However, the building began to see new life when the owner of TKO's Restaurant and Sports Bar decided to change locations. The interior was given a full makeover, including installation of a mirrored bar back, mellow, modern lighting, new seating, and LCD televisions. Unfortunately, the combined losses from being closed during the move and the cost of the remodel itself proved insurmountable. After only being open a little more than a week in their new location, TKO's closed its doors forever.
Again sitting empty for months, we continued to wonder what its fate would be each time we passed. Much to our surprise, one day around two months ago we noticed a new sign in front, which read: The Bedrock Cafe. We had, at that time, been hearing a lot about the grand openings of Jim's Hot Dogs, AJ's Heavenly Pizza, and the Royal Buffet, so we were curious as to why we had never heard anything about this. Although our interest was piqued, we were unable to make it over to try them out. Then, a few weeks later, our guest reviewer Nate L. wrote a review of the place. We almost posted it here, but due to the large number of questions we were getting about the establishment we decided to wait until we could give the place a try ourselves (we will post his review below this one in the comments section, to provide an additional point of view). Around a week ago, we were finally able to stop in and see what The Bedrock Cafe was all about.
To start off, the owners of the restaurant really lucked out when it comes to the decor. Having been inside TKO's during the short time it resided here, it is evident that the new tenants did almost nothing in the way of redecorating or remodeling. The bar is the same that TKO's had installed, the lighting is the same, and so is the seating, the carpet, the bathrooms, and so on-they even left the movie posters from Scarface and The Godfather hanging above the bar area. Really the only differences we noticed were with the wall decor in the main dining area-there was a random collection of Midwestern kitsch hung here and there, which didn't really go with anything. While that can all be forgiven, we suppose, the biggest glaring issue was this: Not a thing in the place had anything to do with the name "Bedrock Cafe." Honestly, this omission left us scratching our heads.
Not to dwell upon the decorations, I'll move along to the experience. Upon entering we were greeted immediately by our server, who led us to a booth along the wall. She took our drink order, and left us to look over the menu. We noticed that the menu selection was a bit eclectic- there were loads of sandwiches, wraps, burgers, ribs, dinners, and even a section devoted to fajitas. A lot of it was fairly standard, although a few things left us a little concerned. For instance, most of the salads featured bleu cheese crumbles, so we suggest if you aren't a fan you ask for them to be omitted. Also, the Monte Cristo sandwich is purportedly served between two slices of French toast, while tradition dictates that it be batter-dipped and deep fried. Nothing too out there, just little things like that that kept adding to our sense of disarray.
Fairly quickly, our server arrived with our drinks and we placed our orders. I had heard rumors about the generous size of their salads, so I chose the Grilled Chicken salad-one of the few that offered cheddar cheese instead of bleu-and asked for my chicken breasts to be seasoned Cajun-style. I was informed that I was also entitled to a cup of soup, so I chose the Chicken Noodle. My companion ordered a patty melt, which also came with soup, and she chose a salad on the side. While we waited for our meals, we took note of the music playing through the overhead speakers. Sort of a jazzy, muzak-sounding mix, not only did it seem out of place for the restaurant but it was also fairly loud considering how empty the dining room was.
Our soups and my companion's salad were brought out immediately, and our waitress also brought us a basket of dinner rolls. The rolls were of fairly standard quality, yet an odd little surprise to be served with a lunch that already came with so much. As far as the soup goes, I was impressed. It contained a good amount of firm, hearty noodles, lots of chicken, and plenty of carrots, celery, and onions as well. It was seasoned properly, and I would venture to say that a bowl of it would make a fairly filling meal on its own. While it was not a gourmet selection by any means, it was a pretty darn good cup of chicken noodle soup.
The rest of our food arrived very quickly, and when I saw my salad I almost had to reach down and pick my jaw up from the floor. To say it was large would be like calling Paul Bunyan, "kind of a big guy." Served in a large, clear bowl, this almost looked like the "Endless Salad" you get at The Olive Garden. I was already getting a bit full from the soup and dinner roll, so I took about a third of it from the bowl and put in onto the charger-plate the bowl sat on. Even this smaller portion looked like what most restaurants would serve as the standard. If I seem to be stuck on the size, I apologize...can I just leave you with the word, "gargantuan?"
As far as the chicken goes, it was cooked just right-all the way through, but still juicy. Also, unlike some places' idea of "Cajun-style," the chicken was not encrusted with Cajun spice and blackened. Rather, the Cajun spice was used just as a seasoning, and made the flavor still spicy, but not too spicy for a salad. In addition, there were tons of huge tomato wedges, green peppers, red onion rings, croutons, and cheddar cheese spread across the bowl of crisp, fresh romaine lettuce.
I tried my companion's patty melt, which was fairly large itself. The bread was grilled to perfection, and the thick patty was juicy and flavorful. While patty melts generally aren't my thing, I could still see myself ordering one of these for lunch sometime. As tasty as I found it, my companion said it was amazing, and declared it one of the best she has had in Findlay.
As I finished up the rest of the salad on my plate, I asked the waitress for a to-go box and our bill. The remainder of my salad actually took up an entire large styrofoam container, and I had to press down on the lid to get it to close (I was able to eat the leftovers as two separate meals the next day). The bill came out to around $20, which wasn't too bad considering the enormous portions we received. The waitress, who had provided exemplary service throughout our meal, refilling drinks without asking and checking back on us often, had even written, "Thank You, Heather" on the bill itself. Needless to say, she was rewarded for her efforts.
