Golden Eagle Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Rochester Hills

Let me start by saying I’m glad this restaurant usually receives great reviews. Hopefully my experience was one in a million. We came for the Arts and Apple Festival last weekend and after checking into the Park Royal we took our party to the Golden Eagle like we always do. It's our tradition. Our evening was off to a great start, enjoying various drinks while awaiting our Filet Mignon, Shrimp Scampi, Escargot, Mussels, etc. when an untimely nose bleed set in just as our food was being served. We had to ask our waitress to give me more napkins as I had quickly soaked the 3 we had been given for our meal. She did return with about 5 or 6 so I immediately dashed off to lady’s room as I was bleeding profusely. At one-point a few customers popped back in to check on me and thought I needed to go to emergency room. Frankly I was scared. We asked for more napkins and were told no because they were too pricey. To add insult to injury we were given a used brown paper towel roll from behind the bar. Don’t know why as it’s the same hard paper found in the lady’s room that absorbs very little. Silly me, as I was trying to keep their bathroom from looking like a crime scene. My husband asked our waitress to check on me 3 times as he was worried and couldn’t come back to help me, she said she would, and never did. But again, many of Golden Eagles customers returned to the restroom to check on me which was extremely sweet and all gave me great advise as to what and what not to do. When I finally returned to our table (about a half hour later) we asked to reheat my meal just a tad. Our waitress said it couldn't be done so I told her to take it away because I was very unhappy with the whole situation and I left it at that. The waitress and I never spoke again. My party and I (still in total disbelief) were discussing the situation at our table over a glass of red wine when a very tall, attractive, ponytailed brunette waitress said, "Maybe this is none of my business but I heard what you were saying and I think your way out of line because of I would have done the same thing". She was very flip and told me that our waitress was very upset because of the way I had treated her. She went on to tell us that the owner was very cheap and gets on them for wasting supplies on a regular basis so she was just doing her job and again, she would have done the same. Have to admit we got quite the kick out of someone being so dense as to say such a thing to a customer about their boss but not only did we go out for dinner, we were now having a show. She banged on telling us that our waitress even went back to ask the kitchen to warm up my meal and the head cook refused, so it wasn't her fault. We smiled and told her that was a very good try but our waitress never left our table after we asked to have it warmed. It was then a moment of recognition washed over her face when she realized she had been caught in a lie and walked away. We had to assume she and our waitress were buddies and attempted to put me in my place. God knows the customer is not always right but WOW. I find the whole thing unfortunate as we had intended to wrap up our evening at the Golden Eagle but after the night we had had we agreed to take our party back to the Park 600 where we had a great laugh with the staff. Everyone there was in shock, as were those at the Art N Apple Festival and everywhere else we went. When people found out we were visitors and asked where we had been and were we having a good time, we told them. These two waitresses need to be clued in on the old saying...... And they tell 2 friends…. and so...

Sure this place is old school...but old school can be good and this place is good. No...it's actually great. I'm in town for a few months and growing up in Rochester in the 80s wanted to visit some of the old places. My first time walking through the door I could see the interior had been updated since the last time I was there but I recognized Fred(the owner) and even our waitress I recognized from way back. Bottom line the food is very good and well priced. The Shrimp Scampi is just amazing. The Clam Chowder is home made and probably the best I've ever had. The Chicken Parm is massive and the spaghetti with Bolognese is home made and delicious. My Dad had the Fettuccini Alfredo and, unlike every restaurant I've been to, this is actually made with cream, butter, and parm not some canned tasteless sauce. I could go on and on. Service was great and the food ALWAYS comes out hot. It's no wonder this place has survived so long as Rochester grew from the sleepy town to what it is today. I've never had an issue and wish I had a place like this close to where I live. The clientele trends towards seniors. I just don't understand why the younger people in the area aren't swarming this place. I'd much rather go to the Eagle and have a great meal at a great price than some chain place like Olive Garden, etc . So if you're in the area forget about all those other places and give the Eagle a shot for some great home made food cooked...

Very much mixed feelings about our event here. We held my Mom's funeral luncheon here in January 2025, a buffet style luncheon.

On the plus side, Golden Eagle was willing to open the restaurant early to us only, on very short notice. The staff was friendly and very efficient and competent.

There were, however, a lot of negatives with our experience, some of them known to us in advance, others not.

First, they require a minimum reservation of 45 people to have an event like this. That seemed quite high, but we were in a pinch. 25 would have been more reasonable.

Second, the cost. The buffet was $19 or $20 per person plus the cost of drinks. Again, this seemed a bit high to me, but perhaps that is the going fare. The menu consisted of Chicken Marsala, Swedish meatballs, mostaccioli, potatoes and a vegetable, with salad and rolls. I would describe the food as adequate, but nothing special. Hence, my food rating of only 3 stars.

The drinks were quite expensive, even the non-alcoholic ones, which were $4 or $5 each. We did have guests order high-end alcohol which drove the price up, but even independent of that, the drink tab was very high.

If I had it to do over again, we probably would not have booked with Golden Eagle. A nice looking restaurant with nice people, but average food fare, with prices higher than we had...