Disappointing. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The interior was great, but they need sidewalk seating, especially on main street. Service poor. While the staff seemed nice, our service person didn't have it together. Prices too high. $5 beers and $12 hamburgers in Springfield? I don't think I fit their demographic of the customers they want. With little nearby competition, this place seems like a no-brainier. But they miss the mark. Hopefully they will improve with a second visit.
Review Source:Very happy after yesterday's Happy Hour at Planktown.
Met a co-worker here for after work drinks and apps. Scored one of the big tables, by the windows, and settled in for a bit. I had one of the specials, which was a riff on a caprese salad: tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese crusted in almonds. The plate was drizzled in basil oil with a balsamic-fig reduction. I loved it.
My colleague got what turned out to be a HUGE serving of the brussels sprouts with stone-ground mustard. We shared the yeasty popcorn.
Granted I didn't have an entree, and we did not try the beers, but I was certainly pleased with what we came for. I'll be back...
My fiance & I visited here last night after hearing the 'buzz' from our friends in Springfield who have been talking about this new restaurant we HAD to try. It was a Sunday evening 7pm...we took a seat since the had a sign posted saying 'seat yourself'. We waited 20 minutes and our waitress did not even acknowledge us, she was back and forth slugging along not making eye contact with any of the patrons except the one table she was trying to adjust a check for ..that seemed to wear her out. My fiance got up and talked to one of the servers on the other side of the restaurant who looked like he was working hard, and he ended up serving us instead of her, since he felt bad......even though we weren't in his section (poor guy). We finally got our food, and neither of our burgers were cooked the way we wanted (medium), and the original burger, that my fiance had tasted flavorless even though it was smothered in aoili...the patty tasted like it hadn't been seasoned prior to cooking. I ordered the blue cheese mushroom burger, and it was good enough to satisfy me, Â however, it would have been better if it was cooked the way I ordered it. To top it all off, our fries were overcooked and also flavorless...which seems to be a common complaint at this venue.
I'm willing to give this place another shot, if other friends were meeting up here for happy hour, since some of the appetizers sounded great on the menu, and we didn't try the beer yet. But we will NEVER come here for their burgers again...HORRIBLE.
The positive things I can say about the place though, the venue is a nice interior layout for live music at night...the guy that ended up serving us over the sloppy, slow female who was supposed to was very attentive, and their pretzel bread buns on their burgers were a nice touch.
Grade: C-
First time checking it out and my wife and I loved it. I had the trout and she had the salmon and both were great and pretty fairly priced. The deviled eggs were great too, but all the apps were overpriced. Same with the goat cheese cheesecake, which was a little small for $6. Mixed drinks were a little pricey too ($8 for a kinda small house margarita.) but beers were all about $5. It was really busy, but our server was nice and everything came out faster than i expected. Definitely gonna go back, just avoiding apps and deserts next time.
Review Source:Normally I don't review brew pubs unless I eat a meal there which I did this past weekend. I like the spacious set up of this place. I enjoyed the salmon eggs Benedict special that I had. Service was good. Only not so good things is that they are only serving one of their own beers but this should be rectified soon. Also, there isn't much in the way of bike parking but this is also going to be fixed soon too. Definitely would recommend.
Review Source:I had serious doubts about Plank Town based on the other reviews.
I will confirm that the place is pretty loud. Â Lots of hard surfaces. Â They do need to do something to blunt all the ambient noise reflection.
They had two 'house' beers available, however both were contract-brews. Â The cask-conditioned was an ESB brewed by Brewers Union 180, and to my palate, just wasn't particularly good - and I AM a fan of cask-conditioned. Â The B3 Special Bitter brewed for them by Block 15 in Corvallis was much better.
Based on the reviews, I avoided the hamburgers. Â I did try the Brussels sprouts and found them excellent. Â Fries are passable. Â
I stopped in on a Monday evening, and the place had folks, but not to overflowing. Â I immediately found a seat at the bar, and found the servers prompt and friendly.
I will stop again.
