I’ve always had great customer service and food here. Very much farm cooking with hearty servings. Love the chicken, stuffed pork chop and pot roast.
Travis K.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Eau Claire, WI
Was here when the property opened and was very good then. Since then time has not been kind to the machine shed The special Bloody Mary Kris has was just tomato juice and an overpowering flavor Tabasco and nothing else. The beers was good Food was warm food at best nothing was labeled so you had hide and guess as to the contents under the lids. No place to place the lid safely other than to lay beside the steam table and or on top Most of the food was warm at best and lacked a serious understanding of how to season and prepare food. The only redeeming feature was an actual omelette made to order done very well. THe rest of the food is what I would expect at an institution that has no imagination or are just simply dumping low quality food out to serve to your captive diners. Will I ever come back hell no! PS: so you choose to use real linen napkins. Great! Now how about laundering occasionally in something to remove the overpowering odor of old grease.
Carrie L.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Saint Paul, MN
We were staying at the Holiday Inn next door which was awesome and we decided to have supper at The Machine Shed. Our server was awesome. Very attentive and nice. The food however, for the price, was lackluster and that’s being nice. I got the stuffed steak and garlic mashed. The steak was super gristly and swimming in the gravy. I was very disappointed. My husband’s bacon wrapped filet was super small. IMO the food presented was not worth the price charged. Sunday morning we did hit up the buffet which was pretty good. I could do the weekend breakfast buffet again but skip dinner here.
Birynne F.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Concord, CA
For a first time experience at the machine shed I was pleasantly surprised especially after seeing so many less than wonderful Unilocal reviews. Service: it was Saturday night at 6pm and we were sat immediately and greeted by a cheerful waitress after the water was brought. Throughout our app and dinner she was attentive and made sure we enjoyed our food and had everything we needed. Food: we had the burnt tips, shedder melts and shrimp appetizer. It was excellent. Shedder melts(huge cheese curds) are a must have. They brought«fixins» which come with all meals — coleslaw, sautéed cinnamon apples(think famous Dave’s Apple side) and cinnamon apple coffee cake and white bread with butter. All I have to say is Yum!!! We both ordered steak dinners. They were equally enjoyable as the rest of the meal was. We ordered carrot cake to go and I can’t wait to eat it in bed while watching tv. Top it All Off: At the end of the meal the manager stopped over to see how our first visit was and gave us a kick back for brunch on Sunday. Buy one get one thing. We will definitely be back for that as well as dinner.
Tom B.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Cottage Grove, MN
I have eaten here three times since moving to Minnesota. You know it’s not a five star restaurant but it was a good meal for a decent price with good service. As long as you know what to expect. Had breakfast once and dinner twice and it was all good.
Jen M.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Lake Elmo, MN
I love the atmosphere of this place. Great food!
Lys L.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Aitkin, MN
The bar area is amazing but the restaurant is definitely worth a try! The potato soup is delicious, the complimentary bread is super tasty, and the décor makes you feel super cozy. My dad ordered the pork chop and it was super juicy and tasty.
Jenny A.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Saint Paul, MN
Nothing says«I Love You, Mom» like walking her into an absolutely filthy restaurant on Mother’s Day. We didn’t eat. We didn’t stay. Why? Because I actually do love my mom and she deserves a better Mother’s Day than an unkempt buffet with trays of food that looked like they’d been picked over by ravenous squirrels. The tables were filthy. The floors were filthy. The buffet was filthy. Our waiter didn’t seem the least bit surprised when I told him we were leaving. I’d been to Machine Shed with my mother years ago and I would have dished out three stars if we’d had a repeat of that OK experience. But, the complete lack of cleanliness and utter disorganization of this particular day makes me wonder what transpired there over the years. Change in management? I don’t know. But until I see some real 5 star reviews popping up about how different things are there, I won’t be making a return trip. Thankfully, I have a binder full of women. I mean. restaurants. to consult when something ridiculous like this changes my plans.
Bruce F.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Minneapolis, MN
Stopped for lunch at 12:50, plates at the buffet were so dirty with left over food on them we walked out!
David C.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Eau Claire, WI
I like the food. It is what you should expect — middle America comfort food prepared reasonably well, served promptly. A bonus is you can get a beer, mixed drink or wine. This location serves the same consistent meal The décor is what you expect — if it irritates you, don’t stop in. It’s there gimmick. However, as other Unilocalers have noted, food is n the floor stays on the floor, even if staff steps in it. Bill presented before they asked about desert(yes, we want desert).
