Seward’s Folly Bar & Grill

This is such a crappy place to eat. I have been back 3 times hoping the food would get better. It never has. I am really disappointed because the location is so convenient and the atmosphere is great.

Seward’s Folly is one of the restaurants you see mixed reviews on quite continuously but I must be one of the lucky ones in that any time I have ever come here I have had superb service and food. It just unfortunately happens to be a restaurant whose location is out of my way so I am not able to make it here often. But when I am on this side of town I try and stop by as much as I can.
Situated in the old original Chili’s location off of Abbott Road, if you were familiar with this fact you would actually see hints of Chili’s when walking in. Of course the colors have been changed to a more muted blue from the pops of red but the tables are the same, as is the layout. I have come here for happy hour, to watch football in the bar or just for a quiet lunch. It was actually a craving for a glass of wine that brought me here a few weeks ago. I had been out running errands all day and this was on my way home so stopped by for a late lunch and a glass of wine.
When I walked in I was greeted and quickly seated in a far corner away from the bar. It wasn’t until later that I found out exactly why. In this case one of the football playoffs was on tv in the bar and every once in awhile you would hear a large wave of whooping and hollering. Which in all fairness didn’t bother me. Probably because the glass of wine helped aid in any relaxation.
I had been there no more than a few minutes and was perusing the menu when I decided on an old favorite — the black and blue burger. I’m a huge fan of a sharp blue cheese and each time I have had this particular burger I have been very happy with it. And given I hadn’t had a burger in over nine months by that time I decided to throw caution to the wind and say, «what the hell». So I ordered that.
I have also tried their sandwiches over several visits here as well as some of their different drinks. One in particular that is my favorite is the Dirty Italian Margarita. Nothing beats a warm sunny day by sitting out on their deck in summer with a nice margarita to top it off. They do have a good variety of drinks.
Now back to those playoff games. I had mentioned previously that I had come to Seward’s Folly before to watch some of the games. And several times there were a small group of us that would split an order of nachos. They are HUGE and one serving could easily be split between 2 – 3 people. A great place to watch the games because Seward’s Folly is not usually one of the places people think to watch them.
Now when my order arrived on my last visit my black and blue burger was every bit as delicious as I remembered it. But it was more filling than I remember it being. I only ate about ½ of it before I was full. I was gently teased by the server asking if I wanted to try one of their desserts. I’ve actually tried them before but on that particularly day there was no way I could have. Helpful hint — two spoons when ordering a dessert because they are perfect to share.
If there was one restaurant I could pick up and move to my area of town, this would be it. I would no doubt become a regular. I just hope my run of good luck with their service and food continues. Perhaps if my string of luck runs that strong I should win the lottery?
Good service and good food. That’s Seward’s Folly alright. Go to it!

Everything we ordered was on point! Great steak, great smoked prime rib, and absolutely dangerous mac & cheese.
We will be back!

The food wasn’t the best but it was still pretty good. The drinks were great and the service was wonderful! This is definitely a quaint little place for someone that prefers more tame restaurants.

This is my first time here, the service was friendly and efficient. I had a grilled salmon filet with 2 sides for 15.00. The salmon was grilled to perfection, and the Cole slaw and fries were decadent but good.

Great bar. Friendly service, friendly locals. Food is great! Will definitely be back again. Drinks are cheap too!

Usually I order the hot mary from Seward’s Folly, last night ordered two hot mary’s, and neither were hot or garnished and rimmed poorly with what looks like table salt.
Went and used the restroom and saw a cook exit without washing his hands.

Worst burgers in town. Good nachos get the beef nachos because the chicken tastes like rubber.

I went to watch a football game earlier today. My experience here was better than some of the other reviewers. My game started at 9AM so I was happy to get first dibs on the large screen TV at the end of the bar. The bartender Michaela was very friendly and conversational. That is a good way to break the ice especially when people are still half-​asleep when catching a 1PM east coast game that starts at 9 AK time. I ordered the spinach and swiss quiche a couple minutes before halftime and it came piping hot in a matter of minutes. It was a little slice of heaven with a good amount of swiss and eggs custard-​style with a flaky pie crust. Potatoes on the side were crispy and hot; crispy being the key word and not too thick. They are a bit on the pricier side so I wouldn’t come here outside of football season but I wouldn’t mind coming back to catch a game. Good amount of screens to catch all the games and the atmosphere was friendly and inviting.

So, to begin with, the serve was terrible. Our waitress had three, maybe four tables, and we almost never saw her in our section. We were seconds away from walking out when she finally showed up at the table. We ordered drinks… Jameson and ginger ale. The ginger ale was flat and watered down. I’m not sure if that’s because they took forever to get to the table, or they are using opened cans behind the bar.
When we finally got an order in, it took forever again to get the meal out. In the time we waited, our waitress never came back to check on us. I actually had to stop her as she walked passed us saying, «food will be out soon», to order another drink.
The food itself wasn’t bad. I had the Prime rib that they serve on the weekends. My only complaint is that it was blacked with a very hot spice, which is a problem for me. I admit, I can’t remember if that was was the description on the menu, but I believe it just says «seasoned».
This is our second attempt at Seward’s Folly, and I’m afraid we likely won’t bother again.

Seward’s folly has got some Awesome food line-​up on their menu. Appetizers are fantastic! I especially love the Brunch menu they have on Sundays. The atmosphere and environment is also great. However, service was a bit slow. It’d be perfect if they can match those wonderful food with a wonderful and fast service. But overall, they deserve a high rating.

