This is more of a 3.5 star review, as I thought this place was solid and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't an absolute dump.
I'd driven by here a few times while visiting a friend and last night stopped in for a bite to eat after discovering everything else on the block was closed. We walked in and looked for a hostess stand or something to dictate if we should seat ourselves, when a bartender yelled that we can just sit anywhere. The dining room side of the room was almost full with two large tables and duos of people, but we got a seat and waited.
And waited. And waited. After awhile a clearly overwhelmed server came over and read us the specials, which was our main draw to the restaurant in the first place. From the outside this just looks like another neighborhood bar and grille joint that doesn't take its food too seriously, but the menu is a bit more upscale barfood inspired. Though I'm not sure they hit all the marks on everything they wanted to accomplish, it was better than most comparable establishments I've been to.
After hearing the specials, we ordered the loaded cheese fries appetizer and waited a good bit for menus to be brought over. I'm not complaining about the service--when our server could get to us amidst her 10 or so other tables, she was great. The problem is that she was the only one on a busy Sunday night and clearly wasn't used to that sort of pressure.
I ordered the Regent Square with steak on a baguette and my friend ordered be A1 black strap burger with bacon. We also tried the crab and corn chowder and the cream of mushroom.
The scratch made cheese sauce was great, and you could tell the fries were handmade. The crab soup left a lot to be desired. My sandwich was just alright--the bread was great, but the steak was in large chunks and not sliced which made some bites a bit more difficult to chew than others. The flavors were all there, but again it missed the mark for me. It would have done well with a sauce of some sort.
I heard a table complain behind us about how long their food was taking and the server said she explained before that it is scratch made kitchen and the food takes a lot of time. I can assure you that my table wasn't informed about the scratch made kitchen, but we excused the long wait times because it was clear the place was overwhelmed. There was nary a sign on the menu or posted anywhere that mentioned how long the cooking times would be. I don't mind waiting if that means good food is on the way, but I feel as if that is something that absolutely should be mentioned up front so the diner can adjust their expectation.
All in all, my experience here was fairly good and I wouldn't mind trying it again. I'll just remember to allow myself extra time :)