moxie's grill & bar

is this all saskatoon can offer?. this restaurant is poorly run...been to othermoxie'sin other cities.
quality of the food is average at best....dissappointing when you factor in what you are paying for it.
the service is less than sincere...people who think they are too pretty, reciting lines without any emotion...felt like i was in a bad commercial.
on a positive note, the building and outdoor fireplace/ heating are perfect for a cool evening.

until some meaningful changes (management/staff/food quality) happen,i won't support this restaurant.

nice environment, nice food, nice service!. i have had great experiences at moxie's! what i like is how consistent it is across their locations. i travel on a regular basis andmoxie'shas always been a grand choice. i like their steaks very much. the staff has always been entertaining and pleasant. my boyfriend and i went here for our second date, and the waiter gave us a free desert for the occasion. very nice place!

my husband and i have gone tomoxie'squite a few times for diner and special occasions and have always been really happy with our service and meal.  this time however was very disappointing!  once seated it took longer than normal for our server to come to our table in the dining room- and it was not busy at all as there were vacant tables.  i ordered the peppercorn steak - which i have had before and beneath the sauce and peppercorns the meat was bland.  we both had the roasted baby potatoes and i couldn't eat mine - no seasoning, hard in the middle and over roasted and hard on the outside.  my husband ate half of his and also didn't enjoy them.  the vegetables that came with our order were under cooked and disappointing - roasted beets that were hard and broccolini.  i watched the staff working and i actually felt like some of them were high, our server whistled the entire time we were there.  i will not be going back anytime soon and with a bill that was over 100$ i would expect more for our money!!!

somewhat similar to earl's, slightly more chain-y, but with a larger menu. service was very friendly and i can't complain about that. the menu touches on a few different things, but at its most adventurous it's americanized versions of ethnic dishes which is probably to be expected considering the market they're trying to sell to. 

i had the steak sandwich and was pleased that they decided to do something a little different with it, opting for a slightly spicy, tangy sauce on the bread and decent vegetables instead of falling back to the garlic-based classical version. made it interesting, worked well, and distracted me (for a while) from the average quality steak itself. i was disappointed at the serving size though, with only a smallish side of fries, i wasn't exactly full by the end of my meal. the prices themselves aren't awfully high, they have a lot of dishes in the mid-price range of $14-19 that seems to be the market price in saskatoon, but the serving size was definitely smaller than competitors selling at similar prices. without a second side on these dishes (ala original joe's) they are on the lower end of the value spectrum.

ambience is a pretty subjective thing but i'm going to rate it anyway since it affected my experience. the place is so damn loud inside, at least where we sat. they have very nice 18-ish foot ceilings, but no sound dampening, so the cacophony of voices and crying babies are bouncing off the walls and carrying further than they should. i felt like we both had to yell to sustain a conversation. the decor and style of the place tries a bit too hard to be trendy but is too spartan to be genuine, so i think that's where people get the 'pretentious' label from. i think that's just part of themoxie'sbrand, i remember it being the same way when i last ate here as a child.

anyway, not for everyone, but a solid choice if upper-end american chain cuisine is in your wheelhouse. seems like the creativity put into the dishes is above average so we'll probably be back to take another swing at that.

good food, beautiful lounge. always busy.. first and foremost, if you're doing 'date night' here: stick to the lounge. the dining room is nice, sure, but there always seems to be a mess of noisy children every time i'm at moxie's. as was the case last night. thankfully my girlfriend and i copped a table in the lounge last night, which is modern and aesthetically pleasing all around. large coronas were on special for $7.99 (awesome), so we piled back a few of those and had the 'med bread' as an appetizer. nothing too exciting, but a good starter if you enjoy breadsticks. as for mains, they make some good food. i, being always on the hunt for the best burger in town, ordered the braised short-rib stuffed burger, which was fantastic. incredibly tasty and filling. a nice switch up from conventional burgers. the lady enjoyed a steak salad, which looked appetizing, nice and light with fresh greens. although the steak was served medium rare when she ordered medium, we're not overly picky people. it happens everywhere at chain restaurants.

