Ambrosia Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Eugene

Being completely honest, I was disappointed in my first and only experience I’ve had at Ambrosia. I called the restaurant about a week in advance to reserve a table for 11 people for a birthday party on Tuesday 6:00pm February 25th 2020. The gentleman who answered the phone was very nice, but kept saying Wednesday the 25th. I politely corrected him, he reconfirmed the date, and the reservation was confirmed. He asked what the occasion was and I told him it was my birthday, and he told me to remind the server that it’s my birthday for a glass of champagne on the house, and that was the end of the call. I felt excited and confident after the call.

Come Tuesday, the party and I arrive at the restaurant at 6:00 and there is no host or really anyone around. Eventually a server/host saw us standing there and greeted us. I told him I had a reservation for 11 people and he had no idea what I was talking about. I told him I’d made the reservation a week in advance, and he didn’t seem to have any idea what I was talking about, but told me he would set up a table for us. One of my party guests pointed out to me that a special board advertising a brunch for Wednesday the 25th of February, which is not correct, as the 25th of February was on a Tuesday.

After about 25 minutes, a table was set up and we were sat. The server was the same gentlemen who greeted us and set up our table for my lost reservation. He was very nice and I felt for him for having to now deal with a walk in big too, but did not deliver the service I had expected from Ambrosia. He never told us his name, he didn’t tell us what the specials were until half way through the tables order, and never asked what the occasion was. I mentioned several times it was my birthday while the server was at the table, and not once did he seem to acknowledge it.

On top of that, a random woman who roams Eugene’s food establishments DAILY asking for samples and harassing workers (I am familiar with her because I too have worked as a server for 6 years now, and have seen her at several of my work places) casually waltzed up the stairs to the upper dining area and started checking tables for food with other diners still seated and eating their meals. Where is their host? Why did they/anyone allow her to disturb guests and walk around the restaurant looking for food? This only added to the frustration of my birthday evening thus far, as several of my guests who work the service industry recognized her as well. She eventually made her way out of the restaurant on her own without any restaurant staff escorting her out, as far as I was able to see.

For the price of the food and beverage offered at Ambrosia, I fully expected a more professional and positive experience. The food was good, though it was a little pricey. We tipped the server 20% regardless of him not telling us his name, any specials, not asking what the occasion was with a bunch of dressed up individuals, or acknowledging the fact that we were obviously celebrating a birthday and did nothing to make it special even though they messed up the reservation. No happy birthday, no glass of champagne. It made me kind of sad being that we were out for a birthday celebration. He was a nice man and we aren’t cruel individuals who want to take it out on him, but I am really upset for the lack of professionalism and acknowledgment of my birthday dinner falling through the cracks. Very...

We were so hopeful that our experience at Ambrosia would be good, unfortunately the food and the service were lacking. Our server, Brett, was distant, disconnected, and pretty much non existent throughout our visit. When prompted for a wine pairing suggestion for the scallops I was told to look at the wine menu. He did not check in with our table until our entrees were ready. We ordered the caprese salad which was not worth $16, (thin slices of un-cored, unripe, hard as a rock, and tasteless heirloom tomato). The menu listed Himalayan sea salt garnish which was not present, and would have helped. Also, for $16 throw some freaking burrata on that caprese. Between the three of us, we ordered the scallops, the chicken parmesan, and the lasagne. Let's begin with the lasagne, it came in a rarebit dish that looked filthy. It had burnt drip marks on the sides and the handles of the dish were also sooty. The dish itself was over salted which unfortunately covered any other flavor. For $20 you could do better at the spaghetti factory. On to the chicken parmesan, it was good, the chicken was cooked perfectly, the pasta, however, was undercooked and chewy. (There is a wonderful supplier of fresh pasta out of Portland called Classic Foods, please check it out. It really helps with consistency issues like this.) At $21 for noodles, chicken breast, tomato sauce, and cheese, it was still a disappointment in value. The scallops were okay, I wish I would have had a decent wine pairing. The risotto was way overcooked and tasted like thanksgiving stuffing which was a strange contrast to the maple-bacon scallops. The vegetable that came with the chicken parmesan and the scallops was unnecessary, and also heavily seasoned like the risotto. For $29 you should just wait and take the ride to the coast. The only time we were asked about how we liked the food was when a very lovely young lady bussed our dishes. She checked in on the caprese, and we let her know that the tomato was unripe and green. She seemed completely unprepared for handling this. If she did communicate our comment to the server, it was not addressed. The one ray of light was the Harvest Mule cocktail! It was lovely and refreshing. Unfortunately one cocktail on a tab of over $120 is not much to...

We decided to try this out for the first time and it wasn't that great walking in. It's a beautiful building and set up and we had plenty of time to appreciate it as we stood at the front desk for ten minutes. Not a single server or employee noticed us and it wasn't very busy. There were plenty of empty tables and employees walking by, but no one paid any attention to us. When we were finally pointed out to the hostess, who was standing there almost this entire time, she told us another five minutes. After that had come and gone, we were shown to a nightstand they tried to pass off as a table for two that was situated in a doorway that was being used constantly by other patrons and employees. Our "table" was bumped a few times and I had to hug the wall to avoid strollers and trays and protruding elbows. It was about another ten minutes before we got our water, which was the only water we were to get for the night - I assume they were running low. Our waitress appeared some time after that, during which time we had each read, reread, and reread the menus. We ordered, I the Spaghetti, which was on special for $10, and he the $23 Lobster Ravioli. The food only took about 20 minutes, which is usually good, but seems to go against their "Fresh" persona. I had a huge platter of spaghetti, which unfortunately contained frozen meatballs. He received 7 minuscule lobster ravioli which contained no lobster. I definitely got the better deal as I could eat my spaghetti for several days. When he finished, he asked for the check and a box so I could keep munching until we were ready to leave. The waitress grabbed my plate and tried to pull it out from under my fork, which I was using to spear a meatball. I protested and she seemed appalled that I didn't want her to take my plate. I tried to explain that I was perfectly capable of boxing my own dinner, so she reluctantly brought me a box. She then brought us the check and we never saw another employee after that. I boxed up my spaghetti and we left without...