About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

The decor, menu selections and "carry-out" nature of the location are a nice idea, but the restaurant's 50-seat dining room needs to work on execution.

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Pros

• Large portions
• Free pizza when waiting to be seated
• Nice atmosphere

Cons

• Slow service
• Hit or miss with food

Description

• Kids menu, free pizza and warm atmosphere makes the restaurant a good choice with kids
• While the entrees for lunch are in the $11 to $13 range, reasonably priced sandwiches provide an economical alternative

• Lunch menu includes seafood, pizza, sandwiches, salads and pasta.
• Located in the Village of Rochester Hills, but facing outward toward the main parking lot
  

Guide Review - Kruse & Muer in the Village of Rochester Hills Mall

Atmosphere:

The lobby area is the section of the restaurant devoted to the "Quality Meals to Go" take-out. With a view directly into the kitchen, free pizza while you’re waiting and chairs lining one wall, however, it was a fine place to sit a spell as you wait on a table. The dining area itself serves only 50 diners; so unless you intend to dine at an off time, you almost certainly will wait at least a few minutes. The dining room is predominantly made up of booths, separated by a couple of tall, gabled wine racks. It is decorated in deep colors with large canvases and many pictures adorning the walls.

Service:

The restaurant lost a star on service. It took a while to get our food, refills were haphazard and our soup was forgotten completely.

Food:

The restaurant's signature oven-baked bread was served immediately and piping hot in a long, paper sleeve.

The bread was a nice touch and a great starter. Unfortunately, the rest of the meal was not as spot on. The Wild Mushroom Bisque from the specials menu ended up tasting more like Campbell's Mushroom Soup -- fine, but bland and definitely not bisque. The coleslaw was vinegar based and tasted sharply pickled on first bite. It mellowed quickly, however, to qualify as "tangy" rather than overwhelming.

The Raspberry Chicken Salad was served with a freshly cooked chicken breast a top. The raspberry-maple vinaigrette contrasted nicely with the blue cheese and toasted, apparently candied, walnuts -- a treat on their own that were passed around the table.

The Honey-Pecan Whitefish sounded interesting and was apparently a house specialty. The sauce, however, turned out to be a watery broth that was, frankly, unappetizing. It tasted like diluted cough syrup or NutraSweet and left a horrible after taste that ruined what was otherwise well-cooked white fish.

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