The Park Grille & Bar — Restaurant in Miami Township

20, May Saturday 6:30 p.m. I was excited to check out this relatively new venue. I had been past several times when it was open and never looked crowed. I liked the area and the look, so we decided to give it a try.

The bar is spacious with an upper level that was empty of people. Most of the patrons were seated along the long bar. There is a combination of high top tables and regular seating both inside and outside on their patio. The place was very inviting. The bar was well stocked with alcohol and tap beer. Had I stopped here the place would have gotten 5 stars.

To eat, go in the front door to the hostess stand. You will be given a menu told to sit where you like and then to return to the stand to place your order. If you want drinks from the bar you need to mosey on over and lean over the seated guest to get your thirst quenched. Else, you can get water, and soda from a self-serve fountain. Then you will be asked to pay and tip...for what since you provided your own service at this point? At least your food will be brought to you, you don't have to go get it. 2 Stars.

I don't know if it is due to lack of staffing, but we expected someone might wait on the table. A staff member did stop by twice and ask if everything tasted alright. But other than that it you are on your own.

Food ordered. Pretzel bites. Served warm, with minimal salt and flavor and a small white cheese dipping sauce. Wouldn't get them again, they were bland but fresh. Also ordered the Meat Lovers Pizza. Nothing really wrong with it, nothing I could not get from the frozen food section of Kroger. I would not order that again.

Drinks ordered: Drinks were fairly priced. $2 short Coors Light and $10 for a tall Margarita. Not bad.

When you consider other options in the area, BufflaloWIldWIngs will seat you and wait your table. They have great bar food in addition to their wings, pricy though, but at least they wait on you. The Park Grille and Bar was more like the Shaq's Chicken where you line up order and pay and they bring you your food and you get your own drinks.

I have no hate for the place. Just not impressed I hope anyone reading this will at least check it out, you might be looking for something different than I was expecting, but you have been warned. I will go back at least once more. It does have potential if they were to start waiting tables. It is clean and spacious and the people seemed friendly. In the end it is worth...

Memorable For all the Wrong Reasons (Who Runs This Place?)

This was our 3rd choice of restaurants in the Austin Landing area because we had just under an hour to leave to get to a concert and our first two choices were on at least 30 min waits.

We noticed the restaurant was half full, had "serve yourself" computer screens from which to order, and had a simple menu so we figured we had plenty of time.

You order right when you walk in the door from a computer without being greeted by any staff. You input your order, pre-pay (with tip), take a number, and find a table.

Our first table was right underneath an AC vent that was dripping condensation on the table (gross) so we moved outside. Our second table was clean enough so without knowing how to get our drinks from the computer ordering station, I walked up to the bar and helped myself to cups for the self-serve soda fountain.

We waited at our table and were offered several handfuls of food that weren't ours by food runners who seemed inept at finding customer numbers.

Once we waited for about 40 minutes after ordering and seeing another table who ordered after us receive their food, I inquired with the only person who resembled a server and asked to check on our food and take it to go rather than for dine-in. She returned with our order 5 minutes later packed up and ready to go and it was obvious that it had all been cooked and not served to us for a while and left to get cold. We left out the door 50 minutes after entering with cold, unimpressive for the price food.

The Park Grille & Bar looks like it's owned and set up by some sniveling business major who orders chicken nuggets at a steakhouse, blames bad reviews on the staff, not the leadership, and has never worked a shift in the restaurant. The service was non-existent...no host, no servers, and only a few food runners even wearing the uniform shirts. I only wish that I was able to go into the kitchen to cook the food myself so it would have been served when it was ready.

I look forward to this place, and every place like it that can't hire and train quality staff, going out of business and making way for the actual restaurant professionals to take their market share. We should have just eaten at...

Well, if it's your first visit you will need an instruction manual for how things work. Go to the small hostess station with 1 worker as soon as you walk in the door, get your menu, decide what you want, and return to the same hostess station to order and pay. Luckily we went mid-afternoon so it wasn't too busy. I'm guessing on a busy night that hostess station can get pretty backed up. And yes you pay before you even receive your food. And there is a tip jar front and center on the counter. Keep in mind you don't have a waitress and you basically do everything yourself so none of us could really figure out the tip jar. Someone brings your food around when it's ready but that's it. Now, let's move on to adult beverages. Fountain drinks are serve yourself. If you want alcohol of any kind, you need to belly up to the bar and attempt to get the attention of one of the bartenders who make it pretty obvious they would rather be ANYWHERE else. Let them know you have a tab at the previously mentioned hostess station and hope they don't charge you twice for your drinks like they did me. (I did return two days later to have it removed and the manager was very nice and helpful) Now on to the food. One of us ordered fish and chips. Honestly, it looked like something you might get at a fast food restaurant at the drive thru. He said that it was not good and didn't finish it. My burger was just ok. It was dry and overcooked but nobody ever asked how I wanted it cooked. I truly think it was one of the burgers you get in the multi pack plastic bags from the bulk stores. If I pay $16 for a burger I don't want it coming from a plastic bag. Hope this place makes it but it sure needs some major tweaking. I won't be returning and the rest of my party said they...