Alpine Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Columbus

I will offer a caveat that we visited for brunch on Mother's Day which is notoriously one of the busiest restaurant days of the year. A visit any other day would likely be different.

The overall experience was a cluster. To be frank, what keeps this from being a one-star review was that there were a few attempts to make some things better along the way, but it was just a bad experience. We were a large party (9 with 2 under 5 yrs old and my 94 yr old grandma) with 11:00am reservations. We didn't get seated until 45 minutes later. In the tapas bar next door. At an L-shaped mashup of little bistro tables with backless stools. Again, 2 toddlers and my grandma. By that point we just wanted to eat but were left alone for long enough we were contemplating leaving and having lunch at home. When someone did come by, we asked how long things would be in the kitchen and were told 20-25 minutes. Since we were all ready to order, we figured it would be fine. Hold for someone else to come take our order.

It was 40 minutes before food came out. Thankfully they did bring out some rolls and strawberries so the toddlers could eat something. However, not all the food came out at once. Two of us ordered Dutch Babies and these came out a full half an hour after everyone else was DONE eating. It was only as the first wave of food was coming at that we were told these took longer to bake. On a normal day, I'm sure that would be fine. But frankly, if someone had mentioned that they took longer than everything else I would have just ordered something else. I will say, when it did come out, it was beautiful and scrumptious. See the pic. The plating was super cute.

Everyone else had mixed reviews about the food. There was general confusion about "crostini" as everyone assumed that meant bread and what was on their plate was potato. From other pictures I've seen here, bread is the more normal, so perhaps they ran out.

All that said, I get the feeling there is more to the story from the restaurant's end and that something catastrophic was going on behind the scenes. From the other reviews I've seen here, I doubt service would break down so badly without something going wrong, hence the caveat. If you've stuck with me this far, give yourself...

The food was great, so that’s why I’m giving this two stars, but the service was easily the worst I’ve ever received. Our reservation was for 6:30 and we weren’t seated until 7:30 and were corralled off to a bar, which was nice and the bartender was easily the best server there as she was working the bar and also helping in the restaurant. Since we had an hour wait we had time to glance at the menu well enough to order right when we sat down. The drink my boyfriend ordered at the bar didn’t show up to the table until 30 minutes later. The entree he ordered did not come with the raclette he ordered but instead was given to the table next to us, as was all of our food initially as we were sat at a community table. I never received the second glass of wine I ordered, as my first one came from the bar. Getting boxes and a check took 40 minutes. Honestly, I’m amazed because I watched a family that was friends with the manager receive the best service in the place while their kids terrorized the restaurant. If you’re going to have family friends dine, fine. They certainly shouldn’t receive top notch service while the rest of your restaurant suffers, because three you end up with reviews like mine. I, for one, won’t be returning until you figure out your staffing issues and exactly how a restaurant should run.

Also, your hostess pestering people while they wait is easily the most annoying thing imaginable since she aided in no way to...

Multiple factors resulted in a low rating for this restaurant. The food was average - it has a German feel but is far from authentic German. The pretzel appetizer was stale but the cheese and meat on it was good. The Alpine Fondue lacked flavor and was on the liquid side. Both the pork and chicken schnitzel was overcooked and dry. The restaurant had no diet soda or sangria or deserts tonight despite not being busy. The best item between my wife and I was the kasespatzle.

The service was poor - the 2 servers were not attentive, not engaged or friendly, and made us feel they were simply "doing their time" so they could go home. (The restaurant was not busy - only a couple tables were full - less than 20% capacity.)

The restaurant was hot (AC was working in the restrooms but maybe not in the restaurant?) with gnats flying around the table (we were inside).

Both cars in our party received parking tickets despite being parked directly in front of the restaurant. We asked the servers if that happens frequently and they stated it does. I'm disappointed this is a known thing and no one really said anything about parking around the corner behind the bar.

Overall, below average food, poor service, below average atmosphere, and poor communication/customer engagement. If the food was great, one or 2 of these things could be overlooked. We won't be back as there are plenty of other great...