The Best Cellar — Restaurant in Blowing Rock

Went there recently; have gone periodically since the mid-1980s (old location); several Xmas dinner traditions with 5 to 7 family members at the new location. The experience was always at least a B+, sometimes an A, and friendly. This time the greeter with a sort of sergeant's smile barked out something like "We have a rule that we start only on time; we will notify you when it's time." "Polite" perhaps (or not) but it made me at least feel like I'd already done something wrong to show up ten minutes early (four of us). Not at all the previous experience over decades. Not too promising... The server had an ugly little black thing dangling from her nostril (only when she approached the table from a different angle did I see it had an other-nostril twin as a loopy piercing). I don't want to be served by someone who believes that is a proper way to present herself or the restaurant to the public. The server was under-informed about basic table protocol alas (she was basically likable and she tried but was not up to the job). She would interrupt a food question in order to run out her memorized patter. We ordered Cakebread chard. After 15 minutes I inquired after it. It was being cooled I was told. We should have been informed there was no cold bottle (it's an upscale wine); we'd have ordered another. It finally arrived not yet actually chilled (and we don't like overly-chilled Chardonay). We ordered three kir royaux and they were improperly prepared. The oysters rockefeller were so over cooked as to be cheese-like and utterly tasteless (and didn't taste like oysters). The clams in sauce were so drenched in basil, fennel, etc. that there was zero clam taste left (just the sting of herbal overdose). The unfresh grouper special was tasteless and poorly cooked. The steak was excellent. The green beans were way overcooked, very chewy; the crunchy asparagus was very poorly cooked (close your eyes, pinch your nose, you couldn't tell what it was). The desserts were very good. They had no sweet dessert wine (pushed liqueur instead). The price is quite high and the overall quality of the experience is way down from times past. If you're looking for "fine" dining this is...

4 stars for the food and our attentive waitress; 1 for the lack of management's concern for our horrible seating arrangement for a celebration meal. It was our first visit. The reservation had been made a month in advance. We were looking forward to eating there after all the great reviews. What a disappointment.

We splurged on my birthday meal while we are vacationing in Blowing Rock in September. We’d been wanting to try this restaurant for years and we were looking forward to the elegant atmosphere and the food. It was busy when we arrived. After waiting longer than we should have, we were seated in a less than ideal table, in spite of a table next to it that was tucked away. Since we had reservations, we asked if we could switch to an area with less traffic. We were told no, even though it was my birthday meal. So we had to accept the small table by a swinging door or leave. We decided to stay for the food and enjoy each other's company. That’s when the music started. It seems that the night we went, they were having music on the lawn. No one had mentioned it during the call to make our reservation. We also found out that our table was near the two bathrooms. So we had traffic during our whole dinner from the waitresses delivering food to those eating outside and people coming in and out to the bathrooms. Every time the servers or patrons came and went, a blast of excruciatingly loud music (a large speaker was just outside the door) poured inside. We’d have to stop talking because we couldn't hear each other. We asked again if another table had opened up. No. Take this table or leave it. We did end up talking to the manager again before we left to let him know how disappointed we were. Had we known about the music, we would’ve chosen another place. "Everybody knows," he said. He didn’t care that we weren’t locals and didn't know. He didn’t care that we’d had a disappointing experience that evening. We...

We've been dining at Best Cellar for 30+ years. Until our most recent visit it has consistently been of the highest quality. After last night, I may not be back.

First, their website was out of date. The menu on the site was much different from what was in place when we arrived.

Our server was quite nice, but she had not been well trained. There were 3 rotating selections on their craft beer list. Our server had no idea what rotating selections even meant or what was currently available.

The couple we dined with ordered wine. The first two bottles they chose were unavailable, but it took a long delay each time for our server to realize that.

My wife and I both ordered their scallop dish. After a long delay, our server came back to say they only had one order of scallops left for the evening. Our reservation was at 7:45 p.m., not late in the evening.

I ordered crab cakes. They were of only average size and taste quality despite a hefty price. Worse than that, they were served at only a warm temperature, not hot, probably because of a long delay from the time we ordered until they were served.

The final blow was an upcharge if you chose to use a credit card. A restaurant that holds itself out to be gourmet, already has steep prices, and is in a resort town, should not cheapen itself by adding an even greater charge to use card payment.

Our evening was a disappointment, totally contrary to our previous experience. Unless I find out these problems and policies have been corrected, I...