Shindigs Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Winfield

The young man at the front took 10 minutes to TALK to us before seating us.

As we were taken to our seats, the ambience stood out. This is a two-story restaurant dedicated to the rail system, and they have done an excellent job of incorporating themes and motifs into the building. On visuals alone, I’d give this an A+.

We were told our server would be right with us. She was not and took a long time to get to us. When she finally got there, we were able to put our order in WITH our drinks as we’d already time to review the menu in person and online.

I ordered the Not Yo Momma’s Meatloaf. She asked if I wanted mashed potatoes & gravy and carrots. I asked if it was extra, and she said no. My guest ordered the Hangover burger and was very pleased. Solid flavor, presented well, and he was full when finished.

The meatloaf? That’s another story. I was told it was smoked and would be different. The smoky flavor is very good, but this is a LARGE piece of meatloaf. By the time I got to the end of it, it was just too much smoke to be honest. This is probably a better sized piece to be shared. I’d rather have paid half of what I did and just have less food.

But here’s the deal – it was dry! Several times while eating it I wished it WAS my momma’s meatloaf. She at least put ketchup on it. This one could definitely have used…something.

I’m assuming the male who visited our table and brought our food was a manager. When asked if he could bring us anything else, we replied with everything our server DIDN’T bring us: • Refills • Straws • Salt & Pepper • Utensils • Napkins

He graciously brought us all of that, but it was apparent that our server hadn’t asked, thought about, or brought us any of it.

We had to ask for every refill. It was never a proactive approach by the server. This frustrates me at ANY restaurant and can often dictate the tip amount.

I asked for Dt Dr Pepper and my guest asked for sweet tea. On the third request for refills, I noticed my drink was Coke. When I mentioned that my guest said, “Yeah, this is the first SWEET tea I’ve received. The others were not.” She consistently was getting the drinks incorrect.

There were more flies around my table than I would prefer. It was relatively cool outside and flies like the warmth of a window. But I would rather have not had that to deal with.

Then we checked out.

The tip defaulted to 15%, 18% or 20%. She wasn’t worth that (but I did tip 16%). I noticed my bill was little higher than expected, so I inquired. Management told us it was because the drinks were $3 ($3!) and because of the gravy on my potatoes. Soft drinks do NOT cost that much even if they are served with disposable cups (they were glass jars). But the gravy was a dollar more. Yes, only a dollar. “There’s nothing we can do about it,” said the female manager. “The server should have told you it was extra. My apologies if she did not.” I told her that I couldn’t care less about a dollar – it was the principle. She acknowledged, apologized again, but did nothing. Again – I don’t care about a buck. But read the room and recognize that I’m not a local. And that I probably would be writing a review. And that others would see it.

The online menu showed by meal to be $14. On the menu in the restaurant it was $18. I was charged $19.

Overall the staff was courteous – just not attentive. The male manager was great (who delivered our requested items). The server was VERY nice – just didn’t fulfil her obligations. The young man at the front was kind – just not paying attention. And the female manager at the bar was well-mannered – just dropped the ball.

Improve on all of these things and I might be back. I wouldn’t go out of my way from Wichita to get to this place, but I might try it again if I’m in town. There are places that are 30-60 minutes from Wichita that are worth the drive for the food – this is not...

The place is nice for a small town! It gives you their style of dining which is important. We went there to enjoy a great meal. Plus to watch KU play on one of the big TVs that they have throughout the restaurant. You can either eat inside or outside on the second-floor patio. It was my two friends and me who went there right before the big game started. We had a booth by a window and it was quiet at first. Our waitress was a student who attends Cowley CC. We started with drinks and were planning to get wings for an appetizer but they were sold out. So we then decided on chicken fingers and told her to have them cut in half. They came out nice and hot plus french fries with bbq sauce and ketchup. We then went ahead and order the main dish as we were not in a hurry to eat and run. After all, we went to enjoy a nice relaxing time. We all order different kinds of streaks. Two people order KC strip and I order the sirloin steak. All the meals came with two sides. The salad was extra as it was not offered. A few minutes later the salads were brought out and so freshly made with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons, and salad dressing that you put on yourself. We added cheese and needed double-dressing twice to cover the lettuce completely. As we were starting to eat our salads than a short time later out of the blue here is coming to the streaks. That didn't sit well with any of us. I told our waitress that if my food was cold that I would send it back. We went to have a great meal. Not again a fast-paced meal. The others were happy with their streaks after eating the salads. I finished with my salad and took one bite of each thing it was not hot so it went back to the kitchen. To be honest the second plate of food looked better than the first plate served to me. The streak was juicy and had a great taste plus the homemade mashed potatoes were so delicious. Along with nice hot gravy. The carrots were great and hot as well. The meal was missing the crackers for the salads and we all agree about that. Because you need that to balance it out. The streaks were missing that added addition of either hot dinner rolls or Texas toasted that should come for that price. As we always get that at meals elsewhere. Our waitress never shared her name from the beginning! That is a minus because that is very important in connecting with your customers. She did a great job in checking up and keeping all the glasses filled up and...

We drove over an hour to try this place and was a bit disappointed with the food. While Atmosphere and a decor were awesome the food was lacking and so was the service. We ordered the green chili wontons as an appetizer the tomahawk steak and the chicken fried steak. Let's start with the appetizer they were just cream cheese and green chili eggrolls that had very little green chili flavor and the 2 sauces they had were not very good at all one was a green chili salsa and the other some red looking sauces with no taste.. the chicken fried steak was just ok can get that about any place you go it was served with mashed potatoes and bourbon carrots both of which were disappointing the mashed potatoes looked off color almost dirty and brown like they were old and the carrots were over cooked and seem to come out of a can. On to the tomahawk steak the only real reason we came. It took almost an hour to be cooked and that's fine I can understand that not a problem. When it came out it was served with asparagus and a baked potato 2 of my favorites. We asked for the steak to be med rear but it was cooked more on the rear side not a big deal to me. The biggest thing that I was disappointed with is that while the steak is 32oz is what our server said it had way more fat than meat and for 58 bucks that's pretty crappy if you ask me. Now I'm not just talking about a fat cap around the rim I'm talking full on way to much fat. The flavor was spot on and my dogs loved the bone I brought them so maybe I just had bad luck and got a fatty steak but I won't be back to order it again and see lol. The service was sub par our server only came to the table 4 times one to get the order 2 to drop off the food and 3 take care of the check we had to ask another server for refills. I asked her if she could wrap the left over meat and fat i had left and she acted like it was a huge ordeal for her to do i would understand if the place was busy but there were only 2 other people there. Also I guess they have a awesome drink special when the train goes by draft bear is 2 bucks the other tables server let them know and they got to take advantage of it but my table could not because the server was no where to be seen. All in all it was a sup par experience and not worth an hour drive to try I don't feel like Winfield will have this place for long with the food and priced the way it is a small town like that...