Rivals Sports Bar & Grill — Restaurant in McKenzie

Now that the dust has settled...we went to this restaurant the night before a funeral. Most of us had traveled quite some way and a few family members in the area had recommended we go here as they had previously experienced fast service and great food. We were seated and handed 1 less menu than our party size - no worries we were happy to share. While looking over the menu family that was with us commented how delicious some of the food was and that it was safe for the party member who has severe food allergies. Said party member mentioned the allergies to the waitress, who did not know the answers and promptly asked a manager, who graciously provided an image of the ingredient list of a bottled sauce they used, which was very appreciated. Unfortunately much of the interactions after were less than ideal. We ordered our food and waited. It was nearly an hour from ordering before we were able to gain a waitresses attention and ask for an update. We mentioned it had been a while and we weren't upset, just curious. When she said there was only 1 person in the kitchen, one of the members of the party requested to see a manager. The waitress declined the request stating the manager "wasn't that kind of manager". We never got clarification on what that meant. The waitresses working did go to the kitchen and light a fire under the kitchen staff, which got our food delivered to the window, and then to the table. We had to several times ask where side dishes that were ordered were and one party member's meal. All food that came out was warm but not hot, which was unfortunate but by this point we were too hungry to care. One member of the party mentioned that his meal was supposed to have coleslaw according to the menu, the waitress informed us that they no longer served coleslaw and that new menus were ordered, but we were not informed of this information at the time of ordering. The same party member found a short black hair in his sweet potato fries, which were supposed to be regular fries but I digress. He has long brown hair. On his review, this restaurant replied rudely that it was his hair. He is too nice to edit his review to point this out. The fries were replaced, but were cold upon replacement. The fish in his meal were small chunks that looked like left over bits from the fryer. By this point we were waiting for a loaded baked potato, which was so tough that I did not eat the majority of it. We had only been givin forks, no knives, and the forks we had to request several times. I ended up using the pocket knife of my partner, as did several other party members. We were finally able to get ahold of a manager, who after such a long wait, cold food that was left uneaten, a hair in the fries, and the struggle to gain access to him prior, we were given a portion off of our meal. Overall, the dinner made an already upsetting trip even worse. I know that personally, I will not be returning, and neither will the rest of our party. One of our party member had previously left a 5 star review and was so upset by the events that he intends to change it once the emotions of the trip have settled for him. I truthfully hope there are some changes in attitude, either from the cook staff or the waitress who told us the manager wouldn't speak to us, or any other party involved. The town needs a nice sports bar but this one just severely fell short on...

I hate to post a negative review about a small business in a small town, service has to be consistently bad for me to do so And I don’t care that they had one of the lowest health inspection scores I’ve ever seen, with mouse droppings in the kitchen Tried it a few times, was never great, but not a lot of options in town so just deal with long waits, inattentive employees and just ok food But last time we were there, ended it, and we won’t return Drinks were watered down, with no flavor food tasted like it was cooked in old oil, and was cold when it finally arrived, when we mentioned it, the servers made sure to talk very loudly about us to everyone there, and about how no one else ever complains about the food or drinks. girls working spend their time hanging out with their friends, even allowing them behind the bar Unless you know the people working, you are ignored, and even belittled, and that is what ended it for us. I’m ok with not being wanted in an establishment, I’ll take my business elsewhere since the owner likes to reply to every negative review with snark,and rudeness Let me preemptively say, it’s not the customers job to help improve the service of your restaurant Instead, it’s our prerogative to move on and spend our $$ elsewhere. And now there’s at least another option in...

Gross food , had a long wait and were the only two people in there. Walking in there is fly traps hanging above the bar, not something you really would like to see. That can all be forgiven until the food hits your table.

Ordered a chicken dish that was supposed to be smothered with bacon. Had the most unappetizing look. Cheese that wasn’t melted, small chicken breast that was dry, and mushrooms that were just gross.

Also ordered wings with an obnoxiously large side of fries. Wings didn’t have a proper fry and had an off texture.

Food is an issue, just not .. good. I do hope they can improve because to have another place to eat in McKenzie would be great, but it’s not here!

EDIT TO RESPOND TO THE OWNER

I wouldn’t lie about what I saw! Fly trap in the front of house at the bar, what a ridiculous thing to lie about. There is very little reason for me to leave a bad review if I didn’t have a bad experience.

I leave reviews when I’ve been blown away by a business or when I’ve been horribly dissatisfied. You can look and see I’ve left other local Mac Kenzie restaurants five stars before - since you’re so inclined to picking apart my criticism.

Here’s another piece of criticism for you, fix your food, fix your attitude. Responding to negative reviews like a child is not a good...