Firewater Mill — Restaurant in Marion

The good things: atmosphere is not bad at all. The bad: Service is terrible, no fault to the waitresses, but there's two waitresses in charge of waiting on 8-9 tables each. Expect to wait a terribly long time, at least on the weekends. We waited 20ish mins for refills, an hour for our appetizer, 90 mins for our salads, and two hours for our entrées. Waitresses ran their asses off and two men stood by the dumbwaiter the whole night. Food: Also not what I expected. No prices listed for steak, fine. Ordered a 16oz ribeye, medium-rare. It came out two hours after ordering about a 1/4 inch thick and medium-well, at best. It certainly wasn't close to 16oz pre-cooked; closer to 11-12oz at best. It was charged at $40 a plate. I've paid for 40-50 dollar steaks and have gotten something 25x better, or at least have gotten a much better attempt.

TL;DR - pretty stereotypical for a small business restaurant trying to make it in this economy, especially for this area. Consider going out of town if you want at least a decent bar/grill atmosphere and want to get what you're paying for in a bar or grill atmosphere. Try Amazing Joe's in Muncie. It's what this place is trying to be similar to but it's nowhere close. Take the 35-45min drive, it'll be better than an experience here, at least on a busy weekend night. If you're going to try at all, try it on a random weeknight; perhaps then you can get timely service, but I wouldn't advise ordering...

The mill is tucked away in a rather unexpected part of Marion. A city not synonymous with quality or upper class. And yet there is the mill. A homey establishment with a breathtaking river view. A date with the wife is what lead me here and it was a fantastic experience. The staff was attentive and kind anytime I felt I needed the server she was there right away. We opted for balcony seating which was well worth it. Some anti bug and dusting of the railing would go a long way but I cant fault the establishment for that during the fall season. The food was worth the price. I opted for a burger and everything from the onions to the fries was fresh and full of flavor. The meat was seasoned proportionatley and the natural bacon bits they opt for instead of actual strips was a surprise that worked well with the other ingrediants. The sweet tea was fresh and the wife gave the salmon and broccoli high praise. So what prevents a full 5 star? The general outdoor cleanliness and location (as in neighborhood) prevent this resturant from being what the food would imply and although the food blows all chain resturants out of the water nothing left me particularly wowed. It was all right where it needed to be. I would recommend this resturant to anybody looking for a great visual experience and good service and food for the price. However there is always room for improvement. Well done and...

*This place is under new ownership again. No longer serving Indian style food (for example curry). Great staff... Very nice, friendly and attentive. Great view. Bad food experience (quality). Chicken Alfredo for $17 smelled so bad I had to send it back and I was so nauseated by it so much that I couldn't order a replacement of another dinner. Our appetizer 5 stuffed mushrooms for $14 were barely warm and taste was just ok. The Firewater burger $15 had a decent bun but the burger was equivalent to tasting like a burger that's used in Salisbury steak frozen entrees. You can order a better burger like a mushroom swiss from just about any fast food restaurant. The menu was very small. Only 3 options for a main entree was shocking. Just not much to pick from. Pricey for the options. This might be because of the view of the river and the dam. It has a great view. They're supposed to be getting new menu's so maybe they will add a lot more entrees. Service was reasonable. It didn't take long to be served our food. They brought my salad right out and then my main entree when I was just finishing the salad so good timing. They weren't busy on a Wednesday afternoon. I would not recommend this place for food but maybe would for drinks at the bar in the upstairs area. I didn't order an alcoholic beverage so I might be back sometime to try the bar for drinks...