The Liberty Restaurant by Three Fat Guys
Printed From: MiddletownUSA.com
Category: Middletown Area Business
Forum Name: Middletown Area Businesses
Forum Description: News, Information from and about area businesses
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4971
Printed Date: Nov 23 2024 at 8:25am
Topic: The Liberty Restaurant by Three Fat Guys
Posted By: Lucas
Subject: The Liberty Restaurant by Three Fat Guys
Date Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 3:23pm
First off, I'd like to thank MiddletownUSA.com for allowing Three Fat Guys to post our reviews to their blog. We are a group of average joes that just like good food to eat, so we've decided that at least once a month we are going to visit a restaurant and write an extensive review on the service and food we received. To start, we picked the newly reopened Liberty Restaurant on Central Avenue in Middletown. Please read our review here: http://blog.middletownusa.com/2013/01/04/three-fat-guys-at-the-liberty-restaurant/" rel="nofollow - http://blog.middletownusa.com/2013/01/04/three-fat-guys-at-the-liberty-restaurant/ In summary: Gordon says... "...to spare you the lousy details of some pretty bland food, I’ll just wish the new owners a lot of luck, because unless the food and the service drastically improves, that’s their only hope." Vinny says... "If you are ever considering the Liberty Restaurant, don’t. Go to the grocery store and spend 5 bucks there to get the same meal and it won’t take you 30 minutes to make." Lucas says... "The food was okay. The service was a joke. The menu was atrocious. It took us 6 minutes to get a menu and another 34 until we all had food, and the pricing was mediocre. I am unlikely to return."
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Replies:
Posted By: Vinny
Date Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 3:29pm
| Yes, thank you MiddletownUSA! We look forward to our next review! |
Posted By: spiderjohn
Date Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 4:02pm
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Wife and I visted there 2 nights ago Enjoyed the 4way chili spaghetti Chili dogs are fine-- Chicken/dumpling(very good--not as good as @ my place) and meatloaf had good reviews have not tried the burgers yet Place looks nice--friendly staff and nice owner--rare in this town tough location, since not overly married to city govt. and/or the broad st/s main power players will go back to eat there and support these nice people dined last night @ the Square had an excellent blackened tilapia dish with a pineapple salsa + ceasar salad + expresso martini drink was good--fish was perfect-sasalad was so-so nice people there also nice places--especially if you like dining alone next to no one in either place unfortunately and as usual nice eats at always packed Stefanos place rocks pretty much every night also Fri,nights in Le anon @ the wine bar or Doc's featuring music by Darrel Sallee strong rumor that the much ballyhooed(by city admin) Sugar Hi Bakery will NOT open, so that leaves a prime location(by some bizarre standard) in the golden zone.
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Posted By: Bocephus
Date Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 8:20pm
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Does any one watch the TV shows Kitchen Nightmares or Restaurant Impossible ? Maybe we could get one of these shows to come to town and help us out lol |
Posted By: Stanky
Date Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 9:14pm
| Tried Liberty one day and the service was terrible -- basically ignored by staff. Total chaos in there. I will grant that a new biz is hard to get off the ground and there will be some glitches. I will give them another week or two to sort things out, go in again, and give them one more chance. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Jan 04 2013 at 9:56pm
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I'm sorry to see these reviews on the Liberty.
However when I heard that the Liberty was going to open again my first thought was they were opening at the wrong time of the year when their over head would be the highest in a tough location.
They should have opened the first week of the Downtown Bash when a thousand people were a block away from their front door I have been making greek chile for 40 years but I will go and see what they have to offer this weekend and report back. |
Posted By: Bocephus
Date Posted: Jan 05 2013 at 12:51am
Well hate to say it but I cant get to excited from what I read here,a kahns hotdog on a krogers bun ?  Vivian "greek chili" details errr recipe I mean ... please |
Posted By: groundswat
Date Posted: Jan 06 2013 at 4:18pm
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Have had breakfast twice and several friends have gone in for dinner, know complaints. Sally is a dedicated owner and openly asked you for any suggestions and appreciates the feed back. Good God I wish everday I woke up and all my employees did 100% at their job and the equipment didn't break down. Three Fat guys I'm glad your world is prefect maybe you should run for the open seats and correct all of Middletowns problems. Food critics what a JOKE.
