Sam Kendall's — Restaurant in Camden

Maybe this review shouldn’t be taken extremely heavy because my experience here was on Valentines Day but the disappointment was still immeasurable.

So the good. I took my girlfriend. Our waitress (I won’t say her name because retaliation in the food industry is very common) was a doll, very nice and easy going, beautiful, and very pretty ink on her arms. She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to get to everyone and that’s something I noticed. Waitress don’t make a ton and I know that because I’ve done it before so it was nice to see that she cared about the experience of those who were eating. We both felt horrible for her so she was left with a very nice tip. As for the good, that’s it.

The bad. For starters, we made reservations for 7:45pm. If you make reservations- you’d imagine that when you arrive.. you’d have a table ready for you.. but no not here. We waited at least 45 minutes for a table. The place was packed. Not a surprise because it’s Valentines Day, however we later learned that the issues that night ultimately were to blame on management. The night SHOULD have been reservations only. However they started to take walk ins and that is where issues came along. Don’t take walk ins if you can’t even seat the people who made RESERVATIONS! That’s absolutely ridiculous and I can only imagine it was because management was trying to squeeze every ounce of energy of their staff in an attempt to maximize profits that day. It’s incompetence and it’s why this restaurant will never compare to restaurants like Bernardin's Restaurant At Ratcliffe in Charlotte or Victor’s in Florence.

I would gladly pay double for what I got if the food was even decent and I felt like I wasn’t cattle packed into trailer with how busy it was. Instead, we waited over an hour for the food, and when it arrived it was as if it was made in five minutes and left out for an hour. My filet mignon was practically frozen and the flavor profile was abysmal, my girlfriends pasta was cold, and the presentation was lacking. I can’t put blame on the kitchen because I can’t even imagine how overwhelmed they were. Once again, management is more than likely to blame for the terrible night.

At least we were compensated with an absolutely incredible slice of key lime pie but my opinion of the night had already been cemented when I took the first bite of my food.

I highly suggest you go somewhere else. It’s quite a shame really because I had such high hopes for the place because of all that I’ve heard about it. But I spent close to 100 dollars on less than mediocre food and a terrible experience. I can only imagine how much the bill would’ve been if I still drank. I hope they read this review. I truly wish the best for this place but an experience like this for a restaurant spoken with such high regard is...

My wife and I arrived on New Year's Eve an hour before closing and the restaurant seemed to be at around 60% capacity; busy, but not packed or crowded. The brick interior and low lighting provided a serene, inviting atmosphere despite the above average ambient noise.

We were seated immediately and then waited nearly ten minutes for someone to come take our drink orders. We were then told there was confusion regarding who was responsible for waiting on our table.

Drinks came quick enough, as did our appetizers. My wife's mushrooms stuffed with shrimp and lobster were terrific, as was my tomato and basil crab bisque. Both were served hot and the taste was exactly what we expected. We also were given complimentary crusty bread with olive oil dipping sauce, which was improved by requesting crushed red pepper to add to the dip.

I was asked if I wanted a refill of my half empty beverage and I declined, saying, "I'm good, for now. Thanks." Had I known that was the last time she would ask I would have taken her up on it. I could have asked for a refill, but with an empty glass for half an hour I didn't expect I would need to.

Our entrees were served without delay and were also served hot. The chicken in my wife's chicken pasta was grilled and seasoned well. The salmon and garlic mashed potatoes I ordered were both very buttery and delicious. I was disappointed to find six pin bones still in the fish and after the last, decided I was not interested in finishing the last couple of bites, as tasty as it was. I informed our waitress, who apologized and said she would notify a manager, which I overheard from not far away, but nothing else was mentioned about it.

Overall, the food was quite good and worth a return trip to try other menu items. I am wiling to assume there is a reasonable explanation for the pin bones in the salmon, but I'll probably go for one of the cuts of steak if I return. As for the service, it was New Year's Eve and with a short time before closing, I'm sure the wait staff were not eager to serve another table. Perhaps a 3 out of 5 is a bit harsh, but if I can convince my wife to try again I'll come back and update my review...

I took my wife to this restaurant for an early Valentine’s Day dinner. Our experience was mixed. The meal started with some bread and dipping oil that quite frankly tasted nasty. Not a good start. We then had the pear salad, which tasted very good. I would definitely recommend the pear salad. Next was the main course. I had the pistachio crusted trout with artichoke hearts on top. The trout was very good, but the artichoke hearts took away from an otherwise excellent meal. I would recommend the trout, but I would recommend scraping off the artichoke hearts.

Up to this point things were okay. Our waitress seemed distracted, let our drinks run out, and didn’t check back often enough, but so far things were okay. My wife ordered the ribeye steak, but after a couple of bites she realized the steak she was served was a lesser quality strip steak and not the ribeye steak she ordered. When our waitress showed up at least 15 minutes later she agreed the steak was not a ribeye.

The waitress took the steak back and then returned a short while later with the same steak. The waitress said the manager told her that the ribeyes come vacuum sealed and sometimes they do not look like ribeye steaks, but they are. My wife (and I’m pretty sure the waitress) knew quite well my wife was served a strip steak instead of the ribeye she ordered. Instead of having the usual ribeye marbling, this steak had a gristle running through it. I have posted a picture of the steak.

At this point my wife’s food was cold, but the waitress was nice enough to have the food reheated. Our early Valentine’s Day dinner was not quite going as we had expected. I would have rated our experience with two stars, but our waitress managed to get the manager to comp my wife’s meal. It’s not really fair to give a bad rating after the manager did what was right in the end. My wife and I ate at this restaurant based on the recommendation of a couple of coworkers, so I am guessing our not so great experience was most likely an anomaly. Still, for the price and generally poor service along with mediocre food, I doubt we...