Fantastic meal! Â We stumbled upon this place (with the help of Yelp) while in town for a rowing championship. Â I had the chicken and others in my party had steaks or seafood. Â Everyone was thrilled with their meal. Â The salads were fresh and delicious. Â The bacon dressing was a huge hit. Â The baked potatoes are to die for! Â You must have one if you go.
Review Source:Ms B and I brought my mom to Gainesville for a high school reunion, and while here, we met my cousins, who live in town, for dinner at Poor Richards. Ms B and I both ordered wine (dry reds), which were quite satisfactory. The menu does offer a fairly extensive selection of appetizers and entrees. For dinner, I went with the small grilled filet, medium rare, which came with asparagus and potatoes. The filet was good -- cooked just right -- and the potatoes were... potatoes. The asparagus was very tasty, if a little tough. Ms B ordered the fried gulf shrimp, which she found quite good. I will say that, for what you get here, the entrees are fairly pricey, but on Friday night, certain items on the menu -- including the filet -- were discounted 10%, which was a decent deal. Our server was attentive and always courteous; definitely deserving of a generous tip. I found the atmosphere appealing, the noise level generally low. Overall, while hardly "exciting," it was a completely satisfactory experience. A restaurant worth returning to.
Review Source:I took my daughter and her boyfriend here tonight for dinner as a goodbye treat since he was leaving for the Marines. The food and service is absolutely amazing. There is a reason that this establishment has been around for as long as it has. Â Don't be fooled by the curbside appearance of this place as you will be impressed with the end result.
Our table had the following... Â Scallops, Filet Mignon, Baby Back Ribs, House Salad with the warm bacon dressing (out of this world!!!), cheese grits and French Onion Soup. All of this was prepared fresh and perfect. I am the hardest critic on a restaurant and rarely give any place 5 stars but these folks deserve it.
I am an ITP kid and will put this place up against the big guys in Buckhead and I will NOT rave about a place unless I have experienced this on multiple occasions with an establishment.
We lived in Gainesville Ga almost 20 years ago and at that time this was one of the top places to eat. This weekend I was back in town for an event and decided to try it again. From the outside it looked the same and once inside I could see that unfortunately there was no change there either. It always felt cozy but now I would have to describe it as tired. Â They really need to update the interior and exterior if they want to maintain the current price levels.
I ordered from the fish of the day menu and had Grouper and my wife had one of their chicken dishes. While good it was not really anything special. Her chicken was prepared in a heavy red wine type sauce that was very strong and pretty salty. My fish was a bit too fishy for me though I normally love grouper. Â Pricing was not crazy but to me they were not reflective of the quality of food. For $24.99 for an entree I expected a little more in terms of the food quality as well as the restaurant appearance. I don't want anyone to think it was not good because it was as is reflected with the 3 star rating. I think I came here hoping to get a 4 star meal so perhaps I expected too much based on my experiences here in the mid 1990s.
Dined here on a week night and was pleased.
Decor:
Homy well worn feeling. Lovely pine paneled walls reminded me of old-Georgia and old-Florida places of yore. Crazy acoustic effect in the booth area made it possible to hear three tables nearby simultaneously, some nutty folks around this town!
Seasonal Menu:
Had the soft-shell crab appetizer and it was perfect. I am from FL and have lived on the Chesapeake Bay in MD - I know crab.
Menu:
Bread - very good! A wheat roll and a french roll. Server offered more but we declined to save room for the other courses.
Had the fried oyster dinner with egg parm side. (was plenty to split with a date) The oysters were merely OK. The egg plant parm was OK as well, eggplant was not overdone but you couldnt call the drust crispy. Tartar and cocktail sauce were yummy. A tasty meal and not bad for $20-ish.
I had french onion soup and it was good. Â Lovely cheese top bake and bread, decent soup but had a vaguely powdered taste, like maybe it was liptons powder base or some other pre-canned stock base. - Decent++
My date had the vegetable soup and it was lovely. She loved it and I enjoyed my taste.