Todd O.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Brookings, SD
Good for breakfast! Portions are huge though… plan accordingly. I’ve never been for lunch or dinner though but I’d assume the same on portion size
Kirsteen S.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Portland, OR
Salty! I ordered several items since I was staying at the Holiday Inn. The Machine Shed is the room service option. The service was fast, even during busy hours. But each meal had an item that was over salted. Breakfast bacon. Who doesn’t love bacon? Me when it’s really salty. Also, the chicken in the Caesar salad and the stuffing on the turkey dinner. I am getting up early tomorrow so I don’t have to order breakfast again.
T S.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Saint Paul, MN
We have dined at this location on several occasions, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with great outcomes. The food has always been good and the service was friendly. The last two times our family came, I ordered the Cattleman’s Choice, which is a stuffed steak. Unfortunately, on both occasion I received a plain steak. The first time this occurred, I asked the waitress what I ordered and she said the Cattleman’s choice and told me that it was the plain steak. So I let it go, assuming I ordered the wrong item. The other night when we were there, I reviewed the menu and noticed that the Cattleman’s Choice was the stuffed steak, so I ordered it again. Even asking the waitress, «now this is the stuffed one,» to which she replied yes. When I received my order, it was a plain steak. When I asked about it, the waitress told me that I requested the 9 oz. steak, cooked medium. If they NO longer offer this item, I wish they would remove it from their menu. Or at least provide customers with the correct information. I do not believe we will be going back any time soon.
Dana M.
Rating des Ortes: 1 South Saint Paul, MN
As a former server I am willing to forgive a great deal of things. However, my mother’s day meal at Machine Shed was a disaster. Myself, my mother, and my grandmother all agree it was a terrible experince. Brand new server, 50 min wait for food(but very slow), terriable brisket, never saw a manager to remidy the fact that i reciveved the wrong meal, but saw him in the parking lot complaining about the day. I will never return, with so many other options why would I.
Anne L.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Saint Paul, MN
We had the Mother’s Day brunch here and it was really good. They had a nice variety of breakfast and lunch items, including prime rib, salmon, waffles, fruit, BBQ ribs, eggs and cheesy potatoes. Their thick-cut bacon was some of the best I’ve ever had. The place was packed, but they did a good job of keeping everything full. The lines moved quickly. The dessert table had some great choices. The table service was fair – it took a long time for the dirty dishes to be picked up. Adult brunch was $ 23.99, not cheap, but I don’t blame them for making hay while the sun shines. Every restaurant in town is over-priced on Mother’s Day!
Mike F.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Saint Paul, MN
The restaurant is very dark and lacks windows and lighting. It has a merchandise-laden entryway just like Cracker Barrel. The benches are big. We like having space to breathe and not being squeezed in. We had a little bit of a slow breakfast, so I just happened to be using my watch to time this one. It’s unfortunate luck for this place because I can tell you exactly how long this took. We were able to order at the 10 minute point. The appetizer sampler arrived at 17 minutes. The next time we heard from our waitress was at 35 minutes. It was then we asked her if there was a bread plate or something, because we remembered that from a visit a year or so ago. At 37 minutes our meals and our bread arrived. We were done at about 60 minutes. Our card was run and back on our table at 70 minutes. So it wasn’t really much longer than our typical dinner out, but it felt very long and slow during the long time we didn’t have any food. That’s the purpose of putting bread out. Also we didn’t hear from our waitress very often; we could’ve told her what we needed if she had ever shown up, but instead of doing that, she would occasionally peek out of the kitchen, see that we didn’t have any food, and somehow not decide to do anything about it. Maybe she was just looking at our drink levels because they never ran empty. Our food was decent but maybe a little overpriced. I felt the prime rib had more gristle in it to be cut away than what we usually find somewhere. I really don’t have too much of an issue with the décor or the food but this place really lacks an attentive wait staff and that makes a big difference.
