Twigs — Restaurant in Blowing Rock

Very mixed review, so please bear with me. ALL of the staff were incredibly polite, kind, & professional; however, our server was exceptionally inexperienced, & that most definitely detracted from our overall 'fine dining' experience. He couldn't remember to keep our water refilled on his own, & my BF drinks water like a fish, so after being reminded to refill it once, I had my BF drink my water until we could remind our server to refill it again. The appetizers were beyond delectable, we had the caprése salad & the flash fried oysters & wow! Incredible 😍 I had to request a bread basket, as I noticed our server bringing those to tables with their entrées, & I preferred to have my bread prior to the appetizers arriving or w/ them (standard order). I ordered a Twigs Coffee & my server brought it with the same care I imagine Queen Elizabeth's High Tea is served, he gets 5 🌟 for taking such care (& the coffee was rich, creamy, warming, & perfect on a freezing cold, windy night). I ordered the ribeye Special, & my BF ordered the venison chops; we both ordered Medium Rare. His meal was amazing, absolutely gorgeous & cooked to perfection. My steak was well done in places, medium in others, & mid-rare in the very center only. My ribeye itself was a terrible cut of meat, & I've chosen better at the grocery store on my own for less than I paid for this meal; that said, I wish the chef had at least prepared it to order. My asparagus was cooked down to the point of being leather shoestring, they were inedible aside from what few bites I scavenged by being scrupulous. The only part of my meal that was hands down completely delightful were the mashed potatoes, & by that point I was really quite upset that I'd chosen what I had from the menu. I'm grateful the appetizers were the treat they were, & my BF thoroughly enjoyed his meal (I tried everything on his plate, multiple bites, in fact, & his meal was prepared far better than mine was, don't hesitate to get the venison!). I would steer clear of the ribeye at all costs. I loved the atmosphere & ambiance of Twigs, the location is also lovely & centrally located. Given the hit or miss nature of my meal, I feel it's overpriced, but it may be that I was out of luck with my server, meat & produce selection, & the chef that evening. We weren't offered dessert, but I think the restaurant was closing &, again, the staff were really classy & never made us feel as though we were being...

Our 3 dinners were superb & even the sides were done well. Each diner was happy with the food & later in this review, it's covered in detail. On a typical August hot day, warm evening (not close to record numbers) showed that Twigs needs a new a/c unit for basic comfort as our dining room was very warm.

Fortunately, we were a fairly late reservation & we were free to choose a table near the window which was quickly opened & that made temperature acceptable for our party of three at the table. Otherwise, it would not have been acceptable temperature for dining in that room. The person seating us said the a/c unit was turned all the way down but simply wasn't able to handle such hot days. It had been a warm day but nothing extreme. They offer outdoor dining but no one was there when we arrived & although it was awning covered, a rain shower had arrived while we dined indoors & it was over by the time we left.

Twig's lamb chops were amazing, cooked perfectly & even the English peas & potatoes were exceptionally fine. My dinner salad of fresh greens & balsamic viniagrette dressing was fine as well. Caesar salad for a friend was exceptional & the 'generous' filet was really large & I'd guess a bit more than 10 oz & the ahi tuna for 3rd friend was perfect & she raved about how good it was. Sydney served us & drinks were tasty although my margarita was fairly small with lots of ice but it needed that ice! Otherwise, the Scotch was fine for another. Anyway, I enjoyed it & completed my meal with iced tea. We were too full for dessert & none came to our table.

While Twigs is a definite yes, go! I suggest going in cool or cold weather but even if the high temperature had been a few degrees lower (85° today), it would have been OK, I expect. They offer outdoor dining but no one was dining there when we arrived.

Thanks Twigs! I also enjoyed the 'twiggy' scene outside our window with its twiggy deer & house, etc. and all of our food was...

We really enjoyed our meal at Twig's. My husband (a true steak aficionado) said his steak - one of the evening's specials - was the best he'd ever had at a restaurant, and even the lightly sauteed spinach accompanying the steak was perfectly handled. My pork chops were delicious, as well - very tender and moist, and the tarragon mushroom cream sauce accompanying them was divine. Our server's wine recommendation for the pork was spot on - a nice pinot noir that paired excellently with the pork chops and the sauce.

The salted caramel brownie was a bit disappointing - I mostly tasted "sweet" and didn't really get any of the buttery rich undertones I associate with excellent caramel, nor did I taste the expected hint of salt. My after-dinner coffee was a particularly pleasant surprise, however - the server brought a freshly prepared french-press pot of coffee to the table and I enjoyed every drop.

We only had a couple of minor criticisms that kept us from upping the review to a full five stars: I ordered a Blackberry Sidecar and found it had very little flavor other than "alcohol." The bread served before the meal was forgettable - standard bland white table rolls - but we did appreciate that the butter was room temperature and whipped so it could be spread easily without tearing the roll. My salad (the standard house side salad) was overdressed and an adjacent table had the same issue, so I would recommend ordering your dressing on the side (something I typically do but forgot to ask for on this occasion). The house-made gorgonzola walnut dressing is delicious - a creamy blend of gorgonzola, walnuts, and balsamic - but overpowering if applied with too heavy a hand.

Again, these are minor issues and would not keep us from highly recommending Twig's to friends and family. The food was excellent and the service was very good. It had been several years since we'd last been to restaurant but we look forward to...