December 17th, 2007 By Jenna Walker
East Side Review: L.A. Grill & Ale House
It’s Evansville food reviews has been a bit on a hiatus lately, and we apologize for that. We return to you with a review of a new addition to Evansville, L.A. Grill & Ale House. This restaurant offers a take on the health craze that has swept the nation by offering a “healthy” (LA Grill) and “unhealthy” (Ale House) side to the menu.
Several of us ventured out there the other night to try this new restaurant after having driven past many times. The d’ecor is a take on modern-deco. The color scheme is black, red, and blue with waves of silver around the walls and seats. The booth and high top filled bar is also surrounded by televisions continuously tuned into ESPN. The lighting is relatively dim and the music seems just a notch too loud, but enjoyable artists.
As mentioned, there are two sides to the menu, and it’s more literal than it seems-you start on one side of the menu and actually flip it over upside down to get to the other side. It’s a great idea in that people can easily compromise on what they want to eat by having two full menus of healthy and not-so-healthy food. The healthy side even lists each dishes proteins, carbohydrates, fat, and calories. Dr. Joe Klemczewski offers his expertise to L.A. Grill & Ale House in developing tasty food that can fit any health nut’s diet.
When greeted by our waitress, we were served a complimentary basket of carrot curls, thin slices of carrots that are fried like chips. Surprisingly it was a fresh take on the standard chips and dip that tends to come with meals at many restaurants. Our party ordered two healthy items and one ale house item. The Crab Mango Wrap was a crab salad with mango, cilantro, and red onions wrapped in a spinach wrap served with carrot curls. The Tropical Beach Salad was shrimp with mango, pineapple, strawberry, and mandarin oranges over lettuce with a sugar free, low carb, dairy free Tangerine Dream Dressing. Both were very much enjoyed and recommended, one has even been gotten a second time since the initial visit. From the other side of the menu, the Dream Burger was ordered. This came out a perfect medium, pink throughout, topped with Fried onion straws, saut’eed mushrooms, applewood bacon, swiss cheese and special sauce as well as the standard lettuce, tomato, and red onion. This burger was to die for. Cooked perfectly and there couldn’t have been a better match of toppings.
We had an excellent experience at this new Evansville restaurant and have since been back. I think the restaurant is still getting the “new restaurant quirks out,” as family who went that same night didn’t enjoy their food at all. They said their food was tasteless, dried out, and fries burnt black. I have had two great experiences at this location, so recommend it, but due to hearing a couple questionable to negative comments, try it at your own risk.
L.A. Grill & Ale House is located at 7221 E. Indiana, just next to The Outback. (812) 491-2337. Mon-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-10pm.
Filed In: Food, Review | Favorite This | Link
|
Tagging links in 
Tagging your photos on 
Contributing to the 
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed below are those of their authors and not necessarily endorsed or supported by It's Evansville. In all cases, the comments provided here are offered as a courtesy and will be moderated. Any content deemed off-topic or offensive will be removed without notice. Posting a comment here boils down to two things: 1.) Think before you type 2.) Respect the thoughts of others. See our commenting guidelines for more information.
Danielle
December 17, 2007 @ 11:55AM
the food was good, but afterwards my roommate and i felt ill…dont know what that was all about…our food was prepared properly, but we had nothing else all day.
