82 replies to this topic

[Steve Heard]

I was among hundreds who checked out the opening of Toby Keith's 'I Love this Bar and Grill' last night.

My impressions:

* It is huge! 12,000 square feet.
* Surprisingly few tables for a restaurant that size. It is family friendly, though I believe it is adults-only after 9pm. Menu
* Kind of plain decor, with lots of neon beer signs on the walls
* Enourmous guitar-shaped bar is the center piece, and it was well staffed so that everyone seemed able to get service.
* A couple of familiar bartenders - Liz, who used to work at Malabar and Mexquite - and one from Streets of London (forgot her name).
* Menu - Typical fried and grilled stuff and burgers
* Lot's of young girls (Whiskey Girls) in daisy dukes and tank tops.
* Large stage with lots of standing/dancing room at the far end of the building - Live music, I believe 5 nights a week
* Lots of standing space all around the place, actually
* VIP room next to the stage

Overall, it should be a fun place for groups and for fans of country music

[25or6to4]

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounded great until you said "It should be a fun place for fans of country music"

While I do hate disco more than C&W, I'm not a fan of country music.

[Steve Heard]

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounded great until you said "It should be a fun place for fans of country music"

While I do hate disco more than C&W, I'm not a fan of country music.

Do you know who Toby Keith is?

I'd prefer jazz or reggae or blues or latin, but wouldn't expect any of that at Toby Keith's.

[john]

1340497797[/url]' post='443904']
Do you know who Toby Keith is?

I'd prefer jazz or reggae or blues or latin, but wouldn't expect any of that at Toby Keith's.

LOL

[tgianco]

Had a great time there and had a drink with SteveTheDad, too. I really liked it, but they are only serving a very short menu right now. The VIP room felt more like a corporate boardroom. They need to make it so the windows can open in there, otherwise you can't really hear the music.

I liked the vibe and the country music (that's what I listen to). My wife and I were able to get some country dancing in as well. I see us going to dinner at Chicago Fire, Nami, Chops or somewhere else and then heading over to TK's for music, drinks and dancing.

They have servers from BJs, Fats, FLB, Buffalo Wild Wings... pretty much all the staff has restaurant experience, so they weren't hired entirely for looks (it's a good-looking staff). Not to bash another biz, but awful service has always been what's hindered the Sports Garage.

When we left at 10:30 last night, there was a pretty long line to get in.

[sat]

We went last night, early around 5, hoping to beat the crowds. We were told a 45 minute wait. That was not a big deal, we just walked around the mall, shopped in Whole Foods, etc. Our wait ended up being about an hour and 15 minutes. Again, not a problem, we had no plans after.

We waited a long time, almost an hour, after we ordered for our food to arrive. Then it was about another hour just to get our check. By this time, they were crazy busy. Also, I wish they had told us when we put our names in, that they were offering a very limited menu, mostly appetizers. We probably would have just come back next week when they have the full menu.

The food (appetizers) were fine, just like chain restaurants. All said, we had a good time. It was nice to see people we know from youth sports, teachers, neighbors. Like I said, it was busy. It seemed as everyone from Folsom was there!

[25or6to4]

Do you know who Toby Keith is?

I'd prefer jazz or reggae or blues or latin, but wouldn't expect any of that at Toby Keith's.

Obviously not, never heard of him until I heard the restaurant was coming to town.

If he is some famous Country musician, then you can tell how much I bother with paying attention to all things country music related.

Now if they would play some nice Baroque, that, I would gladly listen to.

BTW, I firmly believe if Johann Sebastian Bach had been born in the 1950's, he would have been a famous rock musician.

[scrapper]

We made the mistake of going over the weekend. Yes, they were serving a limited menu and by lunch time on Sunday they had ran out of chicken strips, fries and hamburgers but they didn't let us know until 1 hour after we ordered (not exaggerating). Half of us ate and half of us didn't. We'll definitely wait awhile to go back, they need to work out the kinks. Sounds like the kitchen was an unorganized mess. The wait staff seemed very stressed.

[eVader]

Obviously not, never heard of him until I heard the restaurant was coming to town.

If he is some famous Country musician, then you can tell how much I bother with paying attention to all things country music related.

Now if they would play some nice Baroque, that, I would gladly listen to.

BTW, I firmly believe if Johann Sebastian Bach had been born in the 1950's, he would have been a famous rock musician.

This is a current popular song from Toby Keith about red Solo cups -
It's not Bach, Handel, Vivaldi or even Van Halen (DLR or Sammy) but it's Toby Keith.

[asbestoshills]

Why is everything always a big mess when there's a new chain opening? It's not their first rodeo, so to speak, so why can't they get they order enough pre-cooked food to reheat or fry and actually train their staff before they open?

[25or6to4]

This is a current popular song from Toby Keith about red Solo cups -
It's not Bach, Handel, Vivaldi or even Van Halen (DLR or Sammy) but it's Toby Keith.

Funny Lyrics, but painful to listen to. Thanks for the link, Huh, maybe.

[chris v]

Funny Lyrics, but painful to listen to. Thanks for the link, Huh, maybe.

I agree. Pretty horrible IMO. Oh well, I guess it goes with the new hick trend thats going around.

[caligirlz]

I agree. Pretty horrible IMO. Oh well, I guess it goes with the new hick trend thats going around.

This type of "music" has been around for years in the drunken cowboy scene...I'd say since at least the urban cowboy era.

[FolsomBarb]

So......

Went there last night around 5:30 for dinner with 3 friends. It was very busy, but we were able to sit outside. Took a while for our waitress to get to us, and during that wait, we discovered that the smoking area for the employees was about 15 feet from our table (we were seated outside, just outside the door coming from the bar and near the stage/dance floor). So, all the employees were coming out there for their cigarette breaks, and the smell of the smoke was very annoying.

Once we ordered, after our waitress told us that this was the first day with the full menu, and after she had told us all the things they were already out of, we placed our order. That was probably 1/2 hour after we were seated. We waited a full hour before our food came. By the time we finished our meal, it was 7:30, and our waitress came and we ordered dessert. A half hour later, our waitress came and asked if we needed anything, and I politely mentioned that "well, we are still waiting for our dessert which we ordered 30 minutes ago"......and she apologized, and then disappeared. 15 minutes later, (now 45 minutes since we ordered dessert), our friend went and found our waitress, and asked about dessert. Not sure what the waitress said, but our friend came back and sat down. 15 MORE minutes later, still no dessert, and about then our waitress came out and said "I'm so sorry about your dessert taking so long....I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to cancel your order", to which we said, "Yes. Let's do that. Please just bring us our check"......

As far as the food goes, we all liked what we had ordered, so I thought that was good. But the management really needs to tighten up the wait staff and the kitchen output. All the tables around us were complaining as well, so it wasn't just us. It was very clear that the main focus of this establishment is the bar patronage, as all the folks with adult beverages were being taken care of quickly. The restaurant holds approximately 650 at capacity we were told, and I would estimate 75% of that is the bar area, so they definately are catering to those patrons, and not as much to the crowd just wanting to eat. The wait staff all seemed confused and disoriented, which is never good.

Anyway, that was my first experience at Toby's place.....I will wait some time before going back, to give them time to get their act together.....