**Note this is the second part of a three part review of this facility and its amenities. For clarity, we did not stay at the Holiday Inn portion of the facility. Part I covers the Robert's Convention Center and Part III cover the Post-Trip bar which can be found in the Ralph's American Grill Restaurant within the facility building. So, I hate to give negative reviews, so I'm hoping this is just a bad day, err... weekend, for them. However, this restaurant left a lot to be desired. If you are in "town" for a convention, meeting or whatever, I strongly suggest steering clear and heading a few exits north. Trust me, in the time it takes you to get a couple of exits north and back, you will have a fuller, happier belly and still make it back before your table is ready here. The primary challenge is staffing, as in, they have very little. This one business enterprise, err, building thrives solely on conventions, group events and meetings. If you take a moment to look around this exit (I-71 exit 50 Xenia) there is literally nothing else here. (OK, so the R+L trucking headquarters doesn't count because I a, pretty sure you didn't drive all the way here to soak in its ambiance and history.) Keeping that in mind, when you have a large group event coming to town, you may want to prep a bit better, as in hire enough staff to make sure your amenities will accommodate the crowd. On this particular weekend, there was a large dance competition and a crafter's event going on, and at lunchtime the restaurant had two servers, a hostess and a brand new guy on his first day behind the bar... ever. Our group of six was told it would be a 45 minute wait (so I snuck over to the bar) and the rest of the group retreated back to the convention center to await the text message letting us know our table was ready. Curiously, not ten minutes later, another party of 6 arrived and were immediately seated (they didn't get a text, just walked in). The other bartender (not the poor FNG) was handling wait staff for the entire front of the restaurant (20+ tables) and trying to fill drink orders simultaneously. Look, I understand staffing issues- lots of places have staffing issues, but it's not like a bus full of 600 tourists showed up unexpected- you booked this event months in advance. Major management fail. If you didn't decide to go ahead and order the all-you-eat salad bar in the back, you weren't going to get fed for hours, or at least not predictably so. A small group bellied up to the bar and ordered to-go food in a matter of minutes, while a 6-top that was 8 feet from the bar didn't get their orders taken for nearly an hour. An absolute disorganized mess, which sums up the theme for pretty much the entire "convention centre." (See the other parts of the review for this site.) On the positive side, the menu looks delicious, but after two days of being here, I couldn't tell you what it tasted like, because I either never got a table or never got waited on. Recommendation: Keep On Truckin' to another exit. read more

I went to Ralph's with my father-in-law and his buddy. When we received our burgers, my father-in-law's friend picked up the burger and had his hands all over it and told the server that it wasn't his burger. I picked up the burger in front of me and saw that it wasn't my burger. The server said "all you have to do is switch the plates. Gross. Gross. Gross. I talked to the manager, and she did NOTHING for us. Dirty, nasty little lace with bad management. Avoid!!! Unless you don't care about cleanliness and sanitation and food handling standards. read more

It was Ok, nothing special. I had the fish and chips (fries). The breading on the fish was good. The person next to me said that their burger fries and veggies were cold... read more

Ralph's American Grill - Fish & Chips - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Wilmington, Ohio

Greeted at door and seated immediately for lunch. Coke products. Fresh brewed ice tea. Served in nice stemware. The food is excellent. Prepared to order. Teamwork. Food delivered hot by whomever can carry. My husband thought the cheesesteak was perfect. My cheeseburger is perfect. Fries cooked crispy as requested. Restaurant is located inside the Holiday Inn. Everything is clean. Restrooms are very clean with nice handsoap. I am stuffed. No room for dessert.....hopefully next time. The managers are great. Two stopped by to inquire about our food. Definitely recommend this restaurant. I am coming back for dinner. Pricing is in line with others. Reasonable for what you order. Morgan was our server. Very polite and attentive. She was also pleasant. And she made the very best sweet tea. read more

