Applewood

11/24/09

Always a great meal....always.

by Lady Bug4 at Citysearch

I love their cocktail list! They infuse their own liquors and design some really unique cocktails. They seem to change seasonally. Cool. I have to come in at least 4 times a year...probably more. The food is always very thoughtful and fresh market driven. I always get a great meal and leave full. The food tastes so fresh and healthy. Service is professional and yet casual. If my meal and drinks were a little more affordable, I would eat there much more often.

• Pros: Best local cocktail list...unique, interesting, tasty.
• Cons: A tad expensive.

11/06/09

Terrible Customer Service

by sk09 at Citysearch

I tried to make a reservation for a group of 12 people for brunch here for my husband's birthday. When I called, the manager said they don't usually take reservations for brunch, and they couldn't take us at 11am, but they could take us at 10am (when they first open). I called everyone in my group, rearranged all our plans, and called back the next day, only to be told that the manager had "talked to the owner," and they could not accommodate us after all.

I'm a food editor and a former waitress, and I know large parties can be harder for restaurants to handle. But I always tip extremely well because I know this. And I'm appalled at the idea of a restaurant simply refusing to accept someone's business because they don't want to deal with a large party. This is just bad business, and sends a message that they don't care about their clientele. I've been to this restaurant before, and they definitely have the space to seat 12 people.

The food here is quite good, but there are other places with equally good food that understand how to treat their customers.

• Pros: food is good
• Cons: terrible attitude toward their customers

02/08/09

Keep Walking...

by justrobnj at Citysearch

My fiancee and I had Sunday brunch here recently. We were attracted by the menu and the crowds outside. Little did we know that this was due to the problems with seating. We arrived at 12:10 pm and told it would be half an hour. At 12:45, we were told we would be seated shortly. We were finally seated at 1:10. An honest answer up front would have gone a long way.

The restaurant itself was pretty and well decorated. However, once seated, it took nearly ten minutes for anyone to come to get our drink order. Fortunately, we already knew what we wanted to eat and placed our order then. It took fifteen minutes for our drinks to arrive, and at least forty-five minutes for our meals (omelet w/ fruit, omelet w/ veal hash, bacon & sausage). This was rather ironic, since there were at least five people working the kitchen, which was one cook for every two tables.

The meal itself was mixed. The applewood bacon and maple fennel sausage were good, as was the orange bellini. It's tough to mess up scrambled eggs. The biscuit was decent, but nothing to write home about. The grits were good, but >very< buttery. The veal hash would have been decent, had it not been burned in the pan. There were several burn pieces and the dish was overwhelmed a burnt taste. Poor showing.

Service continued to be incredibly slow. Our water was filled once over an hour after we were seated, despite the fact that I drank my water in the first fifteen minutes. No one asked whether we wanted another round of drinks until we were ready to leave.

Adding insult to injury was the tab, which came to $50 for two. Far too much for so little. As for our server, there was a reason you only got a $6 tip.

• Pros: Sausage & Bacon
• Cons: Poor service and slow kitchen