Surge Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Tonawanda

UPDATE! The rebranded Surge Restaurant is awesome! The breakfast and lunch menu has expanded to include skillets, crepes, and a lot more. I tried the Garden Skillet and it was loaded with sauteed veggies including super tender asparagus, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli & mushrooms all on top of home fries. Eggs over easy and rye toast. It was an awesome breakfast. Plus it's so cozy in there. The new Surge is just as cozy and familiar as the previous iteration with lots of tasty new additions. I'm excited to go back for the Hash Benedict. And lunch. And Friday dinner. Fish!

I headed out to dinner with my partner and 4 year old in search of a fish fry. We were all excited to try Eggperience under new ownership for their first Friday dinner service since reopening.

We came in the back entrance and were quickly seated in the center of the restaurant. Greenery, twinkle lights, and recycled exterior doors make the space cozy and provided us a little privacy, which was very welcomed by parents of an unpredictable little one [who hasn't been in a restaurant in nearly one year].

Menus and drinks came quick. We were happy they have "kid cups" as we've noticed fewer and fewer places offer them.

We played a quick round of "I spy with my little eye" before the food started rolling out.

We started with the hummus platter. It comes with warm pita, olives and tomato slices, garnished with some greens. It was the perfect tasty bite before our mains came.

My partner ordered the souvlaki platter with gyro meat. It was exactly the familiar and tasty greek fare he was looking for. He was happy with the big bed of greens and the potatoes were great, too.

My kiddo ordered the chicken fingers kids meal and a lemonade. The meal comes with fries. He was happy with the plate he received (once he blew on every single fry to cool it) as well as the extra tomato slices he ordered all on his own. 🤣 We even had enough leftover to take some home for Saturday's lunch.

I was mesmerized by the list of fish fry options and opted for the classic battered fish fry for my first time trying this spot. I ordered my fish fry with fries and coleslaw but opted out of the mac salad to get some extra fries for my dinner mates. The fish was crispy and delicious. A good size, too. The slaw was creamy and fresh. It was a great foray into the offical fish fry season that begins with lent next week.

We followed the meal with servings of rice pudding. It was lightly sweet and creamy and topped with a little tuft of whipped cream and cinnamon. This "tessert," as my son says, wrapped up our meal nicely.

Our server was fun and attentive, even while she was also attending to other guests, including a large table that sat down not long after we did.

Everyone in the place was extra accomodating to our very inquisitive and chatty kid. It was a really nice meal overall. This will be a great family dinner option for us on future Fridays.

We stopped by the bathroom before leaving and found a cozy retreat that was kept clean.

Everything was super clean and all the COVID-19 protocols were followed to a tee. Every staff person was wearing their mask properly and communicated just fine with us. They had spray sanitizer on each table.

Now we have to go back and try the breakfast and lunch options. The pics of food on their new instagram look...

What a strange place. My experience wasn't necessarily unpleasant. Just unsatisfying. Our waiter was a bit non-verbal, but conversing with someone who mutters most of the time and who won't talk to you about your experience, especially in a services role is a bit frustrating. He never asked how our food was, I had to repeatedly ask for some more coffee or water, and when I requested additional creamers he forgot and I just confiscated some from the empty table next to ours. He also just left the coffee pot on our table, which if that's how they do it here that's fine, but if I wanted to pour my own coffee I'd make some at home. Speaking of making things at home: I ordered the corn beef hash with over medium eggs. That took about an hour or so of waiting. Only for it to come out not only somewhat burnt on the bottom, a bit gummy from how long it has sat out, and slightly cold. The corn beef was flavorless and resembled something I've made from a .49¢ can Ive bought at Tops before. The rest of the food was just as uninspired. When a manager/owner came up to ask how our food was, after telling him he says "well it seems you ate everything so it couldn't have been that bad" I replied "Ive still got to pay for it" which was true. I ate everything because I was pretty hungry and am not one to say "this is bad, I refuse to pay for it". I will pay the bill and consider it a lesson learned on where to spend my money next time. The other thing id like to comment about is how the servers were literally running in between the aisles from the kitchen to the service floor. Sprinting down it like it was track & field. Honestly ridiculous. Unless there's a fire/emergency there's no reason for them to be running inside in the restaurant around patrons like that. Overall, 2 stars because the food was edible but nothing special and the wait staff was present but...

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED We have been eating here regularly, and after today’s experience we will not be returning. Today we wanted to take my Dad & husband for nice breakfast for Father’s Day. My dad lives on his own and sometimes gets so busy he forgets to eat. We wanted him to have a hearty meal before going back to his home in Machias. We always Artie early so we can get in and out in a short time. Today we arrive a few minutes after 8am, there were a few tables already seated but not very busy yet. The owner sat us. We looked over the menu and waited a while before he took our drink order. He brought our drinks and we waited again before he came back for our food order. We place our order and waited & waited. We watched people who arrived after us get their food, eat, pay their bill and leave. Still no food. My husband had to ask server that was walking by to refill their coffee’s Our food finally arrived arrived and it was COLD! My husband didn’t eat any of his food. My dad had a few bits of his cold eggs. I had a few bites of my cold waffle. I told the owner it was cold he said I’m sorry. (He did not offer to re-heat or swap out) There were plenty of servers working. It did not appear short staffed by no means. The owner offered us a 20% discount on food that no one ate (My husbands plate was not touched at all) No one likes cold breakfast. The discount is not enough for ruining Father’s Day breakfast for my dad and husband. All I wanted was for my dad to have a nice hot breakfast before he left to go back to his farm. Total...