The Ozark Tavern — Restaurant in Scandia

No complaints about the service at this restaurant. I cannot say the same for the food. I ordered an adult grilled cheese sandwich with bacon. The bacon was almost raw. The cheese was tasteless and the sourdough bread had no flavor. The slice of tomato still had the inedible core in the center. I was expecting something hot, gooey and full of flavor. The sandwich was none of those. As far as atmosphere -it was very disappointing. Walking into the restaurant a couple children ran past us to get outside to play. Thought nothing of it. Server inside invited us to sit wherever we wanted. Great! We sat outside. What we observed on the patio….Two large tables with a group having a meeting and one large table with about 5-6 kids, no adult. Didn’t think too much of it -Figured an adult would soon return to this table. One small table, two adults, two children. In one hours time, one adult that the children referred to as mom appeared for about 5 minutes. From that point on the children from the large table were eating alone, mostly standing, one sitting, but also roaming around other tables and in and out of the restaurant. The two children from the table with two adults joined them later and they all began running around, in and out of the garden space next to the patio and screaming as they ran and playing a game and stepping on garden plants. I went inside to use the bathroom only to find two children in one stall, with one of them hanging and bouncing from the inside of the stall door. Another child was crouched under the sinks. I asked them if their mother was there and they said yes. Still, as I exited the bathroom she was nowhere to be seen inside the restaurant. One of the children paused at our table as he roamed past for the umpteenth time, plopping his hand down on it as if we weren’t there. Some members of the group meeting were in the parking lot as we left, but the mother was not seen there either. The children interacted with the group having the meeting, but none of them appeared to be...

I so badly wanted this experience to be different than the last several inhabitants of this building. I so badly want a little gem in my own back yard. Unfortunately I was disappointed. The atmosphere is identical to the last several renditions of this restaurant. Stark and barren, dare I say uninviting. Most of the focus seems to be around the bar counter itself. The dining area was dirty with unbussed tables, so though it wasn't marginally busy, we had to look around for a bit to find a place to sit. The place we found didn't have enough silverware so we had to look around at other tables to make a complete set for ourselves. While, again, it wasn't busy, we had to wait an obnoxiously long time for any wait staff to realize we were there and come to greet us. We were about to pack it in and leave when someone came over. They were very friendly to us and engaged with our kids, so that was a plus, but I feel she was a bit inattentive overall. The food menu was very nice as was the drink menu and prices were what we've come to expect to pay for options other than fast food. The food was prepared and presented well and my fish tacos were very nice as was the adult beverage I enjoyed. My wife's steak bites were a bit overcooked and tasted a little tough and mealy. She really enjoyed the waffle fries though and the kids liked the cheese curds. The waitress never came back to make sure we got what we ordered or if it was alright.

On a positive note, they had live music, which while loud and precluded any of us having conversation, was enjoyable and had an elderly couple on the floor dancing together as they were in their youth.

I really wanted something different and special here, and it's still early, so I hope it changes. But as of now, this was our one...

Our experience at this restaurant was extremely disappointing. Shortly after we were seated, our waitress brought a pitcher of water to the table—with a scouring pad sitting at the bottom of it. We were shocked. When we pointed it out, she apologized and brought fresh water, but understandably, some in our group no longer felt comfortable drinking anything from the kitchen.

After she eventually took our food order (which also took quite a while), I stepped away from the table and politely asked if she could please comp a couple of drinks for the people who didn’t want to drink the water due to what had happened. Her response was shockingly rude. She gave me a dirty look, didn’t ask what anyone wanted, and came back to the table with two Diet Cokes. She then said, “Who are the picky ones?” in a sarcastic tone.

That was the final straw. We decided to leave and report the experience to management. While accidents can happen—like the scouring pad in the water—there is absolutely no excuse for rude, dismissive, and unprofessional behavior from staff. This waitress showed a complete lack of respect and courtesy and has no place in the service industry.

We won’t be returning, and we wouldn’t recommend this place to others based on the service...