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Posted By: Lucas
Date Posted: Jan 06 2013 at 7:25pm
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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Never said anything bad about the owner, of even about the taste of the food, or that we expected everything to be perfect, but sounds like anything besides a perfect review would be considered a JOKE to you groundswat. Hope you continue to eat and have great dining experiences there, as I wish all local businesses the best, but unfortunately we just did not receive anything worthy of good review. Also, not sure why you're bringing up equipment breaking down... if that is what happened then we should have been told but instead we weren't given any explanation for the extraordinarily poor service. And I never expect 100% out of my employees (or my waitress) either, but what we received was not even 50%. It was simply inexcusable. You obviously have some personal connection to Sally, which is fine, but don't blame "food critics" (give me a break, we're three fat slobs that are happy with good (not great) food and decent service) because a restaurant failed to deliver.
------------- Read about my food experiences on Three Fat Guys Review blog: http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: Vinny
Date Posted: Jan 07 2013 at 8:39am
I never said anything about Sally and her dedication to her business. I also was never asked for my suggestions and if she wants to know what they are, simply look at what we complained about and work on that. I dont think anyone can boast that their world is so perfect and im still confused on how you would make the connection that because we went to a restaurant and documented our unsavory experience that we want/should fix Middletown's problems. That seems like quite a ridiculous notion. I believe that if someone really wanted to know what kind of service a place had without having to go and experience it themselves then they shouldnt have just a bunch of BS reviews because we like the owner and know she cares about her business. We went, we had lunch, the food was okay and the service was bad, we went home and wrote about it, so sue us for being honest. Like Lucas said, we are only three guys that enjoy going out and eating. Things dont need to be perfect, they just need to be reasonable and if they arent, an explanation is all that is necessary. Sorry if you are offended :(
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groundswat wrote:Posted By: arwendt
Date Posted: Jan 08 2013 at 11:04am
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This is all I know: I got a call on my cell while at work a few week ago. The call was from a good friend who never calls me during the work day, so I answered it. Mu friend had just left The Liberty and was so pissed off over the experience he said he had to call someone and vent. LOL I really hope they get things worked out. ------------- “Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.” Benjamin Franklin - More at my http://wordsoffreedom.wordpress.com/ - Words of Freedom website. |
Posted By: Gordon
Date Posted: Jan 08 2013 at 12:11pm
Right, living in Middletown we've all been spoiled by that "perfect world". What a joke! |
Posted By: Bocephus
Date Posted: Jan 08 2013 at 1:59pm
Sorry but I still cant get over the cheap hotdog on a cheap hotdog bun what a big let down.The chilli dogs to me were the single thing that I remembered about the old Liberty.How could the new owners show such a total lack of judgement? Whats next Aldis hot dog chilli sauce ? I will keep paying my 1.50 (2 for 3.00) for Rallys chilli dogs and save some money these are actualy pretty tastey if you haven't tried one lately 
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Posted By: Lucas
Date Posted: Jan 08 2013 at 2:28pm
Thank you Bocephus! I mean, the picture really does speak for itself.  And as I've (we've?) stated before, I'm not knocking the owner or taste of the food. It was the service that was so bad and the "basic" food products just didn't make up for it.
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Posted By: spiderjohn
Date Posted: Jan 08 2013 at 4:06pm
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Took my family back there last night. Reasonable customer traffic. We all went in different menu directions. Meatloaf/mashed/mac&chs Bacon/blue burger fries 3way Chili dog deluxe Burger was ok-fries not Meatloaf was ok(mine is better IMO) mAshed&mac were real and good 3way was fine-I go 4way Dog was good Give it a try bo Service a little slow Nbd Sugar Hi cupcake was a big hit U could do much worse around here IMO But if u don't like it--nbd my way |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Jan 08 2013 at 4:25pm
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Spiderjohn- looking for fresh baked goods at your location? I understand the Sugar Hi contact is looking to sell in local businesses?
Her stuff looks amazing.