Infinion0
December 17, 2007 @ 01:30PM
I’m normally pretty pleased with any eatery that can make me full and happy. My wife and I ate here last week sometime and weren’t all that pleased. It’s an interesting place, but it seems like they’re trying too hard, in all the wrong places. It’s like a typical bar and grill, that is trying to act healthy and all modern. I was confused my the atmosphere. The decor is nice, modern and gives that sort of expensive feeling. A place you might go out on a date to, not just a place to get food. But then, I sit down, and realize that everything is freaking RED. every wall, everything, is red. By the time I left, my eyes hurt, so much freaking red. But, that’s not all. I could see no less than 5 TVs from my booth seat, and I could hear every one of them too on top of the normal music and other noises. I felt like I was in a bar…only nicer, but in some confusing way. Maybe it would just take some getting used to, but it just seemed that the atmosphere needed some direction. Maybe it’s the whole split menu thing to blame. The menu is interesting. It’s not large enough to be confusing, but it took some time to figure out what was going on. My first impression that that the menu seemed a little pricey (only a little) compared to others in town. I’m cheap, but not beyond paying for a nice meal. Upon ordering, I found that they were completely out of fish, which would have been really nice to know 20 minutes earlier. When we got our meal (which was fast), I suddenly realized this was one of those places that tried to make things look fancy to increase prices, while everything was really cheap in reality. The ‘plates’ were these ugly plastic basket things, lined with red paper. The paper is fine, but we ordered burgers, and the grease looked horrible on it and made the paper get all torn up and stick to the food. The napkins were paper towels, and I had completely expected cloth in a place that had entrees over $25 on the menu. My silverware was dirty. The food, on the other hand, was well prepared, and quite nice, but only about a half a notch above any other chain restaurant just down the road. My wife reported some of her food was a little less than the desired temperature. Maybe I should have gotten something from the other side of the menu. However, I’ll try them again, no one does it right the very first time.
cody
December 17, 2007 @ 02:02PM
great place! cheap beer and great food. the chessefries are the best in town. I also had the dream burger, it was delicious.
Jenna
December 17, 2007 @ 02:16PM
Oh how the Dream Burger was ever so delicious.
Infinion-you are right about the decor sorta clashing with the menu in a sense. On initial impression, I too thought it was going to be much fancier than it turned out to be. Thank you for pointing that out, and sorry i didnt do so in my review!
Infinion0
December 17, 2007 @ 02:24PM
jenna,
Maybe it’s just different. It could be the next big thing. Normally, I’d be all for more TVs in a restaurant, but literately, 5, I could actually see 5 TVs. It was odd, but in an almost nice odd. One of those ‘good different’ things. My food was pretty great, I had the dream burger too. My wife had something different, and it was okay, but nothing spectacular. A little light on the flavor in my opinion. I’d recommend everyone give them a try, but I don’t think they’ll be on my favorites list, at least not until they work some things out. Oh, maybe it was just my first impression, but the vast majority of the staff seemed to be 16 year old girls, anyone else notice that? They sure liked to chat to each other and some of the young men that came into the lobby area while I was waiting. I’m not complaining though, they did a good job, and it might be hard to find experienced people for a new place. Hmm, just an observation.
ME
December 17, 2007 @ 03:31PM
The service needs some work, wasn’t greeted for like 15 minutes or so, but the food was very good…
barky
December 18, 2007 @ 01:18PM
Evansville - Expect Better!
While I don’t have a problem with the redredred decor, the food and service are horrible. The frozen pizza run through the conveyor oven with the sponge-like pork-scented sausage - you could get a better pizza at any high-school cafeteria.
Don’t support restaurants that think you want crap food. Or service - were these people even trained?
cody
December 18, 2007 @ 03:12PM
doesnt the owner own nicks pizza?
Phil
December 19, 2007 @ 12:18AM
We went and were horrified by the service that we ended up leaving without ordering.
We were greeted by the hostess who sat us at an awkwardly placed set of tables. Two tables meant for two were pushed together and sat uneven. It didn’t feel upscale at all. After waiting for 10 minutes without our server coming by and the table next to us getting service(they were seated 5 minutes after)I started to get upset. Their server came by and asked if we had been helped and I replied no. One more server came by after that and asked if we had been helped and I again replied no. They didn’t even offer to take our drink order. We waited for our server and they never came so we walked out. The same hostess that seated us told us to have a nice evening and come back to see us. Yeah right!
