The food was amazing overall, although I thought the pork chop was overpriced for what you…read morereceived. Our waitress did a good job and was friendly throughout the meal. There was a very large party that had taken over the entire patio during our visit, so I completely understand why the kitchen and service may have been slower than usual. The frustrating part was the seating process. There were several open tables, but customers weren't being seated very quickly. We were a party of two, and the table we eventually sat at was empty for about 20 minutes before we were seated. There may have been a perfectly good reason for the delay, but nothing was explained to us. Once we were seated, the food was worth the wait. I would definitely recommend making a reservation and giving yourself plenty of time, especially if you're visiting during a busy evening. The building itself is also worth mentioning. The inside has a fun, unique atmosphere that's different from your typical restaurant and adds to the overall experience. I'd definitely eat here again because the food was so good. I'd just make a reservation next time and plan on not being in a hurry.

So close and yet so far…read more.. I guess I am spoiled having owned and operated several successful restaurants ( including a popular steak & prime rib house ), and owning a home in San Francisco where no doubt one can easily find amazing food served in amazing restaurants by classy staff who understand what delivering excellent service means... But, we do love our Laurel.....and I do love The Loft! Food gets 4 stars, atmosphere and "the experience" gets 2 stars... Tried The Loft last night for prime rib... 1. The cute as a button young hostess was chomping on her gum to the point it was annoying! Very sweet young lady, but chomping her gum with her mouth open as she talked, walked, sat you, etc. Issue number one here.... no manager on duty? No adult with a measure of class to advise her to spit out her gum.... and THIS is consistent with the tone of this rant & atmosphere..... her open mouth gum chomping is only a part of the issue at The Loft. 2. Prime rib meal was a great value and the quality of the meat appeared to be excellent. Correctly priced in my view! The portion was excellent. I ordered my cut medium-rare and it was served to me a perfect medium-rare..... but look at the photo I attached! Looks well done, huh? SEE ABOVE- my Prime Rib & Steak House did 5.5M a year in sales, we were experts at roasting high quality prime rib.... STOP DIPPING THE PRIME RIB IN AU JUS AS IT DOES TWO THINGS..... ONE, IT TOUGHENS THE MEAT AND TWO..... IT ELIMINATES THE BEAUTIFUL PINK/JUICY PRESENTATION OF A FRESHLY CUT SLICE OF MEAT. Do not make the same mistake that Hog Heaven makes... by cutting the prime rib in advance then storing it on a steam table.... need to slice prime rib "to order", and NEVER dip it in hot au jus as it toughens the meat and makes rare or medium-rare or medium meat look well done. Mt cut was on the tough side but only because I can tell the cook (sorry, not a chef ) dipped it in au jus to heat it up right before serving... it came out looking well done but it was in fact medium rare as ordered. The hot au jus toughened up the meat though, so you lose a few stars for that bad practice. SEE my other photo of my prime rib from my restaurant, never dipped in au jus, and look how nice and pink and juicy it is compared to what was served last night. At my steakhouse / prime rib restaurant I had a batch of baked potatoes coming out over the oven every 20 minutes during peak hours of operation to guarantee my patrons received a fresh and hot potato. Last night the server explained upon arrival to our table that the cook forgot to put in the potatoes so they may not have any in time for my dinner.... happily, by the time we were served the potatoes came out of the oven so mine was incredibly hot and fresh... and hopefully the owner reads this and adopts the "out of the oven every 20 minutes" practice. Reduces waste too... Salad was fresh and the portion size perfect... no complaints coming out of either end of me regarding the lettuce! :) Ok, now the bad part.... Turn up the air! Same complaint we had last year... the same complaint we heard from two tables near us..... your restaurant is TOO COLD and the icy air blows down on the hot food doing what? You guessed it.... making your food cold! No need to freeze your patrons... cool is ok, icy cold is not fun, not comfortable.... Your flatware, again.... is a joke. Come on... as I asked before... drive down to Hattiesburg and visit Longhorn and take note of their nice silverware and steak knives. SEE the photo? We are not prison inmates, this is not elementary school or a long-term care facility.... please provide your patrons with some decent, not cheap, flatware.... your choice of the cheapest flatware takes down your restaurants classy-level by 2 stars. Train your servers! Laurel is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to see the Home Town sites... and obviously many visit The Loft. One's impression of Laurel, in part, is formed by ones experience at each restaurant visited...yes we are small town, yes we are deep south... but lets train what class is! Please... Learn the wine menu, where each wine comes from, etc., and learn the stages of service that includes how to properly suggestive sell. Our server was great overall, but she did the usual " did you save any room for desert?" routine. To increase revenue, server quest check averages and tip averages, teach how to suggestive sell! After pre-bussing and then later removing dinner plates.... have them approach the table and say this... "I just tried our bread pudding and it was amazing! We make it fresh daily and the cheese cake too which, by the way, I had last night and it was incredible... can I bring you a slice? You're going to love it..." Is The Loft a nice place? Yes, but "nice" is relative... it's not "fancy nice". Lastly, men... take your hats off!

