This was our third or fourth time here, but first time this summer, and it consistently displays the same strengths and weaknesses. Some of the food is delicious! But some of it is not so great. Since my last time here, the menu has been revamped and I would say not for the better. The service and speed is really the biggest downside. They are always busy when I go, so that is one factor, but the restaurant does not seem well organized.
The fondue was our favorite last summer, but this summer tasted like warm cream cheese, was clumpy, and was served with green beans and peppers (which we found to be a weird combo). Last year the grapes and crisp crackers were great pairings. That dish definitely took a nose dive in quality and presentation. The seafood fettuccine, however, was delicious and is the only reason I would ever consider going back. The salad was also fresh and the dressing was nice, but that's the end of the positive aspects of our experience.
Service was incredibly slow. We put in our reservation notes that we were seeing the play (held right at the winery) afterwards, as were several other parties near us, and it should have been enough time to have dinner before the show. It seems like the restaurant totally didn't think of that as even a possibility because all three tables near us were pressed to try to finish and get to the show. The manager seemed aware that there were intense delays occurring but did absolutely nothing about it. The weirdest past was that the delays didn't seem to be from the kitchen alone, which would have been more understandable. Our waitress had no nearby tables and she never came by except when coming directly to take our order or bring us our drinks, so we couldn't ever get her attention. She came to take our drink order after we sat waiting for 20 minutes, so we ordered everything at once.
Our waitress seemed totally unaware that we had a hard stop at 7:30, as though maybe the hostess and waitresses were not in communication at all. Why have a space to write notes about a reservation if they're going to be completely ignored? We did tell her ourselves once we realized, but the damage was already done and we had only 20 minutes to gobble down our food before the show started, so we really weren't able to enjoy it. The person bringing out food also tried to bring our food to another table and did this for other orders too, as if the tables weren't numbered or they didn't know how to coordinate anything. None of these issues occurred last year when we had dinner several times before a TAM show, so this establishment seems to be going downhill. read more