McMenamins Ironwork Grill

Great old authentic ironwork in a beautiful garden setting within the McMenamins Grand Lodge. Food was okay but the atmosphere made up for it. Service was mediocre but I was willing to overlook it since the rest of the setting was great1 The McMenamins ales and wines were quite good!

Went there last night 5÷5÷16. It has been some time since I had been to the Forest Grove Ironwork Grill. The service was the best I have had there so that was a good thing. My only reason for giving it 2 stars is cost. I was there with my 16 year old daughter and for 2 burgers and 2 ice teas it was over $ 30.00 not including tip. I really don’t feel what we had was worth that. It was just a burger nothing special.

Well we found ourselves here twice over the past month. The food this time was outstanding. I had the horseradish crusted steak it was absolutely divine! The sautéed kale and roasted fingerling potatoes were also superb.

As in most McMenamins, you roll the dice on who they have working the day you go in to determine your overall experience. Some of their chef’s are better than others, some of their wait staff is better than others as well. If you hit it on a good night, you can get okay food with a smile and one of their great beers on tap to top it off. The food is not super noteworthy but it’s okay if you just want a bite and a beer without much fuss. I’m a fan of their décor so that adds to my overall experience and having hit the 2 bars in their basement several times, as well as their theater upstairs does make me a bit biased (we have limited bars/​theater options in Forest Grove) but I think it’s a decent experience, decent food and usually decent staff. If you have kids, it’s a easy accessible place that has food most children will like and they do have a Kids Menu.

Update: service manager Jennifer called me. We had a friendly chat about McMenamins service system wide. I explained to her that my experience is just one but the opinion is shared by most people in my circle of friends and family. Not just at Grand Lodge but all over.
She assures me they are working on it. I believe that the staff people are nice, I appreciate her concern. I offered that other places get this piece right, so can McMenamins. I encouraged her to take our message to the ‘Top’.

So for starters just not a big fan of McMillan’s food. Never have been. It’s the ruby I love. (Beer). But I always Get the tots and a burger because they serve Portland catch. For those of you that have had Portland ketchup know the difference. Try a bottle of you ever see it! (They carry it at whole Foods). So tonight got my Ruby, burger, tots and the bottle of that awesome Portland ketchup… But something was wrong! Did not taste right! So I asked the server. And she went back to check what the big tub was that they were using to refill the ketchup bottles. She very honestly told me it was Heinz ketchup! What the heck? I was right. So I just said ok and ordered another ruby. Again it’s not about the food. Only fair! Beer and atmosphere make this place great!

Very fast service, a nice atmosphere and a good server. I had the Cesar salad with salmon. The salmon melted in my mouth. My wife had the wilted spinach salad. The spinach was just perfect. She had her salad topped with prawns. I highly recommend the Ironwork Grills.

The food is over priced for the area and what you get. 13.50 for chicken wings, 16.50 for a Bison burger… Not bad for a four star restaurant but for a pub in Forest Grove not so much. Food, is fine overall, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a regular lunch spot. Also if your in a hurry, skip this place. Friendly for sure, but SLOW as molasses.

The food your typical McMenamin’s food. Average nothing extraordinary. I would’ve thought this particular restaurant would’ve had a little bit more fine dining. My has husband ordered fish and chips nice and crispy but bland I ordered the mushroom pasta very little flavor to it whatsoever. Although the house salad was decent. We were pretty disappointed

I am posting this review 18 months after the event in question occurred because I’m still pissed about it, it has been sitting in my drafts folder all this time.
Last week I called and made reservations for a party of 12 for my 30^th birthday for 1:30 on Sunday. When we showed up our table was not ready. The gal that helped us said they just needed to push together a few tables-​the place was only ½ full. My group including my 93 year old grandmother and 1 year old nephew continued to wait. After checking in a few more time there was no progress. At about 2:05 my Aunt suggested we go somewhere else. My husband informed the hostess we were leaving at about 2:15. No apologies or explanation. I am very disappointed to be treated so poorly by a company I have supported over the years. My husband and I were married at Edgefield in 2006. Frankly this experience makes me hesitate to plan any special event with any McMenamins location in the future. I was embarrassed and stressed out on a day that should have been festive and fun. I emailed the manager so they would know what is going on in their restaurant and they sent a $ 50 gift card– gee thanks.

