I was there Sunday. Sat on the back patio. Used the restroom. I noticed nothing bad about the back patio, the bathroom needed some TLC but was no where near River's Edge level of nasty. Food was the same as it has always been - OK.
I admit to not being there enough to really judge. But I thought it was OK for what it is - a modern diner. Good vibe. Staff was friendly. Food was quick and reasonably priced.
Maybe I have my expectations set low and they were met?
There’s little doubt the place is still quite popular and I’m pretty sure location has more to do with it than anything. We tried to get a seat on the patio about 1pm on Sunday when we were out riding and were told it was a 45 minute wait. We decided to pedal on to Crow Creek instead for a “meh fest” there. We had to find some place on a patio where we could keep an eye on the bikes. Speaking of getting nasty around the edges, Crow Creek has gotten there.
The few times I’ve eaten at the Blue Rose in the last year have been at the bar during lunch so service is really never an issue though I do hear service complaints from others. What I have noticed is prices have gone up with no improvement in quality and it’s still very pedestrian bar food. I had their prime rib sandwich (basically a Philly) for $15 a few months ago and was incredibly underwhelmed especially for the price I paid.
Along the lines of open-air establishments, for about the same price points, R-Bar seems to be head and shoulders above the crowd but they were packed as well on Sunday so we couldn’t go there.
Admittedly, I’ve become somewhat of a food snob in recent years. Common bar food just doesn’t trip my trigger like it used to. You can tell almost immediately if the people in the kitchen have a passion for what they do or if they are merely sucking a paycheck and slapping food on the plate.