Mac’s Grill

Good food in general, but the best chicken fingers ever! Great quality and portion size for the price.

Mac’s is pretty standard steakhouse I feel. I had the Cajun Steak and Cheese Grinder which was pretty good. The onion rings, however, were not. They were breaded in a thick, greasy flour that is similar to what one finds on chicken tenders at a Chinese restaurant. I was just looking for standard onion rings, but got this greasy mess that didn’t sit too well with my stomach instead. Service was okay, could have been a little more friendly.
If onion rings were made in a slightly more conventional fashion and wait staff was a tad friendlier I’d rate Mac’s much higher.

We absolutely LOVE the cheeseburger soup. I wish it was served seven days a week. It’s definitely something we’ll be back for on a regular basis.

Overpriced and food is ok. Me and my wife ordered steak tips for $ 16.00. We got 5 steak tips each, half an ear of corn and a handful of fries. Service was very slow considering we went in at 2 on a Saturday. My kids ordered two orders of kid’s chicken fingers, and they were very small. Total bill with two beers was 65.00. Not really worth the price.

I used to go here regularly in the 1990s and at that time it was excellent. It was a well regarded steakhouse with specialty rubs. I went again this past weekend and the food was no better than an average diner. The Southwestern kitsch décor is overdone. The plating is sloppy. The menu is unimaginative.

Liked the Western, southwestern atmosphere, and the food was descent!

Amazing! Love this place delicious steaks, wonderful staff and the service can’t be beat! You need to check out the Bar area. They did a great job making the room welcoming a a great place for a drink or bite to eat.

Mac’s Grill in Auburn, Maine offered, hands-​down, the very worst culinary experience I have ever had… from the service to the quality of the food and each attempt at remedying the evening.
After prompt attention from our server, my 12-​year old son and I placed our order. But after that it was all downhill. That was when our culinary nightmare began.
I should have prefaced this one-​star review by saying I’ve spent more than a little time in all facets of the food industry, from fast food to fine dining, from kitchen to bar to general manager. Which means I know what I’m talking about… that I have context. But it also means I feel for the people running a restaurant, especially during the rush. But there is no excuse for the experience I had.
FOOD and SERVICE:
I started with chicken vegetable soup which took forever to come out… the *soup* took forever, you ask? The stuff that is ladled into a cup? I know, right?! It was confusing to me too.
When it finally arrived I discovered an awful, inedible purée of nondescript color served lukewarm. The server, who did her best to ignore us by not making eye contact (which anyone in the food industry will tell you is a mistake) made me wait a LONG time just to report the issue. I apologized but insisted upon sending it back.
Then we waited again for a salad and entrees. Longer this time as if that were even possible. This should have been quick. Fish. And chips. Fry it and dump it in a basket of newspaper. Period.
Fish and chips were EXCESSIVELY over-​breaded and sopping with grease. The fry oil used was not hot enough to properly fry anything in, thus the food was saturated with it. Worse still, the fry oil was REALLY old and rancid. My son, mortified at what I was about to do protested, but only for a moment… he clamped his mouth shut when he saw me pinch the breading of the fish and saw it literally ooze dark brown, almost black, oil (it should be a light gold color). So I apologized and sent that back too.
I know, I know… why was *I* apologizing? Perhaps because the server made me feel so uncomfortable by NOT apologizing to my son and I… and acting as if I was out of my mind. The food wasn’t her fault. The service was.
After already having had several issues with the food, I contacted the person at the host stand… the owner, I was told. I explained (embarrassed) I was really unsatisfied (understatement) with the food thus far and asked him what was good. I also asked if they’d been having issues with their fryer (gift-​wrapped advice in the form of a question since under-​temp fry oil is an easy fix if the equipment is in working order) and told him that the oil being used was very old. I’m not sure he knew or cared what I was talking about.
I asked for a personal recommendation, but after he sweepingly concluded that «everything [was] good… apparently except for the fish and chips [ha, ha],» I decided we were perhaps expecting too much of this sports-​oriented restaurant and bar.
So («when in Rome») I decided on a safe bet. My son and I both ordered burgers. And though we were absolutely starving I can tell you the burgers too were awful. The low-​quality meat patties tasted like they had cooked and congealed in their own fat. Forget that they were absolutely overdone.
CONCLUSION:
We could not stomach anything except the side salads that came with our «meals.» The service was awful and the management has much to learn about customer service and what constitutes quality. The folks in the kitchen? Don’t get me started.
In addition, the place smelled bad… the kind of stale-​beer, restaurant-​smell that almost without exception gets masked when business gets booming. Except that it WAS booming at 8:00 p.m. And I would bet money that the restaurant was as dirty as it smelled. «Bar Rescue,» anyone?
«So why is it so busy?» you ask. No idea. Perhaps because people in Maine tend to be loyal to locally owned businesses. And the full parking lot, glossy pine board décor and flatscreen TVs invite you in for a good, lively, casual dining experience. But it was just terrible. I don’t say this lightly and I take no joy in publishing a scathing review. But the review is fair and objective.
Now, the manager did credit my bill for the soup and the fish and chips. I suppose I could have told them about the burgers too. But at that point they may have offered us something else and I did not want to take another bite of the food there. Neither did my 12-​year old son. We had both lost our appetites. That and we had already been there an-​hour-​and-​a-​half.
Very disappointing waste of money. Entirely.
Unless the owner assures me that there have been some major changes we will not be back. And even then it would take some serious convincing.
However, I believe in second chances and would love to have an opportunity to change this 1-​star review. But not on my dime.

