Arbor — Restaurant in Fort Wayne

For our anniversary this year we wanted to try somewhere new. We had heard the Arbor was highly recommended so we decided to make a reservation online. It was a little confusing because when I made the reservation the only area I could reserve for was called "the Patio". I hesitated because I didn't want to sit outside in the cold so I called the restaurant and they informed me that's what they call their dining room. I asked for an intimate table away from all the action so my wife and I could just spend time alone enjoying a nice meal. When we got there the smell of the scratch kitchen filled the dining room and the sound of classical piano filled our ears. It turns out they had a live music performance that evening to serenade us while we ate. We wanted to try a little bit of everything So we ordered a salad, an appetizer and two entrees. After starting our evening with a celebratory champagne, we were brought a charcuterie board with delicious meats and cheeses. We were very happy with this assortment and would definitely get it again.

Following the charcuterie board they brought out a Caesar salad. Typically this is one of my favorite things to order at a restaurant, especially if I know that their dressing is made from scratch Unfortunately, this was the only bad part of the evening as it was inedible due to the high salt content. The combination of the salty dressing, the sardines, and the parmesan cheese had me reaching for my water every fight. I could not finish it. Thankfully our server was kind enough to comp this from our bill.

The meatball appetizer was delicious, I love the fact it was serving the cast iron dish hot straight out of the oven. The deep rich tomato sauce paired nicely with the sweetness of the meat and the saltiness of the toasted cheese. I just simply wish there was more sauce.

For our entrees, my wife ordered the butternut squash ravioli as recommended by our server. She told us to expect rich and bold fall flavors and that's exactly what we got. The butter not squash was smooth and creamy, and the ravioli noodle itself was thick enough to hold up to cooking but thin enough that it melted in your mouth. This dish was both technically flawless and well rounded in its delicious flavor composition.

I ordered the pappardelle bolognese and this dish was very robust. The portion was big enough that it could have fed both my wife and I. The bolognese was heavily reduced, coated the noodles perfectly, was rich in spices and herbs, and had plenty of protein in it. I could not finish it and was more than happy to take leftovers home.

Overall, we were very pleased with our dining experience at Arbor. I would love to go back and try the rooftop bar sometime. Our server told us that up there they serve a different cocktail and food menu so you could try different items that aren't available at the restaurant itself. If you're staying at the Bradley or somewhere near downtown, you should definitely...

We really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately we were pretty disappointed.

I’ll start with the pros: Coffee was good, even if portions were small. Interior design was thoughtful and inviting. Chairs were comfortable. Only thing we found odd was the exposed drywall ceilings. The lemon ricotta pancakes were tasty.

Now the cons: We came in on a Sunday for brunch (which should be a peak time) but the restaurant only had 2 other tables filled. The servers looked confused when we entered off the street, as if they didn’t know why we were there if we weren’t staying at the hotel. There was no music playing, so we awkwardly had to listen to other customers and staff. The kitchen was loud and staff seemed more interested in speaking to one another than serving patrons. We overheard staff talking about applying for other jobs and telling customers how the quality of the furniture had diminished in the last few years. Not a professional atmosphere. They were out of biscuits— which is a small complaint— but if your menu is going to be small, you should have everything on the menu. My husband’s Eggs Benedict was a weird combination of temperatures: the egg was warm, the ham was cold, the hollandaise was room temperature. It was pretty unappetizing. Our $5 side of bacon was 2 pieces of meat that had been fried in a dirty pan. It almost tasted like fish, which was really, really odd.

To sum up, everything was just really overpriced and not great quality. A two person breakfast for $60 (not including tip) should be excellent— and instead left the restaurant hoping we wouldn’t get sick from it. It seems like this place was a great idea that did not follow through in terms of excellence and quality. The only real positive takeaway from our visit was that it told us what we needed to know about the hotel: pretty interior design, but not worth the cost more than likely. We love boutique hotels and travel around the Midwest to try them out, so it’s unfortunate that the one closest to home is not what we would hope for.

I hope this place gets better management and staff who cares before it is forced...

My fiancé and I wanted to celebrate our 5-year anniversary here. We booked through Resy, and when we showed up for our reservation, the restaurant was closed. We ultimately decided to go somewhere else. The Director of Food and Beverage reached out to us (without us telling the restaurant about how we felt) which was awesome. He told us to set a date for us to come back so that he could “ensure you are taken care of and enjoy a memorable dinner in one of our restaurants.”

First, we asked him to make the reservation on the 20th of April, but it was made on the 13th, which I didn’t find out about until receiving the reminder for it from Resy the day of. I called to cancel it and rescheduled for the 20th. When we arrived at the restaurant for our reservation, we really appreciated the atmosphere and ambiance. However, it took us 15 minutes to get water and asked what we wanted to eat. I acknowledge this was not the server’s fault, but there seemed to only be one server for the entire restaurant, including a group of 15-20 in the private room. We ordered our food - the pizza was ok and the bucatini was also alright. The fries were actually really good and probably the food we both enjoyed the most.

We ran out of water pretty quickly into the meal and after waiting about 10-15 minutes for our waiter to notice, we politely asked for a refill. We did eventually get more water about 2-3 minutes before the bill came. To be fair, I don't think it was bad service, just extremely understaffed. We won’t return here and won’t be recommending it to others

Overall: Good...