Jenna
December 19, 2007 @ 12:25PM
Sad that so many people are having bad experiences! I hope it’s the initial-opening-kinks, but I’m starting to not be so sure. I still enjoyed my food, my service was okay but not the best. Hopefully they can shape up.
ch
December 19, 2007 @ 05:46PM
My husband and I went there on a whim (and because we had a free appetizer coupon). We got the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer—very good. Our entrees were pretty good, too. I got grilled chicken and he got some sort of wrap. Interesting note: They told us it would be an hour wait. However, I didn’t see many people waiting so I thought we’d stick it out. It only took us 5 minutes to be seated and our service was very prompt. I’m not sure that we’ll be rushing to go back…but I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to eat there again. Especially since it’s easy to eat healthy there.
Will
December 23, 2007 @ 05:17PM
Thanks for sharing the word on this great place! I had the pleasure of dining there a few weeks ago, and the experience was very similar to what you described.
To have a restaurant in Evansville actually publish the calories, fat and carb contents of menu items is almost revolutionary. I hope they start a trend.
I LOVED those carrot “fries” too. Not something I could handle on a daily basis, but certainly a tasty, unique experience.
The house wines are good, too. And, they are one of the few restaurants I know of that actually chills its red wine PROPERLY.
And gosh are they FRIENDLY! I can’t count the number of people working there who greeted us with smiles and salutations.
Like The Terminator said, “I’ll be back.”
cody
December 29, 2007 @ 12:42PM
is this the people that own nicks pizza and wings?
ME
December 29, 2007 @ 10:40PM
Yeah, Lee owns the north side Nicks not the old Mattingly’s
Sara
January 02, 2008 @ 04:07PM
I was not impressed…expensive for the amount and quality of food. I too was overstimulated by the harsh colors and all the TV’s. (Why do Evansville eateries insist on having TV—I can watch the game at home!)
I had selections from the healthy side of the menu, but if you look closely, they really weren’t that healthy! Definietly NOT diet food!
Lee Auker
January 24, 2008 @ 10:42PM
Ms. Walker,
Thank you for the review of the LA Grill and Ale House. The staff continues to learn and improve in all areas of operation.
I am sorry to hear that family members did not enjoy their food. Did they bring it to the attention of a manager? If so, how was it handled?
Mr. infinionO,
First let me say Thank You for your comments, they are usefull in improving operations at the restaurant.
The LA Grill and Ale House is a concept that was designed to have the “The Best of Both Worlds” in a slightly upscale - viberant sports bar atmophere. It is meant to please the guest who is concerned about what they are eating, and those not as concerned. My wife eats healthy and I do not, so the concept is a combination of the two. The Ale House or hearty dining side is served as such, a high quality product served in nice black baskets. I appologize for the red paper being used temporarily until our logo wax paper arrives. The TV’s are the only “sports bar” piece to the concept, and the volume should never be on, unless requested, in the bar only.
I am sorry you did not enjoy the design or color of the restaurant, but it is part of our concept.
I am also sorry we were not serving fish at the time of your visit, but we were not satisfied with the product we opened with, and were delayed in finding the correct item. We have been serving fish for the last two weeks, and our guests are happy with the choice.
As far as trying to make things look fancy to increase prices, I’m sorry, but that is not right at all. The LA Grill and Ale House is commited to service and food quality. We charge enough to keep expenses in line, no more for fluff.
The napkins are not paper towels. They are a high quality linin like paper napkin.
Every piece of silverware is washed - rinsed - sanitized - and polished after every use, I appologize if you received some that was not up to our standards. Did you get some different silverware from your server?
Thank you again, I think this information will be usefull.
Mr. Cody,
Thank you.
Mr. infinionO #2
I am sorry your wife did not enjoy her meal, and I would like to know what she ordered. We are constantly working to get better, and this could be an item that needs attention. Was this brought to the attention of a manager?
We have two 16 year olds that work at the LA Grill and Ale House, and they should not be working the same shift. Please let a manager know if you are not addressed in a timely / proper fashion. The preoccupied hostess situation will be addressed.
