The Red Fern — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Oh my, where do I start? I'm laughing not because this is funny but because this is my second review for an establishment in Rochester today! The first 1 star review that I wrote was about 2 hrs ago on a hair salon I had gone to treated me horribly. Intuition told me that part of the reason for that horrible service was because of the colour of my skin (I'm a white girl w/ dreads, wouldn't be the first time a black woman be hating on me). In any event, I figured that since I had drove all the way here from Buffalo w/ my sister and our friend from India that we would go halve lunch and this restaurant was recommended on FB. When we walked in we were given an option of 2 tables to sit at (even though there was no one in the restaurant at the time). Once we sat down and started reviewing the menu my gut feeling/intuition was telling me that this wasn't going to be a good experience but my sister had reassured me that someone had recommend this restaurant. Long story short we ordered the lentil loaf w/ mashed potatoes served with kale, m Mac and cheese which was served w/ a bunch of greens (no dressing or anything on it), a bowl of chili and a beer. Ok, so the chili and beer came out first and upon first bight of the chili it didn't sit well because of the over powering taste of canned stewed tomatoes. When the other meals came out I could tell just by looking @ the Mac and cheese that it was not going to end well and it didn't. The noodles did not taste good and for a rice noodle it was over cooked (I wouldn't recommend using rice noodles when making Mac & cheese). From my observation it seemed like they used Daiya cheese which is the worst cheese to use when making vegan Mac and cheese. There was clearly no flavour and it was quite disappointing. The mashed potatoes that was served w/ the lentil loaf was over powered by a certain seasoning, which I believe was rosemary and again, aside from that it didn't have any other flavour. The lentil loaf was quite bland and a great disappointment. My sister, our friend and I have eaten at all types of restaurants over the years and by far this was the most disappointing dining experience we have had. The only thing I could down was the beer and that tasted good but I couldn't even finish that because I had lost my appetite over this experience. Now, the manager did come out and ask us for our feedback and we gave it but in my opinion she could have cared less about what I had to say. So, to sum it up if you are looking for a meal that's fresh and full of flavour this isn't the place to go to. If you don't mind prepared processed food and mediocre service then this place...

Pros: The food was excellent and the place looked very neat and clean.

Cons: I ordered my food which came in a takeout container even though neither the cashier nor myself said it would be takeout. I just walked in and they asked what they could get started for me, so I order my thing, tipped 20%, that said I can have a start and my food will be out in 5 or 10 minutes. My food comes out in a takeout container which I thought was odd but ok. I start eating and someone said I can not eat takeout in the restaurant. I told them I did not mean for it to be takeout, and asked if I could just eat it outside, they said no, so I ate it in my car. There were ZERO signs saying if I order at the counter it would be takeout, and that takeout ordered there can not be eaten inside the place. Nope that would make too much sense. It would also make too much sense for them to ask if its takeout or dine in, or just say that everything after x time is takeout only. Both of which I would've been okay with. Both of which literally everywhere else I've been to asks or states very clearly. I get not wanting to do dishes after x time, I wanna get home too. But there needs to be CLEAR signs saying so, or it being stated upfront. By the way I know it wasn't after x time because there were people coming in and already in who dined in. I wouldn't have even minded waiting for a bit for dine in

TLDR: MAKE SURE YOU STATE YOU ARE DINING IN IF YOU WANT TO DINE IN OR ELSE THEY WILL ASSUME TAKEOUT. There is nothing or nobody else stating so. Like I said i would've appreciated if they did, or if there was.

Everyone I talked to about it right the invisible rule and the assumption on red ferns part was ridiculous.

4 for great tasting food but in the takeout container. Would've been a 5 if I ate in. 1 for service assuming, lying, and miscommunication. Would've been a 5 if that were clear about everything and owned up to their mistake. 2 for the atmosphere because I couldn't enjoy it. Would've been a 5 if I could at least eat outside.

The service sank the whole rating down to a 1.

Here is me owning up to my mistake. I should've known to tell the ONLY restaurant that has bad communication that I wanted dine in...

What can I say, the Red Fern is practically a staple of the young, fashionable scene in Rochester at this point. Centrally located on Park Ave, one of the younger and more trendy parts of town, this place is often packed on a weekend night, and rightfully so! As one of the most popular vegan restaurants in town, you would expect that most of the people that go there are just that- vegan. And though certainly many regulars are, I myself and a surprising amount of others who couldn’t pretend to be vegan if we tried often frequent this place as well, both for the atmosphere of acceptance and support for marginalized communities, and for the food! You certainly don’t have to be vegan, vegetarian, or even like vegetables at all in order to find something absolutely delicious on the menu here. Their sweets especially are to die for, and the vast majority of them you would never guess were made with various dairy substitutes. The food definitely does cost a little more than you might expect for some of the portions, but not so much that I would say you should prepare to really open your wallet coming here by any means- if anything compared to a lot of vegan restaurants I’ve been to, the prices are still quite reasonable. The only complaint I have about this place is that the location could certainly stand to be more accessible- in order to enter to eat inside, you have to come down a somewhat steep flight of stairs, as the location is in a semi-basement level, and for those with more limited mobility, this could be very difficult to traverse, especially when the steps are a little more slick in the winter. I’m not sure if this has been in any way changed since the last time I ate here when I was in town, but if not, I’d certainly...