Thirsty Lion — Restaurant in Tigard

Review edit - The general manager reached out and made this right. I've been here many times and never had the experience mentioned below and hopefully never will again. Will definitely give them another try.

Been here many times and usually service is adequate and food is consistently good. Last Sunday, which also happened to be Mother's Day, was not a good experience and we probably won't be back. We had a reservation for 5:30pm. It wasn't overly busy. Sign on the table says "Everyday Happy Hour 3-6pm" - no exceptions printed. When we asked our server about it, she said they aren't offering happy hour today because it's Mother's Day. When I asked where does it say that, she shrugged and said that's just the way it is and she'd send a manager over if we had a problem with it. Manager came over and was not friendly in the slightest. She said they aren't doing Happy Hour because it's a holiday and the kitchen staff wouldn't be able to keep up. Probably should remove the signs then if you aren't going to have happy hour. Anyways, she finally says "fine, what do you want to order?" When I asked to see the happy hour menu she stormed off and returned minutes later saying she can't find a menu, "they are all put away". Whatever, I ended up ordering 2 starters that I was planning to anyways and have no idea if we even got a discount - my son paid. If there is one thing I hate more, it's poor service and false advertising. There are plenty of other options, including the nice new restaurant across the street, which honors their all day Sunday happy hour ( even on holidays!) . Did I mention this Thirsty Lion also tacks on a 3% surcharge to every bill to pay...

Great food. Well-prepared and not to much salt or oil. Atmosphere was OK. Booth was a little uncomfortable and music was a bit on the loud side to carry on a conversation without raising your voice. I brought my GF and we thought about making it our regular spot because we enjoyed the food and drinks so much. We had strange interactions with 2 different workers that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Our regular sever was wonderful but sparse to check in. Maybe he had a lot of tables, no worries. A woman who brought out our dessert basically dropped it on the table while she flashed a mean look and left without saying a word. The experience that put me off the most came after dessert but before the bill came. After enjoying 3 entrees, 4 drinks and a dessert my gf and I were waiting for the check and shared a hug when a man who worked there pounded very loudly on the table shaking and clattering all the glassware. It was so startling I nearly jumped out of my seat. He said "people we concerned" so he had to check on us offering no further explanation. I have no idea what was meant by that but I told him we were simply waiting for our server to return to ask for the check. Between that guy and the woman who brought dessert I was getting a strong, "eat then immediately gtfo" vibe. Our server returned and we paid and left. Maybe there is some explanation for the woman (maybe just having a bad day) but there is never an excuse to suddenly pound on the table like that. He could have used his words to get our attention.

Might try it again. It would be a shame not to, because the food was so good. I just hope I don't have a disturbing cs experience...

Edited to add: I was invited back to try some more food. Again, still not impressed with price vs quality/quantity. Most of the food we ordered this time tasted better at least. This time we tried: *Blood orange margarita- good taste with good amount of alcohol *Cheese curds - pretty good. Small portion for the price. The darker sauce was really good. One son liked the other sauce. *BBQ bacon wrapped prawns- good sauce, we expected larger pieces that is more typical of restaurant prawns. *Grilled shrimp pad Thai-noodles were overcooked, mushy, the overall taste was good. *smoked pork ramen - as expected, tasted like smoked pork and udon, had the flavors it’s supposed to, not much extra to it though. My son ate half of it, when normally he devours and finished off a bowl of ramen.

I’ll leave the rating at 3 stars. Might be a good place to grab a drink, they could stand to lower the price of apps and drinks, entree prices aren’t horrible; we won’t be back.

For the price I was not impressed. Kids liked their food. The “salad” was lettuce and a couple tomatoes. FYI not the good ranch. Large Pretzel was ok. The nachos and “queso” weren’t good. Chips were stale, I don’t believe the cheese was actually queso, regardless it wasn’t good. Beer cheese soup was as expected. I had the salmon, rice, and veggies all of which was very bland. A son had fish and chips. Fish was ok, coleslaw was bland, basic fries. Macaroni and cheese, again, was bland. Other kid had the NY strip, potatoes and veggies. He said the steak was good-cooked right. Potatoes, again bland. Effie’s were overcooked, as were mine. So All edible, but most...