Mabel Murphy's Eating & Drinking Establishment Ltd

I want to give this place a better review than I actually can. It's awesome to stumble upon this place while traveling, getting off at another exit looking to grab something to eat and finding a local place with this much charm, instead of yet another chain or a generic establishment just taking weary drivers' money. But our experience just doesn't warrant a higher rating.

The local charm also adds to confusion: it was honestly hard to identify the front door, and once we were inside there seemed to be a bar on one side and the restaurant on the other. Since we wanted to eat, we headed to the restaurant. We had no idea until much later that the 'pub' half had it's own, separate menu. (and in addition, one in our party managed to walk into a closet while trying to exit, again thanks to the lack of signs)

The interior is vast, and charming, even if it is a bit dated. There were a large number of cars in the parking lot, but we honestly never saw more than 4 other customers while we were in the restaurant.

The menu, however, looks like it hasn't been updated in 20 years. It reads as 'generic nicer restaurant from the early 90's', which was one of the last times salad bars were popular at steakhouses and seafood restaurants. The salad bar itself was almost a joke while we were there: iceberg lettuce and perhaps 5 other toppings, none of which looked particularly fresh.

We weren't looking for a big meal, so given the dinner options on the restaurant side, we opted to split dishes. (again, we had no idea there was a separate lounge menu) I can't be sure, but it really seemed like at this point our server decided we weren't big spenders, and we got less attention. After our entrees, she even brought the check over and said "I'm guessing you won't be interested in dessert?" One of our party asked to see the dessert menu, and the server disappeared for 5 min and returned without it, asking if we had decided about dessert. We didn't order any.

The entrees themselves were good. The people were friendly. The place was cozy. And if we had had a great experience, we'd just chalk the problems up to the place's 'charm'. But we left feeling like the place was once better than it is now.

It feels weird leaving a yelp review for a place where I'm pretty sure I didn't even have cell service to check yelp, but maybe some people plan out their travel eating ahead of time more than I do.

Ive never had dinner there but I have heard it is very expensive, however the bar is alot of fun and a cool place to hangout.

The building is beautiful and the atmosphere is fabulous.  I the bar food seems to be better than the restaurant.  The nachos are amazing!  While the bar food is great, ordering a martini was a disappointment.   The restaurant menu has failed to evolve over time ~ while I enjoy eating here and think it is a great place to meet~ there is room for improvement.