We rarely leave negative reviews; however, this experience was not merely disappointing, but it ended in a way too disturbing to ignore.
We visited this restaurant on a Saturday night to celebrate a special occasion, surprised to find it was nearly empty. Yet our drinks and each of the two food courses took an unusually long time to arrive—we didn’t receive our salad until 30 minutes into our visit, and our steak took another 30 minutes. There was no clear explanation for the delays, and it set the tone for what turned out to be a frustrating visit.
Unfortunately, the food did not make up for the wait. The wedge salad had far too much dressing and an overwhelming dill flavor. The steak was lukewarm and over-salted to the point that it was difficult to eat, and the dollop of mashed potatoes was completely bland—no seasoning, no flavor, just an afterthought on the plate. It honestly felt like very little care went into the preparation.
What made the situation far worse, however, was how our polite feedback was handled (after we left the restaurant!). We did not volunteer our criticism, but when a staff member (not our sever) came to our table and asked about our meal, we decided to be candid. We shared our concerns, calmly and certainly without placing blame on the servers. The young staff member noted that they were indeed short-staffed, that a new cook was on his own for the first time that night, and he also confided that the owner is “cheap” and doesn’t pay the cooks enough. We had a nice laugh with him, thanked him for his candor, and boxed up our barely eaten steak to take home to our pets. We refused a discount when offered by our very polite server, but thanked her for doing her best, and paid the full amount plus a 20% tip. We paid $160 for a salad and a steak (which we shared) and 3 drinks, including tip. We chalked it up to a bad night for this restaurant, which we had enjoyed a few years ago.
Where things took a dark turn was when we arrived at our next destination. We had mentioned to the young staff member that we were pressed for time as we had an engagement at another venue nearby. We mentioned the other venue and the musician scheduled there by name. When we arrived at that venue after dinner, the owner rushed out to greet us and told us Bryan Gillenwater had been “blowing up” their phone with angry texts and a call, threatening to call the police on us. We were stunned. The police??!! We didn’t walk the check or raise our voices when we spoke with the staff. Bryan Gillenwater even took our pictures as we exited his restaurant (unknown to us) and texted them to the owner of the second venue. Apparently, he thought I was the musician scheduled to play that night and must have been trying to get “me” fired as retaliation for daring to criticize his food. That kind of reaction is completely unacceptable, disturbing and deeply unprofessional. But after speaking with a few locals, we learned Bryan Gillenwater's angry outbursts that night were not at all unusual for him.
Between the slow service, poorly prepared food, and hostile response to reasonable feedback, this was the worst dining experiences we’ve had. I would not recommend this place to anyone looking for good food or basic customer respect.
We are still blown away by that horrible experience and obviously will never return.
