Reno's...
A Michigan State establishment. Â Reno's is the kind of place the alumni go to when they come to visit. Â It's about a mile from campus.
The place is gigantic, and they fill the place whenever Izzo or Dantonio is there for their weekly radio show.
I love the free popcorn, and the burgers are great, but that's where it stops. Â The service is slow, and the place is a little...well, too big.
Dear Reno's East, this is a dear john letter. I'm breaking up with you.
The first time we met, you won me over with pretzel buns and waffle fries. Baskets of free popcorn and an extensive tap list just sealed the deal. I even introduced you and your olive burgers to my family when they visited town. Our relationship was solid.
But you've stopped taking care of yourself, and more importantly, me. Sure, you've invested in some remodeling - but it's like putting lipstick on a pig. Our most recent visits have been fraught with disappointment: undercooked fries, bland & unseasoned sandwiches, and service SUCKED.
Tonight was the final straw. It took almost 45 minutes to get our food and our appetizer came out with the meal. You advertised half-price Michigan brew pints, but charged us full price for them. You charged us for our soda refills. Your burgers were mushy, unseasoned, flavorless, and messy. The server was untrained and instead of apologizing for the inaccuracies in our bill the manager argued and blamed the server's incompetence (then acted like she was doing us a favor to correct our tab). Plus, when we wanted to pay our server disappeared for at least 15 minutes, with our credit card. And all this on a quiet Monday night.
Other area places offer better food at lower prices. Their service isn't awful and they don't falsely advertise their specials. I'm leaving you for them.
It's a huge place, i figure it seats 400 people, inside and out. Â Focusing on sports, spartan sports, of all types. Â Tv screens in every direction, and plenty of bar space.
Big focus on beers, on tap or in bottle - they have a good selection even for the pickiest beer snob. Â Decent size menu, more finger food and burgers.
Service is slow - but they are a bar first and food second. Â Wait staff, for the most part, is novice.
So if you don't have tickets to the game, and you want to park your car, reno's is a decent place to see the spartan game, but expect a rowdy and partisan crowd.
If you want a nice meal, there are better places.
I find myself sighing as I try to find the words to convey just how insanely and shamefully terrible the service Reno's was. I myself received the second worst restaurant experience of my life (second to a two-and-a-half hour visit to an IHOP a few years back), and the other members of my party of nine were equally, and frankly, just as pissed as I.
Our waitress, Alexandra, must have been confused... I believe that she thought she was hired into a Dick's-esque restaurant where the waitstaff is paid to be rude and unhelpful. Surely that is the only explanation for why the management would allow such a depressing disappearing act into their team...
In the four hours we were there, Alexandra visited our table five times:
The first was to write our meal order down wrong.
The second time it was to demand that we put our empty shot glasses, which we had to go to the bar ourselves for since Alexandra was not available for the order, in the middle of the table so they could use them for more shots.
The third time was fourty minutes later, when we asked another waitress where the drinks we ordered fourty minutes prior where. Alexandra - annoyed and doing absolutely nothing - yelled "They're making them at the other bar!"
The fourth visit was to tell us, not ask us or help us, to move our table and chairs - which were pre-arranged for us - so the band could set up.
The fifth appearance was Alexandra, with out saying a word or thank you, dropping off our bills to the wrong people.
It was not a busy night. It was a weeknight, and the place was less than half full. Alexandra acted like we were a nuisance from the moment we sat down. She never smiled, she was seen just standing around most of the time, she was rude and negative when she opened her mouth... Get rid of her, Reno's! She is a terrible representation of an otherwise friendly and willing to help staff! The bartenders were great (although the drinks were watered down and served light), Ray was a great performer and made our stay bearable, and the food is decent enough for a bar... but if Reno's keeps waiters like Alexandra around, you have at least nine annoyed people staying away.
Reno's is... well, Reno's. Â I don't think it's as horrible as some of these reviews make it sound. Â It is what it is, a small bar in East Lansing frequented by college kids who want to get away from the college scene (I think) and people who work in the offices around it.
It's no frills with a decent menu and surprisingly impressive beer list. Â The outside eating area is large and includes its own bar, covered and uncovered seating and a few TVs. Â There's live music some nights outside... it varies from being okay to being horrible but entertaining.
The waitstaff can be a bit on the slow side but I've never had an order come differently than I requested and I am the queen of special orders. Â I'd like to see a few more veg options but whatever, it's a bar.
