Rosie O'Gradys in Ferndale, Michigan: Taking the Good with the Bad

On a recent Saturday night in mid-August, my friends and I gathered to celebrate one friend's graduate school graduation at Ferndale, Michigan's Rosie O'Gradys. My guest and I arrived about forty minutes after everyone else, meaning that everyone had drinks already, and some were already being served food.

We had time to look at the menu while the waitress was busy taking orders from other tables and bringing drinks to those in our group. When she returned to the table she asked what we would like to drink, since we were ready to order food as well, I asked if she could take our food order as well and she said that she would rather not. I was slightly irritated since I was quite hungry. When she arrived back to the table with our drinks she then took our food orders.

I ordered the Ultimate Quesadilla with chicken. When ordering the quesadilla you may order it with chicken or beef, and you may substitute steak for an extra dollar. I enjoyed most of the quesadilla, until I bit into a large piece of jalapeno, which I wasn't aware was inside the quesadilla. Another drawback to the quesadilla was that the pico de gallo seemed a bit heavy on the onions, but only in a couple of the slices of the quesadilla I was served. You receive six large sized slices of quesadilla which I was unable to finish.

My companion ordered a plain bacon cheeseburger with french fries. He received his burger cooked perfectly, but served with lettuce, tomato, and onion. He was also served onion rings instead of french fries. He really enjoyed his burger and fries. I tried one of the onion rings and enjoyed it. The batter on the onion rings was great, though it pulled away from the onion when biting into it causing the onion to pull out of the batter in long strips.

Our waitress seemed to be very busy, serving both tables inside the restaurant and outside on one of Rosie's three patios. It took her between five to ten minutes to return after taking our drink orders. At one point she brought me the wrong drink, meaning that I again had to wait an additional five to ten minutes for her to return with the correct one.

I was surprised to find that there was a bathroom attendant in the Women's restroom, since the restroom was really small. I was put off by the sign in each of the bathroom stall's, stating the attendants name and introducing her as the bathroom diva. Apparently she purchases the lotion, spray deodorant, and perfume that you find in the restroom and by doing so feels free to inform you that those items are for the tipping customers only, and that she is working for tips. I felt that the sign in the stall was rudely written and had no intention of using anything but the soap, water and paper towels supplied by the establishment, therefore not leaving a tip. I even took my own paper towel from the automatic towel dispenser. I'm sure that the diva wasn't happy, but I don't appreciate being expected to give a tip for nothing.

Overall, we enjoyed our food and for the most part the drinks were good, but the fact that the waitress wasn't around that much made for a long night waiting for her to return even just to get an ice water.

I would recommend coming to Rosie O'Grady's during the day for food, and early in the evening for drinks. I wouldn't recommend choosing Rosie's for dinner on a Saturday night, only for the simple fact that I don't believe that they have enough wait staff for the amount of business they do on a weekend evening.

So, if you are looking for good food and a lot of it, choose Rosie O'Gradys for a meal during the day or early evening, and if you choose Rosie's on a weekend evening please know that you may be in for quite a wait between drink orders. Also, if you are woman be prepared for the "bathroom diva," and her rude note in your stall.