Liberty & MAIN — Restaurant in Dedham

My daughter wanted to take the Mrs out for Mother’s day dinner along with her kids (6&8) and the guys. I tend to stay away from restaurants on the major holidays for lots of reasons. Overcrowding, understaffed, pushing the food out, trying to turn the tables over, etc. But I have to say Liberty on Main did a nice job and none of my fears came true this past Mother’s day. We had a 4:30 pm reservation and because of that I thought things might be backed up by that time of the day. They were not. We arrived about 5 minutes early and we’re hanging out looking for my daughter and family when I spotted them sitting in a nice cozy round booth in the back. We proceeded in and took our seats when our waitress immediately came over and welcomed us and began to ask for our drink orders. I never did catch her name because she had already attended to my daughter and family, more on that later. Drinks arrived promptly and we ordered dinner. I had then bbq steak tips, there was Mac n Cheese, grilled ham & cheese sandwiches (gf), 2 burgers and a stuffed chicken leg. They did forget the ham on the grilled ham & cheese (gf) sandwich but promptly noticed and corrected the mistake with lots of apologies. Everyone said their meals were very good. The grandkids liked their’s very much. My grandson requires a strict gluten free diet and we were very pleased to see many gf options on the menu and many more items that can be prepared gf if you ask. My daughter and I stay on a gf diet as well so we were all pleased with so much attention given to this.

My tips were good but not great. I’ve had steak tips a million places over the years and just can’t say they were up there with the best. The bbq sauce was good but the meat wasn’t outstanding. It was a generous portion but although ordered medium, some were well done and others medium. They were not that tender. I would give them another try just to see how they come out another time.

Desert is saved for special days and dining experiences and this was both, so the grandkids and I decided to try some. We got the mousse (2) and a baked Alaska. As I recall the mousse was a toffee flavor with some chocolate bits in it. Both my grandson and I thought it was excellent. My 6 year old’s eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw her Baked Alaska. It was huge and while I knew she’d do a good job on it, there was no way I wasn’t going to try some. It too was excellent, with some peanut butter twist to it.

All in all we had a great Mother’s day dining experience, our food was good and our desserts were outstanding. Our server was excellent, attending to us and providing us with a wonderful day. While I never did get her name, our waitress is a credit to Liberty on Main and did an excellent job. She will be celebrating her first mother’s day next year as a new mom, so I hope the management knows who I am referring to so she can get...

I had an incredibly frustrating experience at this restaurant today. While the food was decent, the service was unacceptable. I went in for brunch and ordered eggs, toast, and potatoes—the meal also included sausage, which I don’t eat. I asked the waitress if I could substitute something else, and she mentioned fruit or a “kid pancake,” even demonstrating a small size with her fingers. That sounded reasonable, so I agreed.

When my food arrived, instead of a small pancake, I was given an entire plate with three huge pancakes. I immediately told the server this was too much food, but she just walked away. Then, when the check came, I was shocked to see an additional $12 charge for the pancakes. I had assumed she was offering a simple substitution, not charging me $4 per pancake. For dietary and health reasons, I couldn’t even eat them all.

At this point, I expected some form of customer service—at least an apology or a willingness to adjust the charge. Instead, the waitress insisted she had explained everything (she hadn’t at all), and when I asked for a manager, she conveniently claimed there wasn’t one available. That was a lie too. Eventually, a manager did come over, but rather than listening or de-escalating, she was rude, dismissive, and completely unhelpful. She “comped” two pancakes but never acknowledged the miscommunication. Instead, she doubled down, saying, “I believe my server.”

Believe what, exactly? That she didn't mess up - even if she had why not just say sorry. If she had thought she had explained things well - why not just say so sorry for the miscommunication....? It happens. Not a big deal. But the attitude was over the top of all the people who work at this place.

A manager’s role is to de-escalate issues, not make customers feel gaslit. A good restaurant prioritizes customer experience and accountability. Even if they weren’t willing to comp the pancakes entirely, a simple acknowledgment—“I see where the confusion happened”—would have gone a long way. Instead, their lack of professionalism made it clear they don’t care whether customers return.

Also the prices are ridiculous - 35 bucks for a simple brunch is too much for one person - this is not the four seasons. Servers are rude, average food and just a terrible experience.

Given the repeated complaints about this place, I’d recommend skipping it and going to Legal C Kitchen or somewhere else that values both food...

One star that is solely for the bartender who made my espresso martini. Husband and I went on a Friday night for dinner, and are seated right away on the patio. Okay off to a great start! Get our drinks, and they are delicious, another great start! Unfortunately after that it takes quite a turn. We are one of three tables originally on the patio. We place our food order. The table behind us is clearly either an influencer or writer, and they are being doted on. Fair enough, business is business. After they receive multiple courses, and the people on the other side of us (who came 5 minutes after us) receive their dessert menu, and the people directly behind us receive their appetizer, we start to become concerned. Our waitress hasn’t been out since she took our order. An hour and 15 minutes has passed. Our drinks are empty. Our waitress comes out, explains that they suddenly got busy inside, and our food should be out in a bit. Husband orders another drink. 5 more minutes go by, others on the patio are being served. We grab the attention of the hostess and explain the situation, asking to cancel our order. Not even 5 minutes later our food comes out, and we say to the waitress we will eat the food (even though she admitted it has been under a heat lamp all this time), but it is a bit ridiculous to have to pay full price for the food, but we will pay for the drinks. Ask to speak to the manager. Another waitress comes out and says the manager is busy but he requests that they remove the food from the table.

The fact that the manager had the audacity to take away the food and not even show face to apologize is what baffles me. The poor waitress (who wasn’t even our waitress) is forced to apologize to us even though she did nothing wrong. A typical man making the woman apologize for his mishap.

We should have stuck to our guns and went with our tried and true Legal C bar or il Massimo. It’s a shame because the espresso martini was delicious but based on the owner/manager, I will never go back. Do yourself a favor and go to Legal C bar if you want good food and...