Chef's Table at Sorrento's — Restaurant in Banner Elk

I talked to the daytime general manager 3 times leading up to the actual dinner. All 3 times I was not very confident in our conversation based on how disconnected he seemed to be. The first time we spoke he started talking to someone else which was rude. Ask to put me on hold so I don't have to hear your conversation next time please. The second call was to add 2 more people to the reservation for a totoal of 17. The 3rd call was the day before dinner to confirm the dinner for 17. Upon arrival we were told the table was set for 12. The hostess showed me the reservation. Yes, it was in writing a party of 17 but there was a note to set the table for 12. Not sure where 12 came from as there was always more than 12 in our party. It took time to reset the table to fit 17. We were seated in a corner section of the restaurant which was very nice. A gentleman singing brought excitement to dining. Service was a little slow. Then, what seemed like 30-40 minutes after ordering dinner, we were informed that they were out of filet mignons and chilean sea bass which half of our party ordered. Are you kidding me? It took you seriously way too long to let us know. Who does the food ordering there? You didn't know that when we ordered or soon after the order was put in the system. Your restaurant was full because it was one of the busiest weekends of the season. How did you not plan properly for food quantities? I've never experienced this nonsense. It's one thing to run out of an item or two. Yes I get that but don't tell us 30-40 minutes after we order!! So half of us had to order again. When the food finally arrived it was really good which was suprising actually since nothing else seemed to be going right there. But my husband and I never got our food and it was my birthday party by the way. Our food finally arrived after telling them we never got served but we weren't hungry because we ate other's leftovers by this point. So they packaged our meals to go. We ended the meal with a wonderful birthday dessert though some of the party had left because we were they way too long. The final bill for 17 people was less than $300 because all food was 1/2 priced after the debacle. I think the desserts were thrown in. Dinner reservation was for 7:30. We didn't leave the restaurant until 10:30. It should not have taken 3 hours!!!! Then to boot, we got home tonight to heat up our leftovers and my husband's pork chop was basically raw. The server was tipped very nicely. She did her best being the messenger in a situation that upset many of us. It was not her fault. But what a mess. I'm still baffled. I appreciate management working with us but they lost a lot of money. I don't recommend Chef's Table for a...

I definitely would not recommend this place during the global pandemic that we are currently in. The host that sat us did not have a mask on at all and was extremely rude. They tried to seat us directly behind another couple where one of us would have literally been inches away from them. Then when we asked to sit somewhere else, they tried to put us at a table that would have been like 2 feet away from a party of 6 people. Current NC regulations require people to be seated at least 6 feet apart in a restaurant. We asked them why aren't they following this regulation and they say that most people don't mind and so they just continue to sit people close to each other. Seeing there are so few restaurants in Banner Elk, we really didn't have the option to leave to go elsewhere at this point. We were finally able to get a table that was properly spaced out from other people. While looking over the menu, we notice 3-4 other employees in the restaurant with no masks on at all, a person from the kitchen come out to get something from the bar with no mask on, and other servers wearing their masks under their nose which makes it useless. There is also a singer that is walking around the restaurant within inches of the customers while singing with no mask on. We spoke to the manager about all this and he apologized for the people not wearing the masks. He also goes on to say that it's not an issue for the kitchen staff to be without a mask because he has seen it can't spread through food. The person I was dining with is an infectious disease researcher and had to correct him on this matter. It more than likely will not spread through hot food, but it can definitely spread through cold food. The manager wanted to argue about this, and it was like we were in the twilight zone. We live in a different city in NC where restaurants are really good at following the current regulations, so it was very strange to just be in a different city in NC and it seem like only 20% (or less) of the state mandated regulations were being followed. For this to be a red county for the number of positive cases, you would think they would be taking this a lot...

When I made the reservation, I requested the back room at the Chefs Table. It was a birthday party and a few people in the group don’t hear well. (We came the previous year as part of our annual family reunion and had a fabulous experience). This back room really helps with noise and birthday celebrations. We aren’t a noisy group. We were all very dressed up and when you buy expensive food and wine with a few gifts exchanged, the extra privacy was nice. I called twice to confirm and both times the Chefs Table confirmed. So we were shocked when we arrived and another party had taken the back room. They were holding menus so obviously weren’t going to be leaving soon. My husband went back to the maitre d and we were seated in a fairly private room downstairs but clearly not as nice as the room in the Chefs Table. And then it just went down hill. Probably because the servers down stairs weren’t expecting us. We got menus but it took almost 30 minutes to even get a drink order. One of the managers then caught on and the service greatly improved. It was part of my birthday celebration and I was seconds from walking out. Dominoes pizza and wine at home was starting to feel better. The food was mostly very good except for tough pork chops. However, we were all very disappointed that the evening didn’t turn out as planned. And seriously doubt that we will return next year for a special...