The Blue Heron Kitchen & Pub

The decor was simple but elegant without being overly fancy. The wait staff were kind and helpful.

My wife and I had the filet. My wife wanted the chicken breast, but they were out.

The filet was absolutely delicious. I got fries and the spoon bread on the side, my wife got the gratin potatoes and Cole slaw.

The sides were clearly created with care to be delicious also. Many times, sides are an afterthought and taste as much, but clearly they cared about every bite.

The fries were crisp and seasoned.

Definitely a high quality restaurant in the Buckeye Lake area. It's a little pricey, as the filet was $49. But we haven't had a better steak for less.

This was one of the first restaurants that I visited when I visited Buckeye Lake, and it was a delight! I happened to visit just after the lunch rush, when everyone was gone and it was pretty much just me in the restaurant. The service was great, and I wanted for nothing the whole time I was there.

Because I was visiting for lunch, I wanted something light, so I got a soup and a salad. The Caesar salad here is great -- lots of bite-sized pieces of Romaine lettuce perfectly dressed with little cubes of croutons.

If you visit the Blue Heron, you need to get the Lobster Bisque, which is the thing that they're known for. Of course, I had to get that! It's creamy, warm and the perfect thing to eat with the Caesar salad. It came with a drizzle of olive oil on top, and a sprinkle of dried parsley, as well as a crostini floating above everything. I think this was probably the best lobster bisque that I had ever eaten.

I ate my lunch with a pint of one of the local beers, which happened to be a rich, dark beer that I forget the name of. It was great, though! It went very well with my little soup and salad lunch.

There are lots of tables everywhere, but there is also a bar right in the middle of the restaurant. The parking lot is big with lots of spaces for people to park.

A decent experience overall, probably more of a 2-1/2 star experience. Both salads were very good -- the best part of both meals. For entrees, we had the fish and chips and the seafood pasta. Both tasted fine but were quite overpriced. The scallops in the seafood pasta were the tiny bay variety. Cheesy potatoes that arrived with the fish and chips (one piece of fish) were burnt and seemed at least a day old and warmed up. They went virtually untouched, although the server didn't inquire as to why. (I substuted this side instead of fries.) The peanut butter pie we were told we'd go crazy for seemed like a frozen grocery store item. Service was friendly if not overly attentive. We had a nice time but would never go back, given the $22-$25 price tags of the entrees.

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The first thing that you will notice is the location. Off of 70 East, exit 129 heading south on 79 briefly to the first light (at the Wendy's) you will see when you turn an old empty building that was most likely the old McDonald's which was probably moved to take advantage of being closer to the freeway so people see the sign and know it is there. Behind that further down the road several meters is The Blue Heron. Ample enough parking for even the biggest families, I was also taken aback by the lack of vehicles in the parking lot during dinner time. But I didn't let that get to me as we were out in a rural area and I have no real gauge on the level of what qualifies as a "rush".

Once inside the maître de or host greeted us and waited for our party to slowly get through the door (we travel with a 98 year-old) then she led us to our table. She soon brought us water to our table and informed us our server would be along soon. The water was served in glasses as well as there is a bottle service for the water where it is brought out in fancy bottles, of which I wanted to take one home with me even if it was just filled with chilled water from the tap. To the owner: The bottles are a nice touch. Perhaps a side hustle for your restaurant would be to have them for sale at the front of house?

The food, this is what you are really here for.
AMAZING! Around the table, we had fish and chips, spaghetti, chicken tenders and every person was raving about how good everything was. If you read any of my reviews, you will know how much I love pub food. Fish n' chips is my go to any and everywhere I travel to. It is how I can gauge quality as it should be the same or similar everywhere. Some places have let me down before but if you can't get that right, you can't really be good at... food. The size of the fish is on par with that of the fish at Cooper's Hawk. A dense delicious piece of white fish thick and filling. I was so surprised at how much I liked this that it would have been easy to take a second order home with me had the price not been so restrictive. The bead of fries the fish sat on was also prepared well. I am not normally into steak fries as they aren't alway seasoned right or prepared in a way where the texture seems consistent to me. But these were so well made, I wish I had more of them to just splurge on.

The same sentiment went around the table. No one regretted their order. The only regret anyone had was that they didn't order what the other person had as we all were enjoying the food so well, we felt as though we were missing out on the experience our dinner partners were having with their food.

Our biggest complaint: that we didn't have room for more food. While it is regrettable to me that I feel the necessity to leave the city to find great food, it is completely worth the trip to such a rural area to experience a meal like this. If you have the money and you are trying to impress a date or even impress a business partnership (as a company I used to work for frequently did) this restaurant is worth the drive and the money.

There is also ample space in the restaurant to move around without bumping into most other patrons. There were walkers at a few tables and room to stow them out of the way. There may have been enough room to add in 1-2 more tables but I enjoyed walking through and not having to figure out "Fight Club" etiquette of whether to pass by a seated person with my front or my rear in their face like other big chain restaurants that hammer in tables and chairs to the maximum occupancy posted on the sign. To other restaurants: it is a dining room not an airplane. People like having room to eat without bumping elbows and chairs with other strangers.

So even through a glowing review from me, I will point out there were obvious glitches with service that were completely visible to me since I knew what to look for. The owner was easy to spot and she was busy. Bussing tables there, seating patrons over there, bringing food here, she was on task being an attentive owner doing what needed to be done due to what I assume was short staffing in every area. At one point her, the 2 servers, and the host were all busy with everyone in the dining area I could hear the kitchen yell for service a couple of times which no one heard. Throughout all of the work that kept them all so busy, no one ever made us feel like they were too busy for requests of more sauces or silverware. No hesitation to keep us happy.

