Sams On Franklin

So we love to go to this place the food is always delicious and we love the atmosphere but on a couple of different occasions we have had some lousy service. First time we went to watch a Duck football game and before the end of the 3^rd qtr our server brought us our bill and cashed us out and did not return to our table. And today we went before we went to the last men’s basketball game, it was busy and this girl was not very steady and spilled a whole container of my ranch on my husband’s lap, down his leg and on his shoes. Well the worst part was the girl didn’t even seem sorry at all and I thought the server would at least take something off our bill for having something spilled all over him but no. Now my dilemma is do we give them another chance or not? I’m not sure at this point… very disappointed…

I’ve walked out of a couple other places on game day because they suck (see my review of Prime Time for a good reference) and came to Sam’s. They are always good.
The staff is always super friendly. We are greeted at the door. You can seat yourself, but they make sure you know they noticed you and are greeted beforehand. Which is nice. They’ve always given prompt and efficient service, answered questions and given recommendations. I’ve ordered soda and water and never had an empty glass, which is a sign of a good waiter.
The atmosphere is great. It’s friendly, relaxed and fun. It really is the perfect place to watch a game. TVs are big, seats close to them, and they have great outdoor seating with a TV as well.
The food has always been good, cooked to order and I’ve never had a problem. I love their steak, my husband likes it and the finger steaks as well. Sliders and green beans are great appetizers.
It’s my favorite place to go and watch a Duck game because they have great TVs, a nice atmosphere, good food and good drinks.

I was expecting typical pub food, burgers, fries and the like. I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of choices, large portions, reasonably priced menu. The Cobb Salad was one of the best I’ve had in town. My friend had the Chicken Marsala and loved it. Different vibe than the other Sam’s but I’d watch a game here any day.

Had an omelet there. Friend had eggs Benedict. Both were good but the potatoes were terrible. My hash browns tasted like they were cooked in fish oil. His cottage potatoes were very bland. No onions or bell peppers. Also only one piece if toast which was of poor quality
Waitress was very good and gave me a substitution of fruit.
Very nicely decorated place with many tv’s.
No coke so be prepared for Pepsi if you go. This alone is a dealer breaker for us.

Delicious! Love the surroundings and my friend and i has the French dip and patty melt. …yummmm

Great service! Friendly folks! Great fried pickles to go with a small but nice selection of local brews!

Beer, sports and burgers. That’s really all you need and Sams delivers. Stopped in from out of town and needed somewhere to watch football. Good choice. Staff at the bar was friendly and took care of us well.