See all

We ordered the lug nut tater tots as an appetizer and they were the size of semi truck lugs which I thought was pretty cool. For my meal I ordered Ralph's melt and at first I thought it was over cooked but as I started eating it the meat was cooked perfectly. The general atmosphere was really nice and it was great seeing the nascar memorabilia. I would definitely visit again. read more

My family and my friends family were going Buc-Ees and we stoped here for dinner the waitress was very friendly and she is great at her job the food was also delicious if we ever travel this way again we will stop here again read more

my husband and I were on our way to Bellevue, Kentucky. We decided to stop for dinner. Laura was our waitress. She was very nice. Service was great. However, the fries came out lukewarm. When we asked her if we could have hot fries, they brought us hot fries out within a few minutes. I had the hotdog and had cheese, grilled onions, chili, and jalapeños. I was charged $1.95 extra a piece for those.. so, my hotdog ended up costing me nearly $16. Not worth it! I definitely had very little cheese & very little chili. Nowhere near $1.95 worth for any of those ingredients. My husband had a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. It was OK but pretty small. It was bigger than a slider, but nowhere near the size of a burger. I don't think we will stop at this place again. read more

Salad bar was great. Really good choices, plus two soup choices, both very good. Also two dessert choices on salad bar. Atmosphere was really nice, back ground music pleasant and we were able to talk in a normal voice volume (which is rare). Lighting pleasant , roomy booths, clean, interesting and historical decor. Restrooms spotless. Tyler, the manager, greeted us and shared some history about the founder. Tyler was quite hospitable and seemed proud of his place of employment. Our server was Kryss, who was friendly & accommodating, and simply put;she was kind. So glad we stopped here for lunch on our way to Cleveland Clinic. It's one of a kind. Thanks Tyler& Kryss. read more

See all

They're broccoli is called broccolini. Not good first night couldn't cut with a butter knife ask for a steak knife still couldn't cut it when I did finally get a piece to eat it was still hard to chew. Third night we went there I had broccoli again and it was ice cold like came out of the refrigerator mashed potatoes were burning hot salmon with burning hot. They need to go back to broccoli and not cook the food so hot. Rating is a one on the broccolini star rating on the other two three too hot when it was served. read more

so bad. waited 30 minutes for our food and it came out very cold. everything was very dry. pasta had very cheap sweet sauce. we only got refills as we were handed the check. we had to ask our server for napkins,refills and the check. will not be back read more

we had two steak dinners. the steaks were overcooked, the baked potatoes were still hard and the asparagus was tough and stringy. we probably won't return. read more

Could not get anyone's attention. Horrible service. the first waiter, who I asked "where do I sit?", pointed at the empty hostess station and said "talk to the hostess". Once seated, I noticed that the second waiter made eye contact twice, but then apparently ignored me because it was either not his turn or I was not in his zone. I gave the hostess a chance to retrieve my designated order taking dude, but after 3 minutes of him bit showing, I gave up. this seems like a lot if customer-ignoring hoops to jump through for a meal when there are only 8 people in the restaurant. So I left and went to the next place on the list - Sonic. I wish I had read reviews from the last couple of weeks before wasting 20 minutes here. read more

Service we received was great. The food is sub par. Not great and not bad. Its a little bland for my liking. Its a little to pricey for okay food in my opinion. Charging high prices in an area that has nothing else so no competition allows them to do that. This place is attached to a hotel. Live music on weekends. The entertainment for our night was not good. But I don't think you can blame the restaurant for that. They don't appear to be very busy so maybe thats why? read more

See all

I was not impressed!! The hamburger was very bland and the fries was cold!! Never again!! The waitress was very nice but when we complained that the fries were cold she just never came back. There was a good amount of food but like I said not good at all. read more

This place was awesome! Best dinner I've had in this part of Ohio! Excellent prime rib, good service, couldn't ask for anything better!

