Girl in the Park — Restaurant in Orland Township

Went to Mother's Day Brunch here because they are known for their "good" food and excellent ratings! Their menu boasted: Roasted to Perfection Prime Rib with Au Jus, Succulent Spiral Cut Ham, Moms Eggs Benedict Quiche, GITP Breakfast Sliders, Parmesan Crusted Hash Browns. $40 would include a mimosa. Lets just say their Mother's Day Brunch was a complete and total failure, underwhelming at best. The Roasted to Perfection Prime Rib was overcooked and the tiny piece I took, tasted more like a sirloin roast beef that was EXTRA well done, with the exception of big chunks of fat left behind. (Fat to be expected with Prime Rib, but the meat that goes with it needs to edible, too.) The spiral cut ham was broken up into dry chunks that looked more like Spam. The Breakfast sliders: dry bread, overcooked scrambled eggs and a broken piece of bacon. The eggs benedict quiche, would be better described as previously frozen bland egg pie with ham. I didn't see any parfaits. I didn't see anything that looked like a french toast shooter, unless it was the overcooked very dark balls that looked like falafel. The waffles were just plain waffles, with plain syrup. No fruit, no Whip Cream. Oh wait, that's because it was for Chicken and Waffles which actually was really overcooked overbreaded dry chicken tenders. The scrambled eggs were dry and overcooked. I went back through to take pictures after we ate our 1 round of sub-par quality brunch. The prime rib looked more "medium" cooked this time but still gross (see attached pictures). The scrabble eggs seemed less overcooked, than the first time we went through. The waitress brought the 3 mimosas and then we didn't see her again until she brought the check for 3 adult meals. It was $154. We didn't order extra drinks at all. There was no tip included. I asked the waitress why we were being charged $45 when it was supposed to be $40 and she apologized and said she would fix it. Then she came back with a new check that had adjusted it to $40 each, $12 tax and then added a 22% gratuity. I said why are you charging 22% gratuity and she said, we are supposed to charge that for all the guests today, they were supposed to tell you that when you made the reservation. They did not. She didn't charge the gratuity on the first bill when she overcharged us by $15. So for $158 we got a breakfast that was okay at best, something you would expect from a restaurant like Dennys. This was a way overhyped Mother's Day menu. The price would have been reasonable if the prime rib was roasted to perfection, and if the spiral ham were actually succulent. The gratuity would have been justified if we were actually being waited on. Oh wait, let me tell you about the Parmesan Crusted Hash Browns, or maybe you should just picture Simply Potatoes Shredded and undercooked and unseasoned. And then there was the sweet table . . . a bowl of the cheapest out of season fruit, that looked like it may have come out of a can, lots of stale pastries, think Sam's Club, left out for hours to get the extra over dry texture, some other non-memorable choices as well. When my dad saw the bill, he about flipped out and said are you kidding me $160 for this? I want to speak to a manager. I told him I would call later When I called, and spoke to the manager she kept trying to give me the $15 credit for the overcharge on the bill, because she wasn't listening. She said the 22% gratuity is what we charge for a table of 3 for a buffet. She said that as far as the food being subpar that is "your opinion" and she did not get "any other negative feedback" today on the quality of the food. Okay, so there you have it. I asked her to have the owner call me and she said, I'll have her call you on Wed, "yeah, alright." That's how she hung up. Bottom line: The food you serve should be as good, if not better than the sales pitch for it. And lastly, don't add a 22% tip for a party of 3 that stood in a long line for sub-par quality, overpriced...

