The Pioneer Mill of Tiffin

Delicious food. I had the perch dinner and it was delicious. The service was very good as well. I would definitely go back the next time I’m in the area.

This place is garbage and I’m shocked its doors are still open.
They have $ 40 prime rib on the menu but the hamburger tastes like it is a 30% fat Frozen JTM brand burger.
The iced tea is rancid from not washing the containers and keeping the tea too long. The waitress will gladly make new tea for you in the same dirty container! But only after she exclaims «I just made a fresh batch… YESTERDAY!» Bless her heart, she didn’t know that «fresh» and «yesterday» don’t go together. Obviously iced tea quality is a sticking point with me, if you can’t tell.
But so is overall food quality, which this place is severely lacking.
Please don’t go there is my recommendation.

I’ve been going to «The Mill» since I was in high school. Then, on dates and now when I’m in town with family. Before I ventured outside of T-​town, I thought the food was okay; however, having been exposed to the culinary world outside of Tiffin, my thoughts on food quality have changed. If you’re from the area and have dined outside city limits, then you get what I’m putting down…
The atmosphere at Pioneer Mill is homey and they are able to accommodate big parties, which is a plus. Tinker’s Dam (the downstairs portion of the restaurant) has a laid back vibe. The food, however, leaves something to be desired. I found my steak entrée rather tough and tasteless. The vegetables (squash, zucchini and one tiny piece of broccoli) were not completely cooked and the mashed potatoes tasted instant. While they do have a nice selection of bottled wine, they charge a $ 10 corking fee, which is absurd, especially since many higher-​end restaurants in bigger cities do not charge a corking fee. Not sure what PM is trying to prove by having this policy…
This place would probably have more success if they upped their culinary game.

This was the worst restaurant I have ever been to. Salad bar was disgusting, leaves rotten, nothing fresh, dressing gross. Served diner rolls that were doughy and raw not fully baked. For main course (2 of us) had salmon. The salmon was not cooked, it was raw. I almost got sick when I saw this. The baked potato was cold. The sweet potato mashed tasted like it was from a Gerber baby food jar. This is a huge restaurant and we were the only ones there. Now we know why. This doesn’t deserve 1 star, should be zero stars. Please don’t go near this place. You’ll save yourself a lot of pain and suffering. Absolutely horrible.

Do not go here if you have tickets to the Ritz!!! Hostess took the couple before us to a table and must have taken a smoke break because it was 5 minutes before we saw her again.
It was 5 – 10 minutes before a waitress came over to our table; 15 minutes before we received this big basket of two little biscuits.
At 6:45 the waitress said it would be just a few minutes. At 7:10 she said it would be a few minutes. I then told her that we were leaving at 7:15 if food was not there. 7:15, food arrived, we ate the meat, boxed the potatoes and the smallest serving of vegetables that I have ever seen and we left.
Three Dog Night was awesome… great venue to see concerts. We have season passes but will be eating in Maumee before heading towards Tiffin.
Over priced but food was good. We will never go back.

The location and building itself are pretty neat. When we arrived for dinner the hostess asked us multiple times if we had reservations which was kind of strange since no one else was there.
I had the soup and salad bar. The Italian meatball soup tasted like watered down spaghettios. The salad itself also left much to be desired. The rest of my family was not impressed with their meals either. It’s Tiffin though so what can you do…

I have to agree with Charles F. This place is amazing… to look at.
It’s in a beautiful location and would be a wonderful place to take out of town guests IF they could be counted on to be more consistent. The food is terribly overpriced for what it is. It’s good but not excellent to justify the high price tag.
The first time I went was before I moved to Tiffin. My fiancée was trying to show me a nice time. We went in on a Friday night and there were very few people inside for dinner. I fell in love with the restaurant itself but my love quickly dissipated as we sat and sat and sat and sat waiting for someone to come and wait on us. There was a restaurant full of employees yet no one could come help us. Finally my fiancée had to ask someone to be sent out to wait on us. We finally ordered after a looong time of waiting. My fiancée has a dish that was supposed to come with bacon wrapped scallops. After waiting for what seemed like forever, when we should have had our food we were told there were no scallops, but the rest of the food was done. They asked if they could sub shrimp instead. but 3 shrimp are way cheaper than 3 scallops so my fiancée asked if they could bacon wrap the shrimp. They acted like this was a big problem and had to check with a bunch of people to see if it could be done. It was a little ridiculous. When they finally brought out the food it was kind of cold (as it was probably done when they initially came out to tell us they had no scallops and then just sat).
The waitress we had was pretty awful. Very unprofessional. Took forever getting refills on drinks and food was brought out with no silverware at the table so we had to sit and wait again for her to come back so we could get silverware. It was as if the employees were so into doing «side work» that they couldn’t wait on the few customers they had. The place should have been packed on a Friday night. It says a lot when you have an empty parking lot.
About a year or so later we tried to give it another chance. My fiancée took us there for Valentine’s Day, but said to go downstairs in the basement to Tinker’s Dam. He thought it’d be a better experience and he was correct. It was busier than our first trip together. They had specials but no prices on the special menu so you have to ask the price of each item which kind of puts you on the spot to make a decision. My fiancée got a steak that was $ 25 and he wasn’t too impressed. I got the chicken cordon bleu which was good but not amazing for the price. The fried mozzarella was GREAT! Not normal sticks but was in triangles. Very tasty! We DID have a nice time though and had an older waitress who was very nice and a lot more professional than our first younger waitress.
For the price of the restaurant the food quality needs to be upped a little or prices need to come down and the help could be a little better as well.
We will try it again but only for special occasions.

Sorry, but this is a mixed bag and could be a lot better. Let me start with the positives and then I will offer some cautions. My review here is based on several visits over the past 18 months, for both inside and outside service. This location is touted as a ‘premier’ location in town, but visitors should be aware of the strengths and very real weaknesses.
The location is beautiful and the mill building itself is interesting — it is a visual good time. If you go in nice weather, sitting out on the deck is a really great way to relax and enjoy the weather and the view of the river. Definitely worth stopping on a summer or autumn afternoon for a drink or two outside! Count the building, the deck, and the deck bar as good things!
Moving inside and looking over the dining experience — well, this has been consistently bad for me. Dinners are over-​priced. The food quality is average and comes from standard distributors. Cooking is inconsistent and the wait-​staff is not trained to be as professional as the prices indicate. If you are going to pay $ 28 for a steak entrée, then the service and food quality need to come up to this level. As horrible as it sounds, my experience is the food here is on par with the steak-​joints like Ponderosa.
There is a wine list and it is modest and caters to those trying to avoid sticker shock. I am not sure if they offer a corking service. The bar service is competent but lacks a true «top shelf» pour.
This restaurant is another that is tough to review… within the small town it is a nice place and a local «fancy place» to go for a night out. But compared to other places in other cities, they need to either drop prices or increase quality and service. The setting and building are too nice to squander on mediocre food and unprofessional service… maybe over time things will improve. But for now, enjoy the patio on a nice day and explore the menu with caution.