Thank you again,
Me,
Did you speak to the manager on duty at the time, because someone needs to be fired if a guest is not greeted as soon as they walk in the door.
Thank you,
barky,
I’m sorry, but we do not have any frozen pizzas, a conveyor oven, or even sausage.
Mr. Phil,
I appologize for your experience. Did you have a chance or even see a manager. If the managers are doing their jobs this would not happen.
The room to which you were seated, is the room we use for large groups, so the tables are meant to be that way. (not uneven of course) Had you been served properly, you may certainly request a different table.
Again, I appologize, and thank you for your help.
I hope you try us again, and if your experience is not good, please ask for the manager. They are there to ensure guest satisfaction.
Ms. Walker,
You are right, it is sad to hear of the five bad experiences here, and I wonder how many are possibly out there. This information is needed for the LA Grill and Ale House to become one of the best restaurants in town. Unfortunately, if I did not hear about your review, I would not have known of these issues. Although in this business perfection is unattainable, we work hard every day to provide the best possible dining experience, and if we do not meet our guests expectations, we need to know. Most situations can be fixed on the spot.
ch,
Thank you, and please rush back.
will,
Thank you, and see you soon.
me,
Do I know you?
Ms Sara,
I am sorry you did not enjoy yourself. Can I ask what you had to eat?
If there is a way for us to improve, I would appreciate any comments.
The healthy side of the menu is there as a guide and used for various reasons. By using Dr. Joe you can take The LA Grill to the Extreme, and make it as healthy as you need it to be.
Thank you
Note to All,
Thank you for your comments, thoughts, and complaints. Almost everyone I talk to has had great experiences, or they just don’t want to tell me about a bad one. Most people who know me know I only want to provide the best possible dining experience, and will tell me the truth. That is the only way to improve, we have to know about any issue.
I normally do not respond to what I would consider a type of gossip, but my wife and I are - and have been a part of this community for over twenty years, and want nothing more than to have a restaurant that the city we love - embraces. Good Luck to all in everything you do!
Thanks again,
LA
infinion0
January 25, 2008 @ 07:31AM
Well, it is good to see that someone is looking out for LA. I’m not sure who has posted this, but it seems as if it might be legit.
It’s also interesting that someone has seen a conveyor oven and had a pizza with sausage while the (owner?/manager?) says they have neither. Funny stuff there.
LA,
Your comments seem odd. This one really sticks out to me.
“…because someone needs to be fired if a guest is not greeted as soon as they walk in the door.” I find it hard to believe that an owner/manager would respond like this. I’d expect something more like “be taken care of”, or “the issue will be addressed.” But Fired? hmm…fired.
It’s also interesting that you’ve responded to each person here (more or less I think). That seems to be an odd thing to do. I could understand being defensive about bad reviews. But come on, they’re reviews, it happens. It’s a new store, it happens. New employees, it happens. A single response addressing some of the major concerns, and the fact that you are improving, etc, etc, etc, would have been more appropriate. But hey, I’m willing to read it. At the end, you seem to explain why you have responded. I’m happy with that answer. Evansville needs some decent places. At least you didn’t open a chain place.
“The napkins are not paper towels. They are a high quality linin [sic] like paper napkin.”
Maybe this has changed since I was there. Okay, so they are a little larger than the standard paper towel. Also, a little heavier and higher quality. But they aren’t that much different than the ones on my kitchen counter. (50 cents a roll at Walmart). Okay, fine, the choice of napkins I can handle.
As for the fish thing. It wasn’t so much that you didn’t have any fish. The real problem is that no one told us. Better yet, the young lady that sat us, or possibly our waitress, one of them, went through the menu with us to explain the concept, and pointed out some favorites, etc. But, no mention that there wasn’t any fish in the place. It seems like you were without fish for a while. It also seems that there was a good reason for this (low quality), and I applaud you for that. I understand though. Waitresses forget to mention things, it’s fine, it happens. But if I’m really in a nice place, it shouldn’t happen.