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Posted By: Pacman
Date Posted: Jan 09 2013 at 7:49pm
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Swohio You got any pics of her amazing stuff?? Pacman |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Jan 09 2013 at 8:10pm
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Pac - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sugar-Hi-Cafe/ http://www.sugarhicafe.com/
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Posted By: Stanky
Date Posted: Jan 15 2013 at 9:31pm
| I went back to The Liberty today hoping that the initial kinks had been worked out. My companion and I enjoyed what we ordered and there was no problem with the service. We will be back! |
Posted By: Lucas
Date Posted: Jan 16 2013 at 8:46am
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Excellent to hear Stanky! We'll try it out again in a month or so and give an update as well! ------------- Read about my food experiences on Three Fat Guys Review blog: http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: Bill
Date Posted: Jan 23 2013 at 8:04pm
| I've had a few good meals there too. I think we should support a local establishment and give it a little more attention and support than a regular chain restaurant. For all of us who like to complain about this town, I think this is our chance to support another local business (as long as they are doing a good job). It's hard to complain about downtown if you won't even try out what is there now. |
Posted By: Lucas
Date Posted: Jan 24 2013 at 8:08am
Couldn't agree more! That's why I'm definitely willing to go back and give it another chance, but if service is even REMOTELY close to what I had last time then... I just can't justify it :'( ------------- Read about my food experiences on Three Fat Guys Review blog: http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: Bill
Date Posted: Apr 28 2013 at 11:04am
| Went to Liberty again recently and it was rather empty. it's funny how whether a place is busy or not really impacts your impression of it. This was about the 4th or 5th time I've been in. The feeling I get is that their business plan is to open the doors and say that they have the old chili recipe. Yippee. You need more than that. (That chili has way too much bite in it for my taste). All the other dishes I have tried have been fine...just not special. I don't know if there's much cooking going on (seasoning, mulitple ingredients, etc) rather than heat 'n' eat stuff. People aren't flock to a diner just cuz you're open. You need to draw them in. I will be back, if only to support them, but I don't see good things ahead unless they put a little more effort into the food. (that pizza is awful, by the way) |
Posted By: michellepinto
Date Posted: May 20 2013 at 8:31am
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Thee product and quality is what gives a business its class and name. Bad product bad business. It's that simple. ------------- http://bostonanalytics.com/html/default.html" rel="nofollow - Boston Analytics |
Posted By: Lucas
Date Posted: Jul 01 2013 at 3:05pm
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The Three Fat Guys are back! We're going to be going to the Liberty in the next couple weeks and give them one more try now that they've had some time to 'get their act together.' We'll post our findings... ------------- Read about my food experiences on Three Fat Guys Review blog: http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - http://threefatguysreview.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: darcy1969
Date Posted: Jul 15 2013 at 8:36am
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Put some relish with turmeric on that dog, and some chili sauce and cheese and of course mustard!! Then it will be much prettier and fill the bun. There's no way difficulties should exist with getting a variety of hot dog choices in downtown. I think the issue exists with people are not motivated to go downtown anymore. It will take a while to be able to change that image and there's still many places of real estate available. I think we should focus many businesses on educational/cultural awareness type focuses around children. If we draw children from all the prosperous communities we are surrounded with, their parents will bring them, businesses get more customers willing to spend money and we create local jobs. The business owners need to get a little diversified though in their offerings. The Liberty has heritage of being a GREAT hot dog place. I would personally like a hot dog with lots of mustard containing turmeric, onions, and jalapeno's!! But that's just me with my health needs. What kind of things can you NOT put on a hot dog? grin Condiment choices is what will rule there and provide variety. A pickle spear with the dog and some sweet potatoe chips would provide a well rounded nutritional diet option. So in providing such, we help solve health issues, merge cultures, expand business knowledge for growth. We even have Hebrew national hot dogs now that are supposed to be healthier. So restaurant issue solved...find hard working people. I have been job hunting for 2 years. There's plenty of people who know how to work hard in Middletown. Then what's left is the need for more pride by painting our businesses through downtown - look at Lebanon on weather bug. Lebanon pictures show up for Middletown. Look at picture comparisons between Lebanon/Franklin and Middletown. I know guys who paint, downtown Middletown needs painted, and decorative lighting so we can show our own picture on weather bug, etc. Create businesses for the children not only in this community but neighboring communities and make them want to come here. We have adult businesses downtown. Why not have some children businesses? I think children here would like to go to a few fun places like AK Stainless Steel House of Mirrors? This would be such a cheap investment in making children happy. I know a lot of people that would set up canopy stands at events if the cost was reasonable and they knew where to go fill out paperwork. A lot of web sites are not integrated and the forms have to be printed and mailed in or dropped off and then the fees stop many from doing so. If there was more of a focus on sales rather than fee revenue generation, then a larger variety of patrons and vendors would offer services. Am I totally in left field on this because most of us are poor? The middle class is sinking into poverty and getting out of poverty when no bridges exist is a pain in the tail without opportunities. To get buy in for change, we have to focus on the children's health. ------------- Darcia |
