Big Fellas Ice House — Restaurant in Mansfield

I'll start with, the women that helped us and the manager were amazing and clearly have service in mind. It was sweet and thoughtful service and good looking, clean establishment that I didn't know was even here.

We ended up having 3 different people waiting on us, including a bartender. Not sure why this was, or why our table wasn't bussed until it was closing time either, but, despite this, the service was still good and the ladies were very nice and we made sure to take care of them.

Where the issues come in is the food. Ordering a steak nachos entree, I was expecting something like love and war in Plano has. Heaping with meat and pico, loaded with cheese, and hard to finish. Enough for a couple people to munch on all night. We were presented with a hardly full plate of warm, underwhelming nachos with a smattering of cheese sauce, hardly any discernable pico. Just cheese sauce drizzled on like it was some sort of high society, reimagining of nachos. We had to ask for a side of Pico, which honestly, still wasn't enough for the price. No lie, the 'steak' that came out with the steak nachos looked like it was the size of cat food. It wasn't shredded or full pieces of steak, it was literally bits of it. It was really bad and skimpy and would still be so for an appetizer. I had to order a quesadilla as a second entree which was skimpy as well but at least had solid flavor.

The patio was full because of the music which started at 7. Where the big issues came in was when the band had to set up on a tiny stage, in the sweltering sun, exposing themselves and instruments and equipment to those brutal conditions. No shade, no cover, no fans, and clearly less than ideal planning involved. If you notice, most of the reviews about this place talk about the live music, which is plentiful in Texas and you can find all over the place. The people stayed around until the very end and were given a top notch show, which at one point featured a literal line of people waiting to tip. The cover songs and beer were flowing and it was bumping and people were having a great Saturday night. The listeners were spending money and were great, supportive and interested. Once the music stopped, the people cleared out and the table was finally bussed of the ten bottles and plates that were there from the 5 people sitting at the table for the more than 4 hours we were there.

The band played the better part of 3 hours, through the heat and sun and had the literal street to their back, with cars passing by while they played. No breeze, just sweating and playing anyway

Very considerate staff, a good clean restaurant that unfortunately overcharges for subpar food. They need a way to to figure out how to get one person waiting on a table instead of 3. Much more consideration should be paid to the conditions that the band, who is paid to be there, are dealing with. How does anyone not realize this? There are at least 5 fans on the patio for listeners with cover and shade, while the musicians have to sit and bake in the sun that is over them and beating down until the sun goes down and expose their expensive equipment to heat and sun that is over 100 degrees.

Improve the food and what you get for the price, because 15 dollar nachos with light cheese sauce and pieces, not even chunks of steak, won't cut it in Texas. Come for the music and service, not the 7 dollar bottled beer and...

I recently visited Big Fellas Ice House with a few coworkers while staying nearby, about 10 minutes from our hotel. It’s located in a strip center and has the usual sports bar vibe—plenty of TVs showing games, but nothing particularly unique about the décor.

Service was the highlight of the visit. Our waitress was incredibly nice and patient, even when things got a little bumpy. For example, I ordered a Moscow mule and asked if it was served in a copper mug. She wasn’t sure, so she checked with another waitress who said yes—but when the drink came out, it was in a regular glass. It’s a small detail, but copper mugs help keep the drink colder and are kind of part of the experience.

The food was where things fell short. I ordered the fried catfish and shrimp basket with fries. Both the fish and shrimp were heavily breaded to the point of being dense, and they really needed just a touch of seasoning to bring the flavors out. My coworker had an even rougher experience—he tried to order wings, was told they weren’t available, then told they’d take a while, then told they could actually make them right away. After all that back and forth, he switched to shrimp and catfish, but his plate came out with only shrimp.

Overall, I’d give the waitress 5 stars for effort and friendliness, but the food and kitchen execution really brought the experience down to about a 3-star visit. I might give them another try in the future, but next time I’ll probably order...

We stopped in for our first time and discovered it was happy hour so it was slightly busy but not crazy. It seemed like there was only one waitress taking care of everyone so the service was a little slow but she was very nice and still very attentive and communicative.

Ordered queso and it was cold and chips would break dipping into it, the second one they brought was warm enough to dip without breaking the chip. Overall the queso was fine, nothing special.

We were in the mood for burgers but we're not fans of smash burgers so we got a quesadilla and a grilled chicken sandwich. I liked my chicken sandwich and my husband said the quesadilla was alright. We both had slight stomach issues after but it was short lived.

It's a nice bar and restaurant, you can tell they put in the effort and it was clean. I did have to grab ketchup from another table and peel the safety seal off of it because it was a new bottle, but that's better than getting an old messy and disgusting bottle that some restaurants never clean and just constantly refill the same bottle. Our waitress paid attention to our drinks and refilled it when we were low.

We would definitely come back when we have more time to enjoy happy hour or see a band, and try their drinks and other stuff off the menu. I'll give their smash burger a try to see if they can change my...