Grotto Wood-Fired Grill and Wine Cave — Restaurant in Eureka Springs

My wife and I have dined here several times over the years and The Grotto has been one of our favorite restaurants. We always get filet mignon with the baked potato and it's been delicious. So for our 25 year anniversary the other day we chose the Grotto to be our meal to celebrate our anniversary. That's how much we like it. This turned into a horrible mistake. We told them ahead of time it was our 25 year anniversary. They did say happy anniversary when we arrived but then that was that. We ordered the grilled toast as an appetizer which we've had before. $10. It came out with just three small pieces of bread with some butter. Three small pieces of bread for $10!? The bread was super delicious but come on. That's a lot of money for three pieces of bread. Then the butter is so cold you can't even spread it on the bread and if you wait for it to soften enough to spread it you're nice warm grilled bread is now cold. Then it got worse. The food came out and my steak and potato looked great but my wife's filet which was supposed to be medium well looks way overcooked. Dried out and burnt looking on the outside. Her baked potato should have been covered in salt on the outside like mine but had no salt at all. We have raved about their baked potatoes to other people because of how they make them and for some reason they're not that way anymore. They did not taste near as good as in the past. When we commented to the waiter about the potato he just told us there was salt on the table and we could just put some salt on it. Not cool. He agreed the steak was overcooked so he took it back to get it redone but now for our anniversary my wife has to sit there and watch me eat while she waits another 15 minutes for her food to come out. If I wait for her, my food will be cold. She was already upset our anniversary meal is getting ruined but then they bring out the next one and it's still looks black and burnt on the outside. You cut into it and it was definitely more medium to medium rare but tasted burnt if you ate it because the outside was so burnt. How they did this I don't know. They apologized again as my wife was almost in tears at this point. The waiter then offered to take it off the bill and get her anything else she wanted from the menu. He worded it like it was going to be complimentary to get her something else to make up for them screwing it up twice. She gets the sliders that are supposed to have slices of filet in them. The waiter did not state that they came with mushrooms so when it showed up it had a bunch of mushrooms on the sliders which she doesn't like and had we known we would have said no mushrooms. Then the strips of filet in the sliders were cooked medium rare and very red even though her steak she had ordered she asked for medium well. She didn't want to complain anymore at this point so she just kept it and didn't say anything but didn't even eat her meal because she was so disgusted at this point. We spent our entire anniversary meal dealing with these constant mistakes and just being upset the whole time. It was an absolutely horrible experience which ruined our anniversary. Then they still tried to charge us for the sliders that they made sound we're going to be complimentary for their mistakes! Unbelievable. After I complained they did take it off but I couldn't believe they tried to charge for that. They have now lost a long time customer. We do not plan on going back. Thanks for ruining our...

We made a 5:00 reservation on a Friday evening and arrived early enough to be seated first that we may have what was supposed to be a great dining experience before heading to the Great Passion Play. We needed to be finished up by 6:30. We were seated before all else and ordered drinks right away with our server, Allison. They were brought to our table and then she served the table of two right next to us. She did not return however, until she served as the bartender for the table of two next to us, which took around 10 minutes. When she delivered their drinks, she proceeded to take their order ahead of ours. They ordered an appetizer. We were at last able to place our order. My husband and I both ordered the filet, medium rare; mine with the suggested asparagus, his with the baked potato. We did not order appetizers in order to assure time for our entree to get to our table that we may eat and head out. We waited, and waited.... Appetizers were delivered to all of the nearby tables. With appetizers having been eaten by all of the other patrons, and their entrees delivered, we inquired with our server when our entree may be out, as we had elsewhere to be shortly (by now it was 6:00). She snobbishly retorted, "You do know that this is not a fast food restaurant." To which I stated that of course we were fully aware, however all other tables near us had already eaten appetizers, which, for the most part, were ordered after our entree, and all tables around us had also already received their entrees. We were met with the question, "which tables"? OMG. Are you joking? Your response to your patrons is to challenge them? I pointed out the table behind us, who had received their entrees and the table in front of us, who had also received theirs. She then retorted that some food items take longer than others, to which I pointed out the steaks which had been brought out to other patrons already. As I tried to communicate with Allison, she spoke over me to drive the point home that not all of the other patrons had ordered steak. Finally, I spoke abruptly to her and asked if I could finish my thought without her rude interruptions. Finally, my husband stepped in and said, to our server, "that's enough". This whole problem of back and forth started with your rude statement from the beginning about this place not being a fast food restaurant. Our steaks made it to the table. Mine was overcooked, my husband's was perfect. I had exactly six asparagus spears in the plate with my overcooked steak. By the time the debacle with our server ended, I was terribly anxious and disturbed and was only able to take a couple of bites of my steak and side. The manager came by our table to feel out the situation, to which I said nothing to him. He asked about the food and my husband said it was great and that this was our second time here. Me, being done with the whole experience, simply smiled and said nothing. WE WILL NEVER RETURN. Although, in my mind I felt that Allison had earned a round dime of a tip, I left her a 25% gratuity for a $135.00 crappy meal and experience and we will never grace the doors of the place again....

Update, June 2025:

Went back recently for an anniversary dinner and it was a really subpar experience.

As someone who’s served in fine dining, including Ruth’s Chris for many years, we didn’t have super high expectations but for a place that sells itself as a more elevated casual dining, the service and food was mediocre this time.

First off, nobody acknowledged the special occasion when we came in, including the server, which is odd.

Usually if it is marked on the reservation, at the very least people are greeted with that at the door.

Then we were placed on the stair landing, that was dark and awkward, special occasion or not. Felt like it was an afterthought type of table.

Some of the back of the house staff was engaging in playful behavior with server staff on the floor.

Including chasing on the staircase and throwing things at them, as if they were 13 year olds… I’m all about a little fun and I know it’s no 3 Michelin-star place, but just use common sense. You wouldn’t do that at Chilly’s.

The specialty appetizer, Duck Spring Rolls, were not that great and definitely not worth $16. I had sliders for my main course for $15, and comparatively the Spring Rolls were super underwhelming, despite the tasty sauces.

My ‘To Go’ was just thrown in all together in a small box, including the spring mix garnish. So I had a lovely mixture of Mac and cheese, asparagus, and remaining slider all incorporated in there. If you are boxing it up, no need to make it fancy but again, some common sense would be nice.

Thank goodness we decided not to have any cocktails or wine during our dinner, because for a basic meal that still cost us over $100 before the tip, this was mediocre at best.

Very bazar experience.

————- First experience, Spring 2025:

Fantastic. The food was well repaired and unique, considering there were pretty timeless options on the menu. We really enjoyed it and hope to...