All in all, it's my standby place when I have to be in East Lansing (which is quite a bit).
For the price, probably the best selection of good beers in town. Â Dragonmead's Final Absolution in a 32oz mug for $8? Â I'm in - the brewery itself charges more than that. Â Excellent outdoor patio. Â For a sportsbar, the tv's are sort of weak though. Â Personally, I think it's better as a hangout than as a place to watch a game.
Review Source:Not sure I can say much about Reno's except that it is a typical Pub n' Grub kind of place.
But even as far as Pub n' Grubs go, Reno's is a bit underwhelming. Nothing about my burger or beer made a memorable impact, and the service was fairly standard for a place like this. The prices were fairly in line with what you would expect for a Pub n' Grub. I guess the feature that redeems Reno's from a 2-star rating from me is that their outdoor patio is spacious and they have plenty of heat lamps for nippy evenings, whereas many pub-grubs do not.
I guess I would come back, but I imagine the conversation going something like:
Friend: "Hey! Let's grab dinner and drinks at Reno's!"
Me: "What or where is that?"
Friend: "You know! Up the street from where I used to live?"
Me: "That Pub n' Grub with the outdoor patio?"
Friend: "Yeah, that's the place! You don't remember? You Yelp'd about it, even!"
Me: "Oh. Ok. I guess we can go there."
I will start by saying that however this message transforms is solely with an intent to help improve your current environment at Reno's! Â One star only do to the fact that they are open and have the potential, yes potential to serve customers! Â This is by far the worst place I have ever tried to order food, drinks, even Keno from! Â I have had better service in 3rd world countries! Â I commonly refer to this type of an environment as a CLUSTER F-CK, incompetent circus act, comedy of errors, if you can develop any other phrases to describe what I am trying to express I can't wait to read! Â Whoever is managing this place should seriously consider, no not even consider, definitely make a drastic career change immediately! Â This place will be closed in days! Â The wait staff did their best to accommodate but the kitchen was awful and the manager no where to be found. Â The bar tenders clueless, I had a raspberry mohito that tasted like a melted a koolaid popsicle and put it on ice and threw a couple of mint leaves in!
1. No signs to seat yourself.
2. No hostess.
3. No designated server for a table, area, Hell for the entire building!
4. No menus.
5. No napkins.
I asked to borrow a neighboring tables menu and their response sure but that does not mean you can place an order or get food!
Unbelievable that a bar pub can promote a concert venue, offer shuttle service to and from a concert like U2 and then totally be unprepared to handle any aspect of the customers!
My recommendation first and foremost fire and rehire new management, next apologize to all the customers that tried to give you business. Â Then offer a deal to attract a second chance and possibly salvage a reputation! Â Offer those with U2 tickets stubs a free meal and half off drinks! Â Wow a must stay away rating from this guy!
I went here for the first time the other day with visiting parents-I was moving, and they came up to help, and Reno's is very close to the new place. I had my expectations set pretty low, and made sure I adjusted everyone else's down to my level.
But... we all loved it. Maybe it was because we'd been moving my stuff to another apartment for 2 days straight, and sitting down with a beer would have been great anywhere, but we had a great time!
- The beer selection was amazing. Drafts and bottles of all sorts, including all my favorite MI breweries and the more typical brands.
- The burgers were HUGE and greasy... awesome.
- The pizza was surprisingly tasty!
- They do have healthier options- I had a Grecian pita that was delicious, and the hummus was tasty!
- Our waitress was so nice- just genuinely friendly and chatty. And she turned on the Chicago Bulls game for us... score!
- They bring out popcorn to the table. Might be my work experience at movie theaters and baseball stadiums has biased me, but this was awesome.
All in all, we got seated right away, beers right away, and meals came out fast. But, they were in no rush for us to leave- we relaxed there for a while.
I'm sure I'll be back for many a beer here...
At first I didn't like this place. AT ALL. When I first turned 21, it was the closest bar within walking distance to my apartment. And I loathed that fact. We would only come to this place for that reason alone. But! I must say, it has grown on me. The beer selection is TOP NOTCH. They have many beers on tap, most of which are Michigan craft beers. A+, Reno's! And they have good specials every month where you can get a SCHOONER! of craft beer for really cheap. Since moving back home, I think I might actually....ya know...miss it? I always had so much fun, it made me wonder why I didn't really like this place before. I think it's because the atmosphere is a little weird. It's way too big. There are too many rooms and bars that the service is sometimes spotty. But even so, the servers were always nice. (And one time the questionable service actually worked to my advantage because I didn't even receive a bill at the end of the night).
