Saint Florian — Restaurant in City of Hudson

Long story: Nestled on Warren Street in the sleepy town of Hudson, NY is Saint Florian. While Hudson has a vibrant foodie scene it did not have the special mix of what Saint Florian is serving (both literally and metaphorically!).

When entering the historic former fire house we were warmly greeted by staff. The bottom floor is rich with wood, a large bar and tables for more casual dining. Up a beautiful wooden staircase to the second floor you’ll find another sizable, zinc topped bar and cozy seating. The decor is comfortable and playful, including many little nods to the building’s fire house history.

The menu changes seasonally and specials are offered nightly. The menu is protein centric without being a stereotypical steak house. It offers something for everyone, literally. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free foodies will all be satisfied with offerings, here!

As a long time vegetarian I am often left with salads as a main course or need to modify menu items to suit my diet. Saint Florian was a welcome reprieve with a variety of choices for me. The menu does not overlook the vegetarian or vegan diner. More than not overlooking us, Saint Florian is catering to us!

Our table shared the mushroom croquettes appetizer special along with the fried mushrooms and steak tips. The other diners with me reported that the steak tips had excellent flavor and texture. The mushroom croquettes made from locally foraged mushrooms was certainly a highlight- even to the omnivores at the table! The fried mushrooms were crisp and the horseradish sauce to dip them in was stellar. Each dish is elevated using lesser know/unique ingredients to level them up. For example black garlic was used in the steak tips and nutritional yeast was used in a buttermilk sauce that the mushroom croquettes were placed atop.

Main courses we ordered included the fish and chips (fried cod and French fries) which were not only a large portion but were reportedly delicious. The main vegetarian item was a roasted cabbage. It was crave worthy! The quartered roasted cabbage sat on a puree that added sweetness and depth to the roasted quality of the cabbage. Chopped nuts played well with the warm roasted vibe while the fresh dill brightened the dish.

For dessert we ordered lemon crème brûlée along with a scoop each of coffee dark chocolate and peach with sumac ice cream. All were wonderful but the coffee ice cream had us floored. It was the best ice cream I’ve ever had and I really am not a fan of coffee flavored foods. The texture was beyond words- silky, creamy, mousse-like.

The cocktails were unique with fun twists like smoked honey. A nice wine list is available as well.

Service was attentive, well paced and friendly. It added to the experience and made everything super comfortable.

The best word to describe our experience at Saint Florian is thoughtful. It was clear a lot of thought and love was put into every choice made from the design of the physical restaurant to the design of the menu.

Short story:

The Chef/owner has created a restaurant that hits all the marks for what I enjoy when dining out: good portions, well priced for what is received, welcoming/comfortable environment, vegetarian menu items, well trained staff, good cocktails and of course...

I like Saint Florian and I want to love Saint Florian but tonight I had what I find to be a typical experience. Arrived on the early side, sat in a booth with my husband and daughter. Waitress was friendly and took our drink order. While we're still waiting for drinks she took our food order-we ordered the mushrooms as an appetizer, our daughter ordered steak with a side of fries but my husband and I wanted a minute.. She comes back just as we got our drinks and we ordered the fish and chips to share. Literally five minutes later the fish and chips arrived. No appetizer let alone steak. The waitress looked confused but said it was probably because we ordered the steak first (so we got the fish and chips because we ordered the steak before?).. About 30 minutes later, now that we've eaten the fish and chips as an appetizer we get the mushrooms which are inedibly hot. Still no steak.. because we ordered it first. A different waitress comes to our table and says she'll be taking care of us now because our waitress had to go home.. but she's actually standing 3 feet away at the bar. The steak comes but guess what? No fries.. So we ask about the fries which come about 15 minutes later. Annoying but not awful and overall the food was good. But through that all no one offered a free round of drinks, no one said "dessert is on us".. That to me would have made a big difference. That's the difference between a restaurant you love and a...

I feel it is my responsibility to write this after going to Saint Florian based on the existing reviews and being thoroughly disappointed. For one, our server had clearly not reviewed the menu before her shift. So much so that she was literally bewildered with every question we asked and had too difficult a time finding answers. The response to asking about wine we were interested in was a wide-eyed "I don't know wine." Now, I have served tables before, so I understand the difficulty of an ever changing menu and not being the most wine efficient; however, there is a way to handle questions professionally and this was not it. Worse yet, when she inquired with the bartender, they proceeded to google it together. For such a relatively small wine list, this is unacceptable. The food was mediocre, at best. Everything is way over priced and to be quite honest can be found better at an Applebees. The fried mushrooms were all bread, and the biscuits taste like the Red Lobster mix I can get at Costco. The fish was the size of my hand, was definitely not freshly cooked for $50 and the zucchini dish was all of one squash poorly sautéed for $25...both were offensive. I hate to write such a negative review, as I really want to see local establishments thrive, but after feeling so misled by other reviews and the cute website, I had to share my experience. This place has potential but unfortunately was a...