Posted By: ktf1179
Date Posted: Nov 02 2013 at 5:30am
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My now wife and I went down and had dinner at the Liberty restaurant on Friday Nov. 1st 2013. I the the stuffed hamburger and she had the Philly-cheese steak sandwich. I have to say it was very good. We were expecting the standard SAM'S or Costco pre-made food that every restaurant uses, But surprisingly it was all hand made. Definitely much better quality food than the Stained 1054 Bistro, which served us over cooked food, with very little flavor, and way over priced. The only down sides was the place was very empty for a Friday, and our food did take a very long time to get served, but I guess it is worth the wait for actual home made food. |
Posted By: Bocephus
Date Posted: Nov 04 2013 at 8:17pm
| What is this you say "better than stained bistro" ? Haven't tried either (the new liberty) but I thought stained was high end now that's a shocker. |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Nov 04 2013 at 9:15pm
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I've tried both. Had the opposite experience. I didn't think The Liberty was anything special, but then again I don't eat coney dogs. I've had great and just ok meals at Stained, but I will take Stained over the Liberty any day. Plus they usually have an excellent beer selection. That said, I am just happy there are more non chain restaurants in town. |
Posted By: ktf1179
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 8:18am
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When we ate at the Bistro it took our food 30 min to arrive, and the hamburger I ordered was over cooked and did not have much flavor to it, and my wife didn't care for her sandwich either. We thought about getting one of the other meals on the menu, but quickly realized our bill would have been over $30. We did like the environment of the the restaurant, but then again we were the youngest people eating where with both of us in our 30's. Most of the people eating there was well over the age of 60, and we both felt out of place there showing up in Jeans and shirt, with all the people eating there all dressed in Business Casual or better. The liberty felt more comfortable to sit in compared to the Bistro, however it was almost to quiet. The only thing that kept bugging me was the worn out dirty carpet that needs to be replaced. But like I said before it was nice to actually eating something at a restaurant where you can tell the food was hand made, instead of something they could have bought at a warehouse club. We also ate at Stefano's Italian restaurant, again we liked the environment, besides us freezing. the chicken Alfredo was good, but the prices of the dinner made it one of those places that you go to once in a great while. My suggestions for the local restaurants would be to try to get your dinners down to the $10-$20 range. When you are pricing dinner that are over $20 and appetizers over $10 you are forcing the majority of people not to eat at your restaurants, especially when the my income and the majority of people in Middletown make around $36,000. |
Posted By: ktf1179
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 8:25am
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There is also might be a possibility of Main Street Deli restaurant in Springboro, possibly opening up another one in Middletown. My wife heard this from the owner wanting to expand his business into another area, and he is considering Middletown as a possibility. If you are ever up in Springboro I suggest swinging by Main Street Deli and having a Panther Paw, or a custom made sub. I think their subs are way better than Subway and Penn Station. |
Posted By: spiderjohn
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 1:27pm
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I like the Liberty, Stain and At the Square--have not tried the latest venture in Pendleton(don't see how it can work there). They are all what they are--very different Prefer At the Square because it seems more open, lively and friendly--better cocktail atmosphere----and imo the food is under-rated and pretty much equal to across the street I do my best to support all 3 locally owned eateries down there, along with the very cool Music Club Stefanos still rules though jmo
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Posted By: ktf1179
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 2:04pm
| I would have to try At the Square, hopefully it is not hard on the pocket book. |
Posted By: Bocephus
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 5:31pm
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I guess Stained creator's are getting the cliental they wanted which it's ok to have a variety but for me I couldn't afford to spend that much on a regular basis. Has any one tried the new Spinning Fork on Verity we ate at the one in Fairfield years ago and they were pretty decent. |
Posted By: over the hill
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 6:15pm
| It appears Spinning Fork business is booming, they must be doing something right! |
Posted By: Historic House Guy
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 6:36pm
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Me and my wife ate there a month ago. We went for lunch on a Saturday with about 12 other volunteers from the Sorg. We showed up unannounced and without warning. The service was friendly, and pretty quick considering. The food was great. Well, not "great" but nothing to complain about.
We'll go back for sure.
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Posted By: Neil Barille
Date Posted: Nov 05 2013 at 7:01pm
| We've eaten at Stained several times and Spinning Fork a few times. Had good to great meals each time. |
Posted By: middletownscouter
Date Posted: Sep 22 2015 at 9:26am
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Now that Liberty was taken over by Buck's (Buck's closing up the old Anchor and moving completely to the Liberty site), wondering if things are any different. Is it just the same food Buck's was previously providing at a different location, or is it a mixture? I used to get Buck's every couple of weeks for lunch when we would do a group order for delivery and it was perfectly respectable bar food. I'm not sure how that would translate to a diner though. |