The food was amazing overall, although I thought the pork chop was overpriced for what you…read morereceived. Our waitress did a good job and was friendly throughout the meal. There was a very large party that had taken over the entire patio during our visit, so I completely understand why the kitchen and service may have been slower than usual. The frustrating part was the seating process. There were several open tables, but customers weren't being seated very quickly. We were a party of two, and the table we eventually sat at was empty for about 20 minutes before we were seated. There may have been a perfectly good reason for the delay, but nothing was explained to us. Once we were seated, the food was worth the wait. I would definitely recommend making a reservation and giving yourself plenty of time, especially if you're visiting during a busy evening. The building itself is also worth mentioning. The inside has a fun, unique atmosphere that's different from your typical restaurant and adds to the overall experience. I'd definitely eat here again because the food was so good. I'd just make a reservation next time and plan on not being in a hurry.

So close and yet so far…read more.. I guess I am spoiled having owned and operated several successful restaurants ( including a popular steak & prime rib house ), and owning a home in San Francisco where no doubt one can easily find amazing food served in amazing restaurants by classy staff who understand what delivering excellent service means... But, we do love our Laurel.....and I do love The Loft! Food gets 4 stars, atmosphere and "the experience" gets 2 stars... Tried The Loft last night for prime rib... 1. The cute as a button young hostess was chomping on her gum to the point it was annoying! Very sweet young lady, but chomping her gum with her mouth open as she talked, walked, sat you, etc. Issue number one here.... no manager on duty? No adult with a measure of class to advise her to spit out her gum.... and THIS is consistent with the tone of this rant & atmosphere..... her open mouth gum chomping is only a part of the issue at The Loft. 2. Prime rib meal was a great value and the quality of the meat appeared to be excellent. Correctly priced in my view! The portion was excellent. I ordered my cut medium-rare and it was served to me a perfect medium-rare..... but look at the photo I attached! Looks well done, huh? SEE ABOVE- my Prime Rib & Steak House did 5.5M a year in sales, we were experts at roasting high quality prime rib.... STOP DIPPING THE PRIME RIB IN AU JUS AS IT DOES TWO THINGS..... ONE, IT TOUGHENS THE MEAT AND TWO..... IT ELIMINATES THE BEAUTIFUL PINK/JUICY PRESENTATION OF A FRESHLY CUT SLICE OF MEAT. Do not make the same mistake that Hog Heaven makes... by cutting the prime rib in advance then storing it on a steam table.... need to slice prime rib "to order", and NEVER dip it in hot au jus as it toughens the meat and makes rare or medium-rare or medium meat look well done. Mt cut was on the tough side but only because I can tell the cook (sorry, not a chef ) dipped it in au jus to heat it up right before serving... it came out looking well done but it was in fact medium rare as ordered. The hot au jus toughened up the meat though, so you lose a few stars for that bad practice. SEE my other photo of my prime rib from my restaurant, never dipped in au jus, and look how nice and pink and juicy it is compared to what was served last night. At my steakhouse / prime rib restaurant I had a batch of baked potatoes coming out over the oven every 20 minutes during peak hours of operation to guarantee my patrons received a fresh and hot potato. Last night the server explained upon arrival to our table that the cook forgot to put in the potatoes so they may not have any in time for my dinner.... happily, by the time we were served the potatoes came out of the oven so mine was incredibly hot and fresh... and hopefully the owner reads this and adopts the "out of the oven every 20 minutes" practice. Reduces waste too... Salad was fresh and the portion size perfect... no complaints coming out of either end of me regarding the lettuce! :) Ok, now the bad part.... Turn up the air! Same complaint we had last year... the same complaint we heard from two tables near us..... your restaurant is TOO COLD and the icy air blows down on the hot food doing what? You guessed it.... making your food cold! No need to freeze your patrons... cool is ok, icy cold is not fun, not comfortable.... Your flatware, again.... is a joke. Come on... as I asked before... drive down to Hattiesburg and visit Longhorn and take note of their nice silverware and steak knives. SEE the photo? We are not prison inmates, this is not elementary school or a long-term care facility.... please provide your patrons with some decent, not cheap, flatware.... your choice of the cheapest flatware takes down your restaurants classy-level by 2 stars. Train your servers! Laurel is visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to see the Home Town sites... and obviously many visit The Loft. One's impression of Laurel, in part, is formed by ones experience at each restaurant visited...yes we are small town, yes we are deep south... but lets train what class is! Please... Learn the wine menu, where each wine comes from, etc., and learn the stages of service that includes how to properly suggestive sell. Our server was great overall, but she did the usual " did you save any room for desert?" routine. To increase revenue, server quest check averages and tip averages, teach how to suggestive sell! After pre-bussing and then later removing dinner plates.... have them approach the table and say this... "I just tried our bread pudding and it was amazing! We make it fresh daily and the cheese cake too which, by the way, I had last night and it was incredible... can I bring you a slice? You're going to love it..." Is The Loft a nice place? Yes, but "nice" is relative... it's not "fancy nice". Lastly, men... take your hats off!

