Cask + Cow — Restaurant in Town of Lewiston

My girlfriend and I have been going to Cask n Cow for over two years. I initially gave this restaurant 5 stars. But two years later I feel the need to update. We went to the restaurant on 9/14/24 at 530pm. The place was practically dead with only 5 tables both inside and outside occupied with patrons. We waited a minute for someone to seat us. We asked to sit outside. The table was being stabilized with folded up napkins and the umbrella had a screwdriver wedged in the post to also keep it stabilized. The table next to us was family of the waitress whom she was serving. Not once in the four times that she waited on her family did she come to us for anything. So finally after 20 minutes of being ignored, we decided to go inside. All of the wait staff were too busy having a good time talking to each other at a table by the bathrooms. After being seated once again inside, we waited another 5 minutes for our new waitress. (There was only 3 other tables with patrons at this point) When she finally came over she told us she didn't know we were there and nobody told her. We ordered two drinks and dinner at the same time. She also asked us if we wanted water! We waited over 10 minutes for our drinks. (Not acceptable in a restaurant that isn't busy) a few minutes later we got our food and water. Keep in mind the entire time the wait staff remained at the table by the bathrooms too busy talking and ignoring patrons. Oh and let's not forget the waitress who originally ignored us outside to take care of her family, once we were inside she kept on going to the windows to watch her family eating. After we left, we drove down center street to see all of the other restaurants filled with patrons but not CnC. Not once did anyone apologize. Nobody that night cared. Cask n Cow is obviously a restaurant in steep decline. It's mismanaged which is evident the night we went. If there's mismanagement and very poor customer service in the front of the house, lord knows what's going on in the back of the house.

We will NOT be going back. There's plenty of other high quality restaurants in Lewiston that deserve ours and yours...

Great food, terrible, terrible service. I kept feeling like I was going to see a camera crew come around the corner following Gordon Ramsey screaming at people to clear tables or take care of the ignored guests. We came from out of town, lured by the restaurant's good reviews. It is an attractive place with cool upbeat vibe. Despite having reservations, we waited in a line for about 30 minutes to even speak to the hostess. There were many open tables, but none of them were cleared for unknown reasons. Once seated, we were promptly ignored for 20 minutes, with no drinks, not even water, not even a simple greeting acknowledging the long wait with a promise to return soon. After finally arriving, the server took our drink order and disappeared for another 15 minutes. How long does it take to pour 4 beers? Eventually we got the beer, in 3 different deliveries - does this restaurant not have trays? The waitresses all carry only one thing at at a time, maybe 2 - seems very inefficient. She said she would bring water but did not. Food finally arrived and it was amazing - fries are perfectly crispy and moist and fluffy on the inside, onion rings might be the best I have ever had, burger was cooked to perfection and was seasoned wonderfully, but no one even came to check that it was ok, that is one of the most basic service standards! Never did get any water, I had to steal a bottle from another table! I am not sure if it was because it was an art park night and the servers were overwhelmed? The ambience and food would tempt me back, but the service would have me searching for other options if I were to visit...

I'll preface this review and say they were pretty busy when we went in so your mileage may vary. We were very excited to try this place because the area doesnt have a truly GREAT higher end burger place, so the concept really fits well for the area.

The menu seems large enough for everyone to find something they'll like. The look and feel of the restaurant is okay. I don't put a lot of weight into ambiance; all I really care about is food and service.

This is where I get a little disappointed. It took a very long time for our food to come. We only ordered 2 burgers and a beer. Now going back to the beginning it was busy; but the table of 16 that came in after us got their food first. The waitress also did warn us and tell us food was slow; but it was REALLY slow. Then after all that wait, the burgers were overcooked AND the fries came with the wrong burger. This wasnt a big deal for us, we just swapped plates. I understand this could bother some people though. The checks came out correct too so really it wasnt a big deal.

Getting onto the important topic, the food. Both burgers were overcooked. We both ordered medium and both came out well done. Ain't going to complain after such a long wait for some food in the first place! Even with it being overcooked it still did taste alright. Just alright though. Unfortunately Western New York has TONS of AMAZING food. It's hard to cut it with just alright.

Overall, I probably wouldn't go back. That really is the gist of this review. Maybe we just went on a bad day? Whatever, still going to search for a GREAT burger place...