Great Sage — Restaurant in Columbia

TLDR- We're likely not coming back. Although the restaurant dealt with our problems the way they should have, the problems shouldn't have happened in the first place. My bro and I worked a long time in the food industry so we're understanding. But overall my whole family left disappointed at the lack of quality service. The food was good, but not enough to make up for the experience.

Story- On the Saturday before Father's Day, my family of 5 had planned to go to Great Sage to celebrate Father's Day along with my and my mom's birthdays that had just passed. Its the one time of year we go to a restaurant as a family.

My SIL called in the morning to make a reservation for 7:30. We arrived at 6:45 hoping to be sat earlier. We understood when we saw the crowd that wasn't gonna be likely. When we talked to the host, it turned out that they never even had our reservation written down. The host tried to tell us there was nothing she could do. We got excessivly questioned about when we called and who we spoke to. We told the same story 5+ times b.w. the host and the manager.

We waited on the manager and the host to scramble to find us a table. Meanwhile, we took a seat at the bar. The bartender completely ignored us. My brother finally got her attention and told her we wanted drinks. She took only my drink order, made that, and went back to ignoring us. I got her attention again and told her the rest of my family wanted drinks too. I ordered my mom a marg and my SIL a water with no ice. We went back and forth a couple of times for clarity and finally the bar tender repeated the order back to me correctly. But then she gave my SIL a marg with no ice. The bartender apologized with an attitude and gave my SIL the correct water.

The manager was able to get us seated soon after. We were at our table between 7:05 and 7:10 before our reservation time- good news. As we sat down, the manager tried to blame the lost reservation on the bartender not writing things down. Seemed unprofessional...

Once we were sat, our server was clearly weeded with tables inside and outside. I get the need to hustle as a sevrer but the line is drawn when the tables aren't getting enough quality attention. She greeted us in a fair amount of time and we were able to order apps 5 to 10 mins after sitting down. Afterwards, she took a long time to take our entree order. When she finally came to take our order, turns out what my dad wanted was 86 (out). She told us she'd be back to take his order. Again, a long wait before she came back. Finally all of our orders were in.

We started realizing the apps were taking a long time. We started looking around. No one ever came to our table to talk to us about the late apps. We could tell the server and the manager were scrambling. The manager came to our table and dropped off some bread that wasn't even good while we waited. He didnt say much. 30-35 minutes after we ordered our apps, they came out. Again the food was good, but not good enough to offset the service. Entrees later came out. It was hard to tell whether they forgot about my moms soup or if they didn't have the hands to carry it or something else. We never got asked about how our food was or if we needed extra stuff.

Drink refills were slow throughout the meal. For the majority of the time, we had to request refills as opposed to them being brought or asked if we wanted more.

We ended up getting free desserts for the way our visit was going and our birthdays. My mom and I got tiramisu cheesecake to go. My SIL got a dessert to eat at the table. Our server put candles on my SIL's cake for my mom and I since ours were to go. We didn't say anything about it, but a server shouldn't do that! The birthday person ends up blowing all over the other persons food. We could have easily been a table with a huge problem with this.

The problems could have been way worse but it just wasn't a quality visit for our first time being there. We may try again one day but its unlikely. Again, the food was pretty good, but not good enough to offset the...

Overall the food was delicious and the atmosphere, though a tad on the noisy side, was fun. They are getting a one star review from me though because this place is NOT SAFE FOR THOSE WHO ARE GLUTEN FREE. Usually we prefer vegan restaurants for my allergy-child because they automatically do not have a lot of his allergens and are very careful with their gluten free options. We ordered a gluten free sandwich for my child on our first (and last) visit to this place. When we were about half way through it we noticed a few red marks around his mouth such as he gets when he is exposed to one of his food allergens. I thought maybe it was just a little cross contamination from a knife or something but wanted to make sure so I stopped our waitress and asked her if his sandwich was on the gluten free bread. She looked at the bread and said "I'll be right back I don't know" and walked away. Someone else then came over and we had basically the same encounter. Finally the manager/owner (not sure but he seemed to be the one in charge) came over and said he heard we had a question about the food. I said I was just wondering if that was gluten-free bread and he snootily responded "You have to request Gluten Free". I replied that we did. He then replied with "Well. Then it is Gluten Free!" I said I was just checking because my child was reacting to something and we needed to figure out what it was. He said it was impossible to tell the difference between the gluten free bread and the regular wheat bread once it was toasted (AN OUTRIGHT LIE) but if we asked for gluten free then it was gluten free. He came back a few minutes later and took the sandwich and said "we'll make him a new one since we can't tell." When they eventually brought a new one out it was PLAINLY OBVIOUS this bread was completely different. It was a smaller slice, a different crust, different color, etc. I have no idea why they said they couldn't tell the difference other than to try to cover up their mistake-NOT COOL. Own up to it, people! The only thing besides bringing out another one (by this time we were leaving) was to give us one of our cookies for free. Turns out my child ended up having a full-blown allergic reaction and ending up needing his EpiPen and a trip to the ER (first time ever due to a known allergen). I understand that mistakes can be made and we take that risk when we eat out but it would have been so much better and we could have dealt with it faster if they had worked with us instead of making it a 10--20 minute process to figure out what our child was reacting to. It is for that reason I am giving them a negative review-to let other people with food allergies and those who may have celiacs, etc know that this may not be a safe place...

I’ll start by stating that I have eaten here and gotten carry out several times, all with great food and a good experience. I live about an hour away, so if I find myself in the area, I try to visit.

I had a terrible experience yesterday and I will not return. I called several times to place a carry out order and only got a recorded message. Nbd, I wasn’t far, so I drove there. When I arrived at Great Sage, I was not greeted or acknowledged in any way. When I finally got the bartender’s (?) attention and asked if I could place an order, she literally HUFFED. An audible inhale and sharp exhale for being asked a question. While taking my order, she answered the phone and proceeded to take a reservation for a birthday party, even happily telling the person happy birthday! I paid for my order while she was still attending to the phone call. Then I just stood there because idk, maybe tell me thank you and about how long my order will take?

When I returned, I waited again, with zero acknowledgment. I heard someone say my order was ready. I patiently waited while she helped a customer who came in after me. She finally hands me my order and i leave.

I checked the bag when I got to the car and was missing something. I went back inside and had to wait again. Now, I don’t mind waiting my turn, but by now. it started to feel intentional. She says “Yes, Teresa…?” like I’m bothering her at this point. I asked if she had rung me up for a rice krispy treat because it wasn’t in the bag. She said yes, i thought you took it already. Now, why would I assume that I can just take things off the counter instead of it being included with my order?

I ordered the pierogi quesadilla, which was very good. The lava cake was, I assume, microwaved within an inch of death and very dry. It was missing the whip and essentially inedible. The kid’s grilled cheese was weird. Not sure if the cheese was just tossed on the grill or what, but I’ve used this exact cheese and had much better results. The kid was not a fan.

All this to say I did not feel like a valued or appreciated as a customer. I spent over $50 to be treated poorly and given mediocre food. I hope this was an off day, but I won’t be returning to find out.

Side note: There is a mandatory 15% tip on carry out orders. While it is stated on the menu, there’s no mention on the receipt you’re given. The receipt you sign is not itemized and has a line for a tip. I have to wonder how many people unknowingly leave an additional 15-20% tip, thinking this is the only tip they’re leaving.

Four stars on atmosphere because there is a nice waterfall to listen to while...