(260) 426-3411
305 E Superior St
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
http://www.donhalls.com/locations.asp?ID=35
This post will be much different than any others - the reason? This restaurant and experience was utterly disappointing. Every aspect of our visit was oppressive! I do not wish to spend the time it takes to do an exhaustive write up on a restaurant that was so incredibly terrible and demonstrates no desire to improve.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
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| This is the scene you are greeted with as you approach The Deck - appetizing, huh? We totally should have known that if this is the FIRST thing you see when you walk up to the restaurant then there is no hope for the rest of the evening!!! Trash, overgrown weeds, cans just thrown there - sure signs a restaurant is happy you have chosen their establishment to spend your hard earned money - NOT! |
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| Although the St. Mary's river is simply disgusting and not the restaurant's fault, the over hanging branches and vines made for a shaded dining experience - a nice relief from the summer sun. |
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| The river is a bad choice for a backdrop for a romantic evening out with your loved one, but not so horrible to hang out drinking after work. |
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| Oil bubbles were constantly floating up from the bottom of the river throughout our outing. It's unfortunate that we're all busy "being green" in our personal lives, but yet - our natural waterways are in such disrepair. |
MARTINIS:
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| The Fruity Drink: stunning presentation with red bottom, orange body, and lime topper. It had a peachy flavor and was delicious, but not special or remarkable. Skip it - especially if you are looking to have post-work alcohol happiness. |
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| Lemondrop: Positive points for the sugar rim and lemon garnish, but the flavor lacked the punch you would look for in this drink! Allen L said "I can get that ripped on some 'country time at my home". This low alcohol content martini was disappointing. |
Adams L tried to order a drink requiring a grape vodka which they said they were out of - boo! Because our first round was so terrible (and expensive) we couldn't even just sit around drinking 'tinis and having a fun girls' night out!
APPETIZERS:
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| The absolute worst in the city - that's what you should know about these Crab Cakes! You can see that they cakes are place atop a pile of veggie and spicy sausage chutney. The spices on the carrots, corn, zucchini, and sausage are so overpowering that you cannot taste anything related to the crab cake - which is probably a good thing - it's filler to crab ratio was definitely out of balance. |
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| The one piece of crab in the cake - aha, there really was some crab in the cakes. |
ENTREES:
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| Adams L and I selected Pecan Chicken Salad - HORRIBLE! This iceberg lettuce salad was served with inferior ingredients compared to other eateries with similar salads - pecan pieces instead of halves, iceberg lettuce instead of fields, and such a disgustingly greasy chicken breast too horrible to eat! The dressing was an odd thick and sticky raspberry vinaigrette. The salad was accompanied by a GREASY bread stick that tasted as if it were prepped alongside an elephant ear! |
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| Prime Rib Philly with beans: "normal" portion size - not overly inflated restaurant portion but it was the same price as other eateries that serve larger portions which are big enough to take home for tomorrow's lunch. Allen L preferred the meat be more sliced rather than chunked which fell out of the sandwich making it difficult to eat. The beans were interesting as they contained many varieties of beans. All-in-all, Allen L said it was okay, but not remarkable nor worth getting again. The best part of the meal was the bun. |
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| I opted to supplement my meal with Filet Sliders. They were by far the best part of the evening, but even saying that - the are not something worth dining at the Deck for! The microscopic piece of fillet was placed atop a few crumbles of blue cheese and onion straws and served on a nice bun. |
DESSERTS:
With everything else failing for this dining experience, we had some hope that dessert could save it from being a complete flop - NOPE!
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| Looks good doesn't it? It's insanely dry and overly topped with frosting, sauces, and nuts (I think in an attempt to camouflage the poor cake taste). Skip it - it's not worth the calories. If you do get it - share with with at least 3 people - it's huge. |
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| Key Lime Pie - sort of! It doesn't look like nor taste like KLP, but this is what they are serving. The texture, flavor, and color were all "off". |
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| This Belgian Chocolate Cheesecake also was disappointing. The Belgian chocolate part and fudge topping was delicious but the cheesecake was the wrong consistency - it flaked! |
SERVICE and ATMOSPHERE:
In addition to overlooking the gross St. Mary's river, there was an on and off burning plastic-tar-tire smell. It was really offensive and contributed to the overall bad experience. Despite the river, the smell, and the horrible food - even the worst of experiences can be "saved" by great customer service . . . look somewhere else because you won't find that at The Deck. We simply could NOT have had a server who cared less about his customers, about making us feel welcomed, about helping us make good selections, about doing anything over and above at all!!!! Oh my goodness - I'm not sure I have ever experienced a more apathetic server who showed less initiative. Truly disappointing!
Food is brought from the main restaurant across the parking lot (about 75 yards) uncovered to your table. Want to guess what we saw? We saw a server bringing the plate across the parking lot while he helped himself to some of the french fires on the plate - now that's the exclamation point on the whole evening!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
No matter how picturesque the weather is and how excited you are to hang out with friends - this restaurant simply cannot be your choice - eating here will ruin your evening for sure!!!!
Until the Next Bite -