I found this restaurant from watching HGTV and decided we will eat there. My thoughts:…read more Customer Service: 10/10 Food: 2/10 I am giving it a 2 out of 10 because the presentation was perfect. However, I've never had any cold chicken and cold hard Jalapeño bread. In my conclusion, the food was yesterday's food. You may ask me how do you know? We arrived at 11:05 to place the order. We got our food at 11:15 which was quick. The chicken was cold. The mac & cheese was semi-warm and my okra was semi warm. You don't get this kind of food if a business opens at 11 AM and you receive your food at 11:15. That's why I am calling it yesterday's food. I wanted to ask so badly for them to just put it in the microwave because I saw it on HGTV and I wanted my food to be really great and I wanted to write a really good review for this business. However, I was highly disappointed. Now I am sure the food is probably hot on Sundays after people getting out of church in the south and all those good things. However, I was disappointed on a Thursday! Highly disappointed! The business is only open 3 hours a day so how could this happen? I am just glad we didn't have to stand in line for an hour and 30 minutes for some cold chicken. And I'll leave it at that!

It was good! Very cute diner, short menu, good food. The fried chicken was very good and we liked…read morethe collard greens. The banana pudding was tasty. Our cornbread didn't taste like anything which was odd. Everyone was very nice.

Our favorite place when in town. Amazing food, friendly folks and the best seafood!!! Love this…read moreplace!!! 5 stars......

Delicious food, when they get it right. The service is 50/50 because the people are kind but they…read moreare always hustling around and find it hard to get your order correctly. They are great for takeout, and the ambiance is nice as they have a well lit and warmly decorated dining area.

Love Sams. Been eating here for over 50 years, it's the best around. The hamburgers are just the…read moreway you want it, fresh and like an old diner. Go try this little Jewel. Plate lunches like grandmas cooking.

don't call and ask for the manager because they messed up your order and gave us wrong change…read morebecause the woman that answered the phone threatened to call the police on us! Apparently NO ONE is in charge!!

First of all, Mr. Fish is the REAL DEAL. He saved the day for our family when some were stranded…read moretraveling, and he NEVER EVEN ASKED OUR NAMES. We are still practically speechless. Thank you, Mr. Charles. We can never repay your kindness. The food is fresh and cooked to order, and it was delicious! The atmosphere is so nice, easy and relaxed. The restaurant is clean and decorated so lovely. Everyone we met was friendly and greeted us warmly. These are good people who love the community and have hearts for others. Go, sit a spell, and enjoy the experience. Wish we could give 10 stars. We will never pass by Laurel without stopping in.

Wow! So delicious! We had fried catfish, whiting and shrimp. The cornmeal coating was so crisp and…read morenot greasy at all. Everyone there was so friendly. The place itself is welcoming and so clean!

Easygoing, laid back spot to enjoy a cool drink, and loaded Baked Potato, wings, nachos and…read moresliders. Who doesn't like a gallon frozen daiquiri carryout!!! So many flavors to choose from. Was open to 11 pm and still making food the Friday night we were there.

We stopped after our golf cart tour of Laurel - the tour guide pointed it out. Delicious daiquiris…read more& friendly staff. We didn't eat but heard the food is good.

We had a great experience at lunch today. The baked chicken was wonderful and falling off the bone,…read morethe green beans were fantastic, and the cheeseburger and fries were fresh and delicious. The service is where they really shine. I asked if they had come back, and Annette said no, but went back in the kitchen and made some comeback sauce for us on the spot. Definitely recommend!

Food is great, always cooked to order in the evenings. Need to not be in a hurry, this is not fast…read morefood. My wife and I enjoy being here often. Everyone is always very friendly. I am very glad we have this in our small town

Great food and excellent service!!! One of my favorite places to eat!!! They have great steaks,…read moreseafood and fish plus many other favorites on their menu!!!

Great catfish and hush puppy w/ cheese dip. Wait staff is nice enough. Ambience is plain. Great…read morelocal dining. I don't particularly like how the bill is written, no prices on the check. The cashier determines what the cost is, without knowing the total cost hard to know how much to tip or overall value.