Karen's Kastle

I was in town & thought I would stop in here with my son for a quick lunch.  I was mistaking for thinking we could be in & out!

First of all, we parked in the parking lot & were confused by the entrance location.  The picture looks like it would be on the corner, not in the rear.  As we entered, we were already thinking of going somewhere else.  I told my son, "sometimes these places are little gems..." The waitress/bartender asked us if we wanted a booth or table.  We settled on a booth, but all seating options were filthy.  The floors were dirty and I was afraid of the quality of food at this point.  

My first impression is that the place is just plain weird.  As a commercial designer, I always have to comment on the interiors.  Don't get me wrong, horrible design doesn't affect my rating- it is everything else.  I just comment on it because I think it is important to share what I see.  First of all, there is way too much going on!  It looks like a bachelor pad that just had a woman move in & is in that transitional state.  Each area is a different color & the walls are covered in alcohol (beer, wine, liquor, etc.) signs and misc. decorative signs from Walmart (or similar).  I get it, it is a bar- why not alcohol signs?  If you are going to do that, then skip all of the other stuff.  It is just confusing and looks distasteful.  My opinion.

We each ordered a soda- his was a regular cola and mine a diet.  Both were so syrupy & gross! We thought about getting new ones, but figured what are the odds of getting any better?  We shortly discovered that my sons had something floating in it!  They didn't comp his drink or offer anything else.  Already off to a bad start.

I read that the gumbo was good so I ordered a cup of that.  I spent many childhood summers in Louisiana, and I can tell you that their gumbo is way off the mark!  I swear, it had spam in it!  I hardly ever send food back (unless it is under or over cooked), but the sight of it was making my stomach turn- seriously.  I attached a photo of it.

I also ordered their lunch special which was Italian stuffed banana peppers, which were really good!  For a special, I would have liked them to have had fresh parsley on the plate, vs dried, but it is a dive bar...

Our service was s   l   o   w!  Seriously, after the gumbo, I had my debit card on the table, hoping the check would come as soon as our peppers arrived.  Yeah, no!

All in all, I can tell you that I would never return.  There were only two other people while we were there- one was a drunk guy (yes, we were there by noon).  I wasn't comfortable letting my son use the rest room there until the drunk guy left.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure this is an awesome local hang out with average dive/bar food.  Not a place for a lunch- not gonna hit any jackpot there.  I wouldn't say it is conducive for families either, even during the day.

Maybe my review is harsh, but I wanted to be honest.

This was my first visit to Karen's Castle. I am new to the Alliance area. I arrived around 1:30PM for lunch and was immediately welcomed by an excellent server named Holly. After ordering my food, I burdened my server with a string of questions about Alliance, OH plus the history of Karen's Castle. Much to my surprise, my server took the time to explain some of the interesting places to visit in the area. The real high point of our conversation was when Holly took the time to bring an old bound menu from the restaurant that must have been 40+ years old. There was very little on this old menu that cost more than $2.00 for lunch. It was so interesting that I even took several photos of it.
My choice of Gumbo for a late lunch was just perfect. The Gumbo was certainly homemade and would compete with Gumbo that I have eaten in New Orleans. It was very tasty, good portion size and steaming hot.
I would highly recommend Karen's Castle for lunch and I am sure the quality of the dinners would be no different.  Most of all, a very FRIENDLY atmosphere.

$6 steak and fries. Nuff' said? No? Okay, food was delicious and well proportioned, staff (Tony) was great, and drinks were fast and cheap. Wish I lived close enough to make this place a regular haunt.