Schuggy's American Grill & Taphouse — Restaurant in Village of Hammond

I'll first start by saying it's very easy to get to.

The atmosphere is great. There's a metal American flag right by their front door that was just awesome. They had plenty of TV's with sports on. The booths we sat in were a lot of fun, too.

Our server was top-notch. She was honest and that's something I truly appreciate. When I asked her about two particular items on the menu, she said she had tried one but not the other. She went on to explain that the other is heavily ordered by other patrons and hears nothing but praise. She was great.

For the food. They have a large selection to choose from. We chose the Ruben Mac and Cheese with mashed potatoes and the Whiskey Pineapple Chicken wrap with waffle fries.

The Ruben Mac and Cheese. Firstly, the mashed potatoes were amazing. They're real potatoes. I'm saying, not boxed potatoes, throw 'em in boiling water and there's your mashed potatoes. Heck no! These were honest to God potatoes and they were freaking delicious! So when you come here, as a side be sure to get to the mashed potatoes. The Ruben Mac and Cheese was awesome. We loved it. I'm Irish and honestly, I never thought about the Mac and Cheese route for a Ruben. Folks. It will not disappoint. Great flavor. The meal overall was delicious, flavorful and very hearty.

The Whiskey Pineapple Chicken wrap and waffle fries. Starting with the waffle fries. I was pretty bummed out. The fries were the bottom of the barrel. They seemed to have been made quite some time ago. They weren't hot, honestly, they weren't even warm. They were stale. They were so hard and unappealing. It was just a bummer. I admit, I love waffle fries. But these were just bad. The wrap was great. I'm always looking to try a different approach on something that we've all tried multiple times and this wrap didn't disappoint. Then chicken was great. The flavor was spot on. The whiskey sauce was superb and mixed well with the sweet flavor of the pineapple. I would highly recommend this. But don't get the waffle fries as a side.

I noticed and looked over their breakfast menu (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only (just a heads-up)). I have to say, I was so enticed by the dishes that I WILL be trying their breakfast soon!

I hope this...

Sometime in the last few months they changed their menu. We went soon after the change and I ordered the salmon without rice and explained that I don't eat rice, pasta or potatoes. When the server brought it out the only thing that matched the menu was that there was salmon on the plate, no noticable sauce, no capers, and it was on noodles. The server was great, took it back and fixed it, except still no capers. I was ok with it and we decided to give them another try in a month or so to give them time to adjust to the new menu. We went back tonight. A young lady came by with menus and took our drink order. We got our drinks and after about 15 minutes a young man came back and took our order. My husband and I were very clear, we ordered the ribeye and wanted it rare to medium rare. The server said they had a new cook so we said we'd rather it was undercooked than over cooked. He said ok and left. He stopped at the neighboring table and also took their order. 20 minutes later they got their food. We received our salads. 20 minutes later they brought out our food. My steak was black! I asked the server that brought it to wait a minute and cut into the steak and it was well done. She apologized and said she'd bring a new one. My husband's was closer to medium but was edible. We finished eating the rest of the dinner and still no new steak. 15 more minutes passed and we were getting ready to leave and looking for a server so we could pay and go. They were all in the kitchen, including the bartender. The young lady came out with the new steak and it was overcooked. I was noticably frustrated and she asked us if our experience was really that bad. We said "yes!" and explained that Shuggys used to be our "go to" restaurant for great steaks but since the menu change it has gone downhill. She apologized. We told her that someone needed to know and that we hoped she would talk to the owner or manager. She did comp our meal and said she would pass on the information. We know Shuggys and Barnyard are owned by the same person. We haven't gone to Barnyard for years because we've had such bad food there and now Shuggys had gone...

This was a bizarre experience, especially since the few times I've been there prior everything has been excellent. I can't say I'll be going back for some time until I've seen some indication that things have been changed.

I ordered a cheese pizza for my wife since she's a vegetarian and I ordered a steak with some vegetables for myself. As I said before, I've had their food and while I've never had their steak, I knew their pizza was pretty decent, so I had no concerns.

That is, until I arrived. I went to the counter and informed the young man of my order. I was handed one small pizza box to which I said "I also had a steak." His response will confuse me for the rest of my living days. "Oh, we didn't have enough steak to make it out of a meal, so we cut up what we had left and put it on the pizza." I was so flabbergasted that I was monetarily speechless. I then asked him why he wouldn't call me first to which he had no response. I then pointed out that the "cost" of this small pizza was $40 and asked him if he felt that was a reasonable price. No answer, more staring. I then politely asked him if he could go in the back and get the person who made that decision, because I would love to talk to them. He then went to the back.

I waited for about five minutes, chatting with the equally confused couple that had witnessed the conversation. "Ridiculous" they said. I agreed. I saw a few heads pop in the window in the back, staring at me. Eventually the teen came back out and said that the person who made the decision wouldn't be coming out.... but said they were working on getting me my steak. When the steak arrived, I mentioned that I had also ordered a side of vegetables. "They're not on the ticket," he said. At that point, I paid and left. At that point, I just wanted to go home.

The pizza, by the way, was one of the most disgusting pizzas I've ever ordered at a restaurant. I have no idea what happened, but please fix this... it was a...