As for other comments, I don’t understand. I go to a nice place, I pay for my meal, I expect things to do right. I might not agree with the decor, fine. A waitress might drop a plate, fine, it happens. But never, ever, should I have to ask for a clean set of utensils, or ask for the table to be cleaned after we’ve been seated (which I did, did I forget that above?), or have to revisit the menu to select a different item because the waitress forgot they were entirely out of all fish in the entire store. Yes, a manager should be there for the guests. But I shouldn’t have to ask for things that should already be taken care of. I should have to ask the manger to quiet down other guests that are too loud, or for a recommendation on a nice bottle of wine, or perhaps where the nearest movie theater is, but never, ‘can I have a clean fork’. You see, by that time, I’m ready to go. I was hungry, so we ate, but we almost left as soon as we sat down and the table was still dirty, and my silverware was dirty, and the freaking TVs were invading (the last being matter of opinion of course). We stayed to see how the food was. A place can really suck, but have the best food ever, and will be my long favorite. But, if the food doesn’t hold the place together, it’s not worth my time. I’m not there paying for food, I’m paying for service too, and I expect to get it, without asking for it, that makes the difference.
Service is a different issue I think though. Managers, especially in Eville, need to take a service class, or read a book or something. It’s the simple things really. Don’t rush people when they’re eating. Don’t deliver the check 5 minutes after the entree. (this didn’t happen BTW) Don’t take one guests plate away while others are still eating. Clean the freaking silverware! It’s not like I don’t expect you to wash every piece that comes back. If I knew that wasn’t the case anywhere, I’d freak out, so don’t tell me about it. But just because everything get washed, doesn’t mean everything gets clean. Someone needs to be paying attention.
Okay, after that ha all been said, I’d like to say some more. First, LA was fine, especially compared to others in the city. Actually, a little better maybe, when you consider some things can be attributed to only being open a few months. It’s just, I think so many places could do so much better, and I wish they would put a little more effort into it. It’s good to see someone in authority taking some responsibility though. Maybe it’ll all work out soon. Good luck with it. I’ll check back in sometime to see how you’re doing.
infinion0
January 25, 2008 @ 07:40AM
Aside, I may be more critical than the average Joe Blow. Not sure really. But notice, I barely addressed the food. It was pretty good, but could use some work if you want to really nail the other guys in town. I’ll have to visit again and maybe I could discuss the food with you also. I’d really love to try some fish sometime. Get your service straight first though. Just as great food can save some level of poor service. Great service can save mediocre food.
I live pretty close to the store, and the parking lot is always full. Thats great, but what you really want is people willing to park down the road, walk to the store, and wait in line around the building.
barky
January 25, 2008 @ 08:25AM
the conveyor oven that was sitting outside your front door while you were doing pre-opening events - that one. Who gets fired for that? Maybe they can use high-quality linin (sic) like napkins to dry their tears. Or maybe it was put out there by the two sixteen-year-olds. Have they been fired yet?
barky
January 25, 2008 @ 09:28AM
and what is viberant sports bar atmosphere?
infinion0
January 25, 2008 @ 09:30AM
@barky You sound almost vengeful. Was your experience really that bad?
Justin Williams
January 25, 2008 @ 10:13AM
LA is the owner. It’s legit. I guess he was Googling his restaurant and stumbled upon the review. This post is the #1 result when you search for the restaurant name. :)
That said, has anyone been back in the past month? They’ve had time to get the opening kinks out.
mac
January 25, 2008 @ 08:55PM
Jenna,
When I first read your review I thought this was a legit site, however after you caved when 5-6 people convinced you to with their comments I caved to….on the legitimacy of this site. With that said I think your original review was right on…at least that is how it has been for me and my friends…an excellent experience.
Jenna
January 26, 2008 @ 09:35PM
@mac: I’m sorry you feel that way. I didn’t change my point of view on the restaurant, I still stick with my original review. There was just something pointed out that I did agree with and intend on including in my review, but forgot. Thus, once it was brought up, I agreed. My first impression I thought it was going to be more upscale food than casual but was proved wrong. That’s not to say I dislike the food, because everything I have had was good and I have returned several times.
