Elma Towne Grille

I give their fish frys’ 5 stars! My husband and I both ordered the half fish fry and it was plenty big! My husband is no small eater either, but with the macaroni salad, Cole slaw, French fries and rye bread, it was a large meal. Also, it came out in record time, I don’t think we had to wait 10 minutes! The fish was fresh and super hot and crisp. We will be regulars for sure!

A great place for good food, a lot of it, at a reasonable price. We will be back to sample as much of the menu as we can over the next year. I had 10oz hand made burger with a sizable amount of homemade skin on fries. $ 9.99. Have enough left over for midnight snack !

Eek! Methinks not is right.
I try to find the good in every review, so okay, the building is all right and the parking is plentiful. Elma Towne Grille got 4 stars on Unilocal which is why I felt confident trying someplace new for our group’s lunch date. On closer look, the five star reviews seem suspicious to me, from folks with few reviews and/​or few or no friends (on Unilocal) — I will be sure to notice that BEFORE I try a «highly rated» new place next time. This is only my third one-​star rating out of 132 ratings over the years.
We stepped into the entryway on this, our first visit, and waited a bit near the apparent hostess stand for direction. A server moved swiftly by us, gesturing with her hand and blurting out to sit wherever we want and we quickly stated party of four as she ran off. All righty then.
We found ourselves a booth set up as a two-​top near a window and waited for our guests to arrive. The server whizzed over with a pile of napkins and plunked down an assortment of flatware evidently for us to distribute to the empty two places. Oh, and four menus were flung on the table in our general direction. She never bothered getting the two extra placemats.
This server had an edge about her, not sure how to articulate, but her cartoon balloon might say something like, «I don’t really wanna be here, so whatdya want, I got things to do.» And so it went for the entire meal. Sadly, she’s lost sight of the minimum requirements for the job: to be cordial, kind, friendly, and even if you have to, ACT like you care. You’re serving people who might be eating their first or their last meal together (maybe they come from out of town, or one has a terminal illness) so make it a pleasant outing from a service perspective. Or find another job. We were unduly uncomfortable with her as a server, she was snappy even when we ordered, like «do ya want the sandwich or the platter???» Or when ordering a draft beer, she was incredulous that one of us ordered the brand that was out, «I told ya, that’s the only one we DON’T have.» All right, all right. Geesh.
It was not especially busy, in fact it was not busy at all, but the way she hurried to get away from us was disconcerting. When an elderly member of our group did not instantly spit out her order, she asked not once, not twice, but four times in a row if she wanted her to come back.
Here is the proper way to address someone who is deciding: «Take your time, ma’am. Did you want me to come back?» said in a patient manner. If the party does not respond, just wait. Our guest was ready not instantly, but soon enough. And for heaven’s sake, never refer to your elder whom you are not familiar with as «hon», just don’t.
The roast beef sandwich was as Mark II S. (Elite ’15) said, and I quote, «dry, grey roast beef» ugh, it was just awful. I was expecting a pub-​type place like this to serve a really good one. The fries were plentiful, but alas greasy, very greasy. The roll was soaked with a combo of grease and bad looking au jus. I did not eat my meal, just a few fries. The bottled beer was barely chilled, but I dare not say anything. Water came in grungy-​looking plastic cups.
The tomato bruschetta was very oily and overly cheese-​laden, it’s supposed to be fresh and light and it was the opposite.
Maybe this place is a great bar hang-​out for locals. After we paid our bill, the server told us to take our time, she didn’t care if we sat there all day. Methinks she simply didn’t care.

After a long Sunday of yardwork, the wife and I were in no mood to cook. We decided to head over to the Elma Towne Grill for a quick dinner around 6:00. The place wasn’t busy, maybe 3 other tables. The waitress came to seat us, and right away I could tell she wasn’t exactly the most personable (no eye contact, curtish… my wife picked up on it too.), but whatever, we weren’t there for conversation. After tossing our menus on the table (we hadn’t even sat down yet), she told us she would be back to get our drink order. She came back a few minutes later, I ordered a draft beer. My wife asked if they had one of those hard cider drinks, and was met with «…nope.» Now, seeing as this place is also a bar, my wife thought that was kind of odd but didn’t question it, she just ordered something else. So after a few minutes she returns with our drinks, and we were still deciding what we wanted. I took one look at my draft beer and could see something was a little off. No head on it, not real cold, and flat. After that we decided it probably wasn’t a good sign to eat there. When the waitress returned, I told her about the beer and that we were leaving. Her response was a little underwhelming.
We have eaten there before and have even had a banquet in their place, the food is good.
Btw, we ended up at another place where the waitress was cordial and nice, they had ‘Strongbow’ cider and my draft beer was not flat.

