Overlook Restaurant

11/03/08

Decent food - Decent Service - Owner was rude

by luras01

I have been coming in for over 35 years. Most of the time food is very good. However, last night I ordered the french dip sandwich. The meat was very fatty & had alot of grizzle. I literaly had to open the sandwich & pick it apart in order to eat it. There was a pile of meat on my plate when I was done. I stopped the waitress to let her know this was the worst meal I have ever had here & to advise her about the meat, she advised she will be back in a few mins to talk with me,(with an attitude) she never came back. However, the owner came over & asked if there was a problem. I let him know what the problem was. His reponse was " I don't raise the meat here!" I advised I realize that, I just thought maybe you changed where you purchased the meat. He advised no. And that was it. He walked away. He acted like I wanted something from him. I just wanted to let him know the normal quality was not there. There was no need for him to be so rude. I was the one paying money for something unacceptable. If you've ever had one of these sandwiches they are big & I bet there was about 1/4 of the total meat in the plate that I was not able to eat. If the owner is this rude how can you expect the employees to be any better. I was very disappointed in the whole experience.

• Pros: Normally very good food
• Cons: However, if there's a problem with the food - it falls on deaf ears

07/14/08

Best breakfast in town

by stormroyale

One of my favorite places to go for breakfast. On the weekends, it's typically busy from all the people just getting out from church. But even then, you won't have more that a 10 minute wait.

This is not a restaurant that you go for the ambiance... nor the service. Although the service isn't terrible. It's just not one of it's attributes. You go to the Overlook for a solid, down-home breakfast at a reasonable price.

I almost always get the B2 special: 2 eggs, 2 pancakes with 2 strips of bacon. The eggs are always cooked perfectly. The pancakes are fluffy without being too heavy and the bacon is thick-cut.

My runner up restaurants for breakfast include the Cadillac Cafe and Cricket. Both have good food, but limited choice pairing, higher prices and very long waits.

My final word: Best breakfast in town

• Pros: Great Value, Great Food
• Cons: Bit of a greasy spoon

04/28/08

Cheap, great diner food, where the locals eat

by kapuanani01

The Overlook is where America's working person eats. I've been here so many times, I feel like it's my aunt's living room. Granted, my aunt is a little rough around the edges, but still - this place is one of my favorite places in town. Go here on a Sunday morning to see the African American ladies in the Sunday church hats. Go here to eat cheap breakfast specials with perfectly cooked hashbrowns. Go here for weird bipolar waiters speaking fake Russian accents. Go here for revolving dessert action. Go here for cigarette ashtrays in the bathroom stall. Go here for Swanson' TV dinner like Tom Turkey . Go here for dark smokey booth, tv playing action. OR STAY HOME.

• Pros: Great fast diner food with local flair
• Cons: Can be an odd dining experience

03/02/08

Extremely slow and poor service.

by fostermikhail

I have went to Overlook many times. The food is good and the sandwiches are generous. The service was always slow but tolerable with good conversation. Today's service was downright historical. It took 1 hour to receive our meals. We requested to eat our sandwiches there and ordered take out for our families to enjoy. I got 2 out of the 4 entrees that I ordered plus 1 of my friends entrees. I do not plan to go there again. You may want to think twice before going there unless you have a couple of spare hours.

