SandHill — Restaurant in Marshall

EDIT HAS BEEN ADDED AT THE END! Thank you Rick Slone.

Sandhill used to be one of my partners favorite places to dine. We go out two to three times per week so had gone there often. Suddenly awhile ago we would go during regular hours to find their big neon open sign on but the doors were locked. So we stopped going there. On 2/28 a group of friends were meeting there and said the place was under new ownership so we decided to give it another try. The food was decent and we enjoyed ourselves. When the bill arrived I thought “wow, the beer must be really expensive because our food wasn’t that much but that seems to be the price of dining out these days” I added what amounted to be a 23% tip because I always give 20% and round up to the nearest dollar. When I got home I happened to look at my receipt before tossing it to see how much the beer actually was. It was $3 each, so not exorbitantly expensive. What I was surprised to see was they had already added a 20% gratuity to the amount. This brought my total tip on what the actual price of our order was to 49%! I have been to restaurants where they do this with groups but they make announcement at the table that gratuity has already been added. No such announcement was made. On the 29th I stopped by the place to talk with the owner. They were not present but the bartender said she would have them call me. A few hours later I received a call from Bennett, she was extremely rude and even hostile from the start. She informed me it’s posted on the front that a tip is added to all parties over 8 people. I explained that most people don’t read signs and furthermore I did not open the door, someone was entering in front of me and held the door. I also stated that any place I have been where the tip is already added the wait staff makes an announcement to the table that gratuity is already added. With her voice raised she informed me that the sign is on the front because the waitress doesn’t have time to make an announcement. I thought that was pretty lame but said if the staff isn’t going to tell you then it should be put on the menu where people will actually see it. She stated that there’s no room on the menu and yelled at me, “You know our waitresses only make $5 an hour not $12?!” I stated that I am aware that wait staff are underpaid, that is why I always tip 20%. What I was thinking but did not state was that I do not believe I need to make up for the current system of low wages and tipping by tipping what wound up being 49% on our actual total. She yelled at me, “I have already apologized what do you want me to do?!” Well, actually she had never apologized, she gave me excuses while using a raised voice and hostile attitude. I told her I wanted some of my money back but what I had actually wanted when talking to them was for them to understand that they should in fact tell people when they have already added the gratuity and to be decent and even apologize. All I received was hostility and excuses. After that I was so so furious I only said I wanted some of my money back because I was too polite to say what I was actually thinking. A place could have the best food in the world but if they treat their customers poorly they will not be getting my business. So I guess this is forewarning, if you choose to dine here, check your bill thoroughly and I hope you get better treatment than we did.

EDITED TO ADD: 3/3/24 I received a call from Rick today, the actual owner of the restaurant and have changed my review from 1 star to 4 stars. He had heard what happened from another member in our group and was quite upset about the whole situation. He purchased the place a month ago and has been working to turn it around. He talked to me about all of my concerns and assured me things will be changing. He has definitely taken care of us and we will...

We were looking for a decent evening out with friends and decided to give the SandHill, in Marshall (formerly the Moonraker), a try. Turned out to be a crappy decision. We arrived shortly after 5p, the dining room had 2 other couples aside from ourselves. Service was going well as my bf and I waited for the 4 other guests that would be joining us. We ordered an appetizer and drinks. The rest of our party arrived and ordered their appetizers and drinks, along with everyone's entrees (a steak meal, shrimp meal, and 2 pizzas). That's where things started to go south. We had a complaint on a long island that had been served with a splash of liquor and a splash of coke while the rest of the 20 oz (ish) glass was filled with sour mix. The drink was sent back only to have the blonde bartender argue "I measure" and snip about having to correct the drink. The "fixed" drink was brought back to the table only to still be too sour to enjoy and was accepted only to keep the now awkward situation from getting worse. (This interaction easily cost the establishment from the profit on at least 4 additional drinks.)

Next as the entrees arrived, my bf and I were served our steak and shrimp meals while we were told "the pizzas will be out shortly." Shortly turned into 45 minutes later after we asked about them for a second time. Meanwhile, my bf and I's food grew cold as we tried to eat slowly so that we were not finished with our meal prior to rest receiving theirs as they insisted on us to eat. When the pizzas arrived they were burnt.

We made the best of it and waited for our bills. Our tab was incorrect, however the waitress corrected the drink but not before the same blonde bartender was sure to point out "well they've been there since 5p! What'd they expect?"

We paid and were headed for the door and overheard the same bartender yell across the bar, "about time" and applauded.

If it hadn't been for a super sweet waitress trying to make the situation right, I'd have made a scene about the mediocre quality food and lack of knowledgeable and ill mannered bar staff.

P.S. The bartender will probably get a chuckle from this... but I'm writing this from the commode because I barely made it home before having explosive diarrhea.

WE WILL NOT BE BACK! AND WILL BE SURE TO SHARE THIS EXPERIENCE WITH ALL OF OUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, COWORKERS, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT MIGHT MAKE THEIR WAY TO MARSHALL.

*I should also note, we spent $90 to be treated this way.

On the plus side, after 16 plus hours and a lot of rest I'm...

First visit since the change from moonraker. Went for lunch yesterday around 12:30 with 4 other guys. To start the menu was a little to tricky to order from. Everything item on it was named some cheezy nickname. My fried pickles were called porcupine quills, my salad was called nature’s bounty something or other. Took a few minutes to figure out what you wanted because you had to read everything on it. The names made no sense. My buddy ordered the drooling moose burger or some dam thing. I can’t imagine how confused the waitress must get when trying to place orders to cook staff. The place was pretty bare when we were there. Maybe 5 people. Waitress was nice, did a good job, food came out pretty quick and it was very good. The burgers my buddies got looked great, huge burgers with tons of steak style fries cooked exactly like I prefer. My fried pickles were great, big and coating was good too. My salad was a nice garden style salad with the meats thin sliced into strings and spun into circles which I’ve never seen. Looked fresh and was good. Little to much spinach and not enough iceberg lettuce but that just being picky. In all I liked the lunch until the bill came. My fried pickles and a salad was $21.00 with tip $25.00. Believe me I’m all for paying for a good meal but $25.00 lunch is pretty steep. It was good but man. Could have had 5 dbl steak burgers with fries at Mc dees, steak & shake, Wendy’s, Arby’s, etc. Before the change of ownership you could get a good burger & fries here for $5.50. Not sure what’s changed to justify dbl price. Probably won’t be back for the lunch because it’s to expensive but may try a dinner...