The food is good prices are a bit high in my opinion. The service was lacking big time. We received the wrong appetizers though we didn’t complain because it was still good. If you go to this restaurant call ahead for reservations or you may end up waiting for a table. I highly recommend it. Delicious food good portions but a little overpriced.

Favorite restaurant! Mini Mac and Bloody Mary is the best. Sarah is our favorite server!

Simone and I stopped into Mac’s when I got a craving for a good burger during a recent pass through Auburn Maine. I also happened to have a Portland Dine Around Club coupon for Mac’s so we decided to give it a try and we were happy that we did. We arrived at about 6pm on a Sunday night. The dining room is divided into two separate areas, one with a large bar and one without. We choose the bar area as it had more televisions to watch sports on. The menu is primarily for meat lovers with all kinds of steak in various forms. There is also some chicken and fish thrown in and a few things for the veg heads. It was an all meat meal for us starting with the appetizer «Bull Chips». House made thick and crunchy potato chips are drowned in Jim Beam BBQ Sauce, Pepperjack cheese and Ground Beef and then the whole pile is topped with sour cream. The plate comes in either a small or large size and they are very good and addictive but we went with the small so we would have plenty of room for our meal and then dessert. For her entrée Simone went with traditional steak tips with garlic, mushrooms and onions. The tips were very tender and well marinated. The sweetness from the garlic and onion flavor didn’t overpower them but only added to the deliciousness. They were served with creamy mashed potatoes and sauteed fresh vegetables (also with garlic). I had a Mushroom and Swiss burger for my meal and added bacon, because everything is better with bacon. The burger was ground fresh and tasted great as a result. It was cooked medium as requested and was a good burger choice. Served with it was house made French Fries sprinkled with kosher salt. As with all Fresh fries, some of them were crispier then others but that fresh potato flavor cannot be beat. Dessert was a large slab of rich and fuddgy chocolate moose cake with toffee topping. It was an awesome and filling way to finish off a very good meal and we left satisfied. The star of the meal were the Bull Chips but all the food was very good. I would absolutely visit again when I am back in town.

Went in for a business lunch with two other people. This was my first time to Macs but had heard good things about it.
The place is large and inviting. The bar area has nice TVs and high top tables. The dining area was also large and décor was nice.
I ordered a Macs Cosmo, onion soup and fish sandwich. Everything was great. I usually do not like restaurants onion soup, but theirs was tasty. The fish sandwich was not fried, which was perfect. Plus I was able to order a side salad instead of fries.
The other people with me got the red sangria (I tried and it was good, though I have not had sangria before to compare), Ruben sandwich and a salad with steak. The Ruben was only ok according to the one that ordered it. Said it needed more sauerkraut and thousand island.
Overall the service was attentive and waitress very nice, but a tad slow. However we were in no big rush anyway. Prices were reasonable and selection on the menu was plentiful.
I would definitely go again.

