ted's montana grill

decided to eat here on long trip home. figured it would be nice break from fast food and off peak eating time. ended being not bad but not great. it was not busy so a little perturbed on some points. weorderedhouse salad - which looked good upon arrival but had to dig out a lot of brown and some less desirable lettuce. we bothorderedsandwiches . my wifeorderedgrilled hamburger medium. it came out cooked correctly and all tasted good. sheorderedonion rings and they were ok not impressive. iorderedgrilled chicken. which was a very thin breast that was slightly over cooked. it appears they cooked my fries before my sandwich and they were barely warm upon food delivery. so my meal ended up being so- so. with only three customers inside i would have expected a little more care in the cooking but we got the opposite. i may give it one more shot on another trip and see what happens. waitress did her part well though.

why in this economy with so many restaurants closing does this mediocre one survive?. i have been going to ted's two or three times a year for many years. originally, the bison burgers (unique several years ago but now a lot more available) were the draw -- and the pickle - oh yes, the pickles. (tonight we had to ask for them though. they were not automatically brought to the table and they were not refilled.)

however, that novelty soon wore off and i think the food has gone downhill - at the several locations i've tried.

tonight was no exception. my family is always the one going on someone else's suggestion to enjoy the other person's/people's company because i'd never choose ted's.

memorial day eve (sunday) - raining - but place was still packed with an hour's wait being quoted by the host/hostess. because we were a party of six, we had called ahead and therefore, our wait was reduced to only about 35 minutes.

we were seated and in all honesty, the waiter was really good. a mature man with a good "tableside manner" and effective. however, that couldn't overcome the issues with the food and the restaurant, in general.

we placed our order at about 6:45 - not 10 pm. however, several of the main course items were already sold out, including the turkey, the crab cake, etc. we thenorderedanyway, including a couple of the children's meals. the waiter had to return to our table to tell us that the mac & cheese that a friend hadorderedfor her son was also sold out. this is all the child eats from that menu. how do you run out of one of the most popular children's items before 7 pm? for goodness sake!

food arrived slowly - in snippets and, with the exception of the fries, was pretty tasteless. my girls had some sliders and i tasted them -- concluding they must have grilled up some cardboard (maybe they ran out of ground beef too but were afraid of the mutiny that would ensue from customers who had waited an hour for a burger.)

iordereda chopped salad. $10 or $11 for a bowl of way too wet iceberg and some embellishments. what - no salad spinners at ted's?

the shake we'dorderedfor the three kids to split had sat on the bar for so long (ordered when we sat down but delivered when we were half way through dinner) that it was separated and odd . . . . my daughter, a chocoholic, refused it. that should be testimony enough.

i don't know but for my money, there are so many better options. i know i'm in the minority, given the crowds (although there was also a $10 coupon in the val-pak recently and lots of people were waving them tonight to pay down some of their checks) and the opening of more and more ted's.

i think ted’s has become large for several reasons but one has to be that the food is quite tasty. after having a phenomenal bison burger the week before, me and my partner were craving another good one. we had a hard time finding a place that offered them, but teds had a full menu of burgers in which any could be made into a bison burger.
this one really hit the spot. the meat was of great quality and the cooks did it justice. cooked perfectly and it was really filling. iordereda spicier version of their burgers and the japapenos, pepper jack cheese, onion straws, and other additions just added a great flavor to it as well.
i would definitely go back. it was great quality at a reaso

quite impressed. never having been to ted's montana grill, i had no expectations. sure, i knew they served bison, but i figured that was their gimmick. well, i was quite impressed. first, the layout is like a 1900's train car, with private booths lining both sides and open tables down the center; my wife and i chose a booth. wood paneling was everywhere, and we were able to talk in quiet tones even as the tables filled up later into the evening. the soft light put out by the classy lamp provided an intimate feel.

the server, michael, brought out pickles and then lemon slices for our water. the pickles were amazing -- somehow salty, sweet, and sour, but not overwhelming. i know that lemon slices are expensive (much cheaper to put one slice on the glass), so i was starting to get an appreciation for the classiness of the place.

weorderedan appetizer, the bison nachos. now i'm no fan of nachos, as usually they are drowning in one ingredient or the other, and rarely look appetizing. not so with these. not only did they taste fantastic, but each the ingredients were evenly distributed over the chips. in short, somebody cared about how the food looked and the eating experience. the bison was slightly sweeter meat than i'm used to, but it was delicious. we both noticed how fresh and natural everything tasted; the sour cream tasted identical to the organic sour cream we've had.

my wifeorderedthe no. 11; iorderedthe bison ribs. in short, both were excellent. on mine, the meat was falling off the bone; the meat was succulent and appropriately seasoned with bbq sauce, though it could have had a little bit more. i alsoordereda mixed drink, which was awesome once i remembered to drink from the bottom and it was cut with lemonade, which the server brought by at no extra charge.

also, i do not like mashed potatoes. however, the gravy was so good that i was able to douse the mashed potatoes in it and ate it all. the carrots were also good; my wife loved the broccoli and her burger. after dinner, we had a desert, which was the oatmeal raisin cookie over vanilla ice cream. i have never had an oatmeal raisin cookie with ice cream before, but i could not imagine one without it now; the two tastes and textures complimented each other perfectly and were the perfect finish to a fantastic meal.

our server knew the food, was attentive, personable and friendly. also, we arrived early around five. by the time we left, the line extended out the door down to the benches. ted's makes no bones about the fact that they serve american food; and you can sense a taste of pride in what they do and where they come from.

our bill ran into the $70s, but it was worth every penny. highly recommended.

