Redstone American Grill — Restaurant in Burlington

This was our 2nd time going to Redstone. The first time was incredible. This time... Not so much.

We called ahead for seating about 20 minutes before we got there. The lady on the phone said they don't accept call ahead seating. I asked for the wait time and her response was "25 minutes". I got to the restaurant and when checking in I was asked if I had a reservation. I didn't think I was allowed to reserve, but I guess that's ALL you can do. Reservations, no call ahead.

Having reservations only is fine, but here's my problem with how it was handled. The lady on the phone should have asked about reservations. Instead of basically saying, "we don't do that" they should say, "I'm sorry, we reserve tables by reservation only. May I make you a reservation?" Also, why NOT take call ahead seating? You use judgement. If there's no one in the lobby (there wasn't) take them. If your lobby is packed, don't. It's simple.

Next, I put my name in for the wait. I was told "25 to 35 minutes, could be less". We waited for 40 minutes. Again, not bad.. but the way they handled it was. They put my name down and should have known I was waiting, not there with a reservation. While waiting (about 30 minutes in) I thought I heard the lady at the counter say my name to someone who had walked in. That person said something I couldn't hear because it was loud, then they were brought to their table. Either, they didn't say my name, or that person was also named Mark.

A few more minutes go by and I head my name again. This time, I know for sure they said it. The person they asked wasn't Mark, but still got seated at their table. After the counter was free, they still didn't call my name. I had to walk up and ask. Apparently they sent me a text one minute before me coming up because my table WAS ready. They WERE calling my name, they just didn't think to announce it even though I was standing there for 40 minutes. Also, there was NOTHING told to me about getting a text when my table would be ready. My phone was on silent. How long would I have waited if I hadn't said anything?!? They wrote my name down but don't have a system in place to handle people without reservations?! Really??

Once seated things didn't really get a whole lot better. We got our drink and appetizer but then waited 30 minutes before we even got our dinner order taken. Even that wouldn't have been bad, had we not waited for more than an hour by that point. I was also never offered a refill on my drink. Neither was my wife.

The food was the only redeeming quality about Redstone. But even this wasn't without its caveats. I got the beef wellington. It was amazing, but I did ask for medium rare and it was purple when it got to me. Luckily, I don't mind this but some would find it inedible. The potatoes were dry but flavorful.

My wife got the 14oz prime rib. There was no way it was 14oz. It was like shaved steak on the plate. Kind of embarrassing to be honest. It was good... Just thin. Same dry potatoes though, redeemed with the au jus.

My wife really wanted the creme brulee, but at this point it was reaching the 2 hour mark and we were done. I talked to the manager but didn't want to officially complain. Our waitress was nice and I don't like getting people in trouble.

This is a very long winded review, but there were many missteps for a restaurant of this caliber. I'd still go back, but maybe make a reservation...

Aesthetically the place is quite nice and has the look and feel of an upscale establishment, but there's no need to feel pressured into wearing anything fancy; there are plenty of patrons dressed down. The staff is friendly and competent, though our server was just a little awkward in his interaction with us and was slow to check-in with us despite the place being pretty empty on a Saturday night.

My wife had the fig & prosciutto flatbread, which was excellent, and a mediocre Caeser salad. The croutons were nice; the cheese crisp was tough and chewy instead of crispy and crunchy. I swapped cheddar for bleu cheese on my Redstone burger, and I'm glad I did, because otherwise it wouldn't have had much flavor. The brioche bun was pretty good, but the only flavor the Black Angus beef had was found in the charred bits on the outside, though the inside was cooked properly and was nice and moist without being sloppy. It was far too big to eat easily, so needed to be cut. The bacon didn't do much to help the flavor and is just kind of thrown on top, hanging over the burger awkwardly. The fries were delicious!

The restaurant has a lighting problem. Inside, it's too dark to see well across the table. Outside, there are 3 or 4 different kinds of lighting each with their own warmth that clash and bring upon dizziness. The natural light on the walls is fine, the orange LED light around the bar is fine, the lighting fixtures around the outside are fine, but the problem lies within the white (almost) daylight bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

Was a fine experience overall, but probably would not go back. Oh, and the doughnut holes we took home never went stale, but they did get maggots... so that...

We used to be regulars at this restaurant, every week for almost a year. It used to be a great atmosphere, 5/5 food at a reasonable price, and excellent service. No longer. I don’t know what happened in the past month, but every metric has cratered.

They don’t honor reservations and frequently overbook. Expect to wait 30-45 minutes past your reservation time. When you finally do sit down, expect to wait a further 20 minutes for a waiter/waittress to even show up.

The quality control is absolutely garbage. Last time we went, a giant hair was found in our fondue. We gave them the benefit of the doubt (despite completely losing appetite) after talking with the manager Lexie, but the next time we came, we ordered the fondue again and: the candle was never lit so the fondue solidified and went cold within 10 minutes, we only got 3 pieces of jerk chicken ($8 up charge btw), the bread cubes for dipping were stale, and the butter for our bread service literally came out as a wet puddle. That bread was hard too.

Expect to wait 30 minutes every time you’re looking for the waiter because they are so overextended from how overfilled they are. It appears that they have a whole extension they built and didn’t hire staff for and absolutely every table is seated and there’s a gaggle of 20 people waiting at the host stand to be seated.

All in all, a hidden gem crushed into dust by its own hand. Find...