Now look, I love supporting local business. Especially in this economy. The price of everything is high, so going out to eat is a true treat. I was very excited to try it due to the weather and this just seemed like the ultimate comfort food. I found them on Yelp and checked their social media to see what the hype was about. They do have 4 stars after all.
Long story short, I was quite underwhelmed. 2 manic meals, a mini manic meal, a meatball sandwich and lingonberry lemonade was just under $67 with tip. We also purchased merchandise in cash. I might try again closer to peak times, but I'm in no rush. 2 out of 5.
Best items: Lingonberry lemonade, mashed potatoes. Full stop. Long story long below.
Parking is not bad as they have a dedicated lot that has about 7 spaces and a drive thru. The lot doesn't accommodate for the capacity of the establishment, but it was completely empty when we came.
Staff is friendly, welcoming, knowledgeable and made the menu clearer with explanation.
The place is clean, tidy and eco friendly. It boasts fun decor finished with cute merchandise for sale. A little confusing because the overall theme looks very Viking, but the rubber ducks merchandise doesn't tie in and they sell Italian meatballs. I don't know. I'm here for the quirk with no judgment.
The most underwhelming part of this place is the food. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it can't improve and don't have a goal of dissuading anyone from trying it. The issue is, the advertisement of the food on social media doesn't actually reflect the quality of what I actually received. For reference, they close at 8 and I arrived about 5:30.
The food looked old, the meatballs without sauce looked dry and two toned (showing which part sat in the juices), the shells and cheese was horrendous looking and the cucumber salad was soup. We decided to still give it a try since we drove over half an hour. My manic meal with potatoes, manic balls and bacon wrapped balls for an upcharge of $3 came with two sides. The server couldn't even serve me shells and cheese, because it was literally a big block of congealed noodles with what looked like dehydrated noodles stuck to the top. To alleviate this, she opened another dish containing a white sauce that had a film on top and looked burned down the sides. She then took two ladles of this and put it in the shells and cheese in an attempt to rehydrate and break it up. To no avail, I asked for cucumber salad instead. The cucumber salad was sad limp cucumbers floating in a vat of juice with onions that she was literally fishing out until I changed my mind again and asked for green beans and baked beans. Green beans came out fresh and severely undercooked. Baked beans were the only other side that didn't have a film I could see aside from the Cole slaw and weren't my favorite. I wanted to try the deviled eggs, but given how the other sides looked, I didn't want to run the risk of getting sick. Bacon wrapped meatballs were soggy with raw parts of bacon and 2 of my manic meatballs were undercooked in the middle and dry on the top. Low key impressive. The mini manic with applesauce and Italian meatballs won out. The meatballs had a good sauce/good flavor and weren't dry, but the applesauce was described as an apple smothered in cinnamon with no sweetness or acid. The Italian meatballs sandwich was good, but soggy (probably due to travel time), but not bad. The lingonberry lemonade was good and I'd pay $6 for that again. Take a gander and see for yourself. I recommend coming close to opening or during peak times for freshness. read more