the other for switching my fries out for a tiny bowl of basic pasta). There was also another charge for $.59 (my wife asked for more salad dressing, which came with 1 tiny cup for a large salad. Once again, we spoke with the manager/owner, and told him it wasn't about the $4 or the 59 cents, it was the principle of nickel-and-diming customers (plus I explained, if there's an upcharge for something, the server should let you know - this way you can decide if it's worth it or not). He claimed to understand, but as we've come to expect, did not take any of those petty charges off the bill. Bottom line, the food has been slightly above average overall, but due to the repeated penny-wise-dollar-foolish ways of ownership (which is a recipe to lose good customers for life), we will almost certainly NOT be...

Oh man…we were so disappointed. Took the whole family for a birthday celebration and my boys are wing connoisseurs so of course we had to try the new wing spot in town. We made reservations since it was a large party (8); we’re seated right away; served drinks…this was all exceptional. Then we ordered. “No, the restaurant won’t mix flavors but we’ll bring you a side of sauce to mix it yourself.” Weird but Ok?? Is your “hotter” sauce fairly hot? Yes, great, we’ll have that. (It’s not hot, it smells like chemicals but we couldn’t put our finger on what exactly and no, it didn’t taste good either.) I know, we probably shouldn’t have tasted it if it smelled weird. That’s on us.🤷🏻‍♀️ My grandkids’ meals came out quickly, thank God! As did the full size mac & cheese and one large order of wings, but then the rest of us sat there for some time, at least 20 minutes and we all ordered wings as well. My sweet kids chose to wait until our meals arrived so I know their food was cold but that was their choice.

Once the rest of the food finally arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at how meaty the wings are. They were cooked ok (not to the crispness we like but they were cooked) and not overly saucy which I appreciated. You can always add more sauce if you prefer it that way. Again though, the sauce isn’t special. I love seeing a wing place put their own spin on their sauce. It sets them apart. I understand this is a franchise but the owner still has a say on ways to make his place stand out in his location.

Bottom line, my low review reflects how our food was served, the quality of the sauce and the restaurant’s inability to understand the needs of its customers. I’ve read several of the other reviews and still gave this place a try. After seeing some of the owner’s responses to those reviews, it reinforced our experience and explains why the staff reacts to situations the way they do. I genuinely want to see a new restaurant in that location succeed and it’s possible with some major changes...

I was so excited to see an Anchor Bar coming to Loveland. I used to frequent the original in Buffalo years ago. The cost of the wings is horrendous at 1.79 per. That's about 25 cents per bite. The typical cost of wings in the Longmont/Loveland area is about 1.00 per and less depending on the day. Plus, you could only order one flavor per 10 wings, where at other places it is one flavor per 5 wings. Back in the day at the original location, you could order a whole plate of wings with 8-10 different flavors. Granted I know times change, but charging a premium for wings and only being to get 1 flavor per 10 is not good. I decided not to order anything for dinner, because if i cant get what I want, why order. My wife ordered what looked like a French dip. She was told the bun is heavily salted. She ordered no salt on the bun. The bun came out so salted it made her sick. The manager came over and apologized, but didn't offer to replace or comp the meal. I totally get that it's a new place and there are growing pains, but we probably won't be back.

My response to the owner: The response from the owner just confirmed that we will not be coming back to this establishment. Maybe the owner was just having a bad day when they wrote their response, but nonetheles their response to someone with a complaint was very rude. I did not leave Mickeys Top Sirloin a one star review I left a 5 star review for them, but I did revise your review to one star. I used to eat at Mickeys a lot when i worked by there and the experience was always a positive one. There are approximately 10 wings per pound and the average price for wings in Longmont is about 13 bucks. Wing Shack are 12.25 per pound, on the cheap side. I also stated " depending on the day," which accounts for specials, that everyone runs, "my guy." And for your information "my guy" I am in the know as I eat out almost every meal. Overall including the management's degrading response to my review is has been a horrible one and we will not...