The Root Restaurant And Bar

We were promptly seated at one of the back booths, we are all spaced out from one another. Bon Jovi's living on a prayer is playing in the background right now. Abby is waiting on us. She's nice, attentive with our drinks and clearing our plates and split our scallops for us too. Guns N' Roses is playing now, knocking on heaven's door. They are clearly rooted in rock at this establishment. The host is diligently cleaning off tables, seats and even the door hatoo. Bowl of mushroom soup, small spinacia salad, small heirloom salad and scallops to split. Eating light since we aren't starving, but have been wanting to try this place out. Why not, since we are nearby. My limeade is rather syrupy sweet, but they tried at least. Asked for a club soda and lime instead. The mushroom bisque is not creamy and was rather underwhelming for me. I have had some fantastic mushrooms soups at Inn Season or at Cafe Muse, this one fell short for me. The mushroom is like a chow, food processed nicely after cooking, some creme fraiche dollop would even make it a bitsmoother and creamier even. Mushroom soup was a 2 for me, wasn't special or what I was expecting at all, especially as a bisque. The spinach salad wasn't bad, dressing was good, Brie slice was nice, almonds gave it a bit of crunch. The tomatoes were not ripe enough. Was a solid 3. The heirloom tomatoes look a bit over ripened to me, as were the watermelon, which shouldn't even be in season yet? The red pepper corns are a nice kick and texture to the salad. If I were to ever get this salad again I would get it with the dressing on the side, it was a bit heavy on the oil, still a decent dressing. Was a 3 for me. The scallops were perfectly cooked, nicely browned, risotto wasn't bad, hints of garlic, nice small slices of asparagus to keep the sizing in sync with the rice. The scallops were a solid 4. The service was quite good.

We've been coming to The Root for a while now and we ALWAYS request Katie S! We love the food and service Katie is excellent timely, personable, and hilarious! I had prime rib on Friday and Tiramisu to follow. Was absolutely perfect. No restaurant in the Lakeland area tops The Root. They are the best in this area! A+ Food, Service, Atmosphere. All around just great.

Absolutely amazing place! Probably only Top **** restaurant around White Lake/Waterford area with exquisite menu . It's not your typical dinner menu, it actually does reflect true meaning of word restaurant. It has a wonderful menu and all meals are made from scratch. Great location, plenty of parking. Clean, friendly staff members. Operational hours posted on the entrance are bit confusing though..... I went there on Thursday afternoon and it wasn't too busy, came in with todler, they were super helpful. Menu wise, great selection of appetizers, and excellent food choices for main course. I was coming to get Ribeye steak but that item has been removed from menu as people not so smart* complained that it was too fatty! Newsflash Ribeye should be fatty,daaaaah instead i got NY Strip, it was really really good, but my heart was set on ribeye..... I wish they would bring that back. Also one of the rearest places on USA, but for sure in waterford that offers great hot tea selection! It's AWESOME! Salute to the owners for that, that alone shows the true understanding of hospitality business. Money wise , you pay for what you get, it's reasonably priced but for sure it will be more than your standard dinner. You pay more for real food that's made from scratch. it's none of that reheated stuff! Will be back for sure.

My husband and I want to thank The Root for a WONDERFUL Valentines Day evening! Each course of our meal was incredibly fresh and delicious! So BRAVO to the chef ! The service and attentiveness was also spot on. This was our third year coming in for Valentines Day and it never disappoints. We are to make it a point to come in to treat ourselves more often!

Great food, unfortunately we always leave hungry. Portion sizes of entrees are extremely small. They do not come with salad or soup, and for the price, you should not leave feeling like you only had an appetizer. We have been customers since they opened, and love to support small local restaurants but, feeling lately like we have been getting less than what we pay for, which is unfortunate.