I’d say this place is a hit or miss. My best friend, her husband and I stayed at the best western next door for the Civil War football game. We came to Sam’s prior to the game for a drink or 2 before walking to Autzen and the place seemed fine– at first. I ordered a bloody mary and most people would be excited to see a giant piece of bacon in the glass, but unfortunately I was not. Due to a rare medical condition I cannot eat or drink certain things, pork is one of those things. It’s a really inconvenient and frustrating allergy to have so I was actually embarrassed when I had to send it back. The waitress was really nice about it, but the bartender was not. I have been a high volume bartender for 11yrs and I get it, you have bad days… special events bring large crowds of obnoxious people… I’ve been there — many times, but this guy was just a jerk! The bartender, a guy I’d guess in his mid 40s with a beard loudly complained while remaking it (I was at a table RIGHT in front of the bar) and then loudly announced that the «bloody mary for the person who doesn’t want bacon is ready.» That infuriated me, it’s a medical allergy, not a dislike or special diet for no good reason or even a religious «requirement»…it makes me physically ill in a very dangerous way. A totally uncalled for and rude announcement, and while I know it didn’t directly point me out in the crowd, knowing it was being said about me and the few people sitting at the bar who heard him and laughed about it would watch the waitress carry it over to me was BEYOND embarassing. I got my drink, which I was excited for because my friend and her husband had exclaimed what *good* Bloody Mary’s they were. I found mine to be a lot of Bloody Mary Mix and since it was the first alcoholic beverage I had had in weeks, I should have had no problem tasting alcohol in it. The second beverage I ordered was the beverage that I have been ordering for myself 90% of the times that I have gone out over the last 11 years and I have made countless times as a bartender myself: a baybreeze. The waitress took my order and went over to the same bartender and started trying to make it herself, asking him what came in the drink. I overheard him giving her ingredients and the main spirit and juices were all completely incorrect and the main spirit, unfortunately is another one of the inconvenient things that my medical condition has caused an allergy to because of the way that it is distilled. I got up immediately and walked over to the bar and said «no thats not what I want, this is what it is.» at which point the male bartender looked at me and told me that I was wrong and that was not what was in the drink and gave me a dirty look. He said what I really wanted was a seabreeze, which has very opposite ingredients– which I pointed out — and he basically looked as if he wanted to punch me insisting I was still wrong. If this bar had not been the only one around and right next to our hotel we probably would have not gone back based on that experience. However, after the game we went back for dinner and some more drinks and found the male bartender (whose name on my receipt says Matthew) to be extremely friendly and exhibiting the qualities of a good bartender. We sat at the bar this time because all of the tables were occupied and we were given extremely friendly, prompt service. Our food was good but we ordered just your basic bar items like chicken strips and nachos which are pretty hard to mess up unless you burn the cheese to the chips and never change your fry oil. Before we left, I asked our bartender if he knew what the drink I had ordered earlier was; he replied with the correct ingredients. I told him that earlier that day I had been served by a bartender there who had rudely insisted that the drink was actually made an opposite way. Matthew took out a bar book of drinks that he had near the register and looked up the drink I had ordered and sure enough, him and I were both correct in how the drink was made. He apologized for our negative experience earlier and expressed that he was pleased that we had had a better time that evening and hoped we’d be back. I live in Portland and that was the first game I had ever been to at Autzen Stadium. I am not sure if circumstances will ever lead me back, but if they do– I will run if I see that rude man with the beard behind the bar!

Rough customer service and questionable food. Decent taps and Tvs, nice patio. Not recommended unless popping in for a quick beer and have limited time/​options.
Pro tip: stay clear of the nachos

Nice sports bar type joint across the street from the University of Oregon. 15% discount if you stay at Best Western next door. First night had the chicken Marsala with veggies and garlic mashed potatoes. Good Pinot with it. Second night still to come. It’s what you expect from a college campus town sports bar. I recommend if you’re staying nearby. Ok… Ordered the Sam’s Perfect Martini. It’s perfect. Raise the rating to 3 and a half.

Unfortunately the poor kitchen service dominated the entire meal experience. The serving staff was nice, nothing they could do. It’s pretty messed up when you open a restaurant BEFORE THE KITCHEN IS OPEN and don’t tell anyone… ON GAMEDAY before an 11am game. This is the one time you probably shouldn’t have told people what actually happened. Happy to charge us for our food and take orders but no intention to make the actual food. Disappointing, good location, decent food, plagued by bad business decisions.

Ugh… Sam’s, oh how you have failed me. I was here with a couple friends after a football game at Autzen. We sat in the bar area (there is also a restaurant area and a patio). There were a few tables open, but none of the tables had been cleaned off yet. We grabbed one and chatted while we waited for someone to come clean off the table and bring us some menus. Neither of which occurred. So, after a while, the guys sitting at the table next to us told us that we had to go to the bar because there didn’t appear to be table service. We grabbed our own menus and cleared our table before heading to the bar to order. The bartender said «Hi» as we walked up to the bar and so I asked if we could order food and drinks. She said «not right now» continued to make the drink she was working on and delivered it to another person before coming back to us to take our order. We didn’t order anything complicated — 2 orders of chicken strips with tots and a burger with tots. After 45 minutes our food still hadn’t shown up. We asked the bartender about it and were told our food would be right out because they were just putting the final touches on it. Fast forward another 15 minutes and still no food. So, we asked to speak with the manager. I explained the situation, and he brought us 2 orders of chicken strips with fries and a basket of tots… so not our order. Plus it was cold. He also berated by friends for cleaning off our table, asking us why we thought that was appropriate… hum…I don’t know, maybe because no one on your team was cleaning it and we wanted it out of our way… just a thought.
The one bright side was that the manager did comp all of our food (but none of our drinks) and later did apologize for the delay. He kept saying it was because the game just ended, but we didn’t go to the bar until over an hour after the game got out… so…maybe not a good enough excuse. Additionally, the staff did a really poor job of regulating the drunk crowd. There was one person in particular that the bartender kept serving who badly needed to be cut off. First she was the loud drunk, then the sad drunk, then the angry drunk — all in under one hours time. Regardless, the drunk was really disruptive, and it truly surprised me to see that the bar was not cutting her off as she ordered more and more shots. So, my recommendation — save your time, save your money, go somewhere else, especially if you’re in a hurry.