I have being hearing from locals about this place and their salad bar. When you go in you can go…read moredirectly to the salad bar line. Very clean! You have two kinds of greens, three proteins, and lots of toppings to choose from. When you go to pay you weigh it. It is very reasonable priced. You can also order cauliflower crusted pizza if you are gluten free. They also have pizzas, calzones, and sandwiches to order. Stop in and enjoy!

Wonderful atmosphere and people here. Quick service. The owner came out and asked us how the food…read morewas. The food was great. I love their garlic bread.

Very good pizza. My family loved their pizzas. I loved the salad bar (they charge by weight) and…read moregluten free pizza. The servers were very kind to get gluten information for me on the salad bar ingredients so I could load up on everything I wanted. I actually ate here three times during our stay because it was difficult to find other restaurants who could accommodate my gluten allergy. Thankful for a safe, convenient place.

Nice salads....first 4 visits they got our order incorrect! Yes, you read that correctly…read more... however, this last time we took some guests for pizza and it was correct, hot and fresh, excellent. The salad was good.... service was beyond poor, however. Our young AM-female server had no smile, no greeting, no eye contact, no thank you... did not come to refill our drinks or inquire about our meal. Train your servers!

I used to work there as a hostess and one night when we were cleaning to close an employee found…read morelive slugs in the drink machine. I immediately went to my manager to let her know and she bursted out in LAUGHTER saying "this happens all the time matter of fact there's been maggots, roaches, snakes, fruit flies, and etc. in this kitchen." She did absolutely nothing about it except remove them from the machine. To me this was a slap in the face cause I had family and friends coming to this EXPENSIVE restaurant to eat and drink. It's also policy that employees were completely prohibited from bringing outside food so if we wanted to eat we were MADE to buy food from there unless you snuck your own food in. People are also blowing vape and weed pen smoke all over your food because they didn't care. I used to be made fun of by employees for changing out the table cleaning solution frequently because "it's not that big of a deal no one cares." Also if you know someone that works at Applebees and yall are enemies THEY WILL MESS WITH YOUR FOOD. A group of employees laughed and gossiped about how someone they didn't like came in so they told the cooks to over season their food and spit in it. It's been months since I've quit and driving by seeing a full parking lot of people eating contaminated food makes me sick. I'm not trying to cause drama or make them go out of business but I am not going to allow my friends and family to spend over $60 on a nasty meal.

I don't know why I expected more, but I was sorely disappointed. I ordered boneless wings, two…read morekids' meals, and a salad. The two tables on either side of me had their food come out first. I was at least expecting the boneless wings so the kids wouldn't have to starve until their meals came. They ordered pizza and a burger. When the food finally came. The lettuce was wilted and severely bruised. Can I not get fresh lettuce for a salad? The pizza had lots of cheese on one side. And hardly any on the other. The server was nice but inattentive. I had to flag her down for straws, get my own napkins, and ask for a spoon for the side of applesauce. This was on a Wednesday around 2:30 pm. There were only 3 tables in the section. This wasn't a good experience, and I won't waste money with them again.

My first visit to eat here. We hit the jackpot on time, we arrived at 5:03. They had just opened…read morefor their night shift. My brother had recommended eating here and it was delicious!! Our waiter was super sweet and checked in on us numerous times. The atmosphere was cozy and noise level was pleasing. I will bring my husband to eat here real soon!

Our server was prompt and sweet. The food was really yummy and the restaurant was clean. It was…read moreattached to a really great antique store through a hallway by the restrooms! The hush puppies and cheese appetizer was super yummy! Great portions!

A friend of mine and I went to McAlister's in Laurel recently for lunch and I ordered the choose 2…read morewith the 1/2 Angus club and 1/2 bacon spud. My order finally came about 10 minutes after my friends order was served, she had ordered the exact same except items, however her order came with a whole Angus club instead of the half plus the half spud. I had also ordered tea with lemon and when I glanced at my receipt I noticed it listed "extra lemon" with a price of almost $2.00 plus an added thin dill spear which I did not order at a cost of almost $2.00. The food was good but if I go back I'll have to remember to specify no dill spear or lemon and pocket the almost $4.00 rip off additional items.

Welcoming environment. Friendly and vibrant employees…read moreEverything was clean. The food was fresh and tasty.

Decent place to get pizza at an affordable price. I got the pepperoni pizza and it was made very…read morefast. Friendly service.

Twice now I have ordered the pretzel crust pizza lately and both times not only was it NOT a…read morepretzel crust, it was hardly even cooked! This has been my favorite order for awhile, but it is not at all the same anymore. They are just regular pizza dough now, as if people can't tell the difference. :/ Stay away from this place. Get it from Hattiesburg or Ellisville, they at least don't lie about what they are giving you. And they actually cook their damn pizzas.