Ryan's Roadhouse — Restaurant in St. Johns

Well, the staff was good. If you've never been you have to walk being the bar area to get to the host stand for the actual restaurant. Kinda odd but that's okay.

We had a party of three, the burger was okay. Not seasoned with anything, the bacon and onions helped tho. The lake perch was a nice big filet, two of them. But they didn't season the fish before the batter nor did they season the batter. The fish didn't really have a fishy taste, so it was very bland. I had the shrimp scampi special and crab bisque. I did try a part of the others food, to know how it tasted. The crab bisque was good, the salad bar was mediocre at best. They didn't even have onions there. Cherry tomatoes whole, bag lettuce, and bag mixed greens, cucumbers, thick shredded cheese. They had two dressing out, mixed fruit that wasn't every fresh (hard during this time of the year). Cottage cheese, and maybe something else. Not impressed. It seemed everything was just bought and dumped in kind of thing. Now the shrimp "scampi" I didn't bother to check to see if there was a description since it was a special. As well as the menu was electronic, and one of them wouldn't even turn on. Everyone who knows what shrimp scampi is knows what to expect...Well that ain't it! They need to either change the name of that, or actually give you shrimp scampi. They used cavatappi noodles, which I thought was odd but okay. It came with five small shrimp on it, over cooked. Bowl full of noodles, in a white sauce! It was basically Mac n cheese with a few shrimp. It had a lot of sauce, and I could taste the parmesan cheese, like the green shaker bottle fake stuff. It was grainy from that as well. Shrimp scampi is butter, garlic, olive oil, white wine, red pepper flakes, and fresh lemon to brighten the dish.

None of us even ate half our food, I had two shrimp and maybe three bites of the pasta. The crab bisque was the only thing I enjoyed. I said the service was good, she didn't have to do much for us. We just had one drink each, and she cleared our plates as needed.

We won't be back...

My favorite place in town. I've only been to the dine in part of the restaurant, not the bar. But the bar seems really popular for sporting events, Birthdays, and just a good old town social gathering. Servers are always on top, and do a great job. The salad bar is the best in town. Always the best soups, really good. Fresh salad and always full of good toppings. Menu items have always been really good. My favorite is the fried perch, minus all the bones. If it wasn't such a boney fish I would get it every time. I don't know what they batter it with, I wish they would add different types of fish with that exact batter to the menu. The pot roast is my go to for comfort food. I did order take out one time and I don't recommend that. My entire order was a flop, but I didn't complain because the food was good as usual. Dine in is the best option. I appreciate the new floor and tables. It cleaned up the place real nice. The bathrooms need a good detailed clean, especially that floor, tiles and wall. Could use a major update. The fire place is my favorite! I love to walk in the side door just to pass the fireplace. How I wish I could have that in my home. Very comforting on a cold winter day. Parking is never a problem. If I get asked by a visitor from out of town. The first place I always recommend is Ryan's Road house, and Mancinos. You really can't be...

I love Ryan's Roadhouse and since they are only a few blocks from me, they are my go-to place to order. When COVID-19 hit everything pretty hard, they were great with orders and their deliveries. I have had countless dinners here and am an E-Club member. Only one notable bad experience with this place and it was today, my birthday. I was sent an email from their automated E-club system that I could choose a free appetizer or dessert for my birthday and when I called to order the appetizer I wanted, they wouldn't let me get one, they would only allow me to get a dessert. Even after I went inside and showed them my email, she still said I was only allowed a dessert and I still had to pay $.36 tax for my dessert (understandable), but I would rather have gotten an appetizer instead of a dessert. They way I was talked to for no reason made today's experience embarrassing, as if I was going there only for a freebie. I ended up buying what I wanted (my appetizer) got a dessert for $.36. But overall I was disappointed in the way I was treated. Don't send Happy Birthday emails to your customers, offering free items if you make them feel like they are not welcome to claim the offer. I will still give Ryan's a thumbs up in general, however I am not impressed with the way this was...