It would always bother me that it seemed like I never saw the same server there twice. I guess they had a pretty high turnover rate, and the food really isn't that great. It appears that they have a menu that's doubled, if that makes sense. That means they have standard bar food; wraps, sandwiches and nachos, etc. And then they have those same wraps, sandwiches, and nachos smothered with spinach artichoke dip. And they're disguised as a different dish altogether. The pizza on the other hand, is downright OUTSTANDING. So a star for that. But they also lose a star for having too many menus. I think it's because things change frequently. But honestly, overall Reno's has secretly become one of my favorite bars in East Lansing..
Nice patio too! =)
This place has so much potential, but it always falls short. Â After we left the MSU game we decided to stop in at Reno's to watch the afternoon games. Â They have a lot of large projectors and a lot of tables so it should work well for our group.
We were quickly able to get a table for 10 even though it was crowded. Â That fact is likely why I went with two stars instead of one. Â A server quickly came to the table. Â She informed us of the fact she was about to leave so she would send over the person who would be taking care of us the rest of the afternoon.
I was ok with the fact she notified us of the change, but I was not happy with how long it took. Â We sat there for over ten minutes waiting to put in our drink order. Â Our waitress was nice, but she lacked either experience or ability, maybe both.
She struggled to keep up with us all night. Â She did not know what grenadine was. Â When someone asked for beef nachos, our server asked if she meant from a cow. Â There are half a dozen other stories along these lines.
We would have stayed there through the evening games, but our patience was maxed out so we moved on.
The food is ok. Â Some of it is even good. Â We tried the macoroni pizza. Â It was surprisingly good. Â It is a good choice for an appetizer. Â For my meal I ordered an interesting meal. Â It was french fries topped with boneless wings and cheese. Â It was tasty and unique.
They have to figure out the service aspect. Â This could easily be a great sports bar.
it's the biggest little sports bar in lansing.
everything is adequate, they have pretzel buns. i dont know if you've noticed the trend, but if a place has pretzel buns, we'll give it at least 3 stars. reno's always has great specials--beer of the month, bottle of the month, shot of the month, and mixed drink of the month. the service is spotty--wha wha big deal. also--free popcorn--it's great for when you're drinking a lot (or are just cheap and don't want to buy food).
it's the perfect place for one of those nights where someone wants to eat, someone wants to drink, someone wants to play games, and someone wants to watch sports. it's not great at any one thing, but it's fine if you're trying to appease a large crowd.
also if you like to get hit on by olds and sketchy townies--look no further! actually, we really do go to this place a lot, and it's fine.
Always fun and Always expensive. Â They do have the best patio in town, by far. Â So its worth the price on those great spring days. Â Keno also seems to be a big draw. Otherwise its just an average place with average food. Â The service if usually a little slow, unless you sit at the bar.
Review Source:As far as sports bars go, Reno's is pretty good at what they do.
Reno's has a very large patio out front that is pretty fantastic to hang out on. Â It seems to get fairly busy (for not being right on campus) on the Friday and Saturday nights that I have been there. Â
They always have really strange drink specials- drinks and shots that aren't  concoctions you would come up with on your own.  I'm often looking for something new and enjoy this help.
The service has always been pretty good as far as I have witnessed and this used to be a regular spot that we'd come to watch games. Â They used to have a great manager, Stephanie who would come around and make sure all was well. Â
The menu is large and filled with typical bar food items. Â I'm a big fan of the waffle fries with melted cheese (yum). Â A great sports bar with a good amount of people hanging out, lots of TV and bar fare!
I'm absolutely not much on bars unless they have games to keep me occupied. Reno's has games, and they have my favorite game, darts. Why is the game of Darts so awesome? Because it's free.
They also have somewhat lousy pool tables, a few TVs to watch a sports game, and it's never too crowded to get a game going.
My biggest gripe is that they stick the dartboards in the back and it feels really claustrophobic. It's hard for more than 2 groups to play at once, even though there are 4 boards.
Allright! Good ole Renos. Decent sports bar.
Average bar prices and the food is better some times than others. They have some good variety though.
Darts, pool tables, video games. Family friendly and a patio.
The biggest con is the poor service (must be the training) and the fact that the liquor is machine controlled (comes out of a gun).
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