I have had a love-​hate relationship with this establishment for nearly 20 years. Back in the day — it was about the only choice in the Lewiston –Auburn area as there were only a handful of restaurants. Today there are plenty to choose from — nice local places like this and the usual suburban complement of chain casual. If I am not mistaken, the owners also operate Fishbones — a little more upscale offering just across the river in the Lewiston Bates Mill complex which is also a good choice.
My beef (pun not intended) with them a decade ago was that they did not take reservations except for large parties) and would quote absurdly long wait times — even when there were only 5 or so parties ahead of you. You definitely got the impression that they were hoping you would leave because they didn’t want their small waiting area to become overcrowded. More times than I would like to remember — leaving with my hungry and disappointed family in tow because the hostess quoted an hour or longer wait. Sometimes I would just call their bluff and we were seated well below the quoted time.
Nowadays they take reservations — even can do it online (extra points for easy site navigation when I had to change the time with my online reservation). I think the greater choice of restaurants in the area has lessened the demand somewhat and they also expanded their capacity with an addition, so getting seated is thankfully no longer an issue.
Now to the food. I have never had a bad steak here. Always very tender, always cooked perfectly. I am either a medium or medium rare person depending on the mood. Medium always has the right amount of pink. The medium rare just right — not raw. They have a unique assortment of rubs for your steak which you can sample before your order. I also like that you can size your steak as it is cut to order so if you are really hungry, you don’t have to settle for a 6 or 8 oz.
A couple of times I have ordered the ribs and steak combo. I lived in Memphis for a time and know good ribs — these were o.k. — and I am picky, but my recommendation is to stick to the steaks which are much better than o.k. My wife and daughter are not big steak eaters. Sampling my wife’s salmon and daughter’s pasta — non-​steak eaters will not be disappointed. Full service bar has lots of beers on tap and they make a mean margarita.
Now to my only current «beef» which is what other reviewers have mentioned and is a strange kind of dynamic — the noise level. You feel like you need a bullhorn to carry on a conversation across the table. Maybe it is because they are packing too many into one confined space, but I also think it is the wood paneling covering everything; not just the walls but the bar, dividers, floor; everything. The décor is a nice Southwestern theme. My wife had an interesting suggestion for the owners; cover up more of the wood by hanging more of those Southwestern rugs and tapestries to absorb the noise. That and look into noise dampening ceiling tiles or carpeting.
Based on numerous visits; overall — 1 star deducted for the loudness issue, but the food quality, interesting menu, capable bar, and consistent friendly service all are 5 stars.

I was very excited to start with the stuffed mushrooms — my favorite. But our server forgot to put them in… Since we received our entrees I did not want to have them come out after. I had to watch the other tables around us get their mushrooms with a longing face.
My starter salad was average — nothing mind blowing just your basic iceberg salad. For dinner I chose the Mac’s filet with bleu cheese crust, crispy onions, mushrooms, and spinach & demi-​glacé. You would think with all those toppings it would be earth shattering. Surprisingly it was lacking in flavor! The steak was of great quality but with no flavor there really was no point. The mashed potatoes were so dry both my husband and I left them on our plate.
Next time we will skip the dining in experience and just opt for getting steaks to bring home and make ourselves.

Mac’s is nothing special. The service is fine (polite, refilled our drinks quickly, but forgot our bread). Wings were fine. My chili and jalepeno cornbread were not enjoyable. My husband loved his fries and pulled pork sandwich. Come if you just want some meat and beer and a place that kids would feel comfortable (there is a buffalo head on the wall!). If you want a superb meal and above par service, there are several options downtown in L-​A.

I went there with some friends and was not impressed at all. The coffee was lukewarm, my steak tips and my friends were way overcooked. My husband’s steak was borderline and a little on the tough side. We will not be going back.

Well, my wife and I went back to Mac’s again last night and had a far improved experience. The food was very good, well-​prepared, and delivered in a reasonably timely fashion. Our server was also training a new waiter. With the exception of an occasional empty water glass going unnoticed, they were doing all of the right things, which is a vast improvement!
Of note, there is a newer bar addition, and while very nice and affording substantially increased capacity, it tends to be very, very loud. Whenever we go for dinner, we specifically request to be seated in the restaurant area.

Very crowded and loud. I ordered the baby bull chips for an appetizer and the filet for an entrée. I ordered my steak medium and it was borderline rare. I must say it was so delicious still that i ate all but the very center.
The waitress cut my bill in half for the undercooked steak which I appreciated.
The craziest thing was the vegetable that they served with my meal. Brussels sprouts! I watched plate after plate go back to the kitchen after people were finished with the Brussels sprouts untouched, what a waste of food.
I actually ate most of mine as they were drenched in butter and pretty tasty, but a very odd choice for them to use as the vegetable to serve with every meal.
I would give them another shot, but overall it was just another understaffed bar trying to push food out too fast.

Came here on a whim. Food was excellent and creative. Staff is very friendly. Atmosphere is casual but nice (look for the new addition to be complete soon. Had the wings which were great. Bread basket includes corn bread and white ciabatta. Wraps and steaks were excellent. Will definitely return!

I’ll start by saying this has 5 star potential for me.
Went on a Wednesday evening with no wait for seating.
My wife and I shared a Mediterranean Salad and a Cajun steak and cheese grinder. Both were really delicious! The steak on the salad was cooked as we hoped, which sometimes doesn’t happen in a salad with steak. I didn’t love the fries, but that’s not a big deal to me.
My friend talks up the Wyatt Earp sandwich (shaved prime rib), and I look forward to trying a burger! We’ll definitely go back.