We took the family to this little gem in Elma & were pleasantly surprised! Quality food, generous portions @ reasonable prices! Tuesday nite, kids eat free which added to the value of our first visit. Leah was our waitress and made great recommendations. Her patience with our Grandchildren was greatly appreciated & rewarded.
The menu offers all the local favorites, a comfortable bar & a spacious dining room with a separate entrance. Don’t miss this local treasure~ds

How did I not know about this place? The food is all fresh homemade. I ordered the goulash and husband got the seafood platter. Both were awesome large portions cooked to perfection. The place is clean and nicely decorated. I will be back to try other meals on their menu.

Awesome prices, great food. I’ve gone to this place for years and not once had food that I didn’t like.

A true american restaurant to take your family to. The meal size are big and kids eat free on Tuesday. The menu has something to satisfy the whole family.

We’ve been a fan from when these guys took over! Owners friendly and want you to enjoy your meal. I’ve had a variety of items from their menus — one of my favorites is their Pittsburgh Salad with steak — the Riviera Dressing is warm and oh so good! Fish fries are generous and german potato salad wonderful. They have a great soup & Salad bar too. Have used their catering services for various occasions as well. Desserts are home made & very tasty. They are accommodating and generous — Home town family feeling!

Put cheddar cheese on souvlaki. Didn’t put toilet paper in the rest room when asked. Won’t be back.

I have eaten here many times & never had a bad experience. Food was great «home cooked», generous portions, lots of choices, reasonable prices & friendly staff. The building was the Jerge family farmhouse with lots of Elma history.

They have a menu with a wide variety of food, so everyone in our group gets something they like — fish fry, burgers, quesadillas, wraps, etc. I especially like the chicken quesadilla with jalapenos. Portions are huge, so plan on taking some home. You probably don’t need to get the optional soup and salad bar unless you’ve got a big appetite. Business is good on the weekend but not overly crowded. Staff is friendly.

Elma Town Grille has been my favorite Sunday afternoon dinner location at least once a month. I love fresh cut fries and my two favorite entrees are carved hot turkey $ 10.99 and the breaded pork chops $ 11.99. They also have early bird menu of the same that is just slightly smaller in portions during the week. The regular size portions I always can not finish there so I have a 2^nd meal at home. I do miss the Birch Beer. I many not be a connoisseur of food but I like a hearty meal for a good value.

We went to Elma Towne Grille about a year ago and I thought they had great prices. Well, since then, they’ve gone up substantially. They are no longer a great value, which is a necessity for a neighborhood pub.
I do like the French Fries, they are hand cut. I am bumping up to 3 stars because my wife liked her pulled pork sandwich.
If I rated on my meal only, it would be 2 stars. Here I go again about Beef on Weck. Why do so many places insist on serving dry, grey roast beef in an area that prides itself on this dish? I must be a masochist because I keep ordering beef on weck at new places almost always to be disappointed with overcooked, bone-​dry beef. I just keep hoping that I will find a hidden gem serving great beef on weck, but alas, it is a journey of broken dreams, again reinforced by the lackluster beef served at Elma Towne Grille.

Elma grille is usually a fairly busy establishment. I been here a time or two so again I decided to go. The food is good but I only had a burger so I can’t give it a tremendous wow factor but it’s bigger than most places! Dishes I had before like the goulash where good and try finding that on a menu anywhere! A star for that alone!
The service is pretty decent too. And if your looking for the bar try the middle floor. The bottom is more so your dining area.
I’ll be back. Hopefully one time they’ll have a crazy «special of the day» on their board! I love those!

I never thought I’d be eating here however my daughter was hell bent on trying this place out. Off to Elma for our big adventure.
Surprisingly, this place is really cute! There is a soup and salad bar. The menu is extensive. Bar area looked like a fun place to be and I most likely would have been sitting there had grandchildren not been in tow.
Grandkids each had grilled cheese and fries. Portion size was very large. I had the Buffalo Chicken wrap which came with the soup/​salad. Ditto for daughter. The wraps were densely pack with chicken and nicely flavored with ample amounts of Frank’s Hot sauce.
In reading the previous reviews I must admit I had no issues with cleanliness. I had the chicken barley soup which was good. Plates were clean. Salad bar was, well, a salad bar. All in all, a nice visit. I must also say the service was great!
I am docking one star because I was not a fan of the fries, which came with all the meals. There was something just slightly off about them.

