Cafe Provence — Restaurant in Brandon

EXTREMELY disappointed and never actually ate there.

We made Thanksgiving reservations 6 weeks in advance as we were going to be traveling in the area for the holiday but have no family in the area. We had a significant discussion with the “manager” asking if there would be a vegetarian offering for Thanksgiving. She advised it would be a limited menu but it would be ala cart and there would definitely be at least two vegetarian entrees, one of which she already knew would be a portabella mushroom dish. She went to great lengths to explain they have lots of vegetarian customers and are always accommodating and she was confident we would be very pleased. Based on our discussion, we made reservations.

We arrived in town the day prior to Thanksgiving and stopped by the restaurant to confirm our time, make sure of the location and get a feel for the attire. We stopped by at 2 p.m. and there was only one other guest in the restaurant.

We immediately noticed a sign about a “Thanksgiving buffet” for $40 per person. We asked was that in lieu of or in addition to the special ala cart menu and were told they had decided to do buffet only. We explained that we had reservations and were vegetarian and asked what the vegetarian offering was. The hostess got what appeared to be a female manager and she explained there would be “mashed potatoes and broccoli.” We again asked, ok, that’s great, but what is the vegetarian main course. Again we were told, there would be mashed potatoes and broccoli and we could also have dessert. Feeling frustrated we explained that we had made reservations weeks in advance and assured there would be a vegetarian offering. Again, we were told there would be lots of mashed potatoes and broccoli and dessert. We asked if the chef was available to speak to us (both because we could actually see him and we were hoping that surely if we spoke to the chef, that there was some accommodation besides mashed potatoes and broccoli that could be made. We were told he was very busy. And then I asked was there anything at all that could be made besides mashed potatoes and broccoli to which the response was “well, we can ask him and see if he has time to come up with something else before tomorrow.”

We explained that we did not feel great about our reservation and the idea of a $40 buffet for which we would have mashed potatoes and broccoli and asked if the chef would call us when he had a few minutes later that day.

No one ever called us and based on the extreme lack of any desire to answer questions and accommodate us, we just decided not to go. We were VERY disappointed in the lack of any service or accommodation and the rudeness of the chef to not even speak to...

FROM yelp: Hello fellow Adventurers! I wanted to try this place out while visiting Vermont, but the greeting was not welcome, at all. Had I known you needed a reservation I would have made one. However, upon entering the 'host' coldly asked me this and I replied no I was here from out of town. The mood entirely changed. The place was pretty empty, two patrons on the corner at most. I explained that I followed the Vermont travel restrictions and at the time they did NOT require proof of vaccinations (I was fully vaxed) so I didn't think to bring it. I was wearing a mask and have cautiously practiced social distancing. The response was that I needed to show proof (I understand each business can make that call) however the delivery and interrogation of it was uncalled for. Where was I from? Why am I here? How long have you been in isolation? Mind you my Airbnb said that I should not have had such issue. But to do this in front of other customers? Loudly? Absolutely the rudest host I've met and I was a Hostess. I felt uncomfortable and unwelcome, which is unfortunate because I really wanted to try this as I was in town for my birthday. I plan trips for quite a few friends, and this place will not be on the list of 'try here'. They offered to go but to enjoy the local eateries it's best to sit in. Thanks but no thanks. will never stop here ever.

UPDATE 9/7, 9:20 PM - I was there in February(my checkin date validates this), this is NOT a fake review as the OWNER THINKS. To assume so is rude in itself and speaks for the ENTIRE establishment.

UPDATE 9/7, 9:35 - emailed owner about the assumption and slander of this review. But clearly if the owner is messaging and making the aforementioned they clearly don't have bedside manner with hospitality.

UPDATE 9/7, 10:12 - owner will no apologize; news flash I don't need one. I RARELY give lower than a 4 star review but clearly this location has not understood hospitality. also to be clear this was at the height of pandemic, but i read that you did not need proof of vax, so the owner stating his staff was asking questions based on vermont travel guides is untrue. Due to the fact that i went to a few other locations (including the co-op, bookstore, 2 brothers tavern) and had no interrogation. however, the owner should have contacted me directly BEFORE responding to my review. not only do they look bad for not digging a bit about when i checked in it makes them look bad for making a WRONGFUL assumption that i was lying. oof. shared this EVERYWHERE.

9/8 - to REITERATE as the owner of a business your first response shouldn't be to accuse someone of lying, it should be to reach out privately...

To be clear, we have been loyal customers for years, but sadly no more. We went during Father’s Day weekend, and the experience was “meh.” Nothing horrible, and certainly nothing worth a social media review. Tonight, however, was a different experience. First, I ordered a Chardonnay, and was given a wine that tasted bad and was more expensive, but clearly was not what I asked for. Apology accepted for the “mix up.” We ordered a salad… no problem there. We waited…. And waited… and waited… for our medium rare tenderloin filet dinners to be delivered. Finally, nearly an hour and a half after we arrived, the steaks appeared at our table. My ashy-gray well done filet could best be described as wood pulp. My husband’s was tough and way over cooked. We were told the chef offered a “do over” if we could wait another 10 minutes on top of our already long wait. We didn’t eat either dinner, refused “take home” boxes, and asked for the check. To our shock, we were charged for both tenderloin dinners at $34 each on top of the drinks and salad!!! I politely expressed our issue with getting charged for two filet dinners that we couldn’t eat, and they took those two dinners off the bill but had us pay for the drinks and salad. They had the audacity to question whether either of us ate “any” of our dinners even though they went back to the kitchen untouched. If it was my establishment I would have been so mortified that I blew up a couple’s night, that at the very least I would have offered them a discount certificate for a future visit so they would give us another try. We did tip our young server as this certainly wasn’t his fault. We drove the 45 minutes home (yes, this was supposed to be a special night for us) and we each had a store bought ice cream bar for dinner. You...