A diner from Kenosha, WI
May 31, 2009
The Bartley House is supposed to be a Kenosha institution for good food. I emphasize the "supposed to be" in this review. Well parking was great and the guard was very nice. Tipped him to for the trouble. This is not in the best area of Kenosha mind you. Walking in we were greeted with a very neighborhood bar/ restaurant vibe. I was honestly excited, as was my dad who said this is going to be good! We were greeted/seated promptly and pleasantly. the waitress arrived shortly and was fine and business like during the whole meal. No complaints there. We ordered drinks and they came in quick time. They were good for the most part. More about the bar bill later. First we put in an appetizer order. We ordered the sampler. This had (fried clams, crab rangoon, chicken livers in bacon, and egg rolls), honestly everything was over cooked with the exception of the crab rangoon. There was some sort of mustard sauce on the plate that was just "NOT GOOD AT ALL" this is being nice. I think we might be in trouble at this point. We also were given the basket of crackers and bread sticks with the bean salad and cottage cheese. The cottage cheese might have been the highlight of the evening. Next came the soup and salad. the Bartely House's self proclaimed "incomparable" clam chowder was absolute garbage. The salad was fine. Here is a hint for the cooks "TRY SOME SEASONING ON YOUR MEAT". When looking at the menu we noticed almost everything was "MP market price". This just drives me crazy. My wife got the prime rib and I the New York strip steak. The prime rib cut was generous and just lacked seasoning. It was fair at best. The New York strip steak was just bad to be nice. We ordered them,medium and medium rare and they were tough and had no flavor. We also ordered the twice baked with our meal and that was totally dried out and borderline garbage. Coffee was good,and drinks were cheap. This was the only saving grace. Saying the whole experience was a disappointment is an understatement. Will I ever go back, NO, should you go, NO.
