Blue Ridge — Restaurant in Asheville

So, if I could give negative stars about the food, I would! Pre-COVID, We’ve had dinner many times at Blue Ridge Restaurant (Omni Grove Park Inn) and it was wonderful. Today (July 3rd 2021) it was horrible! The children section of the buffet had only two choices - tatter tots and mini corndogs! This was completely different than what was advertised on the website (and different from our past experiences). When I asked the wait staff if we could get other choices, she said she’d bring out Mac & Cheese (not exactly what I meant – but okay) and they tried to upcharge us! Can you believe that!

Now for the food – it was terrible pretty much across the board. My older kids tried the beef brisket and I swear on my mother’s life it had a pork and beans (from the can) taste. My older boys couldn’t even eat it! So, we switched to Prime Rib (as it was Saturday night) and unfortunately it was a COLD, low-quality “tough” cut, and under seasoned and very (and I mean very) undercooked. Hey I get the idea of having a fairly pink middle for a good prime rib but this was ridiculous! Every table around us had the same comment – and the garbage must have been full of bleeding prime rib that night. Unfortunately, most didn’t say anything because frankly they were too embarrassed to say something in what is considered to be a fine dining location and restaurant. Another note about the prime – most well-run establishments have a searing station just in case the red is too red, but whoever the chef is (if there is one) should at least know the ends should at least be medium well as it comes out of the oven – which they weren’t!

As we move around the buffet to sample other dishes (fish, chicken, beef, mash potatoes, one veg, etc.) we found bland under-seasoned dishes cooked without pride. I mean how can you under-season cheesy mash potatoes. Desserts turned out to be about the same with easily identifiable mass-produced (Sysco) junk that at this price should have been cooked by a desert chef. I do have to say the Ice cream (by itself) was good, but the Banana Foster was horrible! How can that be? My wife did find a piece of Cheese cake that was edible but that was about it!

Bottom line – the Omni Grove should be embarrassed about the state of the Blue Ridge. Please, let the chef go, hire a descent staff. The manager who was there (and who we’ve known and seen in the past) must know what’s going on and he must be embarrassed. I’d bet money he’s been told to stay quiet because this guy knows his floor and I just can’t believe he’d stand for it if he had a say.

As a strange side note: Some drunk patron (aka diner) kept talking to our waiter and going behind the wait station. He just lingered standing over all the water pitchers and leaning on the counter as if he owned the place. Most wait staff just ignored him and went about their business. It was extremely strange and unsanitary.

In the end we went to Charlotte, NC and had an extremely amazing experience at a well know Brazilian Steakhouse for the same price. Maybe Omni Grove might consider updating the Blue Ridge into something like that – but quality and standards would need to come...

Sadly, what used to be a 5 star experience was changed to 2 stars tonight. The food and service were great, as always, but…

We’ve been coming to Blue Ridge since 2019 for my son’s birthday (always on the same weekend). This year, after paying $150 to eat (before tax and tip), we got the surprise of having to pay $25 to park to eat for 2 hours (didn’t know this until we tried to leave the parking garage). Because we’ve never had to pay, we called for assistance and were told it was their “seasonal parking rate” and that it had always been that way. Knowing it had not, we drove around front to inquire at the front desk. The two gentlemen at the front desk argued with me that it has always been that way and offered no sympathy or concessions, only arguments to which I knew they were incorrect. Seeing that I was getting no where, we left. I called from the car on the way home to speak with a manager and got the same guy I talked to in person who then told me he had made a mistake when we spoke 10 min earlier and found out that the “holiday parking rate” started earlier this year and we, in fact, had not ever been charged $25 for parking. I will add that there was a very small sign, not visible in the dark and no where near the kiosk where you get your parking pass. It is also on the Grove Park website but not on the Blue Ridge section, which is the section we looked at prior to going since we were specifically going to Blue Ridge. Sadly, this added $25 parking fee means we will be making a new birthday tradition for my son. It’s ridiculous to think that someone should have to pay $25 to park after spending over $200 after tax and tip on the meal. In addition, when you don’t display it on your website so someone can be notified before driving an hour and a half to dine with you and you argue with them only to find out you were wrong, you’d think you’d offer a one time courtesy refund. For a few reasons, this will be our last trip to Blue Ridge. I hope earning a $25 parking fee off us was worth the $200 we spend every year just for this event, not to mention the trip we usually make in the spring that we will no longer be making.

I also understand this rule was made by Omni/Grove Park but Blue Ridge should notify their guests of this when they make their reservation since reservations are required or, at a minimum, should make sure it’s visible on their section of...

My company hosted a Saturday brunch at Blue Ridge in Grove Park lnn on 12/29/2018. The hotel was beautifully decorated and guests could stroll around the different areas of the hotel to view the Gingerbread House displays. It's a pity that our group was seated in 2 big rooms NOT in the front where there were lots of vacant tables with gorgeous view of the mountains and golf course. A tray of champagne (Mimosa? - a yellow liquid in fluted glasses) was set up by the entrance to our 2 rooms, the champagne was not replenished when the glasses were gone. Later I found out that you could grab more champagne by the dessert area. Quality of food was very good. I concentrated on the seafood section: shrimp cocktail (two types: 1 plain and the other looked to have some orange spices and pepper on them), oysters on the half shell, snow crab legs, smoked trout, mussels and smoked mackerel. There was an omelette station beside the leg of roast beef where the meat was sliced to order, a station that served eggs benedict , next to it bowls of shrimps and grits were set out, a center station of veggies, sausage, bacon, salad (I didn't pay much attention to this center station) and a small bread station. The dessert section had so much variety and was in its own room. I wished I could sample all those delightful looking desserts but I only had room for a bowl of cherries jubilee which was heavenly. It would have been nice had wet wipes been provided as my hands were quite greasy from eating the crab legs (small cups of liquid butter and crab crackers were on the table, but no cocktail fork or wet wipes). Blue Ridge is a huge dining room but no bathroom, I had to use the bathroom outside Blue Ridge to wash my hands. Service in general was friendly. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. Holiday parking is $20 per car for "self parking" and $25 for valet (1/2 of the parking fees go to local charities) until January 4, 2019. For special occasion dining you can't beat the choices offered by the...