I’m sorry you misunderstood what I said, you are entitled to your opinion of course, but I still stand with my original review.
Charlie
January 28, 2008 @ 03:29PM
We have dined at L.A. numerous times from opening day and have nothing but praise for the entire establishment.From employees,food etc.
We have not encountered any bad food,service or things mentioned by some very rude people that evidently have NO LIFE or JOB.Our Food and Service has been Great.I personally hope that Mr.Auker and his Family make it in the Restaurant Business.It’s a very hard industy to make it in due to the fact most Large Restaurants are Franchises and owned by large companies with millions of dollars.This is a person trying to make a living by doing his best to satisfy the public and even taking time to answer complaints from people who need to walk in his shoes to see just how difficult the restaurant business is.For Mr.barky I’m not positive but I think(viberant)is the same as vibrant which means pulsating with vigor and energy (lively)The vibrant life of a large city.To say they should fire employees because they are young is absolutely terrible.
Good Luck L.A. we will be back many more times.
Dan
January 28, 2008 @ 04:08PM
1st; I have eaten at LA Grill at least 20 times and have never left disappointed.
Heres the trick, at any restaurant if your unhappy with anything tell some one that works there and if its a good restaurant they will fix your problem.
2nd; My daughter is one of the 16 year old hostesses there and if she
wouldn’t greet a customer for 15 minutes while standing around talking,
I would expect her to be Fired …lose her job !!!
3rd; Barky, I would love to meet you at LA Grill, walk through the entire restaurant,If we find a conveyor oven I will give you one thousand dollars and if we don’t find one you just give me one hundred dollars.
orange
January 28, 2008 @ 09:13PM
I have been there twice and have been pleased with the service/food… the music was hit or miss but im a music snob. Barky maybe you could be a little more constructive with your criticism…just a thought…sometimes in the restruant business things don’t just come together perfectly as you may wish…you are kinda coming off like you got something personal against the place or something…alas the food is an 8 until i have more things off the menu…i will deff be going back…Lee You aRe a classy man FACT.
Cara
January 30, 2008 @ 01:48PM
Infinion0,
Your right, you are more critical than the average JOEBLOW, but i dont know why. If you didn’t like your experience, tell them about it, then drop it. No one is making you go back there to dine again. But to continuously degrade a BRAND NEW restaurant is childish. Leave your remark and move on. Most remarks are looked at and taken into consideration but if I was Lee, I would probably tell you to piss off. You are ONE customer out of how many? You have no idea how much time and effort and training went into this place to get it opened and running, and for you to say that their managers need to take a service class and that they basically shouldnt be hiring 16 year olds is outrageous. Im pretty sure i read that you never opted to notify a manager, so how would you know they need to take a service class?
When you go to any other restaurant do you get prefect service everytime? DO they always have ever item on the menu and are you ALWAYS notified? No No No and NO. And most of all other restaurants are chains and have been running for many years. This is the first LA Grill store EVER…. Give them a freaking break.
I personally love the place. I have been there approx. 10 times since they have opened and have never received a meal that was less than perfect. Every server has been overly friendly and prompt and the service was great. It is a place that i hope is successful and continues to expand!
Not to mention, I’ve seen a pretty sexy manager walking around that place. I will definately go back :)
To everyone else, LA Grill is a place you should definately try once.
infinion0
January 30, 2008 @ 02:55PM
@cara,
Fine, I’m critical. I wonder what a food review is supposed to be about. But don’t talk about what i didn’t say. I was critical, but I dind’t say the place sucked. I agree, I’m sure most customers there have a great experience, but I’m giving observations and thoughts about MY experience there (yes, I’ve only been there once, but plan to go back again.)
Did you notice this paragraph I wrote?