The Family and I decided to give the Elma Towne Grille a try. Heard lots of GREAT things from people. Let’s just say that I left there so impressed.
The waitress was PHENOMENAL! Colleen! She is AWESOME. She had a great attitude and superb service. She is the reason why it went from a 4 start to a 5 STAR.
Starting with the appetizer, we ordered the Stuffed Peppers that serves 3, but when the dish arrived, there was 4 peppers in the dish because we had a table of 4, very considerate. I liked that. The peppers were delicious!!! and it came in a warm deep dish covered in CHEESE. MMmmmm
Our dishes were PLENTIFUL and the salad/​soup bar was Well Kept! Very nice. I ordered the Famous Chicken Wing soup… THE BEST I’VE EVER HAD. I am addicted.
The Mac and Cheese… To die for… So good and the Portion is Super Generous.
YOU HAVE TO GO TRY the ETG: I Drove 45 minutes to check this place out and it was worth every minute.

We went there on a Saturday night at about 7pm… There was hardly anyone in the joint… There were 3 other tables besides us…
First thing I noticed when we were taken to our booth was the food all the over the seat that the server had swept off the table, and left there… So I guess it was my job for the night… There was also some food crumbs still on our table… As we sat I could see a couple near me speaking to a manager who was apologizing to them… After the manager left the couple was shaking their heads in a negative way… Uh oh, maybe not a good start here…
My gf got the soup, and salad bar… She got bean soup… she gave it 2 out of 5 — not much flavor at all… She also had something to tell me but she waited till the end of our meal — I’ll wait till the end of my review to tell you…
I got a dinner salad, and crab cake quesadilla… The dinner salad though ice berg was decent I thought… It came with tomato, cucumber, onion, carrots, and green pepper… The waitress actually makes your salad for you at the salad bar… She really shorted me on the dressing though… She put it in a small cup but it was only enough to cover maybe ¼ of my salad… That was annoying…
Now the CCQ… The crab cake itself was good but there was not enough of it on the quesadilla nor was it distributed evenly… This was also the case with the cheese as there was a big glob of cheese in one part of the quesadilla but none on other parts… It also came with green peppers, jalapenos, fried onions with salsa and sour cream on the side… I had to ask for more salsa as there was hardly any given to me again… There were actually so many green peppers and jalapenos that at times I felt like i was eating a veggie quesadilla… Most of the time I ate this I could not even taste the crab cake at all… The quesadilla would have been way better with less veggies, and also if the veggies were diced up rather than large pieces… I also found some very hard small black objects in it… They were so hard I thought they could have chipped my tooth… I believe these were some hard crusty pieces either off the grill or out of a pan… this quesadilla with these ingredients could easily be a 4 out of 5 quesadilla if it was made with some love which it was not… It was also listed at $ 9.99 on the menu yet I was charged $ 10.49 for it on my bill… quesadilla gets a 2 out of 5…
Now what did my gf tell me at the end? Well she didn’t want to tell me as I was eating off a plate from the salad bar… But she told me when she went up to the salad bar she had to sift through the plates to find a clean one… She said she went through a lot of them to find a clean one… And the soup bowls a few of them actually had leftover crusty soup in them still… That was it for me… I’ve had more than enough of this place…
And just to top it off on our way out they had what appeared to be a buffet set up for the morning… They two sets of plates stacked up and all ready to go… As we walked by I thought I saw something glistening on the plates… So I stooped down and looked. Then I wiped my finger across the first plate right through a haze of grease… EEEEEWWWWWW GROSSSSSS !!! I hope I don’t end up with diarrhea tonight !
EDIT: Well I didn’t get diarrhea but when I got home that night I noticed my throat started feeling sore… I woke up the next day coughing, and a sore throat… For the past 3 days I also have had very sore/​swollen tonsils as well… I am a clean freak who rarely gets sick… Coincidence or not that I got sick after eating here? You decide.

I really want to like ETG. I do. It’s just… eh. While the staff is lovely, the food is rather bland. I wonder if trimming the choices down on the uninspired bar/​old folks’ home menu might improve the quality. But the atmosphere is very cozy and comforting, so that notches it up a star to two.
If you do choose to check it out, avoid the salad bar. It’s always a sloppy mess and twice I’ve been there and some of the refrigerated foods were actually bad from not being kept cool enough.

First of all, I’ve now been here a handful of times and I seriously swore that I had done a review, but I guess not.
So here it goes!
Most of the times we have eaten here, there has been no wait for seating, which is definitely something to note for a Friday night. They offer a pretty decent menu, with typical American fare as well as some creative dishes mixed in, like crab cake quesadillas, which are pretty damn amazing by the way!
They do a great job of presenting the food and you get quite a large portion, however I’d have to say that I have a gripe with their fish fry because they put the fish on top of everything and if you order fries, they consequently become soggy from the fish.
I don’t have many complaints for this establishment, their salads are sizable, the french onion soup is great, and I’ve never gotten a meal here that disappoints.
Elma Towne Grille is definitely a place worth checking out!