Sidelines Sports Eatery - Telegraph — Restaurant in Toledo

After a lack any response from any Sidelines owner or representative sent on March 8 2024 I am posting the whole experience here. Long story short.. Sidelines (telegraph/alexis) management is terrible and I will never patronize the location again.

Below is the majority of the email sent to someone at sidelines claiming to be a rep.

I was recently at sidelines 3 (telegraph/alexis) Saturday March 2nd for a dinner with 4 small children and 7 adults. We didn’t make reservations and we understood the wait. As we waited, we were told it may be up to an hour. We noticed several booths open and we offered to separate into smaller parties to sit at a couple different tables. We were told no and the hostess (who was pleasant the whole time) told us the kitchen was backed up and the cooks needed to catch up on tickets; however, during that time no less than 6 other parties ranging from two to four people walked into and were sat immediately. This was after checking with a manager at the location. Why seat more tables when the cooks need to catch up on tickets?

We waited patiently still and during that staff several comments were made that made us feel as if staff wanted us to leave the location and find dinner else where. Specifically a comment about how large was “ going to continue drinking for a while”.

After about 40 minutes, a waitress who had the large party in her section offered to seat us at two different tables in her section. The large party that was “going to be drinking for while” was mostly middle to older aged patrons consuming mostly water and soda.

Once we got sat, service was good and food speedy.

I have been a patron of sidelines since 2011 on a regular basis. I have a VIP card and go to sideline on melwood regularly for trivia. We have never felt as if staff from a restaurant wanted us to leave more than that evening.

Instead of hammering what is otherwise a good established Toledo area food organization I chose to with hold my comments and just simply rate that specific location.

Thanks for...

I worked in fine dining for many years. Our service standards were extremely high and we were rigorously trained. I have very high standards regarding customer service without forgetting context, of course.

That said, I was very impressed with the front of the house staff at this outlet. They were fun but professional, attentive, friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable. We never lacked for anything at any time.

We were greeted immediately after being seated. Drinks came shortly after ordering. None of the staff were seen on their phones or slacking off. Very, very impressive!

The food was absolutely delicious. The portions were gigantic. We had the pretzel bites and the steak bites to start.

The pretzel bites were hot; crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, salted with pretzel salt, and served with a little cheese dipping sauce on the side. Addicting!!

The steak bites were tender and wonderfully seasoned, served with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. This is an appetizer that could be a meal in itself if you added a veg or a small salad. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I had a Tex-Mex Salad for my main.

O.

M.

G.

Just order it. Even if you don't consider yourself a salad person, I think your taste buds and appetite will be more than satisfied.

It's crispy and crunchy in all of the right places. The chicken was perfectly prepared. Have the Chipotle Ranch with it; I didn't find the spice level intolerable. Keep the jalapeños if you are able. They impart flavor as well as heat. The toppings and ingredients conspire to give taste buds maximum pleasure; the portion size will satisfy even the largest of appetites.

This is a well run outfit with excellent food and service. Highly...

I live one mile from restaurant been going there since it was a ground round this is probably a big question with no answer but what happened Toledo I mean in the day there was a lot of pride in our restaurants me being a past restaurant owner I took as much pride as I could in the food I was making I understand you can't spread that out over employees but the problem is when you have all the good materials to make a good meal ??I got a whole rack of ribs with coleslaw and mac and cheese and lightly dusted chicken nuggets with Parmesan garlic . The ribs were tooking straight out of the bag? Never touched the grill to put any kind of marking on it whatsoever so they were basically oven cooked warmed up and hot water dry the coleslaw tasted horrible The mac and cheese? I did eat a few of the pieces of chicken but also very dry . Sidelines used to be a great restaurant I mean they won rib award in 2000? But now have relaxed into a comfortable chair and it seems that no one is watching inequality going out the door . I'm never a person to ever complain or even do a review. But now there is absolutely nowhere to go eat anymore because it's a complete flip of the coin whether you're going to throw your money down the drain or half the meal is going to be any good peace and love Toledo Good luck I guess there's a reason why everyone tells me I make the best ribs...