bison steak. jonathon waited on me. ate alone, and somewhat early dinner hour, but the service and food quality was absolutely excellent. had never had bison before, soorderedthe bison nachos as well as a bison steak(skipped lunch)...... the food was as good as any i've had. did not realize when i went in that this was ted turner's restaurant. generally not enthused with supporting liberal causes, but for something i've never tried before, this was well worth while. will definitely visit again when i pass through tallahassee. just hate having to remove my gator stickers first!

good bison burger! service could have been better.. came in to ted's for my first time this evening (girlfriend took me for my birthday dinner).

ordered the george's cadillac bison burger which i must say was very good. this was my first time having bison and i must say it did not disappoint.

the service was mediocre at best. the restaurant was a little crowded but there shouldn't be a point where you wait 20-25 minutes to try to order a drink (liquor) or get the dessert menu. after about 20-25 minutes of trying to make eye contact with our waiter, the manager ended up walking by and asked how the food/service was. we bit our tongues and just asked for the dessert menu.

we alsoorderedthe kahlua brownie dessert. the chocolate is extremely rich and the brownie is very cold. if you are looking for a hot milk chocolate brownie fudge sunday type deal this is not it! it wasn't bad but not what we were hoping for either.


we told them it was my birthday and they didn't do anything. bring your own cake/candle/singers if that is what your looking for!


overall since i did enjoy the food i would probably come back. i would want to come during lunch on a weekday just in case. had there been better service i know that i would come back and recommend it to friends. if asked about the bison burgers i would definitely say they are good. also if given good service we probably would have spent roughly $15 more (on drinks). we may have just gotten the bad apple server on the worst day possible.

fabulous!!! iorderedthe meatloaf with squash casserole and sweet potatoe as the sides. the dish came with the best homemade rolls i've ever had. we asked for butter to go with and that was the finishing touch. hubby got one of the bison steaks. loved it. for appetizer we had the onion rings / fries combo. they serve with a creamy horseradish sauce. very very good. my hubby loved the sauce so much that he had it with his steak. great service. great atmosphere. highly recommend it!

it took about 15 minutes before we were greeted when we went to a late lunch today. the burgers were good as usual. weordereddessert because we had a coupon for a free birthday offering. we requested it to go without ice cream. imagine our surprise when we arrived home a couple hours later after completing some errands to find a bowl of melted ice cream. i am just happy it did not leak in the car. the service was awful at best.

bad service; good food. we have had many good experiences at tmg but tonight was the exception. we were seated promptly and then things went down hill. first our server (ben) failed to bring the "signature ice box pickles" - when we asked he stated that he had forgotten but that he would bring them right back - he never brought them. weorderedour appetizer which ben delivered to the table promptly - that was the last time he came to our table until after we had finished our meal. he was at the next table talking about the 'glycemic index and other prattle' for over 15 minutes. at one point he kind of peeked around but did not ask if we needed anything. i got tired of waiting and went to the bar to ask for an iced tea - ben either didn't see or didn't care. our food was delivered by runners and plates cleared buy the same but, they did not ask if we needed anything. there was a man in a blue shirt (the manager???) but i never saw him go to any tables. when ben finally decided to grace us with his presence we told him the service was extremely poor and to just bring our check. (my husband had wanted another drink and we were considering dessert but decided just to pay and leave). i cannot remember ever not leaving a tip but, this service was so poor we did not. oh, he did bring the pickles "to go" but it was a day late and a dollar short in my opinion.

the food was awful! iorderedmy hamburger medium well and it was medium raw. also, the bison burger was very gamey... good thing is the manager did not charge us for the raw burger.

very good service. our wait staff was excellent but the food was not stellar. weorderedthe bison nachos. very bland and stale chips. the short ribs were on the small side. the sides were good. had the onion rings and asparagus.

great fresh salads. we were spending the night in tallahassee on our way to tampa and decided to have a light dinner at ted's. i had never eaten on this restaurant and was very pleased with the quality of the dinner salads weordered(ted's chopped and the house) and the cups of chili we had with the salads was delicious. definitely worth stopping in.

enjoyed the fresh food!. we had lunch at ted's last saturday and bothorderedbison burgers. from the fresh pickles brought while we waited through the fresh french fries, onion rings, and burgers, it was a real treat. the burgers are probably an inch or more thick, cooked exactly as we'd asked, and delicious. the potatoes used for fries and onions used for rings were not previously frozen, so the textures and flavors were outstanding. we expect to cook at home for that kind of freshness, so ted's was a pleasant surprise. we will definitely eat at there again.

great bison burgers!. about six years ago, i had bison burger sliders at a tapas restaurant in orlando. they were atrocious and gamey. however, when visiting friends suggested trying ted's for dinner last weekend, i decided to give bison another chance, and i'm so glad i did. iorderedthe new meixco bison burger, and it was huge, moist, delicious, and well worth the price ($14) for an occasional night out. you also can choose any side you want with your burger. as another reviewer commented, i also enjoy rare/medium rare meat, and it was a nice change from the required minimum medium or medium well temperature at many chain restaurants. i also tried my friend's chili, and it's very good. in fact, i'd say it's some of the best chili i've had at a restaurant. we alsoorderedonion rings, which were good, but i agree with the reviewer who said they were on the salty side. all in all, it was a fun night out with really good food, and for three people's meals, beverages (two drank tea; i had one glass of wine), and an appetizer, the bill was just under $60. not too bad for a fun friday night out. i would definitely recommend ted's to any carnivorous friends. i also would recommend calling ahead when you're on your way to the restaurant - that's what we did (for a 20 minute drive), and we only waited for 8 minutes once we arrived on a very busy friday night.

iorderedbison ribeye ... it tasted like a beef ribeye ... had them check and they assured me it was bison ... if they say so ... either way, it was good