Sylvia: Montana's has a very unique-to-Sarnia menu selection.  There aren't too many restaurants anywhere that you can order meatloaf at.  And from what I've heard, their meatloaf deserves to be on the menu.  I'll have to order it next time and get back to you on that.

We started with drinks; the house wine was really tasty, as was the Caesar my co-reviewer gulped down.  After a really lengthy discussion about life in general (lots of catching up), we finally ordered our appetizers and meals.  We always share appetizers when we go out, so we make sure we're both ordering something different; sharesies, you know.  We ordered the Potato Rostiis with sour cream and the cornmeal breaded Mozzarella Sticks, served with apple butter barbeque sauce.  WoW!!  The potatoes were incredible, lots of flavour and crispy on the outside.  Just an excellent appetizer, although I could have eaten the whole thing as a main course.  The mozzarella sticks were really crunchy on the outside with lots of rich stringy mozzarella on the inside the sauce was excellent.  I've had apple butter before, but never in a barbeque sauce.  What a great flavour!!

For dinner we both stuck with chicken; one was Chicken Fajitas, and the other was Chicken Tenders.  Both dishes were spicy and really flavourful.

They have baked brown beans that'll just knock off your cowboy boots.  I'm not a person who eats a lot of really spicy food-I'd rather taste all the flavours than have a burnt tongue with no taste buds left.  So, back to the boots, I mean beans!  Let me just say they pack a punch for days afterward!!  And I didn't even finish mine.

The restaurant itself has a really comfortable atmosphere, with lots of things to look around at; license plates, signs, TV's, etc.  We got in right away, even though there seemed to be a long line up.  (I guess they were all non-smokers).  The staff was friendly and must have been incredibly busy, because they forgot to bring us our bread when we sat down, and our apps came right about two minutes before our meal did.  We asked them to hold it for us, and when it did come back, it was sizzling hot!!  Cheers!!

All in all, I was really impressed.  I think Sarnia really needed something different and Montana's pulled it off.  On a scale from 1-10 I give them a 7 1/2.

 

Laura: Sylvia & I went to Montana`s for dinner and unfortunately I was not quite as impressed as she was. The atmosphere was interesting as everything was in line with a western theme from the television playing wild west shows to the name of the people waiting for a table. As you were dining you could hear random announcements blasting that “the coyote parties” table was ready, or whatever name the group was given. The concept is open and definitely informal as you step on peanut shells on the floor and the tables are covered by a sheet of butcher paper for coloring. Do not go on your birthday with people you can't 100% trust! This place is wild! If it is your birthday and a member of your party is willing to sign a waiver the server will gladly throw a pie in your face. Yes, this is not a typo. I didn’t get the opportunity to see this happen but I did see many birthdays where the guests settled with the alternate choice of being sang to by the staff while the birthday boy was wearing a set of horns. As I watched I pondered telling the staff it was Sylvia`s birthday to see first hand how someone would react to this but I could pretty much guess she never dine with me again. Hee hee. Upon questioning the staff I was told that they only hit you in the chin and mouth area but I know that wouldn`t make it that much better! I had a pre-meal cocktail, a Ceasar and it was delicious. Our server was prompt with the drinks but unfortunately it took her about 15 minutes to get us an ashtray. She didn`t come back for our order until our drinks were finished which was definitely a long wait as we were gabbing up a storm. We ordered appetizers which, as Sylvia said, were amazing. I liked them much better then my main course and in future will go for apps and cocktails as they were amazing. Once our appetizers finally arrived our main courses were right behind them. We hadn`t even raised a fork yet. Funniest part was the girl actually asked us if we wanted it all at the same time? Of course we said no since no person could consume all that at the same time without something going cold. Now, when we were really for our main course they did bring it hot which was great but they forgot my gravy for my fries and they forgot Sylvia`s pita bread for her Fajitas. The gravy… ok I can see that…. it happens but the pita bread?? That’s like ordering a hot beef sandwich and they forget the bread?? We would have complained but they were so busy we could not find our server. Now, granted my last statement indicated they were busy but as far as this reviewer is concerned that is no excuse. If your busy put more people on staff. It is really that simple. You can have the best food but if your service is bad the food won`t matter. I had the chicken tenders and although they were tender and juicy they were very hot for medium. I would like to add the staff was very friendly and I can also say the servers were trying they just were overwhelmed for whatever reason. Maybe inexperienced staff, lack of training or maybe just not enough staff but unfortunetly I won`t be running back anytime soon. We got there and were seated immediately and left directly after our main course and our engagement took 2 ½ hours. That is long for that type of dining. On a scale from 1-10 I’d rate this place a 6 ½ at best.