Have been here multiple occasions, gave them many times a try due to other people wanting to try it out. First couple times were ok but did not have a menu setup just yet, don't get me wrong great choices of drinks and Whiskeys. However really need to work on the service and the CHEFS! Possibly there is far too much communication breakdown between them. Third time after the first two times there (service was slow), we ordered food the poor person ordered Naked Boneless Wings, had a whole conversation about how she didn't want to eat carbs (i.e. breading) with the waitress and person who came to check on the table. First time the waitress brough Bone-IN Breaded wings... we sent them back (honest mistake right??), comes out 3-4 minutes later with Breaded Boneless wings (Not NAKED WINGS), again sent back to the kitchen. Third time is a charm some say, well not today, came out with Naked Bone in Wings . So rather than deal with another mishap the person said nevermind. Manager came over and said we will take care of it for you and not put on your bill. Bill comes guess what there were 3 ORDERS of the wings that were never right in the first place. We brought it up took 20 minutes for the manager to decipher what is happening (after he told us it will NOT BE on your bill)! HAHAH! Next encounter maybe 5 months later my in-laws wanted to go there after an evening out with us. So we waited a bit for drinks understandably so (Saturday night 1/26/2019 and busy, get it !) however our waitress would literally come by and walk away without even asking us anything! Finally flagged down an older gentleman and he grabs us a refill on beers:) . After a long wait to order we all order, Father-in-law ordered the Salmon... I ordered the Mac n Cheese burger on pretzel bun, and someone else also did a pretzel bun. Food comes out quite late, and 1) Pretzel buns all Burned (mentioned it to the waitress and she kinda shrugged her shoulders and so I was so hungry I just ate the meat). 2) Father-in-Laws Salmon not even cooked.. he didn't order sushi! Tells waitress, hey this is cold and not even cooked, so sorry sir is her reply after that we had to flag down the same older gentleman to take it back to the kitchen. He refilled our beers complimentary for the fish fiasco. Well I turned to my wife and said well we have been down this road before you think they will screw up your dad's fish like the wings earlier in the year when we were here? We laughed and said no way. Well much to our surprise 2 minutes later fish comes back out and STILL undercooked and cold in the middle. Flag down the gentleman again (not our waitress) he grabs the waitress and tells her this isn't cooked and she takes it back one more time. Waited another 5 minutes and it came out slightly more cooked, so again 3 times is not the CHARM.. last chance same fellow came over looking ANGRY and takes it back there himself. 4 times it took them to get the salmon cooked. NEVER HAD SUCH TERRIBLE SERVICE just not sure what happens in the kitchen or if it is wait staff.. just terrible all around service from waiting forever to order drinks, and appetizers to not getting food right as ordered by the customer and then to see things on a bill that were just told to us were to be removed! Will not frequent here again. Caution if you go for the food, but the whiskey selection if it doesn't take too long to get to you might be better than trying to order any sort of food for them...

If you're looking for an enjoyable whiskey bar, avoid Girl in the Park. Up charges for neat pours are bush league in general, but particularly for an establishment that puts so much emphasis on its whiskey. The fact that they do not tell you about the charge, and that it seems to be a ridiculous 25% of the cost of the drink you order, is absurd. If you self-identify as a whiskey bar, and whiskey is one of the core things you do, you don't get to up charge for the simple courtesy of doing it right. And I'll just throw in, maybe get the right glassware for it, and try not to give out the semi-warm, fresh-from-the-dishwasher glasses.

They also advertise their cocktails, but I wouldn't look to those for a respite either. For $10-12 they aren't exactly overpriced as far as cocktails go, but the attractive and unique menu selection belies the watered down and largely tasteless drinks that will actually show up at your table.

I will say the beer selection is good and well priced, though, so you're not totally adrift at sea without a life preserver.

The food is pretty hit-or-miss too. We got the beer bacon cheese dip and the buffalo chicken dip for appetizers, and both were excellent; the beer dip in particular, with nice solid pieces of bacon in it giving it a nice smokey flavor. For dinner I ordered 'The Girl's Signature Truffle Burger', which was a mixed bag; the toppings were well constructed and flavorful, but the burger I had ordered to be medium came back well done, and the vaunted 'truffle tots' were indistinguishable from the 'regular' tots others at the table received.

The decor is a little all over the place too. On one hand you have a nice mix of wood-heavy elements like the bar and parts of the walls, which try to lean in to the hipper design elements of the farm-to-table and craft cocktail trend, and on the other hand you have an omnipresent shade of green all over the place that makes the place look like a dressed up Quaker Steak & Lube. We also found the inside to be far too noisy and difficult to hear the people you were sitting with. The outdoor patio is beautiful and very dog friendly, though, so aim for that in the summer months.

To summarize, when you walk up to the restaurant you'll see three things plastered all around the building: 'Beer. Burgers, & Bourbon.' I'll give them...