all in all, if you're looking for a nice place, easy to decide on, with a young, professional crowd:moxie'sworks every time. just avoid screaming children and enjoy.

the food was okay for the most part. however when they brought the dessert out the plate was dirty. our server told me she would bring a new one but when it was brought out again they had drizzled the whole plate with sauce trying to cover up the dirtiness. nice try...i will never go tomoxie'sagain.

horrible, horrible service. .... horrible, horrible service.
nice initial impression - lots of staff, two managers with ear jack communication and a friendly greeting. that's it for the good stuff. the server was not new, but after she took our food order, we didn't see her for another 40 minutes. even then, she didn't clear out plates, i had to flag down another server for a coffee refill. dessert that is supposed to come with the kids meals was never delivered. two different managers seemed oblivious to what was going on during the lunch rush. i've been amoxie'sdiner for twenty years and quality is at an all time low. i won't be returning moxie's, even if they were giving food away for free.

great service, boring food. i have noticed this to be a consistant theme in my visits tomoxie'sover the years - the service is always friendly and prompt, but the food lacks. it tastes like typical chain food - my meal may as well have come from boston pizza on a good day. the environment is always clean though, so if you don't care about what you're eating, you'll have a nice time.

ok, but incredibly salty and inconsistent. i've been tomoxie'smany times over many years they have been open. not because i like the place, but because friends and family like going. we were just there the other day and we had a voucher (for terrible food during our prior visit) for money off the meal. we ordered the dry ribs to start and they were raw inside when we got them. we ordered the burger for our main. it tasted ok but the fries and patty was overwhelmingly salty. we ordered a white chocolate brownie for desert and it was disappointing. it is not the same product as it was when we visited many times before. usually this brownie is the best thing on the menu but it is not anymore. it's like they have changed the recipe or whom ever is making them is messing up. service was good and the managers did try hard to make sure everything was made right after the appetizer issue.

pretty average. i have always found the service atmoxie'sto be good, but the food could use some work. for the price you pay, it is at best mediocre. that being said, i have allergies and they are always very accommodating ( a manager has always come out to check that my food was ok, and to assure me it was prepared in a non contaminating environment.). i will only go tomoxie'sif i'm in the mood for certain dishes.

hit and miss. mostly miss.. thismoxie'sis very hit and miss. i usually get the same meal here when i am asked to go (because i never suggest it myself) which is the coconut curry rice bowl. the first time i have ever had it, it was fantastic. every time after, not so much. i find that my pawns are often chewy and very fishy smelling. the rice is either mush or way too crunchy. and it can do without the apples, the apples really bring nothing to the table in that dish.

also i find the waitstaff rude. once my fiance and i called in advance (because he has food allergies) to see if there was anything they could do to accommodate him. they said for sure just come on in. so we came in after the dinner rush and were seated with the rudest waiter i have ever had. he first said that mostly everything on their menu came pre-buttered including the rice. yeah, things you find out when someone has food allergies. eeew.

that it was such a hardship to him and the kitchen to deal with my fiance's food allergies. this whole act just embarrassed my fiance. honestly, had they told us over the phone they couldn't accommodate we wouldn't of gone.

then he was snarky and sarcastic to us the whole time. when our food came he made a comment on my friend's weight and said that she shouldn't finish her meal. yeah....

i think he was trying to be funny but he really wasn't.

my fiance ended up getting a salted chicken breast and fries which we paid 23 dollars for. unreal. the rest of our food on that trip was mediocre to say the least. probably the worst i have ever had from them.

my favourite part from this trip tomoxie'swas when i pulled out my debt card to pay for all our meal, which was for four people in total. he looked at me and said "you possibly cannot afford this!" to which i replied, "i can when i don't tip you!" unreal.

my fiance has since refused to ever step foot in that place again. i don't blame him. i have been back twice since then because a friend has had a birthday or something like that. same old same old. i loved when the female waitress was flirting with my friend's fiance while we were both sitting there. that is a great way to make tips....when their girlfriends aren't there! really, it is rude and insulting.

overall, i avoid this place like the plague. it use to be great but with the quality of food going sharply down hill and the rude waitstaff it isn't worth my time (sometimes a two hour wait, really?!) or my money. far better places in this city to go.