It saddens me when fries are either limp or burnt. What would be the point of indulging? My chicken Caesar salad satisfied me enough though; I liked the polenta croutons as they themselves were unique. As much as I did appreciate the presentation of the whole leaf romaine and whole chicken breast, it would have been a lot easier and convenient to have requested for it chopped and all ready for eating. I like my work lunches efficient. A pub with an urban vibe is certainly a bonus in Springfield and it may be worth to check out again soon.
Review Source:We love this new addition to Springfield and the food is fantastic. The seared scallops were beautifully done and the trout (steelhead) with manchego cream sauce and wilted spinach was to die for. Brussels sprouts and dry fried green beans were both excellent.
Beautiful, open space although a bit loud (we heard they have plans to improve the acoustics). Friendly service and atmosphere.
A group of about six of us decided to try this place on a Wednesday night. Plank Town is a good name as you pretty much sit on planks. But it's not like we were at a fancy resort-it's Springfield casual. Except for the price. More on that later.
Staff were very pleasant and working hard. The place was pretty full with about 90 people there (listed capacity is 96). And everyone was basically shouting to be heard. Can any restaurant open with a concern for acoustics? The place has bare, shiny walls and ceilings, glass and a concrete floor. Sure, three of us were bald guys, but how much echo does that make? Plank Town, add some local softness. Maybe quilts?
The food was much better than I had expected. I tried the fries with garlic and the sauteed mushrooms. The two orders of burgers were well received, even with the chard instead of lettuce. I guess if they grilled the chard it would be charred chard. Anyway,
now to the price. The mushrooms are $9 and the rather small crab cakes (they are usually small) were $12. So that's $21 if you go that route. Add a $4.00 beer and you are at $25 per person. Add a tip and it goes to maybe $29. Double that for two and you pretty much have a light dinner for $60. No dessert.
Maybe stick with the burger and fries for $10 plus beer for $14 each plus tip at $3 for total of $17 or only $34 for a couple.
Tried this place for the first time yesterday (Sunday early evening). Â They've done a lot of work making that old place look nice. Â The plank tables are cool. Â The chairs are cheap and uncomfortable. Â There are plenty of beers on tap to choose from, but they were out of my first two choices. Â They need a better way to update their tap list, like maybe a chalk board or sign above the bar?
My wife and I chose to split a Cuban sandwich, and an order of crab cakes, and then at the last minute decided to get the deviled eggs as well. Â Who is this chef that decided they were going to reinvent a Cuban sandwich? Â A Cuban sandwich is pressed. Â If you don't press it and get the outside nice and toasty, and melt the cheese, then it is NOT a Cuban sandwich. Â We saw on the menu that it said it had pineapple in it, so we were prepared for that, but serving it on their big, soft hamburger bun, and without a pickle, is a mistake. Â It's an OK sandwich, but they should call it something else.
The fries looked like they were cut by a blind person (no offense to blind people). Â Some were big steak fries, and others were thin shoestrings. Â Because of the variation in size they were not cooked evenly. Â They brag about their house-made catsup and they will bring you a little 1.5 oz cup of it if you like. Â It tastes like a tomato sauce, not a catsup. Â It's thin and doesn't have that traditional vinegary tang that catsup should have. Â I was reminded of Clark W. Griswold's classic line, "REAL tomato catsup, Eddie?"
Crab cakes were actually deep fried crab balls. Â They were made with good crab meat, but they were a little smaller than a golf ball. Â They were a little too crispy on the outside. Â Two small deep fried balls for $12 is pretty disappointing.
The deviled eggs were pretty good, but also small. Â You get three half eggs, each with a different treatment. Â One was a spicy brown mustard sauce, one was covered in julienned radish, and the other had some sauce I was not familiar with, but it was tasty. Â I would have been a lot happier with a little bit larger serving, for the price.
The service was pretty good and the waitress was nice. Â She could have been a little more attentive, but that's a minor complaint.
I hope this place evolves and improves the menu. Â It has a lot of potential and could be really good for downtown Springfield, but as it looks right now their on the wrong path. Â The chef is trying to do everything in a new, hip way, but I don't think that's what people want, especially in Springfield.