“Okay, after that ha all been said, I’d like to say some more. First, LA was fine, especially compared to others in the city. Actually, a little better maybe, when you consider some things can be attributed to only being open a few months. It’s just, I think so many places could do so much better, and I wish they would put a little more effort into it. It’s good to see someone in authority taking some responsibility though. Maybe it’ll all work out soon. Good luck with it. I’ll check back in sometime to see how you’re doing.”
I’d love to talk to Mr. Lee and tell him what I though about my visit. I think my comments worked well here since he’s apparently already read them and possibly addressed some issues.
About the managers - read it again. “Managers, especially in Eville, need to take a service class, or read a book or something. ”
I should have made myself much clearer. I’m referring to all managers. And I don’t need to talk to the manager to know if they need a class or not. It should be evident from the service/food. That said, a class isn’t worth too much really. It was just a thought.
About the 16 year olds. READ IT AGAIN!
“Oh, maybe it was just my first impression, but the vast majority of the staff seemed to be 16 year old girls, anyone else notice that? They sure liked to chat to each other and some of the young men that came into the lobby area while I was waiting. I’m not complaining though, they did a good job, and it might be hard to find experienced people for a new place. Hmm, just an observation.”
How do you turn that (“…they did a good job…”) into “…they basically shouldnt be hiring 16 year olds…”
About chains — you said “This is the first LA Grill store EVER…. Give them a freaking break.”
I said “Evansville needs some decent places. At least you didn’t open a chain place.” And I applaud LA for that.
No, I don’t always get perfect service. I don’t expect that. What I do expect, is for people to point out the ups and downs in an open review. Why wouldn’t I mention that my table and silverware was dirty? It happens, and I wasn’t mad about it, and it was fixed, but it still goes in a review. If everything sucked, but the manager eventually fixed everything, the place would still suck. Luckily, LA doesn’t seem to be a place that sucks, they just had a bad night. Unlike some (barky?), I’m giving actual experiences here. Some of you seem to think that just because you had an excellent time there, that everyone must get the same treatment. I’m not making things up here.
It’s good to hear to others are having much better experiences than I’ve had, and that people are standing up for the store and the owners. That’s they sign of a good thing. I’m glad to see something new for Evansville.
Justin Williams
January 30, 2008 @ 04:12PM
There’s been a flush of incredibly positive reviews of LA since the owner left his comments, which leads me to believe he’s sent people here to review. It’s fine if they are genuine reviews, but some people have tried to post two reviews using two different names, which I can easily detect by the IP address. I will not be letting these through.
Just an FYI.
Phil
May 12, 2008 @ 12:54AM
This is my second review, my first not so great.
After my cousin made reservations I was offered a second opportunity to try this place out for real.
They were out of the carrot sticks my mom was raving about so we had chips and salsa. The chips were stale and the salsa was very mild and bland.
I decided to share the build your burger with my wife. I ordered it medium well, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and pickle on the side(wife dislikes pickles).
When it arrived (took forever) it had onions and pickles on it with no mayo to be found. I asked for a side of mayo since it was missing and they rushed off to grab some. They got distracted at the bar talking to another customer and never returned. A second server came by and I was able to ask for my mayo again, it finally came a few minutes later.
I finally get to the burger and take my first bite, I’m underwhelmed. The burger is overdone and has a rubbery feel to it. No amount of ketchup and mayo can cover it up. The fries were decent but had a bit too much salt.
I finish my second beer and I’m never offered another drink before the checks come. A glass of water would have been nice.
Our checks came later but they forgot to separate them like we had asked
before. It took them about twenty minutes to figure it all out and get them back to us.
The food was grossly overpriced and the service was lousy again. How hard is it to cook a good hamburger?
I will not be going back a third time and with how dead they were inside I couldn’t believe all the time delays. If they don’t improve their service they won’t be around long in the highly competitive Evansville restaurant market.
Won't be going back there!
