Garden Table — Restaurant in Carmel

I’ve always been on the hunt for spots that blend fresh, bold flavors with a vibe that just feels right—and Garden Table in Carmel, Indiana, caught my eye. As someone who values both style and substance in a brunch joint, I was eager to see if this place could deliver on its promise of innovative cuisine and a modern, chill atmosphere. Spoiler alert: it has major hits, but there’s plenty of room for the chefs to push their creative boundaries.

Garden Table’s setting is spacious and modern, perfect for that Instagram-worthy shot, and the service is fast yet friendly. Their cold-pressed juice lineup is seriously impressive, with inventive blends like Garden Gate, Emerald Elixir, Neon Nectar, Lush Love, Detox Dream, Cashew Concoction, Hoosier Heater, and Tropic Tonic. If you’re weighing your options, Neon Nectar stands out with its vibrant, balanced flavor profile that totally refreshes your palate.

On the plate side, the Kale Salad comes with seared tuna for an extra flavor punch. However, a few guests have noted that the kale sometimes feels like it’s been plucked straight from the bag—unmassaged and a bit tough. A small tweak in the prep could turn this into a standout dish. Then there’s the Smoked Salmon Hash—packed with bold flavors and generous portions—but it occasionally tips too far on the salmon side without enough potato to create a balanced bite. A slight rework here could really elevate it.

But the real hero of the meal is the Avocado Toast. With perfectly toasted bread, creamy avocado, and the option to crown it with an over-easy egg, this dish is consistently epic. Pair it with a cup of matcha and a drizzle of hot honey for that extra kick that makes your brunch experience unforgettable.

Now, for a bit of friendly fun: if you’re in the mood for a burger, take note. Despite all the innovative dishes on offer, the hamburgers here have been given a bit of a side-eye by online reviewers. They’re passable—but they just don’t have the creative spark or depth of flavor that really sets Garden Table apart. In short, if you’re craving a burger, you might want to look elsewhere. Garden Table’s real magic is in its inventive brunch fare and fresh, bold juices.

Overall, Garden Table serves up a cool mix of modern style and hearty flavors, with a few areas where the chefs could easily kick things up a notch. It’s a spot that’s worth checking out if you’re after fresh, well-executed dishes and a setting that’s as stylish as it...

We came here for dinner as an early Valentine’s Day celebration. We also ate here on their opening weekend for brunch, but they were clearly still working through some kinks then so held off on writing a review until now.

Overall we had a positive experience with mostly positives, but one significant negative.

Pros:

Food was all great. Seems like the chef/cooks really have a strong grasp on the fundamentals.

The salmon we got was cooked absolutely perfectly, chicken had nice and golden crispy skin, and the burrata with hot honey just had really nice flavor combinations. Oysters also had a very clean taste (when we finally got them). The dessert of mini cheesecakes and a chocolate dipped strawberry was fine if unexciting.

The manager also seemed very engaged, and when there was a delay in receiving oysters we had ordered they comped them without us even having to say anything. Overall just very smart and professional.

Cons:

Overall service felt like it could have been a little better. We were sat on the outside patio by the hostess and left there for about five minutes before our waitress came by (prior to that had two other people ask if we had been taken care of yet).

Those are fairly minor complaints, but the biggest issue on both occasions that we felt needs to be addressed was the amount of noise inside the restaurant.

On our first visit for brunch it felt like it was maybe due to the volume of the music and tables being quite close together, which seemed to lead to people speaking louder and louder so they could hear what their partners were saying.

The second time in the patio space though there was a table of maybe 10 women who were basically shouting at each other across the table. The noise was so bad it physically hurt my ears initially; we nearly left before ordering because of this (also saw another irritated looking family that looked like they left early as a result)

If something could be done to alleviate the issues with the noise I really think we would be happy to come back regularly. Either something like sound dampening panels, turning down the music, or saying something to customers being loud to the extent that people can’t hear each other talk. Not sure what the cause is but it can be a bit anxiety inducing.

As it is now we will definitely try again, as outside the noise we had a very positive experience, but we will likely avoid returning on the weekends or other times it...

Service was great, very nice location, the food was blah, and drinks were ok at most. My guest had the Garden Benedict, which by the name you would think would have a little more to it other than avocado, a poached egg, hollandaise, and micro greens, which btw were really floppy and soft because of the heat from the lamps. Also to add to it the sauce did start breaking and slightly cool. Overall very bland and boring.

I, myself, had the Chilaquiles. The whole dish could use better execution. It consisted of Corn tortilla chips, black beans, chicken tossed in chipotle sauce, sunny egg, avocado, queso fresco, and cilantro lime crema. The chips were typical, black beans were tasty by themselves. The chicken was tough, maybe not fully thawed before cooking. The chipotle sauce ruined the dish. It had potential, however, you see this often in many places with high turnover.

The sauce was very watery and slightly underdone. This made the entire bottom of the dish super soggy which made most of the chips soggy creating a chipotle chicken chip stew. Water starts mixing with oil from the chips then gets mixed into the beans plus the tough chicken. The egg was still underdone and its whites snotty. Sunny-side eggs are tough to make because there is potential for a snotty top, usually right next to the yolk of the egg, meaning it's still underdone. The avocado was slightly bruised and still underripe. Queso fresco? Hmm, I hardly recall the cheese since it was very lightly sprinkled over a messy dish. You can see lime and cilantro in the cream but you most definitely couldn't taste it.

Overall the best part of our experience was the service. Great service and very kind. We were running late a couple of times for our reservation as there was a death in the family and they were able to accommodate both times.

Again, great service but in the end, I personally wouldn't visit this place again, pay the prices to receive the same...