Our first visit on St. Patrick's Day was full of it could have been betters. The place is cool which is unusual for Springfield but very noisy. We try to support local and gave them the benefit of the doubt. Our server was very friendly and we had a couple of glasses of Pinot Gris at a reasonable price but it went downhill from there. We ordered the fish and chips and the Caesar salad with smoked trout. The fish and chips were very small pieces with tons of breading with a few fries and small salad, not impressive at all. Our waitress told us they were out of smoked salmon but would drop price of salad. The salad was tiny with a few bed crumbs, a horrible salad and they dropped the price a whole dollar. Woo Hoo!! We told our server we would not be back for a while maybe never.
I think the place has potential but long way to go. Too noisy, stools very uncomfortable, lots of people waiting too be seated with no one in sight. Maybe it will improve but we will wait for a while. I think they opened before they were ready
Liked the atmosphere and location, not a big fan of the food.
Positives for me:
-Had the cider, and it's hard to find draft cider in this area. Â Although it tasted weak, it packed a punch! Â Wished it'd had more flavor, though.
-The french fries were fantastic... Very flavorful, and I didn't need ketchup at all.
Negatives
-The deviled eggs: Â You get three of them, that's right, three halves, for $5. Â They were pretty flavorless.
-The burger: the bun was straight off the cheap Safeway aisle, and so I didn't eat the top part. Â The meat was odd, like they'd added some filler to it (almost like meatloaf, not a burger). Â I pondered if I should get cheese, and the server said it wasn't necessary, but I wish I had to counteract the taste of the weird sort of spinach stuff (consistency of canned spinach) that was on top, and a tomato that wasn't great but at least had more flavor than anything else on the burger. Â I should have put the ketchup on this.
I'd go there for drinks and the atmosphere, and maybe a large fries, but don't go for the food, it's just not experienced enough yet!
I'm giving four-stars because of the potential and the vision the owner and management has. Dan, the floor manager, is great and asks customers for feedback. They have a great selection of guest taps, but its the in-house brewing that I can't wait for. Sounds like Steve from Block 15 will be taking the reins which is fantastic news if you've ever had any of their beers. The food has improved each time I've been in and the menu grows by the day. Staff is friendly, though everything is new and the familiarity with everything just isn't there yet. But be patient, it will be. This place continues to be packed and they are aware that the noise level can be extreme. I'm confident they'll get that under control. For downtown Springfield this place is huge! It's the snowball at the top of the hill. I'm excited for what downtown could become!
Review Source:Okay, Â this place totally has potential, the ambiance is nice, they are still really new and they don't have their own beer on tap yet. That being said....come on.
I've had the poutine........yeah umm no. It was  quite tasteless and requires ketchup to be finished.
We tried the deviled eggs on a previous visit and they were okay although not spectacular and there was only 3 halves. 3? If you are a couple how do you share 3?
The burger I haven't tried but I'm not sure I want to. The table next to ours ordered one and sent it back 3 times before he gave up and just shared his wife's meal.
OK-here's my biggest beef with the place and I'll share pics of what our beer looked like. The do a weird tap handle jiggle that before this I've only read about in beer magazines-and not in a positive way. They claim its to create a "good head" but what it does is give you a short pour. I mean really, haven't we already been there with true pints and all? Judge for yourself but I bet I'm lucky if I got 13oz. Â Really?? I drove from Eugene to Springfield for $5 13oz beer?
Also, if you are a liqueur drinker do know that they jigger. Surprised? Â
I will most likely give 'em another try after their beer is on but I really hope they work out the kinks. I doubt the beer crowd from Eugene will drive past Ninkasi, Oakshire and 16 Tons to get short pours of Ninkasi and Oakshire, just sayin'.
A Springfield brewery? No way! A Springfield brewery with great food and nightlife! We thought it wasn't possible! We were in for a delightful surprise! We went early and it's a good thing as by 5:30 the place was absolutely packed and people were lined up waiting. The decor is rustic and industrial - a perfect combination for downtown Springfield. The menu at this point isn't extensive, but that's fine with me. A smaller menu usually means better food, and it was true in this case! I had the rainbow trout with crispy polenta in a manchengo cream sauce. It was very good. I was with 3 others who all had the burger. They said the burger was quite good too. Service was friendly and helpful. Even being as crowded as they were, the wait staff was still attentive. Our only complaint and the only reason I'm not rating the place a 5 was the noise level. It was nearly impossible to have a normal conversation. We had to shout to hear each other. Perhaps some wall decor or other means to absorb the sound would help.