Service:
Very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Kept the table up and the drinks filled, I drank about 5 glasses of water because I was thirsty when I arrived. Unfortunately she missed the 2 salad ask altogether, there was too much food and it wasnt on the bill so, so no harm or foul.
On my first run I would say this looks like more of a steak place, although the seafood menu was fairly extensive. If I hadnt grilled giant steaks the day before dining here I would have sampled the beef.
We have eaten here several times since moving to No. GA and have never been disappointed. Last night was no exception as we brought our daughter for her first Poor Richard's experience.
After commenting earlier that she was up for soup, salad and bread sticks at the new Gainesville Olive Garden (which we opted out of because the crowd there and the crazy traffic in their parking lot was just too much to wait for) my favorite girl cleared her plate of a steak and side of eggplant Parmesan (what an awesome side!!)...all this after having the hot bread and her salad.
Hubby had a shish kebob with a side of broccoli au gratin and I had the pork tenderloin special. All was delish.
Our server, Rhonda, was right on top of drink refills and checking in with us at the right times to make sure we were doing well.
I am in total agreement with several other reviewers....gotta try their hot bacon dressing on a salad. It is so good!
Daughter liked her first meal at Poor Richard's and said it's a definite "go back". Score one for this place with the younger crowd! Woohoo!
If you are in the area, give this place a try. I don't think it will disappoint.
I dined here every year for 6 years in a row on the same night of the year, in attempts to celebrate a once special occasion. I used to think the world of this place, maybe it was my age, maybe it was the time, but now I'm starting to think that maybe it was my lack of knowledge towards the finer things in life. Granted their Warm bacon dressing is one of the ones that I still rave about, but honestly....everything else was just...well...mediocre. But for what it is & for where it is I guess its the best that city has to offer. Sorry Gainesville...
Review Source:I wish I could give Poor Richards 3.5 stars. Â To me 3 stars says "average" and PR is not average, but I do not really think it is quite a 4-star place either. Â However, with a nod to other reviewers, I will round up rather than down.
My date and I went to PR, my first time, her second. Â I was very impressed with ambiance of the restaurant. Â No fancy theme like many places...just classy but kinda dark and intimate.
Service was attentive. Â I got the broiled seafood platter which came with a salad which was good, though the boiled egg was a nice inclusion that I have not had in a while. Â The shrimp and scallops were great and the trout was quite tasty. Â The food was a little bland, but a little salt and pepper along with the tartar and cocktail sauces took care of that. Â The hushpuppies were a little doughy unfortunately. Â The bread was great, especially the wheat bread.
My date got the stuffed shrimp. Â Turns out, they were not to her liking, not because there was anything wrong with them, just that she is not a fan of "crab cake stuffing" and she thought it was stuffed with straight crab. Â Thus, hard to get a read on that dish.
I did think it was a little pricey for what you get. Â As noted, the food was not bad, but for the prices they charge, it should be a cut above. Â Bottomline, PR meets the most important test, however - would I go back. Â Yes!
I have traveled to many cities, both here and abroad. While there are many restaurants that would be ranked better or higher on the scale, there aren't many that I would consider better, day in and day out. Richard and Bonnie LeCain have been in the same location for more than 30 years. Their food and service are among the best in this area. The steaks are always top choice and cooked to perfection. The downstairs bar is worth visiting also. Same menu - but a laid back ambience with friendly table service.
Review Source:There are very few consistently great restaurants in Gainesville, it's still kind of small like that, but if you ever find yourself up here to go to Lake Lanier or just in town for something, you should give this a try.
This is my cute parents "special occasion" restaurant. It is by no means expensive, especially when compared to Atlanta, but it is a nice meal and better than most of the chain restaurants in the area.
You most definitely need a reservation on a weekend night. They are very accommodating of large parties - we booked a table for 20 for my college graduation a while back.
I always get the filet mignon with a sweet potato baked to perfection with brown sugar and cinnamon, with a salad that has the most amazing honey vinaigrette I've ever had. The food is simple, they don't try too hard to impress. Just really basic, really good, and always perfect food.
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