Lou's Tivoli Gardens — Restaurant in Surprise

I have frequented this restaurant multiple times before with some instances being quite good and others not so. This was my first visit in 5 months, as I was in another state until recently. First, there was no host/hostess to greet you at the door. A party of three were already there and had been waiting awhile to be seated. They eventually had to go all the way back to the kitchen/restroom area to find someone to seat our parties. The server who did so was not exactly brimming with good cheer or pleasantries. This was at 12:30pm on a Monday in September. They were still operating under summer hours, which means they close at 2:00 pm (!!!!) on a Monday. I ordered a lunch from the lunch special menu (Brooklyn Ave. sand. with the one side being a cup of soup $12.50/per menu and I added a tea $1.50/per menu). I wish the server had told me the soup was delivered with the sandwich. I thought she had forgot about it, thinking I would get the soup first, but, no, it comes with the sandwich. The sandwich was normal in size and tasty enough. For most people, you will finish this meal with no leftovers but if you are a senior or one with a smaller appetite, you might take some home. The vegetable cheese soup was very good. The server was attentive and refilled my iced tea promptly. The biggest problem I had with this visit and hence the not so great rating was the bill and what I was charged for the meal. The prices noted above are what appeared on the special lunch menu, which is a piece of paper inserted into a protective, plastic pouch. My bill, however, showed the sandwich as $13.50 and the beverage as $2.00, so my total was $1.50 more than I expected. Sure, not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. Yet, keep in mind this restaurants customer base is mostly seniors from the surrounding Sun City communities, Surprise, etc. Many are on fixed budgets and a dollar here and there adds up in today's inflationary times. Also, I understand costs are rising fast and restaurants need to reflect that in their prices but the menu can easily be changed. All they need to do is take that paper out of the plastic sleeve and either put in an updated menu or fix the prices on the existing menu. Otherwise, the customer, if they notice, can be taken aback at the price difference. To me, it was a bit like bait and switch or bordering on fraud. Maybe the owners just assume no one will notice? At the very least, it is just laziness. The server was not even aware of the discrepency (apparently) until I asked about it. To the owners: please be honest about your prices. I want family run, independent restaurants to do well as it seems the NW area of the valley is seriously lacking in these types of establishments while bars, pubs, and chain restaurants abound. I will frequent this restaurant again but will confirm the price of the meal...

Don't mind the Karens...

Consider the source when reading reviews. This place is a gem.

Mind you, I don't do reviews unless warranted. Having said that, I've read some reviews here that are just ignorant and "warrant" being called out.

Anyway, I knew I HAD to try Lou's Garden. Especially after reading the negative reviews. I just knew it would be good. See, I was in the industry for about 10 years. So I know how to filter out the "Karens" in reviews.

I also took pics so you (would be Karens) could learn something

I filtered out:

Karen #1 (Jeanette) Who suggested some BS regarding the "Customer is always right" training or education or some ignorant triade. Sorry there are safety issues with your request regardless of a back condition. Which brings me to... Karen #2...we'll call her "Leila". She had the same "request" as #1. She was hell bent on causing a safety issue by trying to get 5 ppl into a booth that only holds 4. She "requested" a chair be brought to the end of the table which would block the service aisle (see pics). One claimed to have been "coming here for 8 yrs" and one claimed "4yrs" yet neither had learned and allowed their issues, brought on by themselves, to end their tenure. Along with... Karen #3...And this is my favorite. Lydia claims the sauce is made from "probably out of a not very good jar"? Hey Lydia, when was the last time you found a bayleaf in a jar of sauce? Just askin. See the pics.

The types of reviews that matter:

One had a party of 50...no problems "One of my new favorite places to eat..." "Service was excellent (and they were packed...)

My lil rant is over.  Try this place. Like I said, it's a gem. Service is great. Food is great. Prices are better. And about the "Burger King" remarks...I kinda want to buy Nick a drink.

Thanks to the crew for helping with pics for educational purposes.

Definitely be seeing this place...

CUSTOMER SERVICE..

I would give this place 5 stars 🌟, but not for the customer service from the owner... The person in our party ordered the chop sirloin dinner. We thought everything was going well the appetizers were really good and I had asked the waitress if I could have a small picture of Ice-T so she wouldn't have to come back for a table to often and she offered to bring back a pitcher of Coke as well. After we were all done eating they wanted to make a complaint (should they done the complaint earlier, of course..the meat was grizzly) to the waitress on the experience and the waitress went get the owner. He came to the table asked to see what happened. The person explained what happened to meal and no one told that it was going to come with this type of garnish and the coke was very flat and there was very few fries on the plate. The owner came back saying well I had that for dinner I had that a half hour ago and it was delicious. Well that made that person more angrier and manager didn't listen them but also then said while it comes with mushrooms and onions it says so on the menu.Well the owner could have offered that person a free dessert or took off the meal off the bill but he didn't he had to come back with that smart butt answer I had it a half hour ago and it was delicious. You don't do that to anybody.... you're supposed to be the owner and you're supposed to listen and help the customers have a better experience. We checked the menu when we got home and nowhere does it state that it comes with onions and mushrooms on the meats by the way. It's not going to stop us from coming because the food is really good that we've had so far; but you need to take a lessons in customer service and be more understanding because you know that old saying customers are...