Haymaker Thunderbird — Restaurant in Peoria

I was excited to try a new place and had heard good things so I decided to try the new location on Thunderbird. The problems started from the time I walked in the door. The hostess was about to walk away from the hostess stand to deliver rolled silverware somewhere and was clearly annoyed that we walked in because she rolled her eyes as she headed back to the hostess stand. It was a Saturday and the place was very busy. We expressed a desire for a booth so she recommended we take a half booth half table in the bar area. We agreed and proceeded to wade throught the people to find it ourselves because the bar is open seating.

When we found it and had a seat on the bench it rose off the ground. It had not been properly installed and was loose from the floor and the wall. We decided to sit there anyway as there was no where else to sit. After several minutes we had not been greeted but we were next to the pass through to the bar and, what appeared to be, the bar manager asked if we had been greeted or had our drink order taken. We told her neither had happened so she greeted us, gave us some name for a male server and took our drink order. She quickly brought us two waters. Several minutes later our waiter showed up (still didn't get his name). He came to the only empty table (next to us) and picked the ticket looking for his tip. Then he looked up at us and said he would be our waiter and he would be right back. After several minutes of watching him fumble around at the order station we decided to move to the bar were some seats had opened up. The train wreck did not stop there.

The bar was utterly disgusting. Dirty glasses lined the bar. Juices were being left out at room temp behind the bar and a mixer filled with ice cream and no lid was sitting out in the open at the bar. This should have been my warning to leave but we had already placed a food order with the bartender so we decided to wait in hopes that the food would redeem this night. My first mixed drink was good and I also wanted to finish it.

I followed up my first drink with a whiskey on the rocks. I swirled my glass and went to take a whiff of my whiskey and all I could smell was dish soap (yuck). The food finally arrived. My plate was very good (FINALLY something good out of this night). My boyfriends dish was another story. He has had the same meal several times at the other location and found it to be delicious. Just a grilled cheese with cheese and bacon only. How hard could that be. It came out with tomato and what was possibly mayo so we asked the bartender to take it back. After watching her return from the kitchen the cook comes out and explains to the bartender (right in front of us) that there are three cheeses on the grilled cheese and possibly we mistook one of the melted cheeses for mayo. I spoke and told him there tomatoes and it was supposed to be cheese and bacon only at which time he scurried off to the back. A few minutes later a new sandwich came out with cheese and bacon only and over cooked bread. At this point he just at it as opposed to waiting again or leaving without eating at all as I was almost finished with my plate.

I am not convinced that Haymaker is a bad place to eat. I would try again based on the many positive feedbacks I've seen about their other two locations. HOWEVER, I will NEVER return to this location. Just so so so so so disappointed. This was a $50 failure from...

I am updating the prior review with my Sept. 2023 visit, which I will post first and then leave the old one below it since I don't think it should be deleted: Anticipation was building up as we waited 20 minutes to be seated, so surely this was a favorite brunch spot as we had heard. When we were finally seated, it was next to a noisy group who should have been seated elsewhere as there was plenty of room for a large group in one of the side rooms and not right beside the booths so we had to shout at each other to hear ourselves. I have never been to a place that would not serve at least one slice of bread when you order a brisket platter, but they would've charged me $1.50 for one here and that's just cheap. This being a restaurant and not a barbecue shack, I was very surprised to be served on a metal tray with a piece of thin wax paper that the meat soaked into and I wound up ingesting. The cowboy beans and gluey macaroni and cheese were served in cardboard side dishes and the serving size was so small they should have been embarrassed to serve it: maybe 4 TBS each! The beans were average but the brisket was tender and flavorful even without any of the provided sauce. My friends both ordered the Haymaker Benedicts, which for $17 each did not include an English muffin (so I ask, why bother calling it a Benedict at all if it doesn't have an English muffin?) guess the mashed potatoes are what they use instead so you'd have to pay $2.50 for an English muffin, but you'd think they would at least offer a piece of toast along with the meal. They said they were flavorful but overpriced. The prices for the drinks weren't on the menu, so the 3.55 Coke, 3.25 coffee, and $5 OJ brought the bill up to close to $70 with the tax, and by the time the generous tip was added in since Greg was working mighty hard esp. because of that demanding group, we knew we wouldn't be able to afford coming back anytime soon for no ambiance, small portions, no courtesy bread, and picnic style presentation. These are all fixable things since they have a great product with the brisket, but it's hard to notice when so much else was awry. Old review: Outdoor seating is great to have esp. at this time of pandemic, but it is very noisy because of the highways so they should put up a sound barrier and a little fountain. Jose was very informative and attentive server! Nice assortment of draft beers, but not even one dark beer on the menu, esp. during the winter season people expect a porter or stout--helps round out a flight too. Excellent chicken fried chicken! Jose they make it themselves and that's why I got it--don't like getting previously frozen ones since I can do that at home! They should make their own chicken fried steak too. Tasty gravies both on the Haymaker Benedict and Chicken Fried Chicken and both were comfortable portions which didn't leave us hungry, but no leftovers. Disappointed that with an entree there isn't a biscuit or bread. A little pricey without a coupon, so be on the lookout for them online or via a flyer in the mail. Very difficult to drive into unless you are traveling west on Thunderbird because the signage is poor and the left turns are difficult to see far enough in advance, so be careful or you may not make it...

It took 12 minutes for someone to even notice us. I watched another server take an order of a group that came 5 minutes after we were seated. Caught that server to get some help. Another 5 minutes pass, and our server finally came. Took our drink order. Checked back after 10 mins at least, took our food order. We ordered 2 mimosas flights, and 30 minutes later, we finally got them. Missing a flavor, and I had to get another server to fix that because ours was MIA a lot. 3 other tables I watched around us, one ended up leaving due to the 10 minutes of waiting to be greeted by the same gentleman server we had being told there were 2 other tables ahead of him so he only was going to take their drink order. They were very irritated, left he didn't care, he walked over to another table and they greeted him with "there you are" clearly it wasn't just us. So this point it has been an hour since we ordered and our food finally comes. My bacon was still raw, eggs had lots of black pieces in them of I am not even sure what, and the hashbrowns were so greasey it made me nauseous when I took a bite I asked for some cooked bacon, and they did bring some out. I was about to eat 1 of them unfortunately the other was so fatty it was gross. I've had cheap bacon. This was worse. The only thing good was the mimosas, not 42-minute Wait, good, but they were good. I heard about a new system in place, the tablets. As a person who deals with these, I strongly suggest using the training on these to their full extent. I don't feel this was the full cause of the delays as it was MANY different problems. The man who was struggling also told people they could only cash tip. I think he needs some extra time. As another server, I watched, never said that. She had 2 tables near us and listened in. There didn't seem to be an issue with hers. And while she had tables by us, there was a complete turnover on her tables while we were sitting if that gives you more purpose of times. I've run restaurants myself, I have to say, it was my friend's second time, a year between visits. Not much changed in her eyes. I am shocked there is no manager seen nor did they table touch. Times are hard, and I get it, but a month ago in my kitchen, I was down to 2 cooks, only 2 servers and no busser. We did a 1700 hour, and I touched every table and not a single complaint or issue. I don't feel it's all on the servers. There seems to be a huge disconnect here,...