The Informalist — Restaurant in Eau Claire

We made reservations at The Informalist for Friday evening at 5pm when the opened. First, it was very easy to make reservations online and when we arrived we were seated immediately in a very nice booth in a side area of the restaurant. There were 3 of us.

Our server was prompt in getting us drinks. The Paloma was delicious and I ended up ordering a second one. Is $12 expensive for a drink? Yes, but it was my friend’s 50th and we were in for a splurge of an evening. We ordered the baked Brie to share, which came with crusty bread, lavender almonds, honeycomb, and caramelized onions (I think). This was a fabulous way to start dinner, such interesting flavors that worked well together, and it was the perfect size for three of us to share as a starter. Two of us at the table ordered the salmon and the third ordered the duck. We had the perfect amount of time to enjoy our starter and drinks before our food came out. I love salmon, and the crispy skin and buttery texture was some of the best I’ve ever had in a restaurant. The romesco sauce was a great complement to the salmon and the leek risotto a fabulous side. Everything was seasoned and balanced to perfection. My friend said that her duck was delicious as well. We pretty much licked our plates clean. This was a fabulous place to celebrate a big birthday and to indulge a little bit.

Perhaps the only slightly disappointing thing was that when we made reservations it asked if we were celebrating an occasion. I denoted a birthday, but no one at the restaurant acknowledged this. It wasn’t a huge deal, but if you are going to ask, perhaps acknowledge it.

We didn’t feel rushed to get through our meal and leave, even though it got busy. This speaks to customer service. I can’t wait for my next dinner at The Informalist!

EDIT on 5/8/23: I ate here again this last weekend for another friend’s birthday. Our experience was wonderful, once again. We started with the Brussels sprouts and the burrata; both were very tasty, although that milk bread served with the burrata was fantastic. I ordered the salmon once again, although this time it was served with a cold grain salad of sorts. It was tasty, although the warm salmon and cold salad were an odd contrast. Everyone at our table raved...

What we ordered, Fried Green Tomatoes, Smashburger, Supreme Pizza.

Fried green tomatoes felt underwhelming for the price paid, they were OK, and to be fair, we have never had them before, so it may not be something that we like. Fair enough, awesome they have something like that.

The smashburger and fries were awesome. I would go back for that one. I did not read it closely, but it has sauerkraut, which I like… the wife does not.

The supreme pizza was good, not the greatest as the crust had more burnt up parts and some crust had to be thrown away… sad day for crust people. The toppings were good, the sausage was the best topping.

Service was not so great. We got there at our reservation time and were seated within a minute or two. The problem was that we were left with menus for just over 15 minutes before our waiter stopped by. Just before they stopped by, we had our phones out looking for the next closest restaurant with burgers or pizza. Waiting for service was off putting, I was eyeing waiters as they passed, the “are you our waiter” look. They would meet my eyes but no one would help us. Perhaps I am ugly or scary looking. Turns out our waiter made eye contact with me several times and still did not help us or even let us know he was our waiter.

Of course the comment can be, “just be vocal and ask” and that was the next stop, going up to the hostess and asking if someone had been assigned to the table. Yet it became an issue of do I ask or do we just leave and walk-in to another restaurant.

Disappointed by the service experience.

Also, a note to the restaurant, please do not put the water glasses on the table with the rims down. You know why. If it has to be done, then a simple napkin between the cups and the table surface fixes the issue.

We have other restaurants to try. So not one we will be going back to, but as I outlined we had three items which is not representative of all their foods. We also had poor service to start the dining experience, so we may be biased.

Feel free to give it a try, this was just...

I really wanted to like this restaurant as the atmosphere has a cool vibe. While waiting behind a couple at the hostess station, the hostess left to seat them. When she returned, I requested a table for 3 and she said she couldn’t leave her post to check the table situation even though she clearly left with the prior couple. Therefore, we waited for another employee to appear and then we were seated. It was never clear who our primary server actually was as one person took the order and filled the water glasses and another served the food. Once we received our food, the server set it down and left, not asking if we would like or need anything else and no one came back later to check. The steak was not served with a steak knife and only a butter knife was available on the table, the fries did not come with ketchup nor was ketchup available on the table. Our water glasses were lined up at the end of the table for over 15 minutes and no one came to fill them or the initial soft drinks we consumed. Not sure where the staff disappeared to, but every time I would see workers standing at the serving station, I would get up to walk there and they would walk away before I could get there and I didn’t feel it appropriate to shout, excuse me. As far as the food, the pizza was swimming in a plate of grease and moisture causing the crust to become soggy. The potatoes with the steak looked like sautéed mushrooms as they were dark brown, so I assume they deep fried the fingerling potatoes as they were just as brown on the inside. The po boy had nice flavor and spice, but the lack of drinking water was a problem. And when I was able to get water and ketchup, the fries were cold and the ketchup had a very funky taste to it as if it was spoiled. Not sure if this was just an off night for the staff or training issues, but bad enough for me to...