Birdhouse — Restaurant in Erie

Food: I tried the edamame and birdhouse flight for my appetizers, and tonkotsu ramen and carne asade taco for my entree. Let’s start with the birdhouse flight: we had the salsa with cinnamon and cloves (it starts with a b, ask your waiter for the name) offering a unique twist on salsa as we know it. But wow, when I tried it my mind was blown, it was no longer a salsa but a beautiful dipping sauce packed full of flavorful spices and a slight hint of tomato. The guacamole was also very good, it had pepitas on top offering a nice crunch and salty flavor. It had a good spice mix and it tasted very fresh. The queso was my least favorite of the trio, but it was still good. There was nothing too outstanding about it. I would say eat this when it’s fresh and hot because the texture changes as it gets colder. Next up, the edamame. Wow, this was my favorite thing out of everything (entrees included). It had flaky sea salt on top offering great flavor, and the beans were cooked nicely. The dipping sauce was like nothing I’ve had (okay maybe it is just not served with edamame). It had a mustardy flavor, but also sweet, and salty. It was just comfort and happiness in my mouth with every edamame bean. The carne asade taco was actually, in my opinion, not the best, it had a good sauce and good amount of cheese, but the meat wasn’t that great. It was dry and a little chewy. It wasn’t worth the price ($6.5). The tonkotsu ramen was yummy. I liked all the extra toppings you could add (I added marinated mushrooms which were fantastic) making it unique to you. The pork was great, when it’s soaked in the broth for a few minutes it soaks up all the flavor. The noodles were a great texture and tasted homemade (I don’t even know if they were)!!

Service: Our server was excellent, helpful in deciding what to order and she made sure we were accommodated for. The food came out very fast for how busy it was.

Atmosphere: There were lots of different styles found throughout the restaurant, but somehow they came together to give it an upscale feel, and the dim lighting gave it extra mood.

Overall: I really enjoyed everything here, and everything was beautifully presented. All of the appetizers had a somewhat twist to them giving old classics exciting, modern feels.

P.S. This is a contender for one of my longest reviews so if you made it this far thank you so much I appreciate that my review was interesting enough to hold your attention and didn’t feel like it was just me blabbing on and on like I...

Tried Birdhouse for the first time last night. The food was outstanding. Beautiful presentation, incredible flavor complexity and variety. We were delighted to find such a refined option close to our home, instead of needing to trek to Boulder or downtown.

We started with the 5 cheese queso with chorizo, two mocktails (blood orange and pineapple) and the tartare, pictured. All were wonderful. My husband tried the tacos - short rib, chicken and avocado. Divine. I had the duck confit ramen, which was prepared perfectly. I especially loved how delicately the egg was poached. Our server was wonderful and attentive.

However. There is a pandemic.

We came in at 4:30 to avoid crowds due to Covid and were pleasantly surprised to be able to dine indoors, despite website warnings of only outdoor dining available. Walking in we passed in a blonde woman in camel colored leather pants who appeared to be a manager or hostess was seated at a large table counting cash without a mask. She looked up when she saw us and continued counting without putting her mask on. Unsettling, but perhaps she felt the distance was an effective barrier.

About 10 minutes after being seated the woman stood up and began walking around, still maskless. She finally put on her mask, which seemed to be the end of it. I was sadly mistaken. Over the course of our 60-minute meal, I watched this staff member hover over the service area where prepared food waits to be delivered to guests. Each time she was maskless over the food meant to be served to guests. She additionally did this over the takeout storage container area. I witnessed this a total of four times.

I recognize the variation among individuals regarding Covid risk tolerance and comfort. I also recognize the staff member may have had an underlying medical condition that makes mask wearing difficult. However as a food service establishment I expected this business to have greater respect and compliance for local county and state guidelines. Especially within close proximity to open containers of food, the carelessness of this particular staff member stood out as inconsistent with the rest of our experience...

Not sure what happened to the service and food at the Birdhouse. I’ll begin with the list..

1. ordered a coke, got a diet. Told the server, she brought another, it was flat.
2. ordered the chicken appetizer, I was told they were all out of chicken, spring rolls and some other tacos. I was told it was a supply chain issue. Really? Chicken? Or could it be due to the party of 21? Saving food for the larger party? And then, I was told the chicken truck delivered on Sunday morning, or did they? Don’t know of many truck deliveries on a Sunday morning with chicken. Told me the truck just showed up, and they just finished cooking the chicken. Well, which is it cooked early morning before the infamous truck arrived? Don’t lie to customers, it will come back on you! Just face it, you lied and were really bad at it.
3. wife ordered a beer, after the beer not showing up, we asked the server, but she had no idea..we watched her write it down.
4. ask for salt and pepper. Finished half my meal (the chicken with supply chain issues…maybe go to king Sooper up the road). Had to wave down the server to inquire about the salt and pepper. Apparently, another supply chain issue, this time at the hands of the lousy service.
5. I received the biggest go to hell look from the server. Truly nasty look.
6. we were seated in the plastic window room. Had to ask the server to turn on the heat. It was so cold, my wife had to sit on cloth napkins to keep her butt warm. Wow! Customer care at it finest!

This place was awful. Staff lies, service sucked, it was cold, and no one on staff really cared. Shame on Birdhouse for the terrible treatment. NEVER going back. 24 Karrot gets our business. We’ll be sure to spread the word about how awful our experience was. Mm Place is too expensive for the service received. And don’t forget the 1.5% cost of living tax added to your bill. Basically, this tells me that the Birdhouse does pay their employees a living wage, thats left to...