Keeper's Quarters — Restaurant in Carbondale

We loved it!!! Oh, how to start...it was warm. 106 with the heat index outside and close to 85 inside. That is the only thing bad to report. I doubt that it's a constant problem. I don't know for sure though, as this was my first visit. I will return repeatedly even if it's always hot inside. Their prices are high too. They're proud of what they do, but I believe they should be. They do a great job. From the food to the wait staff and drinks from the bar, all were exceptional. We started with the Flatbread of the day as an appetizer. Sadly, I didn't t get a picture of it. It was fabulous. Fresh pickled carrots, tomatoes, caramelized onions, cheese and vinegar drizzled arugula. I enjoyed a nice Michter's small batch boubon and the better half had the drink of the day as we waited for food to arrive. Both were quite tasty. We ordered The Cubano with bacon and bleu cheese fries, The classic triple burger with parmesan truffle fries and our son ordered the Saturday Night Special... a 12 oz. Ribeye with fingerling potatoes dizzled in garlic, herb, white wine butter and a cold Serrano ham wrapped asparagus bundle. All were well executed and worth going in for. -The burger was fantastic. Cooked perfectly to order. Juicy with crispy brown bits around the edges, cheddar cheese oozing between each patty with lettuce tomato and thinly sliced onions on a wonderful toasted bun. Best burger I've had between here and St. Louis. I didn't try the Cubano. She assured me it was a great sandwIch. Pics attached. -The 12 oz. Ribeye was very good. I toot my horn as a guy who can cook a great steak, so I almost never order one out. I hate paying someone else 3 times the $ of what I could make one for. I did try the son's the see what he was ranting about. It was an excellent steak. Perfectly cooked to medium rare. Well seasoned and finished with a nice slightly herbed butter. Very nice beef flavor. Not too much salt either. They let their beef speak in front of it's complimentary flavorings. I will definitely allow them to cook me a steak in one of our future visits if it's on the menu. And...I haven't even covered the Bodega where they sell pastries, ice cream and sorbets, and fresh/frozen meats and sausages that are all made from scratch in house. Check out their social media to see specials and lots of pics. We enjoyed everything....except the temperature. Still...

Bad news first….dinner which included, two cocktails, two panini sandwiches and one normal dinner entry and the bill was $100! I think this was drastically overpriced for what we dined upon. Please read on!

The restaurant was quite busy but we were seated immediately. We first ordered a blood orange smash (bourbon), a strawberry mojito and a sweet tea. We then were presented with 7 or 8 specials of the day! Way too many to remember….1/2 chicken, 3 different types of paninis, duck soup (?), ribs, a salad, a meatball sub and others. We were all so overwhelmed, we had to ask the waitress to come back and go over the specials again as there were just too many to take in since they were not written anywhere and were delivered orally.

So we ordered 1/2 chicken with potatoes, asparagus and Brussels sprouts over a rich broth, a French onion soup panini (caramelized onions, gruyere cheese) and a ribeye and mashed potato panini. We waited 45 minutes + for our food. I considered walking out as it took that long for our food to arrive.

The chicken was well cooked but the asparagus was burnt which gave the Brussel spouts and broth a bitter, acidic taste. The paninis were lacking and not well thought through. The French onion soup panini had no substance and was lacking flavor. The steak and potato panini was just strange as you bit into a solid 1/4 inch slab of steak to encounter a mashed potato like substance underneath. They didn’t taste like mashed potatoes. When the waitress asked how our food was, we all said strange and she said, “isn’t a steak and potato spread interesting?” It might be interesting but I wouldn’t call it good!

Honestly between the excessive wait, the burnt vegetables, the disappointing paninis, I won’t be back! I am really not sure how this restaurant has 4.6 stars! The other choices in Carbondale must just be shockingly terrible! I would recommend avoiding this spot but am guessing I would be overruled by the...

The service was undoubtedly the worst I've ever had. Upon entering the restaurant with my party of 4, the hostess (who also turned out to be our waiter), didnt greet us rather he pointed from behind the counter to some empty tables and said to go over there. At this point I should have taken the solid clue it would only go down from there but I didnt. At 2 pm we were officially the only guest there. 10 min later he brings us water. 10 min later he asks for our order. We all order drinks and food. I went first and everyone else was reading off the menu at which point I noticed our waiter give and extreme eye roll and smirk that could only be matched by my 15 yr old daughter! Still I said nothing. He then took 20 min to bring out my Husbands gin and tonic and our 1 friends beer. 15 min later he bring the bourbon I order ( which was quite tasty) and let our other friend know that the wine he order was out and needed to select something else. So 35 min now to discover a wine is out. Our friend chose another wine that only took 10 min to bring out. Keep in mind that we are still the ONLY guest there. Our server apologized for the long wait saying they were short staffed. (For what? 4 people? TOTAL!?) Ok so he bring the food out finally and I did enjoy the flavors of my burger. The other 3 people felt the flavors were mediocre at best. Our waiter never once checked on us but magically was very prompt at bringing the check AND coming back for the signature. All in all, I will...