30Boltwood — Restaurant in Amherst

We planned a summer wedding with 15 guests, just immediate family.

Our ceremony was held at Abbey Chapel in South Hadley MA. We were looking to have dinner after the ceremony and photography. So a 4pm dinner on a Sunday.

My friend and I began at the Chapel, walking in and out of restaurants just to get a feel for the atmosphere, the mood, the vibe and take a peek at menus.

We had spent the evening walking in and out of about 5 restaurants. So many were not open on Sundays or the vibe was just off, or the food was just basic.

I felt discouraged.

We googled one more restaurant for the night before we almost gave up.

I felt like 30Boltwood was the place just from driving up to the location before we walked into the restaurant.

It is located in picturesque Amherst, across from the center green.

There was a moody outdoor fire pit outside, outdoor seating, a rooftop deck....

But best of all a private room perfect for about 15 adults for dinner.

The menu is farm to table and changes based on what is available, it doesn't get much better than that.

It was not too too fancy for our simple wedding but quality food and a beautiful location.

My now, Husband commented that it felt it was homey.

The staff created a 3 course menu for our event specifically, since we were over the normal dinner party size, to use the regular dining menu.

The menu had Gluten Free options and V/Veg options, which is reason we decided on this location, so everyone could find something to enjoy.

There was space between the courses, which helped us to slow down and enjoy the moment more. I didn't feel we were in the way or a burden, the vibe was more like this space is yours. The staff was not rushing us out the door, they wanted us to stay.

We really enjoyed ourselves.

Our reservation was at 4pm on a Sunday in July, and I think we were there about 4 hours.

The room has the vibe of a green house, with one wall and part of the ceiling made out of glass. There were curtains to provide shade in case of sun, so I didn't feel like we would melt or be cooked. The windows looked out onto a deck.

It was a beautiful environment.

The food was so delicious, it felt fancy and special and most importantly fresh. The food was served hot (I have been to weddings where the food was cold...in contrast).

The staff was professional, they were patient with us, as well as kind and thoughtful.

We brought in an outside cake from Auntie Cathy's Kitchen, Agawam MA, so it could be Gluten Free & V. The waitstaff was so thoughtful and asked if we wanted to do a little cake cutting moment. So we did a faux cake cutting for fun. The staff then actually cut the cake and served it to everyone.

This was a detail I had missed and I was thankful for their thoughtfulness in giving us the gentle nudge that this was available to us.

I had dropped off the cake on Friday for safe keeping, I was thrilled that the cake would be in a safe location, and not melt in my car during the ceremony. I felt it was in good hands.

The waitstaff was never "lurking" but they were so observant and gave us space to be a family. They were professionals and clearly had experience and were very knowledgeable, on the menu.

The room was separate from the bar, which was helpful for a member of our party is sober. They had mocktails which makes everyone feel included.

Overall 10/10 for a micro mini wedding experience. It was an easy choice, based solely on a vibe check of walking in and out of restaurants. I had never been there before and I am so glad we made reservations here.

Dietary restrictions: One of the reasons we selected this restaurant was the fact that they had V/Veg and Gluten Free items on the menu to accommodate different restrictions.

Parking: We visited on a Sunday and the sign said Free Parking on Sundays, so our guests parked on the street in front of...

We went for an anniversary. we used open table to reserve and we requested outdoor seating at maybe 2 pm. I added a note requesting for them to tell us if we couldn't eat outdoors. They called about 45 minutes before our reservation (about an hour after they opened again for the afternoon) to let us know that outdoor dining wasn't available. I kept the reservation. We went and they sat is inside, the place was empty. There was a wine room that was near the windows that I asked if we could sit at, since the deck outside seemed to have reservations? So we ate in the wine room, which had good light and it was nice, but it wasn't outside. The entire time we were eating, there were 3 open deck tables right outside the window from us that were empty. In retrospect, maybe those are connected to the hotel? But some of those images were listed under the yelp review for the restaurant. Anyway, they didn't offer the deck tables to us. Which was frustrating. That's kinda the reason we chose this place despite the 3.6 star reviews on yelp. The staff was pleasant, quick, courteous, and they only checked in every 10 minutes or so which was great. We basically ended up having our own room, which was also great. But the food. We were very excited about the baked Brie. And it was EXCELLENT. I loved the honey, the sage and other seasonings on it were awesome, but only about 1/4 of the outside of the brie was actually melted. And they gave us enough bread with round one to tackle maybe 1/3 of the Brie. The staff was great though. we asked for bread twice more and they brought it out each time. The bread had some kind of cinnamon sugar toast thing going on that went VERY well with the sweet and savory Brie. Loved it, despite it being half baked Brie. Ha. We ordered mocktails next, they were great. But the cocktails... One tasted like Soap. Not like a little floral, like Straight up only floral taste, the other was a lemonade-ish type drink that I wasn't a huge fan of, but it was alright. For the main course, we got the eggplant, which was amazing, and the salmon, which wasn't actually fully cooked? for $30/a plate and decent salmon at many restaurants nearby that smoke this salmon (pun intended), this really earns them the 3 star overall for me. That and the outdoor seating we could look at but not touch, and the soap-tail. We also got desert, which was good! But the whole thing coming in at almost $200 for the two of us? I feel confident we could have gotten our money's worth elsewhere. It's too bad, since the building and the (empty) back deck are quite gorgeous. And the college kids working at the place were professional and pleasant. Despite some of the shortcomings of the place, we still had a lovely anniversary, and we went out onto the deck after we finished our meal to enjoy it for a bit. Though next time, we'll probably be...

Updating tonight, another amazing meal -cocktails, bacon wrapped dates, eggplant puree, salmon tartare, all just so uniquely well done. Main courses of the halibut, and the shrimp and lobster, both very special. The entire production goes above and beyond. This review was from last year: Six years later, 30 Boltwood impresses even more. The staff is always incredibly mature and knoweledgable, and this evening the chef went above and beyond. We had bacon wrapped dates, salmon sashimi, and the mussels as starters. Excellent. Even the poutine was well above what we expected. The lamb neck was a complete surprise as even richer and more tender than a shank. And the scallops and plating were amazing. OK, I even have to commend the bartender for just excellent work on standard and new drinks. Thank you so much all of you for a great evening.

We just visited for a family celebration dinner and had a lot of choices for dining outside on their two porches. We chose the back porch next to the "green" roof with flowering plantings. As we ordered, a peregrine falcon landed on the roof above us looking for squirrels. The bar did a great job with the cocktails, the martini was clear and the special cocktail was perfect and not sweet like so many bars do with specials. We had steamed mussels in a leek broth that stood on its own as a great soup followed by entrees of duck, NY strip and lamb shank. All the sauces were perfect accompaniments with something a bit unique about them. And finally the deserts were really well done. I had the homemade chocolate cardamon ice cream with the rest of the family taking the panna cotta paired with an intense blood orange gel. Great service, great hidden gem in Amherst. We've also enjoyed simply taking drinks by the two gas fireplaces...