21 West End — Restaurant in Fort Smith

First of all, let me begin by saying I really wanted to like this place. I was born in Fort Smith, visit when I am able and have watched several 'upscale' restaurants try to thrive only to end up failing in the Fort. The venue is lovely. It is an old stone building in the heart of downtown and the interior is cozy with exposed stone and warm lighting, allowing plenty of space for bigger groups with available private rooms. The bar was well stocked and the music in the background was just soft enough not to interrupt conversation. That said, it took too long for our waiter to make his way to our table and when he asked our drink orders and we all were content with water, his demeanor changed visibly. Listen, I get that a table who orders cocktails and wine is going to be a more profitable table; however, not ordering alcohol does not make our table any less important. It took him a very long time to return to take our order; some of us ordered full entrees and some of us ordered appetizers as our entrees- which seemed to again, cause him to treat us as lesser patrons for our dining choices. We had also allowed that we were celebrating a 50-year wedding anniversary- and while none of us expected any special treatment , this was barely acknowledged. It took an exorbitantly long time to receive our salads/apps and then significantly longer for our dinner. The restaurant was busy, but not extraordinarily so... On the whole, I think everyone was satisfied with their order, however, my mother had ordered two pieces of quail- one which was so tough she could not eat it. I watched as she tried in vain to cut it without any luck. At one point (well into our waiting), my mother asked for bread (bread plates were set on the table when we sat down) and he brought it the same time he brought our dinner. He also brought the soup and salad she had ordered at the same time instead of staggering it. Once we had finished eating he was all too eager to pick up our plates, asking if he could clear them while some of us were still eating our meal. Ours is a family of foodies and living in Austin I have come to expect a certain type of dining experience at the price point of this restaurant. In all honesty, it was not worth the cost and the opportunity was not what we (I) had hoped. I do not know whether I will give this establishment another chance...I might just head over to George's where the service is always top-notch, the burgers are always delicious and the beer is...

Thanks... Shane, Brennan, Mike, Ray, And Colby for the extremely welcoming evening. Kevin, you have a winning team here...

DRINKS!!!.... Since the mascot is a martini glass of course we had to throw back a couple of those. My dirty & hot was delicious... And the blue cheese filled green olive threw it over the top. Her peach mango was thick and sweet.... She ended up feeling no pain after her third! Brennan took great care in the creating our libations.

Now.... To the grub. Each course consumed was like finally being able to scratching that unscratchable itch. #satisfying

The appetizers were amazing! We had two of the specials including a seared ahi tuna with wontons and a special slaw as well as an appetizer with a strudel with dates, raisins, and blue cheese with some sweet Merlot boiled pears and arugula salad.... It sounds a little weird, but oh my goodness, it was an amazing flavor explosion! We also had spinach artichoke dip. We ate the special for our entree as well. It was a blackened mahi_mahi with cheese tortellini with a light basil spinach marinara sauce. We finished the meal off with a nice light creme brulee with a caramelized sweet shell.... It sort of tasted like a campfire toasted marshmallow.... Nice!

So..... The long and short of it. We will now be regularly visiting to satisfy...

Been here on multiple occasions. Can say that it has significantly declined in quality and service. I liked the atmosphere here previously because it was nice and moody. Now, the music is too loud. This place is on the pricier side but usually I thought it was okay because you pay for the service and atmosphere. It took 40 minutes for us to be served food. I asked for a straw since I sat down and it was repeatedly forgotten. Then, once we were served our food, we were rarely checked on. The food itself is also very disappointing. They have a rotating menu but it’s been the same since April. This is not what I was expecting. My bigger issue is that the food we actually received was horrible. I ordered an entree Caesar salad with chicken (and I verified that this was a size that was possible). It was smaller than the side salad noted in the photos, underdressed and the chicken was very difficult to eat due to the dryness. The bread was very “wet” and dense. The salmon was undercooked but we couldn’t send it back and had to ask a different server because our server didn’t check on us. Overall, highly disappointed and the price was certainly not worth the experience. Will not be returning and I would suggest you try another...