I’ve been in Alaska for the past week and my experince here was AMAZING! Sean the manager took amazing care of my associates and I.

Ordered the dirty Italian Margarita on the rock– delicious.
I ordered the blackened chicken Caesar wrap with onion rings instead their accident was chicken Caesar salad with onion rings appetizer, delicious accident.
But still I’m a former lead line cook and order my food correctly and totally got something similar. Either then that it was seasoned to perfection and very OVER proportion.

Ive been wanting to go here for awhile. Brought my wife here on a Saturday afternoon and sat in the bar area. I gotta say, I was impressed with the overall space and cleanliness of the restaurant. They have a very unique atmosphere going on there. Bathrooms very clean as well. I feel like you can tell a lot about a restaurant based on the cleanliness of the johns. But I digress.
I ordered the Cajun Fettuccine, based off of an acquaintances advice, and was not dissapointed. It was thoroughly enjoyable. I was full but kept piling it in my gullet anyways because it was so good. The bread was also good although it could use a little butter. I would highly recommend the fettuccine if you go there. I gotta say though my drinks (I ordered Long Island Ice Tea) were kind of weak. I expect a little more alcohol content from a LIIT. But not a deal breaker. I look forward to coming back and trying some more items from the menu. Bartender was good but a little slow on checking on us. Not too bad though. She was the only one there so she was kinda busy. I’ll give her a break. If you’re out by Dimond give this place a try.

We won’t be back. Unfortunately the service we received was terrible.
A good time after we were seated the waiter came to get our drinks, but we had to ask for a drink menu; that’s fine but then it took 10 minutes to get said menu. Then there was another long wait to take the order. Then after waiting another 10 minutes for the single beer, we had to flag down the hostess to inquire about it. It was a little funny because the walls are very short between tables so we saw the waiter casually doing many other tasks wandering around the whole time (the place was ¼ full). The beer finally came with a slam on the table from said waiter, 25 minutes after getting there.
The other problem is that while some of the food was good, nothing we ordered actually came properly. 30 minutes into waiting the Sampler appetizer came when we ordered the Calamari. So it ended up being about 45 minutes when we finally started getting food. I ordered ranch dressing on the side salad, but got bleu cheese. He ordered French fries as a side and got sautéed vegetables.
The reason I’m giving 2 stars not 1 is because the Calamari was really great, as was the corn bread and steak. On the other hand, the pork chop I got was cooked well but was way too sweet for me (doused in honey). I couldn’t eat the croutons because they were so stale and tasted strange, and the rice pilaf bizarrely had so much of the same smokey flavor as the steak, that it was like eating undercooked rice flavored with ash.

My second time here and I just like this place. Good service, food is decent quality. As another reviewer said its quickly becoming one of my favorite south side places. A better burger than many places around. Nice patio, nice bar area. I’m thinking it’s real. I’ll be back

Went right here from the Airport for a late dinner. Cab ride was expensive, but I had a Groupon so it evens out. Service, for a place that wasn’t that busy, was poor. Server was pleasant, but disappeared often. Luckily I was able to ask a busgirl (is that the term?) for sugar for my tea and at another time for a fork that was taken away by the server with my appetizer. I had a reindeer hot dog with sautéed onions and peppers, jalapeños on the side. It was very tasty and would rate 3 stars. And they make their own potato chips which were very good. My bride had a chicken Caesar wrap which was 2 star OK. The menu is extensive with lots of interesting things to try and probably is the reason this is a very popular place. Their service can really hurt them, but not me.

Food is pretty good… service pretty good to. Bar area is more full. Not to big of a crowd but during the summer time patio is usually full.

I’m not very impressed. I came here for drinks a few months back and that was great. Today we actually ate dinner here. First of all, the menu was lacking. There was very little items so I found myself without motivation to order. The appetizers are the same prices as the dinner entrée and to me that’s just not right. Appetizers usually run around $ 8.
I ended up with the Folly burger. This thing was huge and you do get your money’s worth I’ll give it that. This burger was so incredibly big thay I had alot of difficulty eating it so I wasn’t able to enjoy all the ingredients together. The amount of ingredients was just over the top overkill. It was also so greasy and dripping with canned green chile juice that my bun was soggy and this just made me irritable for some reason.
The sweet potato fries were good too (atleast the ones that weren’t soaked in grease or chile juice from the burger.
On the up side, if I can get over my hand being drenched in burger juices and oil, our waitress was very sweet and super nice. She made us feel very welcome and always attentive.
Maybe I might come back and try my luck with different entrées but for now this place seems better as a drink type of place.

Went late on a week night with my friend from work and we had a nice experience. I was skepitcal because there are so many bad reviews. Knowing this place could be hit or miss made me very wary, so my approach was to ask my server what SHE liked and order that. YAY for me, that was a good move. I ordered the Spinach Greens salad and it was DELISH. It’s spinach with goat cheese, almonds and tomatoes and a lovely balsamic «black currant» dressing. I say «black currant» because they’re not black currants, they’re Zante currants, which are esentially fancy raisins. That does not at all detract from the salad, merely a point of clarification. I also had them add some spicy chicken which gave the salad some real zing.
My dining companion got a sammich that was enormous and she said it was good. We both also enjoyed our beverages. Portion sizes were a good value as well. Our server was wonderful, very attentive. The restaurant has a nice look inside, and the bar looks like a decent place to hang out.
I wasn’t wowed by their menu though, so even though I had a 4 star experience, I won’t be going back. There just wasn’t anything on the menu that sounded enticing, and especially given their inconsistant delivery, I’m not going to take another chance on Seward’s Folly.
Folly indeed.