Roanoke Inn — Restaurant in Mercer Island

I wrote a review last year after they said something rude and hung up instead of taking my order. It was less than 30 seconds (timed it). I would have placed an order if they had 90 seconds.

This year, I actually visited the establishment, but I spent less than 20 seconds inside and something bad still happened. I tried to leave. That's when they left me feeling threatened and unsafe.

One of their people followed me... outside, and tried to stop me from leaving! WHOA!

I nodded at the bartender and I left after scanning the room. Less than 20 seconds. Not one word spoken. I left fast because I had just gotten off work 3 minutes away. It was near closing time and I was dressed as a security guard, so peek and get out.

It is extremely aggressive to follow someone outside so fast and try to stop them from leaving. I thought for sure this guy is drunk. I was immediately concerned that he was about to jump me.

He angrily rambled for a long time before getting to the point where he finally identified as a staff member who does security. First, he asked me if I did security, which clearly I do. I'm in uniform from boots to hat, and my car has a light bar and is marked. Then he says the place is already secure and they're NOT looking because they have him, who is an awesome army and police vet. But.... I wasn't offering?

Lots of tough talk and ego stroking. A few minutes to satisfy himself.

The last security guy who stepped inside the bar got their ass kicked bad. Now I had undermined and challenged his authority by showing up in uniform. He repeated everything 3-4 times which suggests he was drunk and he wanted to make it very clear that he would fight me if I made him feel challenged.

He further explain himself. The other security guy gave orders to the staff members and customers, and was probably a pervert or something. OK, but to resolve that with physical assault is something else. That causes legal liabilities.

Security guards aren't supposed to kick ass unless they are protecting somebody from real time violence. You let the police handle it. -So they don't handle things legally and safely here.

You don't get to ask somebody a bunch of personal questions like their full name and then repeatedly threaten them when you're not the guy wearing a uniform. He didn't even have a 'staff' shirt. Just looked like a drunk.

You also don't act threatening or aggressive with somebody who is in uniform and has everything that goes with it. That is escalating the WRONG situation!

A small cozy bar in a nice neighborhood like Mercer Island has a security guard. Something must not be safe for staff and customers. I certainly don't feel safe after all that and learning how situations get handled and being threatened like that. I see a fair amount of reviews about rude staff, so maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. That kind of stuff can get your security license revoked. Let's not behave that way.

I definitely won't be recommending Roanoke Inn to the other workers three minutes away doing construction and security. Two experiences, each less than a minute on the clock before something bad happened. This is...

It’s been many years since I used to frequent lunch or happy hour at Roanoke Inn and was looking forward to returning to meet a couple friends coming from Seattle for lunch. I’m not sure if things have gone downhill or my standards have gone up, but it was a bit of a disappointment.

On the bright side, the server was personable (though rushed) and everything seemed clean. We were seated promptly on the lovely outdoor patio and server brought water and a soft drink for my friend right away. The server was honest about what he didn’t know and didn’t try to guess about whether certain foods might have flour or MSG. The server refreshed my friends soda and our waters without us needing to ask.

The downsides: The biggest downside for me is the quality/taste of the food, but i was also disappointed that there are no non-alcoholic beverage options, other than sugary soft drinks. They don’t have any dry style sodas, seltzers, or mocktails.

The menu doesn’t have anything gluten free on it and doesn’t have easy ways to modify. My friend who can’t eat glutens and MSG is usually able to figure out something fairly easily, even at places that don’t cater to food allergies. This menu was tough. She eventually ordered a burrito without the tortilla and planned to share fries with another friend, but the fries came with a coating that seemed likely flour-based and tasted like they probably had MSG, too.

My French dip was super bland- just a thin slice of what seemed to be a reheated Steak-um strip, a little bit of grilled onion and some cheese. The toasted bun was fine, but nothing special. The consommé was a lukewarm brown liquid with no yumminess to it. I’m pretty sure it had MSG. The salad (which was kindly removed from tab) was composed of limp, browning iceberg lettuce and a smattering of finely chopped, tasteless, pink tomato bits. Nothing about the meal was fresh or interesting.

The place seemed understaffed with possibly only 2 people there to host, serve, bartend, and maybe cook. Our server seemed on the ball, but stretched thin and maybe a little bit over it. He would disappear for up to 20 minutes between contacts (maybe working kitchen or bar) and never asked how our food was after serving. When he was clearing table, i mentioned the salads were sad and we had decided not to eat them, he hesitated and then agreed to remove from tab.

Our bill, for 3 okay lunches, 2 cokes, and a beer came to about $94, before tip. Not outrageous for a restaurant in an easy to reach spot and pleasant spot to catch up with friends. I doubt I would return for food or if i wasn’t planning to have a drink, but maybe it’s...

𝐌𝐈𝐇𝐒 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫!!

Last weekend we had our MIHS Class Reunion and in Island tradition, we gathered at the 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧 Friday night.

I emailed Ollie (The supposed new owner. We found out he is not) about a month before and gave him the heads up that we would be there.

We arrived and he made it very clear that 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. Made it difficult for us to get drinks, food, etc. Many of us were there for hours and were 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐃. He required that we had 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛. That meant one person had to put the credit card down for 𝟔𝟎+ 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. I understand that is a lot of people to have different tabs, but we never had a problem our previous 3 reunions. According to Ollie, he has 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 so he shouldn’t have been surprised especially since 𝐀𝐋𝐋 of MIHS’s reunions have started their reunion weekend at the Roanoke on Friday nights for decades!

One of our classmates went to the bar to get a drink at 8:30 and he 𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐘𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 in her face that she needed to leave. He scared her and she left.

We later saw a sign in the front (we came in through the patio entrance) that said MIHS Reunion come back Monday or Wednesday. If that was what he wanted, why didn’t he 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐘 𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋 and let me know we were 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 there?

We never were out of control. We are 58 year olds for goodness sakes. At 9:30 he called last call and at 10 pm he was ushering us out. They didn’t close until midnight. It is crazy that you have 60ish MIHS graduates who 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 and he wanted us 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄!

I guess what Ollie said is true about the 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 new owners (with very deep pockets and ties to this community). “They are not concerned about making money, just want it to remain open and to make sure that he keeps tater tots on the menu.” Those were Ollie’s words to 4 classmates that went back to have a drink and get a burger at 11pm when they went to get their cars. Guess last call was for us only.

Who knows if what he said is true. Regardless if that is true, I doubt the new owners would have been ok with 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 last Friday night.

Our tradition will not change. I will just be giving the 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐑 a heads up as to when we are coming 5...