Tavern on the Ridge — Restaurant in Town of Gaines

I had heard great things about TVI. That's why I decided to drive over an hour one way to try them out. This proved to be a mistake.

The new go to for poor quality service is now "we have staffing issues."

When we sat down, we had a very nice staff member (server) greet us and tell us the daily specials. No problem there. My friend and I ordered French onion soup which came out in a reasonable time and was delicious.

When the server came back to order our entrees is when it went downhill. I ordered the king cut prime rib medium with king crab leg add-on and a blue cheese salad. Also, we ordered another round of drinks. We waited and we waited and we waited. Eventually, flagging down the server reminding her that we awaiting our salads and drinks. Again, we waited and waited and waited.

Lo and behold, the entrees came out. We have not yet received our salads. Nor our other round of drinks. This is not a staffing issue, this is a training issue because clearly there was a staff member waiting on us.TVI could not take the time to properly train the server that the salad comes out prior to the entree and not after the entree. Note that this was near closing time and the restaurant was mostly empty.

Notified the server that we haven't received our salads and of course, she now brings the salads. Meanwhile, my prime rib is cooked rare and tough. I asked for a side of horseradish which I never received. The drinks still had not arrived and NO crab legs. The server forgot to order my crab legs. This is not a staffing issue this is a training issue.

I took two bites of my tough prime rib and became so disgusted that I pushed the food away and didn't want anymore. Our drinks finally did come. This is a big time cue to the restaurant that a guest is completely dissatisfied and to remove the meal and comp it off the check. Obviously, staff is not properly trained as to how to handle this situation. I ended up taking it home and throwing it out. After, mind you, my trip to McDonald's for my dinner. Which by the way, came out hot and correct. They even remembered to put the salt and pepper in my bag that I asked for.

We did get a free slice of pecan pie which I really hope doesn't put TVI out of business. If this was my establishment, that entire check would have been comped. I was prepared to spend big money there and I don't need anything for free, but when someone drives an hour to try your establishment out and the service is that egregious, you do what you can to save that customer and your reputation.

Oh and by the way, you may be wondering why I didn't speak to the manager. There was no manager working that day. Now THAT, is a staffing issue. Where are the owners on a Saturday night with no management? Probably too busy doing something else to care about their customers.

TVI is closed on Mondays. May I suggest bringing your staff in for a day of training. Proper service order, how to not forget items that guests order, time management, service pace, and most important, how to properly handle a...

My family has been going there for over 50 yrs. with usually a good experiences each time. But, this past fathers day weekend we had our worst experience ever. We signed up for the escape weekend package for $99. Stayed in Room 1. The faucets in the bathroom leaked. We only had 1/2 roll of T.P. and the place stunk. Smelled so bad we had to drive into Albion to buy room air freshener. Ask a gentlemen at the bar if they could turn the A/C up but he refused. It only got worse from there. We had reservations at 6 pm and were really looking forward to this meal. My wife had been unemployed for the last 7 months and we were there to celebrate her new job/her birthday/father's day and our wedding anniversary. I ordered the King cut prime rib and my wife ordered the veal french. My prime was served to me with black char marks on. Was overcooked,tough and totally tasteless. The baked potato was undercooked , hard as a rock. I asked for it to be served "loaded" and the cheese was not even melted. After 3 bites, I was beginning to feel nauseous. I cut off a piece for my wife to taste and she agreed. Seems like they took an old piece of meat and threw it under the broiler ,slapped it on a plate and covered it with au jus. My wife's veal french was served not prepared correctly. You are only supposed to use egg whites in the batter and the batter was prepared with the yokes. She thought she would just peel off the batter and just eat the cutlet, Only to find we couldn't separate the 2 because it was not even a cutlet but ground veal. Yuck ! Eventually the waitress came back and asked us how things were. I told her about the Rib and potato and she offered to make another. I told her I had lost my apppetite and was feeling sick to my stomach. She did let Mark T.know I was displeased and he did come to our table and apologized. He offered to take it off the bill. He seemed unconcerned and not genuine at all. He should have stopped there. But he made a point to tell me that they serve a lot of this and " I know it is good". Basically calling me, the customer a "liar". Very unprofessional on his part. Still left a nice tip for the waitress. Earlier that day we had stopped at the bar for a drink when we checked in around 2 pm. Could see into the kitchen door windows from our seats. Only to witness a young couple kissing in the kitchen falling all over each other !!! OMG. Got home and shared the experience with my family. They all told me they were less than happy with all their last visit's also. Food and service going downhill. Felt Mark should have offered us another escape package to use at a...

Wonderful to return to the location of a once famed restaurant, to enjoy the beginnings of a new restaurant. The facility is nicely cleaned, the improvements to the rooms, furniture, and decor are wonderful. We did not have reservations and seeing the frequency of people coming and going, we should have. Regardless, we did not have to wait. We were taken into the South side of the building, where we never actually sat before. The marble looking booth tables and padded seating was very nice; the floors were amazing, and the tables and chairs were very nice. Ample room and loved the window decor with hanging stain glass for enhancement. For appetizers, we ordered Bavarian Pretzels and the cheddar sauce somewhat resembled a humus grit but thinner and creamier; a texture and flavor some may prefer. The pretzels were very good. For our main plates, we ordered a Chicken Parmesan with House Marinara over Papardelle pasta. The chicken was tender and the marinara was fine, the pasta seemed more like a Fettuccine noodle than Papardelle, but it was delicious. We also ordered a handheld, Beef on Weck Wrap with Provolone and an A-1 Aioli in a baked salt and Kimmelweck Wrap (basically a wrap, baked with salt and a few caraway seeds on it). It was very good meat flavor with a large wrap. We took half of the sandwich home and used the meat in a breakfast omelette the next morning. The side of french fries were delicious and the pickle was a perfect touch to a beef on weck wrap. I especially liked that the Heinz was in a bottle! You don't see that very often, anymore! :D Over all, we were pleased with the staff, the server was a very pleasant girl who gave us just the right amount of attention. The new owners give the place just the right amount of class. Even the thought of sitting at the bar after dining, for a drink with a few friends would be a pleasant experience. We...