Review Source:Apparently, this was the place to be last Friday night. It was PACKED! We arrived at 6:00 and were seated at 6:45. We used the waiting time to have a little stroll up and down main street. There was a timely display about beer making in the history museum up the street and the antique stores, though closed had cool stuff in the windows to look at.
It was ridiculous loud. We could hear each other fine, but we were kind of tucked in the back and not in the middle. The crew all seemed pretty stoked at how crazy busy it was. They were cheerful and were as quick as they could be given that every seat in the place was taken.
We had poutine with stout and cashew gravy and loved it. When did Poutine start showing on menus? First Rye and now Planktown. I love the stuff! Is the cheese part required? Planktown's 'poutine' had no cheese, so is it still poutine and not just fries with gravy? I had the grilled trout with crispy polenta and creamed spinach. It was delicious and there were no bones in my trout.
My companion had the steak with creamy parsnip and grilled mushrooms and onions, all of which was super tasty. The beef there is local and grassfed. Their menu is not complete yet and it will be exciting to see it flesh out as time passes. They had an impressive beer on tap menu. Mostly local and microbrewed.
The prices are in my "special occasion only" range, but not really exorbitant. If their opening week is any indication at all, this place is going to be wildly successful.
Upon walking in we were greeted by a nice hostess, she gave us drink menu's and told us it would be about a 10 minute wait on a Wednesday @ 6. She grabbed my wife and I two beers fairly quick. (it ended up being 10-15) so not bad.
Once seated we had about a five minute wait until we got our menu. We put our order in of a appetizer of pickled vegetables and I ordered the Burger and my wife ordered the Cuban sandwich.
It took us about half an hour to get our food, I was a little disappointed but I figured they just opened so I will give them that.
When I had ordered an appetizer of pickled vegetables I figured it would come out before our food, but it ended up coming at the same time as our entree's which is a huge put off for me. I did not even want our appetizer at that point.
for the Appetizer of pickled veggies (5$) It was ok, nothing I would order again, the green beans were good but the pickled carrots tasted weird and the beats were not nearly pickled enough.
The Hamburger w/ fries (10$) I believe a good base for all American style restaurant/brewery's is how well they can make a burger. This one sounded great on the menu but did not live up to its potential. The chard was not so great for me, I am not a fan of cooked spinach but it reminded me of that almost exactly, I won't knock them on that because that is just preference. The pickled tomatoes were alright, I would say a nice fresh tomato would have tasted better. The parsley-thyme aioli was almost non existent and absorbed into the bun. I ordered mine medium well since I am skeptical of how a place will cook their burgers since I have gotten raw ones in the past ordering them medium-rare. Sadly this burger was cooked past well done, it was so dry with no flavor I could barely eat it. I would never order this burger again. I had to ask the server for ketchup and drown it just to make it go down my throat. I hate to put ketchup on a burger but I had no choice.
The Cuban sandwich was intriguing it had pulled pork which came off very salty, ham which was alright, a poblano salsa which was ok, and pickled pineapple, which I loved but it was not enough to save our meals. It also came on a hamburger bun, we were imagining more of a Cuban style sandwich but it was ok, for this I will give it two stars instead of one.
I would not go back normally, but it is only in its second week so I will give it one more shot after it has been opened for a while, hopefully it is better, I would love a nice place to eat in this part of town, downtown Springfield really needs a great place to eat.
The measure of any good bar/tavern/pub house/etc. is their ability to make a good burger. Â The hamburger is simple, good food - anyone can make a good burger; pretty hard to go wrong as a meal choice at restaurant that you have never been to before. Â Or at least, so I thought.
