Hilltop Inn

Ate here today for the first time while visiting a friend in Evansville.  This is a VERY unique place, built as a stagecoach stop in 1839 - dripping with atmosphere and ambience.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Service was great, very attentive, our waitress kept our drinks refilled and table bussed even though they had a busy lunch crowd.  Very nice salad bar, it wasn't huge but was well stocked and fresh with good selections.  I had the broiled fish sandwich and my husband had the beef Manhattan, our friend had one of the daily lunch specials the salmon patty.  These arrived promptly, but had to say we were a little disappointed in the food.  It was pretty bland.  Nothing wrong with it - just sort of average.  Still all in all it was a great lunch and we'll be back.  I might be tempted into trying their specialy the brain sandwich.....

Pros:
1. Overall the food is pretty good, but its hit and miss.
2. Their dark meat chicken is really good
3. Friendly servers and you can usually see an owner there greeting and seating people

Cons:
1. The wait staff is friendly, but the service is usually bad because the servers are forced to handle too many tables at once.  Sometimes you might not see your server for a while.  Sometimes they forget things because they are doing too many things at once.
2. There is no place to sit while you're waiting for a table.  On busy nights people are standing by the salad bar and the table next to the door because there is no place to wait.  In the summer its not so bad because there is a patio, but in the winter and during bad weather its unacceptable.
3. I like places that have a salad bar, but this one is pretty small.  Some ham or turkey would be a nice addition.  The salad bar comes with a lot of the steak entrees, but its a pretty hefty cost adder for the other entrees considering how small the selection on the salad bar is.  Also, its not sanitary for each customer in line to cut the communal cheese block.  I've seen people holding it down with their bare hands.  This is not safe.  Put some pre-cut blocks of cheese or don't serve it at all.  
4. Their gravel parking lot needs to be paved with parking lines in order to make enough space for their customers on busy nights.
5. The bathrooms are too small.  The men's bathroom on the family dining side doesn't even have a stall door.  Who wants to take a dump in front of stranger?  The bathroom on the bar side has tons of clutter in the entry way.  Not sure if its always like that though.

Bottom Line:  This place is as inconsistent as they come.  Sometimes you'll get a great meal and sometimes the food and service is lousy.   I know the place is older than dirt, but that's no excuse for not having bathrooms, service, and a parking lot that is up to par.

Ah the West Side Country Club.  I just wish I could go there more often.  This is one of the corner stones of Evansville.  My favorite thing there is either the Hilltopper Burger or a Fish Sandwich (especially during Lent).  If you haven't been to the Hilltop then you are missing out on the best tavern food in Evansville.  (Don't worry, it has a separate family room)