In all, The Bedrock Cafe has pretty good food, great service, but an incredibly odd atmosphere. I think that part of the problem with people's perception of the restaurant stems from built up expectations. The decor and ambitious menu items give off the message that they are to be compared with places like Cheddar's or Texas Roadhouse. And, if you go into The Bedrock Cafe with those expectations, you will probably be disappointed. However, if you put them in the same niche as Denny's, Charlie's Steakery, or the Pilgrim Family Restaurant, then they far outshine their competition. In other words, we think you'll enjoy them a great deal more if you think of them less as, "The Bedrock Cafe," and more as, "The Bedrock Diner."
The Bedrock Cafe is located at 2227 Tiffin Ave. (Across from Meijer and next to GFS Marketplace). Open 7 days a week from 11am-10pm, they can be reached for carry-out or reservations at 419-425-8721 or 419-425-8726.
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7 comments:
This used to be a Ruby Tuesday's before it went out of business a few years ago. Recently, it has opened up as the Bedrock Cafe. Now, my best guess is that it's locally owned and operated, as I can find little on the Internet about it.
The place has been remodeled to feel a little more than casual, but it has a similar feel to Cheddar's down the road. The seats are definitely more comfortable than Ruby Tuesday's were. I'm not sure what to think about the faux brick interior, but it's only a minor point. If the food's good, I don't care if they have tinfoil wallpaper.
The menu is primarily burgers, wraps and salads. There's nothing too exotic about it. The service was rather strange, too. They weren't rude or mean, but then again they didn't really greet us with warmth. It was a little on the cooler side. That's not a good sign for a new restaurant. Smile and treat your customers warmly, it doesn't cost anything.
I had the mushroom and Swiss burger that came with fries and a cup of soup for $7.49. At least that part was comforting. I get so tired of restaurants chopping up the menu into a la carte, when they know well enough people want a main course and a side dish for a meal. That's only a trick to keep the prices low on the menu.
The cup of soup today was seafood chowder. Now, I know Findlay is quite the landlocked town, but the soup shouldn't taste canned. I'm sure it was, too. The flavor was weak and it was quite boring. The meal was accompanied by rather large dinner rolls, which were good to eat. Unfortunately, there was little in the way of plates to rest our rolls on and we had to use steak knives to apply the butter. It was rather unwieldy. I think a butter knife should accompany the silverware set.
My burger was quite like the soup in the sense that it was very, very uninspired. I added pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and mayo, however it didn't have any flavor. I was a little disappointed. It turn out to be quite the Midwestern bland restaurant with an dull menu. If this is the image the Bedrock Cafe is going to project, people will have no problem going down the road a bit to Cheddar's. As much as it pains me to say it, this restaurant needs to step up its game.
I agree with Nate's comments, this place didn't impress me at all..first of all my companion ordered a diet coke, and we were told they were "out", really how can a restaurant that had just recently opened be out of anything. The service was ok, the food nothing special at all,same choices as many other restaurants around, nothing unique or different, once was enough for us.
We stopped at the Bedrock Cafe for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon about a week ago, we arrived at 2pm and were seated by a gentleman who may have been either a manager or the owner, he wandered around the dining room most of the time we were there delivering meals and talking with the wait staff. He was pleasant enough and I did like that they had utensil wraps for the kids that contained plastic rather than sharp knives.
We were seated and a waitress came fairly promptly to take our drink orders, a few minutes later a second waitress came to our table and asked about taking our orders, we explained that the other waitress took our drink orders and had indicated that she would get our orders when she returned. The second waitress seemed unhappy with us but walked away without saying any thing else.
We waited about five minutes for our waitress to return with our drinks, and we placed an appetizer order with her and asked for another moment to decide on the rest of our order. More than 15 minutes passed before we saw our waitress again. When she returned she brought our appetizer (loaded fries) and finally took our order. The fries were limp and sparsely covered with cheese and bacon, but to be honest, we were very hungry and ate most of them by the time our meals came out. We had empty glasses several times during our wait, and when our meals did arrive we had to ask our waitress for refills.
We decided to split the bedrock chicken sandwich and the Monte Cristo (and yes, it is french toast). Neither sandwich impressed us enough to say we'd be back, but I will say the french toast was tasty.
Overall we felt the prices were high and the food was "average" at best, the service for us was far below our expectations and we will probably not be returning.
I'm glad to see so many people chiming in; while our experience seems to be better than most, you really need to hear multiple points of view to get the whole story-which is why we included Nate's review alongside our own. We may have happened to order the only good things on the menu, or come at a time when the waitress was especially determined to get a good tip.
Let's hear from more of you; every comment here helps your fellow restaurant-goers make an informed choice!
I won't go into the details of my visit as it was not the greatest experience, not horrible, but just not impressive. However, at the end of the meal, the server dropped off the bill. Being unsure if we pay at the table, I asked the manager/host if we pay at the table. He replied he could take it up for us, unless it was a credit card...in that case we'd have to take it up ourselves because they had problems before where employees were taking down people's credit card numbers for their own use, so they have a policy where employees are not permitted to take a guest's card out of their site. I would highly suggest taking cash with you to this place.
As nice a the decor is, I thought the food was lacking, underspiced, plain, blah... not bad by any stretch, just something older folks may be more impressed with.
Would I go back? Sure, the experience was probably a 6 out of 10 all things considered. I thought the ambience was very nice, and the service was good as well. Bing the food up a couple notches and they can start to compete with Cheddars.
Unfortunately, as of earlier this month, the Bedrock Cafe is closed for good. Thus, they won't have the opportunity to improve their food or service...a shame. The restaurant business is fickle, and if you don't get it right from the start it is hard to succeed in.
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