Arrived on a Friday night and this place was hopping. Met by friendly host who took our name down and quoted a 30 minute wait. Headed to the bar to grab a drink while we were waiting. I didn't catch the bartenders name who served us but he was nice friendly and helpful. After grabbing a drink we checked out all the decor & that 30 minutes flew by. Got sat in a booth in a corner and had a friendly and fun server, Victoria. We ordered the wings as a appetizer, the Mac & cheese, beer cheese burger, and the seafood buffet. Dev at the sea buffet was working hard! He did a great job. All of the food was great! Mac and cheese was full of flavor. Really no complaints at all with the food. We'll be back! read more

Ralph's American Grill - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Wilmington, Ohio

Not a large menu and limited options. The fish was good, plenty of fries. Coleslaw was excellent. Mostly average food with higher than average pricing. Service was poor, slow, and felt ignored with only a half dozen customers in the place. Nicely decorated and clean. read more

Great food and service! The Roadhouse salad was great with their house made ranch! Also got the Nashville chicken and it was great! Will be back! read more

Great lunch salad bar! I'm a travelling salesman and have seen Ralph's from the highway many times and never stopped. Glad I did today. I opted for the soup and salad bar- great homemade soup (I had tomato Basil- but the chili looked great too) plus a salad bar with ham salad, chicken salad, cottage cheese and huge chucks of ham, chicken and Turkey to make a killer salad. Really good, quick lunch with great service. Dessert too! read more

The food is not that great, and their sides are awful. I think they need a new manager and get more stuff on the menu that is a lot better tasting food. read more

Half way between Cincy/Columbus. Nice atmosphere for being out in the country. Located in the parking lot of I71 near the Roberts Conf center. Food was a bit slow to come out. Ordered a hot dog and fries for lunch. Will go back for sure. read more

Fish was not that good but the pretzels and tater tot things were good. The staff gave us refills and came to check on us. The seats were uncomfortable but I can see why because it's made out of hard materials and the building is very nice. Overall this was a great experience and I would gladly come again. They also have free crosses at the front. read more

We dined at Ralph's American Grill Tonight. We took some family there for a Christmas celebration. We had the prime rib buffet. We were so excited to visit Ralphs for the first time. The food on the buffet was adequate at best. The prime rib was under seasoned and tough to chew. The service was poor. It seems as if there wasn't enough staff to service the tables. When the drink order was finally taken it took 45 minutes to get my draft beer with an orange slice. The beer was served in a bottle with a lime stuck in it and the beer was lukewarm. I left a $5 beer sitting on the table. We have families and friends that want to go there for dinner. Unfortunately we will not be giving a positive review. read more

Burger was bland French fries were not warm. Meals were just not great. Service was ok.

First time since the closed Max & Ermas and reopened as Ralph's. Had fish and chips and west coast Rueben. Both really good! Will definitely stop again. read more

All-U-can-eat Prime Rib on Saturday is a decent deal at $29.99 but be advised it's a cheaper cut, kinda tough, even the rarest section.

It was a great experience. Saw the sign and went for breakfast. Service was great, even with one server until help arrived. Food was good although not quite up to temp off the buffet. They have breakfast buffets on weekends and dinner buffets on Friday and Saturday night. We had breakfast. Decor is awesome. Owned by one of the largest corporations in Ohio. Glad they renovated this to their own brand. Hopefully the entire mall can be revitalized. read more

I hate to give this review, I will though. After a long day of driving we made had reservations at the Holiday Inn in Wilmington Ohio. A beautiful hotel with what looked a great bar/restaurant. Perfect I thought. After being seated I asked for a hard seltzer black cherry in flavor. The young boy waiting on us said he would check to see if they had it. No I then asked Peach crown in their FULL BAR. He checks , No they don't have that. My husband points out that it says they have hard seltzer on the menu. I settled on a Angry Orchard. I'll shorten this up there is A LOT. After 3 gentlemen spoke to us and 30 minutes I still did not have a drink. Our flat bread showed up and still no Angry Orchard and a manager said he had to run over to another cooler to see if they had it! Are you kidding me we asked for our bill. Never touched the flat bread and my husband's ice tea one sip gone. We paid for our bill took down all the names of the people we talked to. Also had to wait while they took the Angry orchard off our bill. So what I thought was a good thing SUCKED . I left with a headache and our night ruined. read more

