Sportsman Inn

It's been three years since I wrote my last review here, and it's been three football seasons that I have been frequenting the Sportsman Inn every Sunday to watch Vikings football.  If there is another bar in Monticello that has NFL Sunday ticket, I haven't found it, but even so, I would still chose the Sportsman Inn.  The Sunday lunch menu hasn't changed in three years (at least, not noticeably), but that's fine because it's everything you could ask for and is heads above anything else you're going to find in town.  

For us, the best quality of the Sportsman Inn is the staff who we have a relationship with, and it really matters when you are a Vikings fan in the heart of Colts and Bears country.  Misty, the bartender, is usually also our server, and we totally heart her, as she knows we never order alcohol, but still happily gets us the 10 free refills of Pepsi and ice tea that we drink in 3.5 hours watching football.  She was also kind/spunky/forward enough to speak to the next table of bigots who made us very uncomfortable with their conversation.  The manager is also a sweetheart, as he comes up to us at least once during the game to talk football.  He also fixed the wifi problem that we rely on to work on our laptops while watching football.  Despite the fact that Susie has only been our server once or twice the first couple of times we came to the Sportsman three years ago, she always greets us and asks how we are.  Even when it's crazy crowded to the rafters in the bar with Colts and Bears fan, they set up a new table for us or find a table to put us and a tv with Vikings football just for us so they definitely have our loyalty.

As for the food, it's easily the best in town.  They understand their football fans so they have all-you-can-eat wings, breaded or not, in 6 different varieties that you can mix and match.  The onion rings and fried chicken are always huge, battered well and fresh out of the fryer.  We love their clam chowder.  On the special, rare occasion that they have pork shank on the menu, order it.  It's phenomenal and only $16.00.  They make giant, beautiful, mixed drinks that if you're like me, you like to taste the fruity/chocolate mix more than the alcohol.  Their desserts are shown to you on a giant, silver tray and they are not disappointing.  I can't say enough about how great this place has been to us and for us so give it a try!

Waiter was great.  GM, not so much.  Our daughter has a very bad egg allergy.  All we requested for her was a grilled cheese off the kid's menu. But, their bread had egg in it. So we then respectfully and politely asked for a substitute of just a simple 'cheese only quesadilla' ... simply use a flour tortilla instead of the bread for a kid's grilled cheese ... no salsa, tomatoes, meat, etc.  The waiter was very nice and tried to help us out, but the GM refused to accommodate this simple request and mandated that we pay for a full $8.00 quesadilla off the appetizer menu.  He was very rude about it.  He didn't budge on his militant stance and would not  accommodate this simple request/substitute.  It was left it at "we cannot make any exceptions.  We have to charge you for a full quesadilla."  Coincidentally, a quesadilla of the appetizer menu is about $4 more than a grilled cheese off the kid's menu.  

After the GM was so dismissive, we promptly cancelled our entire appetizer and dinner order.  AFTER we cancelled our appetizer and dinner order, our cancelled appetizer was brought to the table.  The cancelled appetizer never touched our table and we immediately refused it and sent it back.  Next, the GM came over to our table and said we had to pay for the appetizer in addition to our drinks, argued with us about it and ultimately told us that we were being "unfair."  

I find it pretty unfair that the GM can't make a simple and reasonable request to accommodate my daughter's allergy.  99% of the restaurants we go to do this without question.  I steadfastly refused to pay for the cancelled appetizer I never touched.  Finally, the GM brought out our bill, just laid it on the table, and walked away without acknowledging us.  I opened it up and looked at it.  The bill STILL had the charge for the appetizer we refused.  I again refused to pay for it.  I then overheard that the GM was going to take the appetizer "off the waiter's pay that night."  I felt very sorry for our very nice waiter.  The GM was inflexible, rude and apathetic to say the least.  If you need any sort of accommodation with your meal, don't expect the GM to help you out.  We won't be going back there any time soon.

Three Words - Great Chicken Wings. The Daytona sauce for their chicken wings is to die for. I've had a variety of food at the Sportsmann and have been very happy. The service is decent - although sometimes it seems like a long time between visits from a server. Price is a little expensive but the food quality mostly warrants it. A very good place to eat.