• Pros: Sandwiches were generous
• Cons: Very Very Very slow and poor service

02/28/07

Great Food, not so good of service

by copper_turtle

We went her on a spur of the moment meal. At first we were very impressed with the atmosphere of the lounge. Not too smokey, and the waiter seemed very pleasant. We ordered out food, and everything came promptly. During our meal we saw our waiter tend to regulars, glance over at us, not seeming too eager to come over to ask how the food was, and our soda were completely empty. When we appeared to be done with our food the waiter finally came over to our table, "would you like a refill on your sodas?" he asked. I thought to myself, could have used a refill 20 minutes ago!!! I said yes, and he ran off to refill the sodas. When he returned, then he asked, "Are you done with your meal?" I replied with a simple yes. After that we didn't see him again for another 20 minutes, almost ready to walk out without paying because we'd been waiting for our bill for so long! He finally shows up with the bill, I already had my credit card in had, and he zips off out of sight! I though, what in the world could be more important than checking on your customer?? I had even handed it out when he came to drop it off at the table. It was almost like he didn't want me to pay. So another 15 minutes go by before he finally takes my card to pay for the meal. Our wait was finally over! I would recommend this place to other people because the food was excellent and very reasonably priced. I had a 15oz. top sirloin steak with veggies, and baked potato. Came with a dinner salad before the meal, and ice cream after (a big bowl too), all for under $14.00!!! What a deal, and it was very good! If you go here, just don't be in a hurry, it wasn't busy when we were there, but the waiters seem to cater more to their regulars than newer customers, so you'll be waiting awhile. Oh when I called to speak to the manager, she was very rude to me on the phone.

• Pros: Awesome food at affordable prices!
• Cons: Newer customers don't seem to get much attention

07/13/06

Wonderful environment for a huge meal that doesn't break the bank

by krystalh21

The food is wonderful! I have been eating here once a week for 5 years and don't get tired of it. The menu is so extisive that it is hard to not try something different. I love the French Dip only order the full order if you are extremely hungry. The service over the years has had its ups and downs, but I always enjoy my food and experice here. All problems that I have expereiced were fixed in a timly manner. A great place when meeting a large group for dinner. There are usually about 5-10 people in our party and we still get our food and are out of there in about an hour.

• Pros: huge portions, waiters who remember how you like your iced tea
• Cons: a little smokey in the bar and t.vs not always working

06/21/06

Great gyros!

by noponurse

The Overlook is a true family restaurant- (the man who I assume is) the owner refills our waters! For $6.50 I always get the gyros and homemade soup. I usually like to try new things at restaurants, but this is so good I can't get anything different. Yum!

12/31/05

Awesome

by overlook

Best food. Best price. Fast service. Easily resolved problems. One block from Max on Interstate Ave. Lots of parking. The largest menu and variety I have ever seen for a single restaurant. Contrary to what one reviewer said ---The sausage gravy comes with the Country Fried --Breakfast and Dinner so I don't know what they were talking about. If you have their famous gravy on items that do not normally come with Sausage gravy then you pay a mere .75 cents or a dollar and it is soooo worth it. The gravy actually has a lot of sausage in it unlike some I had elsewhere that had dots of flavoring spice and no sausage.

I LOVE this neighborhood restauant!!!! If you have a problem talk to the owner and not in a review. This is not fair to the establishment who really cares about you.

03/29/05

Not worth it!

by brow9826

I always thought that the best place in town for chicken fried steak was the overlook. Unfortunately it seems as if they have made some changes. Not only do they charge you almost $10 dollars for the meal, they are now charging extra for GRAVY!!!! The meal will now cost you almost $12!!!!! Thats like charging you for gravy when you buy biscuits and gravy. The quality of the food is decent and the portions are healthy and that usually made up for the crabby waitresses and poor service. In fact, the service is so poor that I usually opted to call up ahead of time and pick it up and enjoy it somewhere else. Unfortunately, I have also received poor service over the phone now and with the raised prices and poor service, its not worth it!

• Pros: big portions
• Cons: ok food, poor service, high prices

06/03/04

Very Impressive!

by homicidal_mango

The Overlook Family restaurant always provided me with great, fast service, (they let you seat yourself) and I always received my food fresh and hot. The prices are amazing, and everything I've ordered could feed three adults. The Overlook has a nice, quiet setting, and is somewhat older in style and music, which I find charming. This place is great, and also a fun family outing if you take the new MAX yellow line! it's about a block from the closest station. I highly recommend this restaurant for everyone, especially families.

• Pros: Well priced food, great tasting food, off the MAX line