Granted we were here on a night after a football game… But in the half hour we were there before our food came, we got our own menus and silverware, bussed the dirty table, were told we couldn’t order drinks «until later» and cleaned up a spill. We should have kept the tip for ourselves, but we aren’t rude. They should be equipped to deal with post football crowds, but obviously weren’t. Bad first impression!

This is a solid place to grab some food and watch a game.
The bartender was really nice even though she messed my order two nights in a row. I don’t hold it against because it is loud in there.
Food is good, not amazing. I would go again and tell anyone to go there

I’m surprised by the mixed reviews. We stayed at the hotel next door & Sam’s was the most convenient… but also really good! We got a burger, chicken tenders & fries. All good & fair priced! It’s so close to the hotel strip, we just walked over for take out. So glad we did :)

My beef stew was like a bowl of potatoes and gravy. There was one two centimeter piece of beef in it and I swear that is all. Unbelievable that someone could serve this seriously.

Ugh disappointing :/
I had high hopes for this place,
1) the building is great and has a lot of potential, I loved it when it was «the bridge», and assumed whoever took over the space would utilize it.
2) I’ve been to Sam’s place (assuming it’s owned by the same bar owner) and liked it a lot, the shuffleboard, the atmosphere, though I didn’t eat there so I can’t compare that.
So my friend and I walked in at around 7pm, it was mellow. First thing I noticed was, since it was «the bridge», it’s got a much more diner feel, right back to when it was Debs diner years ago. Big downgrade. Sat ourselves, and got greeted promptly. He gave us menus, we weren’t there to eat but mutually decided an appetizer sounded good. We got our drinks and ordered the steak fingers app. There’s a dive bar in our hometown that has great finger steaks and we always get them. While we were waiting, some long haired male employee stopped by to see if we needed anything. We told him we were fine, yet he went to a dirty, dish filled table five feet away and grabbed the half empty water carafe, and set it on our table… Thanks?
We got our finger steaks, from a different employee that still wasn’t our server, and 10 seconds later our server approached and said «how is everything?». We hadn’t had the chance to touch our food yet, but told him «fine». Than we did touch our food. The menu said «seasoned, lightly breaded, and grilled». I don’t know how it was cooked, but it was bland strips of steak, with very soggy breading, that was so caked in oil that it was shiny. It definitely wasn’t fried or grilled, it looked like it was badly pan fried in way too much oil. We took a couple bites and said «no way». Had to flag someone down for our check, and than left very displeased. I’m glad we just tried an app instead of a full blown meal, won’t be returning here unless I hear about some drastic changes.

Great drinks. Great service. Nice sized outdoor patio with a warm fire. Conveniently located down the street from Onsen Spa (rental) that’ll be our next review. This bar on a Saturday night is not crowded or full of stinky weirdos. Next time you are near the UofO stop by and check this place out.

Their shirts say best sports bar in town… I beg to differ. The nachos came out room temp. Our server didn’t check with us prior to happy hour ending to see if we wanted another drink. We came for the Ducks game and are being rushed out. The bus boy takes all glasses off the table. Which is nice for making table space but doesn’t indicate that perhaps we’d like a refill of water or to order an additional beer. The bill was brought to us while we were still eating. Again, we’re here for the football game, we planned on staying for the game.
The women’s restroom is tiny (2 stalls) and difficult to maneuver w people waiting inside of it.
The interior looks nice and that’s about the highlight of the place.
The fire pit looks pretty nice but I won’t be back to check it out after this experience.

This was their debut of a new menu and it shows. The appetizers were distinctly modern and were of high quality. The chicken strips were fresh and hand battered. Asparagus was good and came with an excellent sauce.
The 8 pieces of pita bread were not enough. They were kind enough to bring us more to finish off the wonderful spinach and artichoke dip, giving them 5 stars in my book.