Was there on 7-8-13. Â Service was horrible. Â Our waitress was not knowledgeable of the menu, slow to bring requested items and would disappear for long stretches when refills were needed etc. Â Salt and pepper are not available on the tables and were not delivered with appetizer. Â Male waiter was rude when asked for them. Â Food took a long time to deliver.
My steak was AWESOME. Â However, the rest of the food was not edible.
I'm giving this place 3 stars because of the horrible service. We were seated initially in the front part of the restaurant near the door and asked if we could sit further in so we could enjoy the interesting items on the walls, the waitress was clearly annoyed and moved us (there were 3 of us) to a side wall table further into the restaurant. My seat was directly over the a/c vent and I can tell you that their a/c definitely works! We ordered two pizzas and a whitefish sandwich. 45 mins later we get our food. The French fries that I ordered with my whitefish were room temp and were cold completely by the time I finished my sandwich. I was told the pizzas were ok by my company. All in all, scenery was good, but they really need to work on the service. At the time of my visit there was only 3 other tables occupied so the place was NOT busy at all. I don't think I will be returning. There are better places in Alpena to eat where the food, prices, and service are better.
Review Source:I struggled with this, as I wanted to really like this restaurant in 'Old Town' Alpena.
My family has a local lake house and at least once a trip we come into Alpena for dinner. During our most recent trip, we came into town on Sunday evening and the place was a wreck. The exterior wall of the restaurant was fallen down, there were dirty tables everywhere, and the food they served my 2-yr old son was gross, really gross! (BTW don't get the Mac and Cheese here, disgusting!).
Overall, it looks like the restaurant has gone through better days as everything was just not well taken care of. It appeared during our visit that they were short-staffed, yet decided to take the busser and put them in the kitchen -- talk about a nightmare with the food. Perhaps the owner/manager should take a better look at the operations and perhaps volume will pick up; but, until then we would advise to stay away -- unfortunately.
Our family has been to this restaurant about two years ago. We did not have any problems until this year visiting Alpena.
The service was so extremely rude and unhelpful we ended up leaving the restaurant. We were not the only people complaining several parties around us were appalled at the terrible service.
We waited for ten minutes without being greeted or have our name taken. Finally someone went up and asked where the server was since no one was seating us. The blonde girl at the bar did not help at all and seemed as if we were bothering her by our questions. When someone comes into your restaurant, you greet them and seat them as soon as you can. After ten minutes the male hostess cluelessly walked by without saying anything. The large group of ungreeted guests flagged him down and asked him what was going on and if he could take our names. Instead of greeting u or giving us any information to what was going on at all, he said it would be a wait while walking away. The manager of this restaurant needs to teach his hostess how to do his job and also needs to inform the waitress/waitors that if he is busy someone needs to politely inform their customers what is going on. Never in my life have I had such a rude host. Do not go here unless you can wait a long time and are prepared for a rude staff.
Okay, preservation of a neat older building is a good thing. And the food is decent, not spectacular. Expect nicely put together pub grub; burgers and the like are their forte.
The service is wretched. Have been there several times, and spent a LONG time waiting to be helped. Even a few times when the place was nearly empty, and the staff was plentiful. Everyone is quite friendly, but clueless / inattentive.
My husband and I have been coming to this place for years and have always left pleased. Â The menu isn't especially large (one page, basically) and is heavy on meat dishes, so a vegetarian or vegan might feel underwhelmed. Â That said, what this restaurant does, it does very well. Â I've never had a bad burger and the salads are quite good as well. Â I think the fried appetizers and sides are where they really shine, though-- fried pickles are the tip of the iceberg. Â Once for St. Patrick's Day they had "shamrocks" made of deep-fried bell pepper slices dusted in powdered sugar. Â On our most recent visit (in April of this year) we had their take on Crab Rangoon, which included spinach and artichoke along with the crab and cream cheese-- to very good effect. Â And this is the establishment that turned me on to sweet potato fries, which I now love and try whenever and wherever I can.
[If you're not into fried things OR meat the goat cheese salad with blueberries is very nice.]
They have a small but thoughtful selection of Michigan beers on tap. Â My favorite is the Frankenmuth dunkel.
It has a good atmosphere without being too tourist-trap. Â It's a nice, dark, homey feel. Â And one of these days I'm going to try their Alpena-themed frozen drinks.
If you're looking for a good restaurant in Alpena that has lots of character then this is your place. Supposedly it's over 100 years old. There is a lot of neat stuff hanging on the walls to hold your interest while you're waiting for your food. Don't be afraid to walk around. The ax handle functioning as a door handle on the front door is a very nice touch.
They serve typical comfort food. My burger was cooked to my satisfaction and my sweet potato fries were equally as good.
This place gets a three, but it has potential to get a four. Â I think they were overwhelmed by the large crowd that flooded the place during a weeknight. Â The food was so-so. Â The waitress did a good job given the number of customers. Â The atmosphere was great. Â Definitely worth a shot.
Review Source:On a visit to Alpena, I was looking for something interesting with character. We ended up in here and really took to all of the different things on the walls. I really like the overall atmosphere of this restaurant as I sit here on a Sunday afternoon.
The menu is great. There were many unique dishes and different Michigan based entrees. I like the Michigan themed dishes, beers, wines, and ice cream.
The food was unique and remarkable. I had the portabella quesadilla and was very impressed. My only overall complaint was the service. The staff was slow and not around often, but could have been the 2 pm Sunday timing.
We went into John A Lau again this summer (2009) and were a little less impressed than last time. Â It doesn't help that our eating habits changed between the last time and now, but the food didn't seem worth the hefty price tag, while our service was average, maybe even a bit below average.
This time around, my family is eating vegetarian, which makes the menu here pretty tough...it's a meat place, bottom line. Â Without ordering steaks our meals were so-so but two of us didn't get out of there under $50. Â Next time, I think we'll try somewhere else, giving John A Lau a little break.
It's been a long time since I was in Alpena, but I have fond memories of this place. Â Memories of coming in from a cold Michigan evening through those doors with axes as handles and into the restaurant. Â The space managed to be open and still feel cozy, the walls covered with all manner of antiques and local artifacts. Â The giant carved alligator was a personal favorite. Â The food was good and hearty, just what you need in a Michigan winter. Â I used to demolish the soups and stews in their bread bowls. Â One of the things in Alpena I really miss.
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