Isaac's Craft Kitchen & Brewery - Greenfield — Restaurant in East Lampeter Township

This is intended for Upper Management.

The first red flag was the recent series of poor reviews on Google and Tripadvisor, with similar complaints: Disappointed veteran customers, small portions for price.

The second flag was this quote from the Senior Manager of Operations: "His favorite sandwich is the Pterodactyl…or wait the Magpie….no the Mallard…or maybe the Bird of Paradise…making him choose a favorite when he helps to craft the menu is pretty difficult." I have difficulty placing faith in a man who can't commit to his favorite sandwich being a standard Italian Sub. Many of the standard sandwiches have elaborate names and generic composition.

Which raises the question, how were these sandwich names chosen? Take for example, the Bird of Paradise. That's a flamboyant feathered family. Would you be surprised to learn that this rare tropical bird contained the following ingredients? Mushrooms, green olives, melted Swiss and Muenster, lettuce, tomato, mayo, rye.

The first thing I noticed when I came in was the smell. Something like stale beer or bile. The second was the front counter. Wash rags on the countertop, and a bottled beverage basin full of loose lukewarm bottles. It's clear that the franchise owner intended these basins to be filled with ice, for customers to pick up a cold soda with their sub to go. This construction doesn't jive with the rebranded 'Kitchen and Brewery' experience. The customers know it, and the staff know it, which is why the bottles don't sell, and why the staff doesn't bother filling the ice.

I ordered a pilsner, a plate of fried pickles, and a French Hen with a side of sweet potato fries. The beer was decent. Then the fried pickles came out.

When a person complains that the portions are too small for the price, that complaint is usually equal parts volume and unmet expectations. These pickle chips were $9.29. Consider the presentation: Loosely dumped from fryer basket to plate, a plastic sauce container shoved into the side. Many of the pickle chips were fried poorly. Some of the chips were sandwiched together. That means the frycook didn't stir them properly in the fry oil, or that they were frozen together. Wouldn't these pickle chips look much more like a $9.29 appetizer if the sauce was served in a centered ceramic ramekin, and the fried pickles were sprinkled with dried herbs?

Moving on to the sandwich. The flavor profile was great, the presentation was poor. The sandwich artist had pushed a giant thumbprint into the roll, and left a smear of sauce on the top part of the bun. The waitress saw me taking a photo of the sandwich's insides, and asked me if I didn't like it. I said I thought the chicken was small. The waitress explained that they had ran out of their usual chicken breasts, so they were using a substitute.

Upper Management: What led you to believe this was an acceptable substitute, given the complaint trends? More importantly, who in your org chart is payed to tell you 'No, this is not up to our quality standards.'?

The fries. Over-cooked outside, soggy inside. Sweet potatoes are a pain to fry. You really have pull the moisture out of them to get them to behave like potato fries. Management, why did you remove the process steps required to properly dry sweet potato fries?

This review gets two stars instead of one because of the service staff. I've been a server, getting a poor review from a customer in person is a gut punch. The waitress answered my concerns honestly, and took fault for leaving the rags on the counter. That's professionalism. As a customer, watching a server have to explain away her management's shortcuts is heartbreaking and frustrating.

Isaac's First Promise "Create Fanatical Customers: We promise an exceptional experience…and that’s guaranteed. Our customers will love us or we will make it right!"

How can anyone take this promise seriously when the company hasn't responded to a SINGLE negative google review in TWO years? Please commit yourselves to introspection.

Lax enforcement, meek ingenuity,...

9-22-22 Update: Tried to give this location another chance. Restaurant was nearly empty during lunch time. Half of our lunch order was missing. We had to go back and get it. They threw in cookies which was nice but how was half of our order missing when the dining room was a ghost town? My wrap lacked flavor and was just smothered in mayonnaise. It was not appetizing and left me with a stomach ache. Very disappointed.

I called ahead an order as I usually do once or twice a week. I was quoted 25 minutes. I waited about 20 minutes and headed to the restaurant as I needed to pay and anticipated waiting a few minutes for my order. There was a very large group waiting in the lobby. The older woman who is typically up front, I believe her name is Lori but I'm not sure, was ridiculously grumpy and disgruntled. She didn't greet me or even open with "how can I help you." She immediately started complaining about the large number of people waiting and that it would be at least half an hour wait. She was pointing at the customers waiting and openly complaining about their orders which they apologized to me for. I tried to interject and let her know I called ahead. She didn't ask my name. She walked back to the kitchen with a horrible attitude. Didn't come back, didn't come back.... I waited as she stood in the kitchen being rude to the other staff and I decided to leave. This is no way to approach customers and it is completely unprofessional to openly complain about customers who were patiently waiting for their paid orders. I will...

I am only giving this location 2 stars because of the service we received from our server and the managers. My bill for 2 people came to just over $54.00. No alcohol. Just water. Well, I ordered soda water and my friend ordered regular water. When I got the bill I was shocked. Issac's used to be affordable for lunch. My friend's cup of soup was $7.49. Her spinach salad was over $12.00..and she got a protein, a black bean burger which added another $4.50. For a black bean burger. Wonder what they charged for meat. The real shocker came when I realized that I was charged $3.49 for soda water, the price of a soft drink. I have NEVER been charged for soda water. I can't even tell you how ridiculous this is. I got a black bean burger and potato chips for around $12.50. It was okay. I got a side of friend pickles for 8.49. They were pretty good. The manager took that off my bill, which I am grateful for. But if you are looking for outrageous prices and mediocre food, by all means, go to Issac's. However, for about $20 more, you could go to someplace like Harvest, with fresher food and no charge for soda water. Issac's used to be a value lunch. Now they are just taking the piss really. It's probably to pay for the expensive liquor licenses that they have now. I don't mind paying for good service and good food. But this is really out of line. Shame on you, Issac owners, for gouging the public. You're probably not going to be around for very much longer at these prices. Avoid,...