Winking Lizard Mentor — Restaurant in Mentor

I visited Winking Lizard Mentor location for the first time with my husband and daughter on August 8th, 2024 during the power outage. However this location had power.

The food was very bland opposed to several other Winking Lizards that I've visited previously.

The app was the only decent tasting item, all meals even the chicken was not good. I asked for garlic honey, and it taste like bbq sauce (which I don't like), yet I kept my complaint to myself. And my little daughter did not like her wings which were also still a bit on the pink side after biting into one. She literally took on bite and said she didn't want them. I notified my server, (Becky I believe or something with a B) and she said she would get her manager. And older guy came to my table then stated that he could not take them off the bill, and only discounted the kids broccoli which was $3 dollars opposed to the $8.50 meal. She only ate a few of the fries, which I had no issue paying for...

He then insisted more than 3 times that we take them with us, and that I, or someone could eat them even after I stated that I did not want them and no one would eat them, which was very unprofessional. I asked if he could just take the wings off, as to I did not mind paying for everything else, but he insisted that he had to pay for the wings regarding food cost, so no. Well, that's called a business and sometimes these things can happen, that has nothing to do with the customer.

But just for that, I'll never return to this location. I still left the server a tip, as to it wasn't her fault, but I've never been somewhere that if the paying customer didn't like the food they basically said "Oh well, it's not going to come out of our pockets". I was taught at my very first job, the customer is typically always right, especially if they were dissatisfied with their meal.

I have and will be telling everyone I know my experience with this location.

Do better Winking...

My review will have two parts: The food/dining experience Overall, I give the dining experience a 3.5. The server was lovely and did a wonderful job, so service easily a 5. The food I was kind of unimpressed with for the price. I had the pretzel sticks, teriyaki wings, and a side of Mac and cheese. My partner had the Nashville wings and a small cheese pizza. The wings we both agreed were juicy and fairly good. The sides and pizza tasted closer to store bought. This is completely fine for me, as they didn't taste bad, but for the price, I expected more.

Lenny the mascot/lizard Upon walking in and seeing the large enclosure with a green iguana I got super excited! I love reptiles and keep some of my own. First thing I noticed was Lenny the iguana has a swollen mouth. Swelling in a reptiles mouth can be indicative of an infection. I waited until after we'd eaten and then spoke to a manager about it. How refreshing to have my concerns heard and responded to without attitude! The manager understand where I was coming from and told me that Lenny's mouth has looked the way it does from an old injury and he recently got a clean bill of health from the vet. Knowing this information makes me feel much better about the care of this animal. And that's where they got a 5. Taking the time to listen to my concerns and reassure me that the iguana is being taken care of. It's rare and I greatly appreciate it.

Tl;Dr I give Winking lizard a 4 overall Service was a 5 Food was a 3 Mascot and manager taking the time to listen to my concerns about the...

I was SOOO excited to try this place and was so disappointed! I decided on something safe, since it was a new place, figured you can't mess up boneless wings... boy was I wrong!! Every single sauce type I tried, seriously just tasted like they poured a vat of cayenne into it! Teriyaki, a bit of pineapple, a WHOLE BUNCH of cayenne! The regular bbq, while it had a decent mesquite flavour, there was so much cayenne, it was inedible. Even the beer cheese that came on the pierogies what too spicy from cayenne!! My husband got the "skinny" wing things... which where basically just lightly breaded nuggets, and though tasty, they were so tough to chew! The mac n cheese was nothing more than velveta shells & cheese, which thankfully meant they couldn't mess it up, but so disappointing that I paid for something in my pantry! Service was ok... not great by any means... I'm not really one to make a fuss in the restaurant or send food back, but I was visibly unhappy after the food came out... server didn't even ask how things were... think he might have known...