Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Restaurant Impossible - Rohrer's Tavern Updade

Rohrer's Tavern Restaurant Impossible Update
Tonight on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine is going to Rohrer's Tavern in North Bend, OH to try to turn around the restaurant that has been there for over 60 years.  The current owner Lisa has said that the regulars keep coming back, but the restaurant is having trouble attracting new customers and is close to shutting down.  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Rohrer's to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews and comments are post Restaurant: Impossible):


The Positive Reviews:
  • "Customer service was outstanding. Their beer choices could have been better; food was very good. They were dead on a Saturday night and this might be more to do with location than anything else."
  • "They have wonderful home cooking and a great selection of draft beer.  They specialize with their fried fish.  I think their chili is the greatest.  More like Texas style, not Cincinnati style.  Lots of regulars, but the staff is friendly and makes you feel right at home."
  • "When we crave a fried fish sandwich, Rohrer's is on the top of our list. The meal is good and they also serve beer or a good iced tea."
  • "Might not be the fanciest or largest but if you like fish cast your vote for Rohrer's. Good price and great food and service."
  • "I HOPE after whatever contract period they have with Restaurant Impossible they don't revert back to the old menu or recipes-- the waitress mentioned not having some menu items back 'yet.' My parents kept commenting on how this is how they remember the food tasting many decades ago as opposed to before the makeover. Rohrer's is a local staple-- seriously, don't change a thing! Also huge portions and decent prices. I need to go back for another one of those hoagies, stat."
  • "The cod sandwich is simply unbelievable. Come one - come all! This place is it! Our new local favorite place for sure."
  • "I went to Rohrer's before and after Restaurant Impossible, all I can say is that Robert Irvine is a magician. I had the hanger steak, an item you usually don't see at a pub like this, and it was delicious! We had the shrimp for an appetizer, also great! I want to go back and try the meatloaf. I saw one go past our table and I really want to try it, it looked awesome. I highly recommend going to check out the new Rohrer's!"
  • "Ate there tonight with family and I've gotta say, AWESOME!!! We all loved the new look and the of course the food!! Can't wait to return!!  We all had the baked or fried cod and it was fabulous...the hot slaw was awesome. The only hot slaw i like."

The Negative Reviews:
  • "We both had hot slaw which was good but over priced at $5. We also had their famous fish sandwich which was very good. Fries are fresh, skin on and would of been delicious hot out of the fryer but these had been sitting around too long.  Service was slow and unattentive. Waited forever for our check and then they brought the wrong one, not once but twice. They deserve another shot, so we will go back."
  • "Not the same! Facelift worked but the new menu sucks. No stewed tomatoes, no mac n cheese, no hot slaw & NO BAKED FISH!"

Conclusion:

Most of the reviews for Rohrer's are positive and a lot of the reviewers said they would be back again, which means repeat customers.  The cod at Rohrer's seems to be a hit with everyone and is their go-to menu item.  Before the makeover, the restaurant was not open on Sundays, but they are now open on Sunday's and promoting Cincinnati Bengals games.  As usual, with the menu changes some of the regulars get upset, but one of the issues plaguing Rohrer's was finding new customers.  Rohrer's did what most Restaurant Impossible restaurants do, which is add menu items back to the menu as complaints come in, such as the 'Fishettes' which were added to the 'revised Restaurant impossible menu' in September.

UPDATE -  The owner has stated that Rohrer’s saw year-over-year growth of $20,000 for the month of September after Restaurant Impossible visited.  Rohrer's is also seeing new customers come in from areas that they didn't in the past.  Finally, the restaurant is cutting down on food costs after Robert's lesson and continues to try to reduce their food costs.


UPDATE 4/2014 - Rohrer's Tavern has closed - More information on the closing.

Reviews from Yelp, Tripadvisor, Urbanspoon, and Cincinnati.com
Information also from Rohrer's Facebook Page

9 comments:

  1. um.....her name is Lisa....just sayin...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will we come back... I don't know.. but for $14 for mine, $12 the hanger steak and was excited to try it, as he has done it (maybe different variations) on other shows.. I opted out of mashed because i wanted to try the new mac n cheese... when my order came out I was totally let down and disappointed... I just wanted to cry... especially after seeing the show.. the one pic I seen of the flank steak, was one thing, what I got was totally different. I wouldn't have paid $5 for the portion I got. I had LESS then 1/3 of the meat that was shown on the show. The zuchini (which I love).. I got littlerally less the 6 coffee stirrer size pieces.. I did not get any gravy, which I understand I did not get the mashed,...my husband had the pork chop new item .. the portion size was less then 1 pork chop... for what it cost us... no we will not come on our own, I doubt it... but when we do with Taylor alumni ...we will eat prior to coming and maybe just getting an appetizer just to eat something while others are eating..

    BUT ONE SEMI-good thing.. the chocolate cake was huge and delicious... definitely worth the price..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Disappointed, please, learn English, punctuation, lose a hundred pounds, then try again, maybe you will like it.

    ReplyDelete
  4.  Thegoller, please, if you can't say, something nice, keep your, pie hole shut.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's, with, all, the, commas?

      Delete
  5.  You are rude, arrogant and an ass. But I bet you feel like a real big man don't you? LOSER!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We just came from dinner at Rohrer's.  This is the third time we have been there, once shortly after the renovation and then again in December.  The food quality does seem to have gone down a bit.  The fish, which is their mainstay was delicious.  The fries were overdone.  The mac and cheese was disappointing.  First I was told there wasn't any mac and cheese, I think to myself, it is only 4:30pm and you have run out of mac and cheese for the day??? Then about 5 minutes later, Aunt Sandy comes back to tell me there is some mac and cheese and I will have it with my fishettes.  The mac and cheese had been reheated several times, pieces were crunchy.  The meatloaf was also a disappointment.  The meatloaf tasted as if it had been reheated in the microwave along with the mashed potatoes.  The first few bites of the meatloaf were tasty, but the more you ate, the more you could tell it was reheated as not all of it was hot.  Even the mashed potatoes were not heated throughout.  It did not look like Lisa, the owner or Stacy, the chef were in today.  When we walked in a waitress asked how many we told her four, she left us, went to the bar to talk to another waitress, there were three open tables in the first dining room and 6 in the other dinining area.  Finally, the waitress tells us we can sit by the door and hostess stand (which makes no sense to me).  I frowned and she said is this okay, I said I guess but she never offered another table.  So we sit at a table that is situated with a floor to ceiling post at one corner of the table.  I don't know why we had to wait before she decided we could sit at the worst table in the restaurant.  I should have said something.  We will give them another try, but tonight was disappointing, the first two times were great.  Aunt Sandy did a good job as she did not hover over us and really seemed to be the only one that was doing a good job, the other two on duty just stood at the bar and visited.  The bar is interesting and not that BRIGHT!  The only thing I can't figure out is how you replace the bulbs should they burn-out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Closure of local landmarkApril 22, 2014 at 5:09 AM

    I saw on the news today that this resturaunt is closing this Friday. I believe this resturaunt was renovated back in 2012. So sad.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Food was excellent, right after airing. We went back, again, about a month later. It was so/so. We went a final time, and the food was absolutely gag worthy. Did I mention we drove an hour, each way, for these meals? It should have closed a few months before they finally did. They stopped making the food that Robert taught them, and without good food, it was a terrible restaurant.

    ReplyDelete