Review of Mike Linnig’s in Louisville

For Mother’s Day, I was so excited to pick out a new family-friendly dining location for my family to try.  I not only disappointed myself and ruined what I thought was a well-planned, fun evening but I stressed out my entire family.  It was not the Mother’s Day I hoped for.

This will be a fairly quick review because we never actually ate at Mike Linnig’s. I saw the food, I read the menu, I smelled the food but we never got to eat.

Ever since I moved here and I started this blog with another mom, I have heard about Mike Linnig’s and how it’s so great for families. It’s far from my home so I was waiting for just the right time to try it out.  So, the weekend of Mother’s Day, it was a lovely day, so we decided to venture out there.  I see their entertainment schedule and am just amazed at how much this place plans!

We arrived easily, it’s very simple to get there off of the Gene Snyder (when it ends).  Although it can’t be further in Louisville from my house, it was easy to get to so we didn’t mind.  There was a traffic officer helping people cross because the restaurant it on one side and there’s an entertainment tent and vendors on the other side. It’s big.

We parked with ease and followed the folks that looked like they’d been there before because we were confused as to where we actually ordered the food. We found a booth near the entrance where we quickly browsed the menu and placed our order and we were given a number to listen for over the speakers.  The kids ran ahead to the playground and I thought, well, we’ve hit the jackpot with this place, I hope the food is good!

 photo IMG_5592_zps9100c7a9.jpg photo IMG_5588_zpsbb9f8f79.jpgThe kids played and played and played and played. We walked all about, tried every swing (not the broken ones or ones with standing water under them).  We got a drink and sat thinking surely, our number is next.  We watched people whiz by with their trays of food and the kids were getting so hungry and asking about their food.  I thought of taking them over the hill next to the restaurant to see the river but then I was afraid they would call out number finally and we wouldn’t hear it.  We waited and waited. We talked to folks sitting next to us who were waiting as well.  My husband inquired a few times about our order inside and out to staff, nothing.  The answers from the staff were short and not helpful.  Just to wait more.  After well over an hour, waiting for a small and simple order of basic fried fish and chicken, we inquired yet again.  This time, we asked the hostess at the front again.  She looked at our number and made an “uh-oh” face and took the ticket inside.  My husband followed her in and I waited outside with the kids.  The hostess simply passed on the ticket to someone else and told them to “look into this order.”  Nothing happened.

I felt terrible doing this, but I couldn’t wait another hour and my kids were DONE.  They wanted food.  I told my husband to go in and cancel our order and we left and headed to McDonald’s.  Honestly, the place was busy but it was not slammed in that there were open tables and people were coming and going.  I believe something happened to our order (perhaps another customer was so hungry that they reached over the counter and ate our ticket?).  No one seemed to care to fix it.  Maybe this restaurant should work on fulfilling orders efficiently and customer service over their abundant entertainment scheduling.  There has to be a balance.

Much like I do with all restaurants at which I have a bad experience on the first visit, I’ll give it another try because the atmosphere was nice and relaxing with the kids (until we got too hungry to be distracted by playing).  And, I wouldn’t have minded a long wait if I was given a heads-up that it would take a long time or if anyone would have assisted us when we asked about our food.  Perhaps if my children weren’t begging to leave, I could have found the manager and complained.  I’ll try it again, with the kids only since my husband refuses to give it another shot considering how far it is from our home.

I thought this would be a short review but turns out, trying to explain my dissatisfaction took a while!
I did tweet their active twitter account with my concerns, they didn’t reply.

Stephanie

DCPD
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