Ralph's American Grill - The menu - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Wilmington, Ohio

See all

Very cool decor and very clean. We went on a Sunday afternoon and as large as the place is, and there were other parties in the restaurant, it was not very noisy. Service was very good. Unfortunately the food was just okay. A few of us got the buffet bar. Cold food was very fresh. The warm items were okay. Just not very hot. Pastries were dry. One of our party ordered a pasta dish. The shrimp topping the dish were hot but the underlying pasta was cold. The burger was good and the bbq Mac and cheese pasty. It's a very nice place. Newly redecorated and bright. The food was just okay is the reason for 3 stars. read more

Good service , the food was outstanding! I had the ribs and they were fall off the bone delicious, with homemade style coleslaw & the fires were seasoned perfectly, the wife had the fish & chips with the coleslaw & fries They have a well rounded menu and on Saturday night have a prime rib buffet, very tastefully decorated with some really cool display items . Well worth the trip out to Robert's Center in Wilmington read more

The food, service and atmosphere are all top notch. Their special event buffets are truly fantastic - especially enjoyed the NYE one. We've been several times and have always had a great experience. read more

Great place relaxing atmosphere, The food was very good my wife and I shared the full rack of ribs. Service was very prompt, The staff was very courteous and helpful. We will definitely be back. read more

Fries were excellent. Hamburger was awful. Never going back. Staff was friendly. Bathroom was clean. Felt ill after eating hamburger. Really overpriced. read more

So disappointed in this place. Despite the glowing reviews, this place did not measure up. Service was slow despite one other couple in the place. My Mac and cheese lacked cheese flavor, fried pickles on top were cold and chewy, and the Nashville hot chicken breast I added on top was so greasy. Dripping with grease. Maybe it had re-fried to heat up? Didn't finished and later tossed the take away portion cause there was no redeeming it. My spouse's burger was just ok- putting aioli sauce on a party does -Not Make It A Signature Burger- hardly worth the price tag here. The whole trucker- trucking industry theme was a joke- this is a hotel restaurant. Not a destination. Enough said.. read more

Great food. Live music the Friday we were here. Service was awesome. Highly recommend.

Ralph's is a great place to stop, fun to look around at all the memorabilia. Service & food were fantastic, shout out to Kelly, she took great care of us. read more

food tastes great! service was so fun and waitress was amazing!!!! got the pulled pork Mac omg the best! read more

After reading the previous reviews I was skeptical about this place. HOWEVER!!!! This place is complete DELICIOUSNESS!!!! I'm not sure what was here before now, but in talking to the great staff, I was told Ralph's American Grill has only been here since November 2022 so reviews prior to then should be disregarded! The restaurant is casual with an industrial-garage vibe tipping the hat to the local trucking industry. (If you've ever been to a Ford's Garage to eat, it's a similar fun vibe!) On Friday and Saturday's they have a buffet. Being today is dinner time on a Friday, we had the Italian buffet with a made to order pasta bar, ice cold salad bar, soup, breads, and 3 desserts, with a drink included. On Saturdays they have a prime rib buffet. There were a couple tables around us that ordered off the menu and ALL of them gave nothing but excellent reviews. One couple ordered a slice of carrot cake for dessert and it was so big that they took home 1/2 of it after eating as much as they could! Definitely recommend 10/10!!!!! Go! read more

Keep driving. Very slow. Ordered a Corona and mimosa. Got the beer and 20 minutes later got the mimosa. Decided to leave

$61 pre tip for short ribs dinner, burger, pretzel sticks, water and lemonade. Unfortunately the short ribs dinner only had one short rib but plenty of carrots and celery for a side. Waitress was nice, didn't get mushrooms added to the burger though. As for the burger it was dry and well done. Place is clean and good atmosphere. Waitress also stated that they are revamping liquor menu since they are often out of drinks. Moral of the story, over priced for what we received. Will likely not be back which is unfortunate because not many restaurants are in this area. read more