John S.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Minneapolis, MN
I have to write another review, my third, on this restaurant. I previously gave this location a high score, then on second review after a few more visits I down graded due to mistakes on orders problems with cooking quality. Today I am happy to boost my stars to four and even a four and a half even though it’s pretend. The service was friendly, smiling and speedy. The place has the natural wood look and old booths as the C & W quietly plays throughout. This time instead of 19 yr olds serving the crew looked more mature and perhaps that’s what makes a difference. I hadThe Country Breakfast found under the Favorites in the new menu. There are choices every which way you choose and I picked chicken fried chicken. Then there are more choices for potato and side. A filling side would be the biscuits and gravy. The gravy was thick and creamy and we won’t worry about health just so I do my work outs and walking today. The coffee is much improved from the last time when it was stale. The coffee was fresh and I detect a private roast. I won’t have to eat for 8 hours after this breakfast. There are a lot of negative reviews lately so I am hoping for Machine Shed’s sake that they are back and changes have been made to correct a few years of neglect. I noticed at the check in stand there are three business cards available from Regional Manager to a Vice President if we want an email address to express any concerns.
Bea K.
Rating des Ortes: 3 New Buffalo, MI
Yummy cheesy breakfast potatoes and bacon bloody mary My carrot cake pancakes were not cooked on the inside but the buttercream was yummy!
Josh S.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Hattiesburg, MS
One and done… The tragic tale of our family’s annual Christmas dinner. Ever since the matriarch of the family passed, the siblings alternated choosing the annual Christmas meal location. This year, my uncle Steve suggested this establishment. I’ll be honest, my cousin suggested the meat loaf – however, I’m not sure he’s extremely trustworthy, so I ignored his«recommendation.» Maybe that was my first mistake; however, after reading many of these reviews ex post facto, I’m not sure it would have mattered. Came in with a group of 15 or so. Table had plenty of water, cottage cheese, coleslaw, and bread. Pumpkin bread today was decent. Butter was solid. Yeast rolls were good. I ordered a glass of Pinot noir, mistake #2. It was $ 7 and awful. It smelled like the bottle had been open for a week. My brother ordered a Sam Adams, it cost his $ 5. Wow, pretty proud of them Sam Adams’ I guess. For food my end of the table ordered such fare as: Rueben sandwich w/sweet potato fries, chicken fried steak, chicken tender dinner w/baked potato, 14oz. prime rib, pick 2 app: onion«rings» and chicken tenders, hamburger w/fries, pot roast sandwich, and the walleye. Where to begin? Overall: consensus was probably the worst meal every member of my family has had in 2014. 1)Rueben was tasteless and required some of the farm implementation décor on the wall to cut into… served w/a side of mushy and cold sweet potato fries. 2)chicken fried steak– first time my dad had ever had CFS served over a bed of ice. 3)tender dinner was cold and tasteless. 4)prime rib was tough– good thing my brother has beaver teeth. It was also cold and the aus jus was cold and tasteless water stained brown. Fries were well seasoned. 5)pick 2 app was mine. Tenders were tasteless. Onion«rings» we’re really a mountain of greasy strings. Flavorless. Several napkins needed to sop up the excess grease. I think i ate a couple of bites. 6) hamburger. I didn’t think it was possible to mess up a hamburger. You’d be surprised. My Gf ordered the burger medium, what she received was a tasteless hockey puck. Fries, again, solid. 7)pot roast sandwich was cold 8)walleye also cold. We rolled the dice on the white chocolate bread pudding. It was the best thing I had. I would eat it again. Overall service took awhile-restaurant appeared under staffed for a Saturday. I see no foreseeable reason to ever return here to eat. Also, Uncle Steve has been stripped of restaurant-choosing privileges until further notice. We noticed a Five Guys and Red Lobster across the highway. Do yourself a favor and turn into that parking lot.
Karen S.
Rating des Ortes: 3 St Paul, MN
You will get a lot of food and most of it is quite good. Not great, but pretty good. Their pan-fried chicken and their meatloaf are especially good. The service is iffy. Sometimes the servers look terribly disinterested in working in that snotty suburban teenager kind of way, lol. I get it, bringing boring people food is so boring, but come on… The one thing I really don’t like here is the pews. Er, I mean the booths. The big, dark, hard wooden booths with no padding of any kind. They aren’t comfortable and I feel like I am eating in a church that believes physical comfort is of the devil. I recommend this place if you are jonesing for classic American heartland food that tastes home-cooked but you don’t feel like cooking. Just maybe bring a butt pillow.