McKinley’s Grille

AVOID THIS RESTAURANT IF YOU CAN.
If you check my ratings, you’ll see that I try to give a 5 star rating to every establishment I visit, not because I want to be nice, but I know what kind of work it takes to not just cook food and serve it to your patrons, but to go the extra mile to ensure they’ll come back.
But this restaurant almost doesn’t want your business.
I’ve been here twice, once in the last year and once in the year before that, and each time, I was met with excruciatingly disappointing food and service. Let me detail the reasons why:
GREETING/​SEATING: My husband and I arrived promptly at 6pm, as per our reservation. There were at least 3 employees lingering at the hostess lectern, and none of them wanted to look up to acknowledge us. I had cleared my throat twice to indicate our presence, and it took a couple of minutes before one of them finally looked up, irritated, to ask, «yes?» This is minor, I know, but this started us on the wrong foot.
WAIT TIME: Traditionally, within a few minutes of being seated, someone comes over to ask what type of drinks we’d like. I was parched, and it took maybe 10 minutes for someone to see me waving my hand wildly in the air. It took another 10 minutes before our drinks arrived. And another 10 minutes for someone to give us menus. And another 10 – 15 minutes before someone took our orders.
We had placed our order at maybe 645pm (that’s how long it took to get someone to get us drinks, menus, and to take our entrée/​appetizer orders). Guess what time our dinners arrived? 8:15pm. No joke. When we politely asked someone why it took forever for our orders to come, they just said, «the kitchen is busy fulfilling the room service orders, and there’s an event at one of the conference rooms.» No apology, no offer of an extra appetizer to appease us, nothing.
Then why on earth would you open up the hotel restaurant if you’re so short-​staffed?
FOOD: Sub-​par. You’re better off going to In-​n-​Out. It was tasty, sure, but I was hoping for something to knock my socks off given how cold our reception was, and how long it took for the food to arrive. It was so unmemorable, really. And not worth the money we spent.
WAITSTAFF: I’m sure they were having a bad day, given how many of the diners that night were complaining, but how many excuses are we supposed to make for them? How much understanding am I supposed to give if nobody was making an effort to make me understand what was going on? Not a single, «so sorry for the wait,» or even an apologetic glance. NOTHING!
When we asked the manager if they could comp the meal, since there was no offer to do so, he flatly said no. I asked, «despite us waiting over an hour for the food?» and he very reluctantly decided to comp just ONE of the appetizers.
Seriously — please, go spend your money somewhere else that wants it. These guys are not used to having a lot of business. You’re lucky if you’re staying at the hotel, or have an event there — I’m sure they’ll take care of you. But if you’re dining at the restaurant? Forget it. I’m so disappointed and disillusioned. I hate giving 1 star, but they really deserved it.

Prime rib dinner is especially excellent. Great chef! Mellow atmosphere. Very cool they grow the veggies at the Fairplex farm! Service can be a bit slow.

My wife and I were there for dinner on New Years Eve. We were looking for a new place to have a quiet meal before heading home for a peaceful end of the year.
When we were seated my wife’s initial comment was that «it felt like a typical hotel restaurant». We almost left …
Reading the menu I found that it had been pared down substantially from the menu they still post for download on their website (PLEASE FIX THIS!!!). Reviewing the limited selections we almost left (again)…
My wife commented that because it was New Years Eve there were probably limited options and she didn’t want to spend hours driving as we tried to find a place with an available table, so we stayed.
The service was slow and my meal was delivered without the mashed potatoes. I was more than halfway done eating before anyone came around so I could ask for them.
The food was the highlight. It was very good and exceeded our expectations based on the other factors leading up to actually having dinner.
Oh, and I just checked. They failed to acknowledge my OpenTable™ reservation so no points were added to my account.

This is a great restaurant. Everything is made fresh and from their own farm! Most items are Organic. A bit expensive, but worth it! Service is good too. We were offered complimentary drinks and got a free dessert.

The service was no good. The waiters didn’t get the order right and the manager tried to insult my intelligence. I ordered 2 prime rib dinners with mashed potatoes & asparagus; she brought me asparagus with brisket &gravy and tried to convince me that it was prime rib but no mashed potatoes. I’m so disappointed in the McKinley Gill.

The staff provided outstanding service. Unfortunately, that does not compensate for horrible food.
The bread was stale, really stale. The sauces offered with the Calamari did not taste good at all.
My $ 15 turkey sandwich was greasy. They slathered the stale bread with a bucket of butter. It truly tasted awful. To make it worse, the fries were terribly oily.
I wish I could undo my choice to dine at this restaurant. It was an awful and expensive experience!

So pricey. Staff was lackluster. Food was subpar. I asked for no coleslaw because it had mayo but they brought me a chicken sandwich full of mayo. Common sense please. I paid $ 17 for sweet potato fries and the chicken from my sandwich. Not cool

Food: 5 stars
Service: –9 stars
I visited McKinley’s for Thanksgiving. The food was great, but that was all it had going for it.
I was in a group of 4 people and this was a family-​style set menu. The problem with this is that every time something was brought out, it was enough for 2 people. And if you dared ask for seconds be prepared for a 15 minute wait!
Our server Colin was great, he could have checked in more often but my concern is with the support staff. I watched him give the kitchen our orders but when he checked back 10 minutes later they still hadn’t delivered the food. So half of our group had cold food on their plates when the food for the other two people finally arrived.
My question is ‘where was the manager?’ We spent a decent chunk of change on this meal but we weren’t asked even once how everything was with our meal.
I would have been more understanding if half the restaurant wasn’t empty by the time we were receiving our food.