large, delicious salads. consistently good food with quick service,moxie'sis one of the few chain restaurants that does not cut corners when preparing your meal. the service ranges from mediocre to excellent, depending on who is taking your orders.

the atmosphere is clean, fresh, and overall just a great environment to meet friends and have good conversations. if the lineups aren't too long to get in, it's fun to drop by in the evening and try their desserts.

as mentioned by many other reviewers, my favorite items on the menu are the salads. they are large, and i've never had one that tasted bad. i used to really like the banana mini-loaf that came with the sesame thai chicken salad, but with their new menu change, they've replaced the banana loaf with a few okay flatbread triangles. the salads are also a little more expensive than many of the burgers. nevertheless,moxie's= fantastic salads.

overall, if i'm short on places to go (which is rarely the case), or need somewhere good to take a friend, i can probably depend onmoxie'sto do the job.

hit and miss, but usually a hit.. i usually end up disappointed after eating at chain places like this butmoxie's(unlike earls' and the consistently brutal chili's) is pretty good with a decent menu that isn't overwhelming (i'm not a fan of huge menus).
the salads here are delicious, although once or twice have either been drowned in dressing or disappointingly under dressed (yes i realize how anal this sounds, i just appreciate consistency that's all). the lunch menu is really good for the most part, nice sandwich selection (i recommend the fish tacos or lobster brie grilled cheese) and the soups are excellent. the drink menu has some really tasty creative drinks and the caesars are my favourite in the city.
now, as for the service...
generally in my experience it has been good; friendly and prompt. no complaints until the other day when my friend and i went in for lunch. we came around 2:30 so the lunch rush had more or less passed and we were seated right away...about 20 minutes later a server strolled over (and i do actually mean strolled). anyways, after the preliminary greetings etc he brought us some waters which didn't last through the 20 minutes or so we sat with out menus closed waiting for him to come back and take our order, we ordered an appetizer and two salads, i also ordered a caesar.our food was brought out quickly (by different servers, not that it really matters). so we ate our appetizer (med bread, very good) with empty water glasses all the while hoping that the waiter might be bringing that caesar by at some point and fill them up. no such luck. then came the salads (also brought by a different server, again not that it really matters) still no sign of the caesar, our server, or the slightest possibility of getting a refill on water (i tend to be perpetually thirsty when eating). eventually as the salads had pretty much disappeared from our plates our server decided to grace us with his presence, ask how the food was and ask me if i still wanted the caesar (i didn't). we asked for our bills and to shorten an already long story about 25 minutes later our server and his debit machine arrived at our table. while we were trying to hurry and pay because the entire experience had taken an incredibly long time and we needed to get back to work/school the waiter who had been more or less absent for the entire meal detailed out to us all the difficulties of his personal life as of late and how because of such and such situation he wasn't having a good day and asked us not to fault him for it. now, as someone who has been in the serving industry for a few years i feel like this was an unbelievably innappropriate and completely unfair situation to put paying customers in. yes i completely understand that everyone has bad days and it can take a toll on how you do your job, it happens and i fault no one for that. but that does not make it ok to lay your issues out on the table to customers, especially when they are in the process of paying and tipping is involved. i feel like this was conniving and extremely unprofessional. if he had simply said "i'm sorry for the service today i'm having a tough day" or something just plain and simple i wouldn't have even given it a second thought.
lucky for this guy the rest of the servers at moxies do such a good job.

average. i have never had a memorable meal atmoxie's- it's just "ok". service is mediocre at best.

take no chances, go to moxies!. saturday lunch, seated immediately. friendly courteous staff. the food came quick and it was fabulous! my wife and myself had the chicken thai salad. our friend had the salmon salad. never a problem with moxies! it's a safe bet for lunch.


-----10 jul, 2010-----

fish tacos!!. ever since i saw the movie i love you man, i had to find a place that made fish tacos. my wife and i had them atmoxie'sand i loved them. my wife didn't care for them because they were battered and dripping with oil, who can blame her. the service was friendly and fast. i still stand by my decision, i loved them man!!