DO NOT eat the burger at Plank Town. Â The aioli is lacking flavor, the meat is lacking seasoning and the bun is over sized without good reason. Â I appreciate their desire to bring something new to Springfield - I really wanted it to be good. Â Springfield really needed this.
But, If can't do a burger well - how can I trust that your trout, salmon or steak is going to be any better.
The beer - not their own brew (any of them) was tasty.
The service, our servers name was Penny - was anything but friendly and attentive. Â No suggestions, no smile, took forever to get another beer (in fact only received it after I asked the bus boy for it).
Long story, short - go to McMenamins, Good Times, or Carl's Jr.
As with other reviews of this place, there were positives and negatives.
Positives:
~~ The restaurant is a pretty decent layout with some hightop tables near the bar and normal height tables elsewhere. In addition to typical tables and chairs, there are also some large picnic tables with bench seating. There is wood throughout the bar (hence Plank Town) which makes the place seem comfortable.
~~ The pickled vegetables were pretty good. There was a mix of sweet and spicy.
~~ The beer selection is decent. There were about 20 beers on tap and the variety was relatively wide ranging. In addition to beer, there is also wine and a few interesting mixed drinks.
Negatives:
~~ The burger was mediocre. Yes, it was big. Yes, the bun looked delicious. Yes, it was cooked to order. Unfortunately, I felt that it tasted just like a slab of ground beef. The burger itself didn't have much seasoning and it crumbled apart too easily. The additions of chard and pickled tomato were "ehhh." I ended up putting a piece of pickled pineapple (from the pickled vegetable appetizer) on my burger and it made it more appetizing.
~~ The poutine was just gross. Don't get it. The gravy is not delicious
~~ I went on a Friday night and the place was PACKED. We waited about 30 minutes for a table. Considering how busy the restaurant was, there wasn't much in terms of wait staff. There were just a handful of individuals running around. We ended up waiting around for awhile for service and for the check. They should beef up their staffing if they are going to have a packed house on the weekend.
Overall, I'm not likely to go back anytime soon unless their menu really has something spectacular sounding.
We visited this place tonight, the second night of them being open. Â There were some positives and negatives, but overall, we will definitely be back. Â Here is the breakdown:
Positives: Â
-the burger (plank burger) was very good...and huge. Â The husband and I shared it. Â It has sauteed kale and (marinated?) tomato on it...a delicious mix of savory and sweet, which I have to assume is coming from something being sauteed or marinated in balsamic vinegar. Â The burger itself was cooked to order, and was perfectly medium rare as requested. Â
-The fries were good. Â Shoestring, typical bar fare.
-Great selection of beers. Â 20 on tap, basically all interesting micros, but all beers were in the realm of "not too crazy, so your non-beer-snob-friend (as if those exist) could enjoy a few too. Â
-Service. Â There were a few hiccups (we were carded twice by two equally nice people), a problem with our beer (more on that later), but all of our servers were very nice, not too attentive, and apologetic about any of the "hiccups".
-Atmosphere. Â Perfect lighting and atmosphere for a relaxed evening with friends or a date...there are even some great big benched tables that could probably hold 8 people. Â Not too loud, but not high-class-dining quiet.
Negatives:
-The poutine. Â I believe it was a poutine with cashews...not very good gravy. Â Also, isn't poutine supposed to have cheese curds? Â It was as advertised, with cashews, but again, the gravy was not very good in my opinion. Â Also, the portion size for that was not very impressive considering the taste of the gravy.
-The hiccups: Â AGAIN...we visited the second night open. Â We had an issue with the bill (they charged us too little!!!), as they were trying to comp our drinks (I guess for waiting too long?)...There was really no issue. Â The servers were great and tried to figure out the issue. Â We weren't in a hurry, and it wasn't a big deal at all...at the end of the night, we left without signing a copy of our credit card statement, so we asked if we could just leave a cash tip. Â A server (maybe the owner?) asked us to not leave a tip and just come back another time despite the problems.
We had a great time here.  The food was good, the beer selection was great, and the servers were awesome.  I only expect this place to get better, especially with the full menu and new brews to come in the future.  We will definitely be back, and  really look forward to visiting this place and recommending it to our friends.
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