The Gathering Table — Local services in Solvang

The food is exceptional. The atmosphere and decor are sophisticated. However, the level of service is inconsistent. The hostess gave us a friendly greeting and, after a short wait, seated us. Another young lady got us our drinks and served us water immediately and introduced herself. It's too bad she wasn't our server. Kudos to these two ladies. Our server, Tiffany M, on the other hand, was inattententive and not conscientious when it came to helping us. We waited 20 minutes before she took our order in a half empty restaurant as I watched other patron getting seated after us and giving their orders to their servers. I genuinely started to suffer from server envy, being jealous of other patrons who were receiving good service from their waiting staff member. Even simply getting coffee was a chore for Tiffany M. Once we finally received our coffee, it took three minutes to get creamer, another minute after this to get sugar, and a couple minutes more just to get a spoon to stir the coffee. Who piece meals service like this? I had to complain to the restaurant manager on duty, who ensured we got our food promptly. The manager told me that our food is complimentary due to the bad experience, which I appreciate the offer. Yet, I promptly told the manager that I wasn't looking for a complimentary meal and insisted on paying for our meal, which we did. On a brighter note, their breakfast potatoes are some of the best I ever had. The pancakes were delicious. I found 99% of staff friendly, professional, personable, and proactive. Unfortunately, a team is only as strong as their weakest link. At least, Tiffany M made more of an effort after I complained to her manager. Thank you to the restaurant manager for correcting the issue. Thank you to both the hostess and to the lady who served our water for being bright spots in an otherwise rough...

If I could give zero stars, I would. Our experience at Gathering Table was, without exaggeration, one of the worst we’ve ever had—and that's saying something, considering we’ve given this place three chances to get it right.

During our second visit, it took two hours to receive our entrees. Even then, none of the dishes came out at the same time, so we were left awkwardly eating at different intervals. To their credit, they comped that meal and asked us to give them another shot. Foolishly, we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

After waiting two months, we finally decided to give Gathering Table another try. But as soon as we arrived, it was déjà vu of their incompetence. Despite making a reservation, we were told upon check-in that a "system error" had reserved us a table outside—which was absolutely not what we wanted or had selected when making the online reservation. No effort was made to fix their mistake, leaving us with the only option of leaving and figuring out a new plan on a Friday evening.

If this is how they handle repeat customers they’ve already disappointed, I can only imagine how they treat new guests. From the disorganized service to the utter disregard for customer satisfaction, it’s clear that Gathering Table is not interested in providing even the most basic dining experience.

We’ve given them more than enough chances, but never again. Save your time, money, and patience—there are far better places to spend your evening than this disaster of...

STEER AWAY. We had ordered a couple of main dishes, alongside appetizers, one of which was the chawan-mushi. We had waited roughly 40 minutes for the main dishes to come, during which many waitresses had accidentally brought over the wrong dishes. After finishing the main dishes, the waitress told us that the chawan-mushi (our appetizer) was coming, and that they forgot to put the order in initially. The server told us directly, "I didn't say it's your fault" in a very condescending manner, without any single apology for waiting more than an hour at that point for our appetizer.

We asked if it was possible to not eat it anymore, as we had already waited an hour at this point. After asking this, the waitress told us that this was not possible, and that we had to still eat the dish. They then asked us again if it's possible that we pack it up, even though the restaurant had made the mistake. We thought that as customers, for waiting over an hour for the dish, they would have at least apologized but this was not the case at all.

Besides this, there seemed to be so much mistake happening in the background, with a family seated next to us, waiting for their steak for longer than expected. In the meantime, many dishes were mistakenly taken to others' and our table even though they were not our food.

This place is a hot mess -- steer away. Terrible service. Come here if you want to wait an hour + for your dishes to come - not a great date spot, or a place to come with friends...