The Dapper Goose — Restaurant in Buffalo

Friends, Let me start this by saying - I rarely give a poor review on service or food. I was a server/bartender for many years so I know anyone can have an off night. Kitchens can be slow, food over salted, etc. But holy moly - this was not the case at all. I am in from out of town - wanted to take my family for a good meal- we love to try new things and I was really looking forward to the Dapper Goose. I made reservations a week ago - and even called to change them (the man I spoke with was super accommodating and sweet). Between online and verbal reviews I thought we would hit this out of the park. But nope total disappointment from the beginning. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! We were “welcomed” by a lackluster greeter. Seriously- - I think she may have gotten a F on a paper or something - she was that morose. The table setting were minimal -the atmosphere was very cool worth tin ceilings and wood floors. We waited several minutes before greeted by our server who was chatting up the table next to us. While pleasant to those folks when it came to us she acted like she was doing us a favor and we were interrupting her. I would give you her name but she did not provide it to us. I order a drink (the Paperback maker(?)), cheese plate and octopus. After about 10 minutes a woman dropped my drink which I know say there bc I watched the bartender make it and the server was to busy polishing silverware to drop it - the ice was melted (NOT THE BARTENDER’s FAULT) - the drink as good but diluted. The owner dropped our octopus and another server dropped our food - server still polishing. She never checked with us on how things were going. In fact it seemed like she was doing her best to ignore us. After a while she took our order - and huffed away when done. Never thanking us or smiling just acting like we were dirt under her shoes. Another woman came cleared plates and silverware-when the server FINALLY came over to “clean” the table she swept crumbs on my Mom’s lap! SERIOUSLY????? Our food came - to gnocchi dinners, scallops, and a burger. Toward the end our server did come to ask how our food was (scallops were a bit salty but everything else was good). I ordered another drink - again another person dropped it and it was again diluted- (I watched the bartender make it). The server came back when we were done - a bit more chipper asking for dessert - (end of meal check is coming let’s be nice). We declined bc I had enough. The bill came and it was not super expensive- believe me I have run up bigger bar tabs-. When she dropped it I immediately put my card down and a few minutes later she came back. Chipper to get rid of us! As I said I have done this job - I know how hard it is - and we weren’t rude nor disrespectful to this woman. I feel like she sized us up and was not happy getting us - why I don’t know. I usually leave anywhere from 25-40% tip- I left 18% and that was only because I know she probably tips out the bartender and runners. They deserve that tip! After we got up - I stopped the owner and told him how great our food was but how poorly I felt we were treated by our server - and this is when I got the clue - the owner did not even care. He was dismissive and just as rude - So my friends - I live outside of Buffalo now - I won’t be surprised when we come back to town this place is closed. No matter how good the food and drinks are of the service is not good - you may as well close the doors. I can over look a lot - but not bad service from a place with mediocre...

I was very excited to visit the Dapper Goose based on the rave reviews from friends as well as other foodies on the internet. Upon arriving at the restaurant I was immediately very impressed with the decor and ambience. Unfortunately, based on my experience, that was all that was impressive. I dined with a party of three (myself included) and we ordered three starters: the ricotta toast, the cauliflower, and the brussels sprouts. While the ricotta toast was decent, both vegetable dishes left a lot to be desired. The cauliflower was somewhat soggy, and both dishes were overly salted to the point of leaving a VERY unpleasant sensation on the tongue. The sweet potato hummus was the only saving grace of the brussels sprouts dish. After getting through the saltiness of the starters, we ordered three main dishes with the hopes of them being much more impressive and worthy of the considerable menu prices. We ordered the burger, the pork shoulder, and the chicken to split amongst the three of us. While the burger was decent, the fries were so salty (literally, you could see huge flakes of salt all over every individual fry) that they were left essentially untouched. The pork shoulder was dry and stringy, although the navy beans were tasty. The fried chicken dish was fried to death to the point where we sent it back to kitchen. It was simply inedible. Management was apologetic about the chicken dish, and had I not been in the company of other family, I would have raised a conversation about the entire meal. I know I have the unpopular opinion on my experience at the Dapper Goose based on the hundreds of positive experiences posted by other Google users. I did, however, attend Culinary school and know sensational food when I stumble upon it. I'm not sure if I just visited the restaurant on an off night, or if someone was filling in for the head chef, but my visit to the Dapper Goose left me very disappointed and embarrassed due to the fact that the restaurant had been my recommendation in the first place. I will not be visiting again nor will I ever recommend this place to other friends or foodies looking for a great spot for a fun and delicious...

So this is our 4th time there. We took a 18 month hiatus to give this place another shot. And again, it was just odd. The server was so disassociated from their job, and we had this same server the previous time. It was like they were high and we were an inconvenience to their evening. Fine, we don’t need to be friends, just need to feel welcomed, which was definitely missing.

The music was like we were at a club, which was strange. Deborah Cox remixes, and other dance hits kind of felt strange for a “fine dining” experience. Totally fine to play some fun music, but seriously was way out of place.

Now the food. Omg. Talk about trying too hard. Everything had a fruit or nut component. Ok- not a problem, but it needed variety. The burrata and stone fruit salad was covered in sesame seeds. Yeah- I get textural elements but it was just weird. I had the pork schnitzel with shishitos- again just a weird presentation. An unpounded pork chop (Milanese should be thin), breaded and fried, on top of an aioli, with this handful of shishito peppers (with the stems) on top of it. Just didn’t make sense, had to ask for a side plate to get to the pork. Just put them on the side. And on top of it was this lemon caked in Cajun spices (yes as advertised) but just strange and a ton of Cajun spice on a lemon, like a chunk of it). So weird. Not that any of it was terrible, but it just was odd and out of place. Like someone was trying to hard to think of trendy food and mashed it all together into some dishes.

We tried to love it. We gave it multiple chances, even after a disastrous New Year’s Eve dinner a few years ago, but we don’t need to try again. I can’t understand why people think this place is so great. Everything was misaligned and just left us feeling like we couldn’t wait for the meal to end. We tried. Dapper Goose failed. (Pick of weird pork dish and Cajun caked lemon below). Sorry...