At the time we were there, this business was still pretty early on. I just took a bit to get to writing this, to the management: I'm sorry for the delay. The food and service were amazing.

I hope to be back soon. I hope others enjoy the food just as much. Also, there are corporate offices a few exits away that should consider bringing business partners there for a great meal and there is a bar.

Cheers!

Food was good, however watch your bill. They add a 3.5% service charge automatically. When we questioned it, they said that is if you pay by credit card. If you pay cash, they say they deduct it. Seems a little shady. How many people are tipping off that total amount even if they pay cash?
Restaurant ambiance was fine.

Last evening my wife and I decided to finally try the Blue Heron as we've followed the progress from announcement of it a new restaurant, to the opening.

It's clear that the new owners have invested heavily converting the space from what it was, to what it is today. It has been transformed from a basic bar/restaurant to a cut above atmosphere and welcoming dining place. 5 stars for the ambiance.

When we arrived, it was only about 5:30, the bar was half full with what looked like regulars but the bar and main dining areas were mostly empty. We were greeted quickly and welcomed to take a seat where ever we like. We chose a high top in the bar area. Our waitress came over arrived and asked us for a drink order, she went onto say that she typically works behind the bar and wasn't all that familiar with the handheld ordering device. She struggled with it for a bit, but she did get our order in, and out to us promptly. My wife mentioned how good her drink was. Kudos to the bar tender.

We took our time to look over the menu and my wife decided on the pear,cranberry and walnut salad (1/2 portion) and the lobster bisque, both were very good. I ordered the fish and chips, I wish I could have said the same. The large fried filet came with fries and cole slaw.....lots of fries, and lots of cole slaw. In my opinion, the added fries and large side of cole slaw along with the larger filet are almost overkill or plated and presented this way to attempt to justify the $25.00 price for a fish and chips meal. Again, a bit pricey in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the fries were good, but the fish came with some over fried (burnt) batter attached to it which I peeled away. The thick part of the filet was perfectly done, nice and flaky while the thinner edges of the filet had become dry and crumbly, perhaps from over frying.

As mentioned, our server had said that she was usually behind the bar and maybe she wasn't as attentive as she could have been but she also didn't ask if we would like dessert, or an after dinner cocktail. Who knows, we may had said yes to one, or both!

In summary, The Blue Heron is a step up, maybe 2 steps up in appearance and atmosphere with some decent, yet limited menu selections. Half of our order was very good, I'll consider the fish a one off, and hope that it's not always over fried. We will give it another go in the future.

I recognize that more establishments in the food industry are adding a service charge to the bill when using a credit card, again in my opinion, this practice which seems limited to restaurants is a bit tacky. Service charges invoked by the businesses bank are the cost of doing business and shouldn't necessarily be charged back to the patron.

This restaurant will likely rate 4 stars once they work out the wrinkles. Inside and outside are attractive. The bar area is very nice with lots of choices for beverages. Herons are the focal point for decoration. Four of us went for dinner on a Friday night. It was not busy at 6:30 but became more crowded with families over the next hour. Our waitress was very nice. Brought an attractive water bottle and glasses for us, related the specials. We noticed servers coming out with food who couldn't find the correct table. When our drinks came, two were incorrect. One person asked for two olives and was charged 10 cents for doing so.

After a significant wait our salads came and immediately our entrees. Salads were very good but wilted and room temperature. part of one person's order was forgotten but the waitress brought it quickly when reminded. The entrees were very good and plentiful.

The atmosphere was more family oriented than I expected. The walls are partially metal and sound reverberates making it hard to hear table conversation. We enjoyed our meal, however. in addition to the extra 10cents charged, there was a mysterious 3.5% service charge added to our bill for which there was no explanation. For soup, salads, a sandwich, 2 drinks and a tip, our bill was $75. We will try it again later in the season.

Excellent food. Excellent service. The restaurant had a good crowd yet we could still speak comfortably at our table. We really enjoyed everything we had. The sweetness of Raspberry-Jalapeño sauce with the saltiness of the Cheese Curds was so good! I would order my Mushroom Puttanesca again, serving size was perfect. The Screwball Shake was an excellent end to a wonderful meal. The bill came with a 3.5% service fee for using a credit card, which it totally understandable. You are not charged that if you pay with debit card or cash.

Food and service has been excellent both times we have eaten here, although surprisingly for a weekend it was not very busy with guests. The food is maybe a *little* pricy for the lake.. but in my opinion MUCH better quality than somewhere like the winery (unfortunately, just no lake view.) The restaurant appears very clean and has cute decor.

My main complaint is that there is no changing table for a baby. Otherwise, we will definitely return!

Our party of 4 are always looking for something different as we eat out far to often, but are at that stage of our lives where "that's ok"! Anyhow, our male friend heard about the Blue Heron facility in Buckeye Lake and we decided to drive the 40 miles and give it a try!

We tried the fried cauliflower, bang bang shrimp, lobster bisque, cod fish sandwich with seasoned fries and the Caesar Salad. The result? We loved everything! I especially loved the cod sandwich, the cauliflower and the fries, but the others had no particular item they liked the best. They loved everything!

So, how did I rate our experience? The facility gets a 5 (although our booth table top needs a little work), the service gets a 5 (Nicole was very nice and was very accommodating), the food was very good and gets a solid 5, and the value gets a 5 (we took advantage of Happy Hour and got the appetizers for 1/2 price).

Will we make this trip again? We sure will! We already made plans to return on our way home!