Lodi Tap House - Utica — Restaurant in North Utica

Lodi is alright with decent food but so-so service. I ordered the cheese curd appetizer, Tap House Buttermilk Brined Chicken w/fries , and a single, un-refilled, small cup of water.

First off when you order cheese curds, you expect them to be in a curd form. These were larger -than-your-average-curd cubes of cheese. I find this interesting as most of the time the curds are a great size for apps as they are more bite sized. These however are not bite sized. They curds did have a decent light batter on them that stuck well to the chees cubes. The "spicy banger aioli sauce" was ok, nothing really different than a lot of other places than most people have been. Seems like chipotle sauce in mayo mixture, not very spicy. They were still pretty decent though.

I ordered the House Buttermilk Brined Fried Chicken sandwich, however the chicken came out soft completely lacking any form of crunch. It was very disappointing to see it like that. I would assume they make them ahead of time, or this was, and these were sitting in a hot box or something covered making the moisture from the chicken soften the batter. It states that it has habanero jack cheese on the sandwich, but I did not notice any heat from the cheese what so ever which I think did not have habanero's in it either. I think this is due to the fact that the "aioli", or mayonnaise mixture, has maple something in it. You can really tell that there is a sweetness to the sandwich over most other flavors/spices. It came with good fries, they look fresh cut and house-made. The only issue with these was that there was too much salt on them. Even my friend said they were rather salty. They were fried well and had a good crisp to them.

The water. It was good water, with ice,, served in a small cup. Was never asked for a refill. However, my friend was asked 3 times to refill his drink in the time it took us to eat the meal. Tried to get the servers attention, but he was more worried about getting himself a drink and checking...

We have been wanting to try this place out since it opened. What a mistake, we were the only people in the restaurant. There was a dirty feel to the restaurant kind of hard to explain.

We placed our order since we could tell it would be slow. About 20 minutes pass, and we hear the bell finally ring. The next thing we see is the food headed back to the kitchen. (See double bill below) We get the mushrooms we ordered, or more like grease pods with breading, I mean dripping with grease. We finally get our meals, a $14.00 veggie burger (terrible garden burger expecting at least an impossible burger or pub-style veggie burger) and Chix wrap. The only plus I will give them is the fries were good.

Halfway through the meal, the wife bites down on something hard in the wrap and chips a veneer. Not sure if it was an overcooked piece of bacon or something else?

The bill arrives, a total of $80 bucks? Something isn't right. We ordered no beer and only two meals ($14.00, $11.00, app $11.00, and drinks). They double-charged us for the apps and had a veggie wrap on the bill that we didn't order. (Now we know why our food went back). I wonder how many others have had this happen and didn't notice a double bill during a busy night. Honestly, I have no clue how they can even service a packed house when they can barely serve two people out of the nine that were in the place by the time we left.

Overall, it was just not at all a good experience. We will never be back, which is sad as we like to support local businesses in Utica as much...

I love this place! I live in town and I’m a regular here, so I’ve had plenty of experiences to draw from. I started coming here for their craft beer, which is the best selection on tap in this area. And all brewed in Illinois!

When I discovered the Rueben I knew I was hooked. The meat on the Rueben is cut thicker than most other places, which makes it much more tender. I also suggest upgrading to cheese curds instead of fries- they are fantastic (and quite large)! I really like their smash burgers, too. They do a rotating burger of the month that is always a hit.

As for the people in other reviews who have negative things to say about the service, I have thoughts. First of all, I’ve never had anything but great experiences with the staff. They are always friendly and welcoming, and not just to me. When I’ve seen unhappy customers, without fail the staff has tried to remedy any issues with attention and care. Especially the manager Mel. She’s the best! She is like family, and it’s amazing to have a business managed by somebody who just wants a great atmosphere for customers and employees.

This place is definitely worth a visit!

(P.S. the price of the beer flights is clearly listed on the draft board. If you are surprised at the cost when you get your check, maybe it’s not Lodi that is...