July 09, 2008 @ 07:08AM
First and last visit last night…very disappointing. The place was dark and gloomy. The menus were dirty. The service was poor considering they were NOT busy. The food was bad, the shrimp rubbery, the mashed sweet potatoes looked like refried beans but with out the flavor and the fillet that was advertised on the menu was no longer carried. This morning an individual from our group called in sick and she’s fairly certin it was something she had at dinner last night. Nothing at all there calling me back for a return visit.
Justin Williams
August 13, 2008 @ 02:43PM
LA Grill & Ale house is dropping the healthy side of their menu:
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/aug/13/la-grill-dropping-tuna-and-salmon-middle-road-appr/
ken hunsaker
August 20, 2008 @ 08:11AM
my wife @ i spent several hours on sunday at the la grill on the east side . treated like royalty. food 9 out of 10 burger cooked good. ‘artichoke salad to die for” we had a very good time @ I FOR ONE THINK THAT EVANSVILLE SUCKS FOR SHUNNING THE PLACE . back local people or you will see another empty building @ no two dollar beer . give it a try . I KNOW I WILL hope you all will help . krh newburgh in
Jenna
August 20, 2008 @ 10:34AM
Ken, It’s Evansville does back local places, which is why we strictly only review local places. We want to get the word out there about local places so that they stick around and everyone knows how good they are.
Unfortunately, while the first time I ate there the food was fine, service pretty bad, I did get sick almost immediately afterwards. The second time I went, my food was absolutely appalling, as was service.
These are clearly our personal opinions, and we aren’t going to tell people differently when we have had bad experiences
dan
August 20, 2008 @ 12:43PM
I would love the opportunity to critique all the people with negative comments, at their place of employment, In their 1st Year at a new Job.
I bet none of them are Perfect either..and if we made a website that pointed out all of their mistakes..Maybe they would lose their job.
Everyone should watch the Disney movie BAMBIE…and listen to Thumper..If You Cant Say Anything Nice..Don’t Say Anything at ALL.!!
Jenna
August 20, 2008 @ 02:45PM
Dan, we review local restaurants and sometimes have a good review, sometimes have a bad review. Sometimes our minds are later changed about the restaurant. I liked it at first, but haven’t since. Like you pointed out, everyone makes mistakes and at a little rough at first, but a restaurant should have that well polished out after 2-3 months. Not a year.
I write the reviews objectively, and will note later on if I changed my mind. We allow the comments to offer readers the chance to give us their opinion—good and bad. Some reviews have comments that do nothing but gloriously praise it. Some reviews have comments that flip-flop depending on the commenter’s opinion. Other reviews still have comments that are entirely negative because all the commenters had poor experiences.
We didn’t post this review or open comments to slam the restaurant. In fact, my original review was a positive one. It was later that I decided I didn’t like it after several bad experiences. It seems many people did not have good experiences, and they wanted to share that with the other readers. Some people did have good experiences and shared that too. Its not that we aren’t saying anything nice, as Thumper said, we are just relaying our experiences to other readers. And that’s what the comment section is for. If you don’t like that and only want positive reviews and comments, then this site is definitely not going to make you happy.
dan
August 21, 2008 @ 05:37AM
OK…I’m done..I’ve said my piece…I will be at LA Grill Saturday night.
7:30 till after Midnight…I will eat the food, have some drinks,
play pool, Darts, Skee-ball, Pop-a-Shot(basketball),Golden Tee & i will play the WII Game for free at the bar.
Hope to see more people there having a good time.
Its better to live life than to type about it…
Jenna come out Saturday night, I will buy you a drink…
give it one more SHOT so to say.
goebelgal
August 21, 2008 @ 07:22AM
any reviews for Fujiyama in North Park. We like Iwatawya on Hwy 41 but recently heard that Fujiyama was good.
Jenna
August 21, 2008 @ 09:39AM
@goebelgal: both Iwatawya and Fujiyama are on the review list, hopefully I’ll get to them soon! Never been to either, but I know my dad has always liked Iwatawya