It’s great that they have their own garden and make seasonal dishes but the selection and the overall food quality was not that great. The server we had was excellent.

Unfortunately, because of poor management here, I had a very bad experience.
While in Pomona for one night for business purposes, I had made reservations for a late dinner in the dining room at 9pm. When I arrived at 9pm, the staff said that they were closing early. Noting that I was a party of one, they asked me if I would mind sitting in the bar.
So sit in the bar I did, which was empty at first. I asked for, and received, a menu and a drink, and placed a food order of several items.
Several people that were friends of the bartender arrived, and those friends had fun having free shots (on the house) and pouring tequila into Corona bottles to try to make a drink. The atmosphere got louder and louder and not conducive to the work project I was trying to review.
So I noted to the bartender that it had been 45 minutes since I had placed my food order, and nothing. She went back and checked on the kitchen staff. When she returned, she said that she just then placed the order, and that it would be another 30 minutes or so.
«You never even placed the order?», I said. It was just under an hour at that point. «No», she said, «I’m sorry». That was unacceptable to me, so I left and had to drive around Pomona at night looking for something still open late evening, as room service is not 24 hours at this hotel, and had already closed for the evening.
In full disclosure, she was apologetic, and she did comp my drink. But to make a reservation, place an order, and then find out an hour later that no part of your dinner was coming was not acceptable for any restaurant, especially not one in a hotel, catering to tourist and business travel needs.
I would avoid at all cost. There are other options a short drive away.

We ordered two salads for pickup (Grilled Mahi Mahi & Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad) and I think they forgot the greens on both. For a $ 19 salad this is beyond disappointing.

The reviews were so spot on! I had a French Dip with fries and a beer. I must say the guy who said they were really salty was wrong… it was complete opposite it had zero flavor. Even the AuJus dip was thick and had no flavor! I am staying here a lot this year now and I regret to say it must travel out for food. :(
I see some one from the restaurant responds to these reviews but I do not see any changes are actually happening. Makes me wonder why he would respond saying this is not normal but obviously it is. Maybe less time writing and more time taste testing the quality of the food.
The service was good!!!

This is the restaurant adjoining the Sheraton hotel. We came for dinner and ordered the grilled halibut with greens and the French dip.
Overall, the food wasn’t good; the halibut was dry, everything was overcooked and way too salty (and that’s taking into account the fact that French dip and fries are supposed to be pretty salty…). The French roll was also burnt.
We didn’t want to send the whole meal back, that seems kind of rude, but we let the waitress know the French roll was burnt. She was very courteous and professional, and offered to take the French dip off the check.
The manager came out to talk to us after. He apologized that the bread was burnt, and said «the chefs were in robot mode, and when they reheat the bread, they put it in the oven near the top, and they just got new bread, so they don’t know how far away from the top of the oven the bread is… «For perspective, the restaurant had us seated and one other table that night, they were not busy.
Anyway, the staff was courteous, but the food isn’t good. I do not recommend this place.

The restaurant is inside the Sheraton at Fairplex. Tried them both for breakfast and dinner. The morning crew was slow and the food was not great. In the evening we had a steak special and it was Ok. Fairly generic cafeteria style food it was bland and of mixed quality. There are plenty of restaurants in the area and there is no need to settle for poor service and bland food.

Simply amazing!!! I came here for the memorial day all you can eat bbq. The food was amazing we got pork ribs that were nice and tender that you can literally pull it off with your fingers. The burgers were amazing and the beef patty was made to order with a brioche bun. Mac and cheese tasted home made with bread crumbs on it and the pork beans were awesome. Service was superb the restaurant is very fancy. The manager was so cool that he tried encourage me to eat more but I was stuffed. They didn’t hold on what they had to offer and I am definitely coming back to eat here for a quality meal.

What a hidden gem in Pomona. The food is fresh from a farm onsite with daily fish and soup specials. I have a group of 22 here today and the service was wonderful. Don’t miss the sweet potato fries they are amazing

This restaurant is adjacent to Sheraton’s beautiful lobby. I ordered Mary’s chicken last night and now I am trying their Shrimp Pancetta Bucatini, which was a bit spicy for me but still good. Both dishes were delicious, can’t decide which I like better. Staff is nice, attentive, and accommodating. I was able to bring my dessert up to my room, cause I was too full to eat right after my main course. I love the free dessert when I check in here, I wonder if it’ll work again tonight? Lol! I love the ambience…
…so the manager said, for me. she’ll accept the free dessert offer again! Awww. They’ve just earned a loyal customer :) …well that is when I am around this area.

It’s a quiet Sunday night. Got a very nice deal to stay at the Sheraton Fairplex, and I decided to enjoy a dinner outside on the patio of the hotel’s restaurant– McKinley’s.
The waiter suggested sea bass, and I agreed. I added the fresh veggies to the greens that accompany the dish, and I am honestly very impressed. First, the fish if cooked beautifully, not overdone as so often is the case. Second, the flavors are interesting, bright, and not overbearing– one can taste the fish and the greens.
My waiter is attentive without being in the way. With my chardonnay and this dish, I am enjoying a peaceful, delightful dinner. Kudos to the chef!

Horrible lunch here today. Over-​spiced tuna, over-​dresses salad and very few healthy items on the menu. I ordered a cappuccino to console myself only to be served a 20 oz. beverage nowhere near the definition of a cappuccino. It’s time for hotels to start making better food!

Went there after going to the fairgrounds to the RV show and the grill was closed so they told us to go to the bar and they will serve us.
It was just regular bar food. Hamburgers, club sandwich and fries nothing extraordinary.
Service was good.