Goodall's Kitchen — Restaurant in Austin

We had a shockingly appalling experience at Goodall’s Kitchen this past weekend. I called to book because our party was too large to do so through OpenTable. I told them we were coming to celebrate a birthday. Despite two confirmation calls from the restaurant, one of which included reminding them it was a birthday celebration, the service and overall experience were unacceptable.

The dining room was completely empty when we arrived. After taking drink and food orders, our server disappeared leaving us waiting for almost a hour for our food. Curiously, two tables that arrived after us were seated, served, paid, and left before we even got our food. About 45 minutes of waiting, the server finally came out to let us know the food was almost ready. The excuse? They were getting ready for a big wedding…. Mind you, a lot of what we ordered did not even need cooking - a salad (which came out wrong), avocado toast, toast, a biscuit. When hot foods finally made their appearance, they were lukewarm.

Before booking, we specifically asked about a kids menu, as we had children with us. The person on the phone assured us they had one, but our server claimed otherwise, and couldn’t suggest kid-friendly options.

Before we had even finished eating, the bill was dropped on our table without any inquiry if we wanted dessert or coffee.

When we did ask about dessert to celebrate the birthday, the server informed us that they didn’t have any desserts. The Parlor Bar (room across the entrance) menu listed desserts available from 11AM-10PM. The server claimed the bar side didn’t open until 3PM, though there were a number of people sitting there. The restaurant also serves afternoon tea, which offers all manner of cookies, cakes, macarons, etc… They are also a full service hotel with room service with a menu that I’m sure features sweet options.However, they couldn’t find one single sweet treat so we could sing happy birthday to the birthday person.

To top it off, when we expressed our concerns to the “manager”, the response was completely dismissive. The manager showed zero interest in resolving the issues or making the situation right and essentially brushed us off.

Overall, our experience at Goodall’s Kitchen was a complete disappointment. From the lackluster service to the misinformation about menu options, capped off by the unapologetic and dismissive attitude of the manager, I would not recommend this restaurant to...

xRecently attended an event here and I have to say I was beyond impressed!

Located inside the swanky and just gorgeous Hotel Ella (the sculpture garden by the pool is worth a look), this place is definite Austin fine dining in that you get all the quality in the cocktails, food, service, and ambiance without the pretension or pomp and circumstance.

I highly recommend the Old Fashioned here, it is one of the few places that can do it properly and not have to pat themselves on the back or call themselves "mixologists" for doing so. The wine/scotch selection is on par with the menu offerings and at $32/glass, the Highland Park 18yr Scotch is most definitely worth the pricetag!

Their menus are pretty diverse with a surprising number of gluten-free and vegetarian options.

I did a tasting of some of their dishes off the dinner menu and the ahi tuna with avocado was a fantastic appetizer and just perfect to wet the appetite!

The seared scallops with onion honey were a revelation and the red wine glazed prime rib eye (especially when paired with the malbec or cabernet sauvignon) practically melted in my mouth!

However, the Chef's mac n cheese was the highlight! The flavor, the cheese and the bacon...if you share my love and appreciation for MnC, then this is not to be missed!

And finally, the wonderful Nutella creme brulee was such a nice close to such a captivating and delicious meal...the sweet and salty balance was extremely palatable!

I will definitely be back to investigate their other menu offerings and see what they have to offer...

I usually don't post reviews, but with my experience here I felt obligated to this time around.

I've been here a few times for their tea service on the weekends and the service has always been great.

This time around I went with my boyfriend for their valentines day experience, and let me tell you at first I was not very impressed. We had reservations and waited about an hour before we even got our first course of food. There was a massive table that slowed the entire kitchen down due to a shortage in staff. Normally, I would be pretty upset on having to wait that long but Richard our waiter and the entire wait staff made up for it in so many ways! I also understood, the shortage and told them not to worry but they still were so kind.

They constantly checked up on us and apologized for the wait. Even, giving us a complimentary drink as well while we waited. Once our food came out everything followed pretty quickly. My main dish came out a little colder, temperature wise than I would've liked and they apologized again, and made me a new fresh dish to make up for it.

Not only that, but they gave us a complimentary bottle of wine as well to take home, to make up for how long we had to wait for our valentines day dinner.

Overall, I would highly recommend this place. It's such a cute, unique space and the food is soo good and everyone there is absolutely amazing.

Thank you again,...