Black & White Grille — Restaurant in Spencer

I was not going to post this review as I had high hopes that the manager Sarah and the morning manager she had referred to were going to resolve the issue I had a few weeks ago yet here we are almost 3 weeks out and I was wrong. On Mother’s Day my family and I had decided to go to Black and White for dinner. We called and made a reservation, they were busy we noticed and we understood that might mean it would be a little longer for our food and that was OkY with us because we were looking to spend some time together anyway. However, we did expect that we would receive good food regardless. We were seated outside we ordered. My younger daughter ordered Mac and cheese, my older daughter ordered a burger, my husband ordered chicken parm and I ordered the smothered chicken. We got salads and soups and rolls while we waited and at one point our server came over to tell us the kitchen was backed up and it would be a bit. We stayed we understood and that was fine. About 20-30 minutes later our food came out. Our server told us she forgot to put in my older daughter’s burger. She went to put it in. We started eating the rest of the food right away and everything was ice cold despite having been just dropped off. My husbands pasta was also sitting in a puddle of water which made everything soggy. Upon bringing the burger half of it was raw and the other half of it was burned because it had been cooked in a rush. We expressed our dissatisfaction to our server after not eating more than a bite or so of the food she brought to us. She offered a free dessert which was already a special for Mother’s Day. We declined. She stated she was going to go and speak with her manager and have her come over to talk with us. After another 20 minutes or so she stated she could take 40$ off of our over 100$ bill and that was it. We had been at the restaurant for over 2 hours at that point. We were frustrated still hungry and it was late. We left and I called the manager who told me to return for free ice cream and to receive my money back. She also stated our server did not in fact come to her. She gave us q the free ice cream and took my number down so that I could get our bill compensated. A few days went by and I did not hear anything nor did I see the bill refunded into my account. I called them back and they stated they tried to call me but had the wrong number. I again gave my number so the morning manager could refund the bill however as of today 3 weeks later I have not heard anything. I am incredibly disappointed because the excuse I was given for receiving incredibly unsatisfying food some that was cold some undercooked some overcooked and being lied to by our server was that they were “just slammed”. I understand this completely my husband and I both worked in the restaurant industry but the fact that there was no resolution and we were essentially blown off is incredibly frustrating. This restaurant is not cheap and when we spend our money there we expect to recieve food that is cooked to a certain standard and if it’s not we hope that corrective measures will be taken. I would have hoped for better and at this point I have no intention of returning. I would advise not spending your money here or at least making sure it’s not “too busy” if you do decide to try...

We went there on a whim and were told it'd be either a 40 min wait for a table inside or could seat us right now in the igloo at an upcharge. We opted for the igloo.

Server seemed nice but not sure if he was new or what because he made a lot of mistakes and was very infrequent with coming back and that's when I realized the disadvantage of the igloo; you're at the mercy of them coming to you and can't just wave someone down. Even though there's a heating vent coming out from the ground, it's really not overly warm in there - was maybe low to mid 60's while 30's outside. So bring an extra coat.

Anyway, he took our drink order - mine got messed up but didn't bother saying anything because it still looked good. We got a cup of french onion soup and was very tasty, not overly salty like a lot of other places, but the portion was quite small for the price.

After we placed our dinner order it took him another ~35 min or so to come back with the meal. Noticed my order was messed up/ not what I asked for but again didn't complain because it seemed fine just different.

I asked to refill the waters and he said sure - but it took him another 15 min to come back and by then I had finished my meal.

The meal itself was alright but nothing that really wow'd me - about on par with Chili's or 99.

Brought the bill and found he didn't charge for the igloo. No one said to me how I should pay for it and assumed it'd be on the bill but wasn't. Figured it made up for all the mistakes that happened and the extreme long wait.

It seems like from other reviews they do takeout as well so probably need to hire more staff and train them better. And since they've been in business for ~15 years, would think they'd already have ironed them out already. Probably a combination of the owner saying stuff like nOBoDy wANts tO wOrK ANyMoRE but then not paying appropriately. And they're in the middle of nowhere so get what ya get.

We might return in the future because the igloo thing was kinda neat and food was pretty decent but seems like they have a lot of process/ staffing type issues they need to work out. Might come back on a week night or earlier in the day on a weekend when it's...

First of all..I will start by saying...I love this place. We have come many times...dined in the igloos and have had amazing food. Today we stopped in right before 5pm because we noticed it didn't appear to be busy and might get a bar seat. We were lucky and got bar seats. Many of the staff appeared frustrated, unhappy and exhausted, which i totally can understand with restaurants being understaffed. But this experience went further than the waitstaff. Our pizza that we order there all the time called the Godfather came out way overcooked and not looking presentable. The sausage was in huge long strip chunks put on the pizza after they cooked it...like an afterthought...the crust was rock hard to chew...and I love crust...but this was not edible. This pizza is usually beautiful and it looked like meat had been tossed on the top in a blob. The chicken tenders app were small and thin. No tenderness to them..chewy and not crisp. I was so sad because I love it here. On top of that we were starving and were waiting a long time...the appetizers came out with our pizza. The female bartender asked us if that's how we ordered it and we said no..but its ok we would eat it. We did ask her why the pizza was so different and she looked like she had a loss for words. She looked sad and like things just weren't running right. This is a good bartender too...she's been there forever and always is great. Before leaving she apologized to my husband for the way everything had come out. I feel bad because you could feel that things were not right there.....We will be taking a break from stopping here...it seems that the kitchen is overwhelmed or someone doesn't know how to cook the basics. I feel for the staff...they all need smiles brought to their faces. Praying...