Remember Timko's on Sylvania Avenue? It had a wonderful Sunday brunch buffet. Since then, a decent Sunday brunch buffet is hard to find. I've tried the following buffets: Granite City, Nazareth Hall, The Stable at Hathaway House, Whitehouse Inn, French Quarter, Sauder's Barn, and Maumee Bay State Park. None of them are good. I can get past (kind of) the fact that Toledoans believe jeans are appropriate for any/every setting, but why is that restaurant managers can't put together good food, great presentation, and acceptable service? I honestly would be willing to pay $50 for a buffet that didn't have: cracked dishes, unappetizing presentation, GFS processed foods, fake potatoes, frozen desserts, etc.
Any ideas?
i believe manhattan's on adams street does a sunday brunch with a champagne toast at noon. it's been years since i've been there, but it used to be pretty good.
We had Bar 145 Buffet yesterday. Better on paper than in execution. Crappy service. The servers are all 19yr old clones of each other with NO interest in being there on a Sunday Morning-This may well be the side effects of the fact that it's a college bar in the evenings. Buffet had smoked Salmon, Chicken and waffles, Mac and Cheese Bar, Omelet bar, Bloody Mary Bar. all good ideas, but not one thing there would have been acceptable if ordered of the menu. Ordinarily, they have very good and inventive food. Buffets just sort of suck. I'd love a really good menu brunch spot-until then it's Cafe/ Scrambler Marie's and Glass City Cafe.
i put together some of my favorite breakfast spots on yelp... http://www.yelp.com/list/breakfast-ideas-toledo
might help some of you with ideas! :)
I have not been there in years but this link should give you the menu options for Chuck Muer's Gandy Dancer Restaurant in Ann Arbor. At one time I really enjoyed their brunch if you a road trip sounds fun.
http://www.muer.com/gandy-dancer/menu.asp
I'd completely forgotten about the Gandy Dancer - haven't been there in years. It was always a top shelf restaurant - hope it still is. Thanks Danneskjold.
Our family was talking about this very thing yesterday.....we decided to hit cafe marie after church. A nice buffet for sunday after church would be fantastic.
Holiday Inn French Quoarter used to be the go to place. Not so much anymore. Overpriced. Terrible....yuck. (and Im easy to please when it comes to restaurant food).
Totally agree re: Holiday Inn French Quarter. I've found myself there three times in the past four years. Only the first of those three by choice (the other two were work-related lunches).
Yuck sums it up perfectly. It was disgusting and icky. Period.
Prairieson and I liked the Sunday buffet at Granite City. We do Manhattan's on occasion, and in addition to being pretty good, it's close to home.
Oh, and I took a look at the Gandy Dancer's brunch menu. If you like fish, herring, lox, mussels or shrimp, I'm sure the $25 pricetag and the long drive would be worth it.
re:Holiday Inn-
Stay away from any place that offers a chocolate fountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8tOoID7CXI
I enjoy Sauders Barn and French Quarter. I guess I'm not so fussy.
Manhattan's has a nice Sunday Brunch buffet and it does come with Champagne...good selection of both breakfast and dinner items, salad and breads. It's not elaborate but there are plenty of options and it's a good price. We go when it first opens - it's quieter then.
The Sweden House Buffet on Reynolds Road.
Fishbones in Detroit has a great Sunday brunch @ $25 per person. It is fantastic with everything from personal omelettes to seafood to prime rib.
ahmahler posted at 08:32:46 AM on Feb 11, 2013:We had Bar 145 Buffet yesterday. Better on paper than in execution. Crappy service. The servers are all 19yr old clones of each other with NO interest in being there on a Sunday Morning-This may well be the side effects of the fact that it's a college bar in the evenings. Buffet had smoked Salmon, Chicken and waffles, Mac and Cheese Bar, Omelet bar, Bloody Mary Bar. all good ideas, but not one thing there would have been acceptable if ordered of the menu. Ordinarily, they have very good and inventive food. Buffets just sort of suck. I'd love a really good menu brunch spot-until then it's Cafe/ Scrambler Marie's and Glass City Cafe.
I also tried the Bar 145 a few weeks ago. I was so disappointed as it sounded so good. The food selection was pretty terrible and most of it was very bland.
I've heard the Bar Louie brunch is very good.
Manhattan's is a staple for our family for Mother's day and maybe a couple of other times throughout the year. Excellent food, good service, and yes Maggie, good idea to get there early, it really is quite peaceful.
And what is up with the service at bar145? The female bartender that waited on us (we generally prefer to belly up) was so uninterested in providing good service, she really should be let go.
I've never heard of the Sweden House Buffet on Reynolds Road. Would somebody please give us more information. Does it always serve a buffet or only on Sundays? Thanks in advance.
I like to take Mom to Golden Coral on Mother's Day. We get a full buffet lunch plus front row seats for a filming of the Jerry Springer Show.
JnJ: The Sweden (actually, I think it was Sveden) House was probably the original smorgasbord restaurant very popular back in the '60's and '70's. AFAIK, none of them exist any more - at least not the original chain. They were everywhere. The Blue Hairs loved them.
I thought the Tivoli was the original smorgasbord restaurant in Toledo. It was on Monroe Street near Talmadge.
Try the Reynolds Garden Cafe at Reynolds & Airport Hwy. They have a chef prepare the omlet of your choice right in front of you. Inlcuded is an ample buffet with a decent selection of entrees as well. They are usually jammed though. More than a couple of times we couldn't get in.
Is Cousino's Steakouse on Woodville still open? That was our place of choice for brunch after the French Quarter went South. They always had a homemade chicken noodle soup, a nice salad bar, and prime rib carving station. No omelettes. The breakfast foods were pretty typical bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, steam table pancakes/french toast. Always had good fried chicken and either swiss steak over noodles, chicken and dumplings, or stuffed green peppers. Not a huge selection. But enough to satisfy whatever each member of our family was in the mood for. Sure do miss Timko's (who by the way, at the time of it's closing, was owned by the same group that currently owns French Quarter, need I say more?)
I had the opportunity to try the Gandy Dancer today for brunch and would like to thank Danneskjold for the suggestion. Nice place, great atmosphere in the old Ann Arbor train depot, excellent service, fine brunch menu. Thanks for the suggestion!
Good to hear MikeBo, I'll have to check them out myself again. One of the restaurants I miss most in Toledo is the old Chuck Muer's on Airport Hwy, at the time under the same ownership as Gandy Dancer.
Yes - I realize that this isn't in Toledo, but the Mon Ami Winery (Port Clinton) brunch is pretty tasty and includes some very good choices for both breakfast and lunch options.
I have been there numerous times in the summer after a jaunt to Cedar Point or PIB.
It's about $18.
http://www.monamiwinery.com/
I'm with you Danneskjold - we also miss Chuck Muer's.
Strange situation his disappearance. He, his wife and another couple swallowed by the sea in the Bermuda Triangle.
There is actually still a Muer's restaurant in Detroit - in the RenCen Center Tower I believe. Along with a couple of other "old" Muer's restaurants such as Big Fish (never cared for that one). I believe the franchise name (Chuck Muer's) is now owned by the Andiamo group in Detroit.
I miss Timko's also.
When the hotel on Summit street beside one seagate (I think it's a best western now) was a Marriott in the late 90's, they had a great Sunday Brunch buffet. Best one I know of is 45 minutes or so away, Mon Ami's.