The website is not up to date — second time this has happened to us when we were trying out a new location! Very disappointing.

Great service and great food, the server couldn’t be better and more happy to work here. The food came out (breakfast) within six minutes shows that people care unlike pats corner.

McMenamins Ironwork Grill is A-​OK.
As always the décor is the best part of any McMenamins. It’s comfortable, interesting, and there really isn’t a bad view no matter where you are seated.
The food is solid average McMenamins food. It is good quality, plain tasting food at higher prices. I figure I’m paying for the fun of being at a McMenamins rather than just the food on my plate.
Our party of 4 ordered a couple of burgers, a special of the day croissant sandwich with shrimp and a crème brulee. I ordered the Dungeon (I think) it was grass fed beef on Grand Central Brioche bun with Swiss and Mushrooms, side salad of fresh greens with blue cheese for $ 12 or $ 13. It was served in a timely manner, although the dressing was missing, no big deal. It all tasted fine but boring. No condiments were offered and none were on the burger.
My friend loved her crème brulee.
McMenamins is happy to provide separate checks.

An update: the manager noticed how long it took for my Pizza and comp-​ed it for me, but I still would have much preferred honestly along the way, or even the food in a timely manor.
Still, props to the management for noticing the problem.

Your basic McMenamin’s experience. Good beers, average service, nice ambience, reliable menu.

I’m going to give them a 4-​star review because we stayed the night and the dinner service was stellar. We had a huge table of almost 15 people and our server was amazing, keeping everyone’s drinks refilled and bellies full. The restaurant was operating at full capacity also, so whomever managed the dinner service team… kudos.
Now, the morning service… oy. Not so great. The server was all over the place, she was the interrupting-​impatient-​kind. Look. I get it, it’s the morning (not a morning person)… But chill, it’s Sunday and I’m on my weekend away.
The food was great as usual. The beer tasty as always. Maybe some fine tuning on morning service?

The service was friendly though a bit pokey, the pricy limited menu is bland and dated. Very little imagination. Turkey sandwhich, Cobb salad. Yawn.
I get the whole McMenamins rift on history, but at this point they are over playing their hipster hand. The food needs to be good and creepy faces on doors and walls wear thin in this eerie musty facility that reminds me of an old sanitarium for the insane.
Look it’s great they are repurposing old properties, but this one just doesn’t work.

I’m kind of shocked by the negativity towards this place. The building is old and that is something that is a bonus to me. Great character, well maintained and decorated. They clearly employed a lot of artists on the remodel. We had both dinner and breakfast here. Beer is ok by Portland standards, which means excellent by American standards. Food and service were very good and affordable. It wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t expensive either. Compared to typical restaurants in most american hotels the food is better, cheaper, and the atmosphere is way more interesting.

We were wandering around on the motorbike in the coast range and needed to refuel ourselves for the drive home. Forest Grove… hmmm…well, there’s a McMenamin’s. Interesting old place, dining room is very pleasant and sunny, food is typical McM’s (burgers, salads, sandwiches), service was good.

It’s sort of a creepy little place. It’s very dark. It was cool as it was really hot outside. It’s part of a very old vintage hotel– so don’t expect anything modern.
The fries were cold. That always bums me out.
The hard cider was decent.
The salads were on the warm side– ewww.
And we didn’t get the soft drink we ordered.
I heard great things about the hummus at all the McMenamins so I eagerly tried it. It was spoiled:(another big bummer.
So this place is getting one star because of their food. Our server was very cool so I actually felt sorry for her which is why we made sure we left a nice tip.
We’re not coming back forget it.