Tolon — Restaurant in Fort Wayne

I pity the misfortunate lone stars (reference to not be connected in any way, shape, or form with the great state of Texas), but there is only so much benefit of the doubt to be given. Please try Tolon again, because I am sure with an open mind and a better understanding of the farm-to-fork concept, you, too, will one day add four new friends to the sad little star you gave in your review.

After only a week of being open, everything went off without a hitch just as if Tolon had been open for years. Wine recommendations/selection were perfect. My wife, who I continually prod and ultimately fails to enjoy red wine, shared a Pinot Noir and loved it. That alone made me happy! (Extra bonus for having Zombie Dust. I died and went to heaven). We started with the Duck Frites. Most amazing fries I have ever had (crispness, thickness, flavorness, dipness, all were flawlessness). No exaggeration there. My sister and I both ordered the NY Strip steak. Over-the-top delicious flavor and perfectly cooked. The accompanied vegetables were delectable with inspiring flavor. You can tell Tolon means it when they say its ingredients are locally sourced and in season. I had every intention of taking pictures for my review on Yelp, but each time a plate was set near me there was a Pavlovian response that lead to inhaling food. Next time I will try to go slower. No promises, though! My brother-in-law ordered the pork chop. It looked amazing (and that's all I can attest to...it was difficult to share anything due to our fallen nature and selfish desires). We did however manage to share the side of brussel sprouts between the four of us. It was a perfect amount. Continuing, in a race of pinnacle thoroughbreds, my wife ordered the best meal of the evening, the scallops. You close your eyes, put a succulent piece of the scallop in your mouth, let it melt on your tongue, and you would begin to believe you were transformed to an aquatic locale with the divers proudly carrying the fresh gathering of the day straight to the chef. Open up your eyes and a tinge of sadness creeps into your thoughts, because you are actually in landlocked Fort Wayne on a cold February evening. However, the moment you put another bite of the tenderly-seared mollusk into your salivating mouth, the day dreaming happens all over again. When things are this good you don't question whether to have dessert, you ask yourself how many desserts a reasonable person would order. Typically, my wife is begging me to order dessert. We fit the stereotype of male savoriness and female sweetness. Tonight, every single taste bud (even the sweet ones) cried tears of joy. The desserts of choice were the chocolate cake and crust-less pecan pie. I loved the chocolate cake, because I am a sucker for density and richness. My wife was enamored by the presentation of the pecan crust-less pie and ice cream. She loves all things in a mason jar. Presentation was amazing for the entire meal, but the flavor and preparation are the all-stars I chose for my team.

Nicky, the better half of the dynamic duo with Chef Matthew (no offense Chef Matthew, it's the burden we bear), was so sweet and made her rounds to speak with guests at the tables. She shared that the investors tried to get them to open a restaurant out Southwest area 7 years ago. They held off because they knew downtown was where they wanted to be and the timing wasn't right. Selfishly (there it is again), I could have been experiencing Tolon seven years ago!? Kidding aside, we are so thankful the heels were dug in and Tolon is now coming in to raise the bar for downtown dining establishments. Competition has been significantly elevated and those who choose to ignore will be left out in the cold with only a glowing Abita beer sign to show for.

Until next...

I really wanted to like Tolon. The concept and menu sounded delicious, but in the end poor execution left me wanting.

We went for brunch and left quite disappointed. We each ordered a Bloody Mary to drink and some of the biscuits everyone seemed to be raving about. For entrées I had the shrimp and grits and my wife the chicken & waffles.

I love all manner of Bloody Mary, but made it about halfway through this one before I had to throw in the towel. Each sip was just a mouthful of horseradish finished with watered down tomato juice. I didn't get any other flavors, including the spirit. I typically love a horseradish heavy Bloody Mary and I have sampled tons of house Bloody mixes that were amazing. This just missed the mark entirely. With no other flavor to offset the horseradish and the house mix being nothing more than flavorless tomatoes run through a juicer it was ultimately undrinkable.

The biscuits were honestly the only part of the visit that demonstrated any culinary aptitude whatsoever. Dense, flavorful, appropriately seasoned and baked to perfection. I can see why these are the big take away for so many patrons. However, even on this plate the house made berry bourbon jam was a disappointment. Not a jam at all, just a runny syrup with a few macerated berries.

My shrimp and grits were as inedible as my Bloody was undrinkable. Blackened shrimp fell victim to what happens to many blackened dishes prepared by anything other than a chef with a lot of experience in the style. Just a mouthful of black pepper and old bay. Barely even picked up any shrimp flavor on the back end. Offset this with grits and andouille so salty that I'm pretty sure they altered my serum osmolality. I ate maybe 5 bites before calling it.

Wife's chicken was similarly problematic. While the texture of the breading was close to that of a good Nashville hot chicken, the flavor was nothing but a mouthful of black pepper. At this point I'm seeing a trend in this kitchen 🤔.

I have often been accused of liking food too spicy, and I enjoy all manner of strong flavors. So for me to have these complaints... It wasn't that anything was too spicy or strong, the flavors were just wrong.

Bottom line: we ultimately spent a lot of money on food that just wasn't prepared well and didn't taste good.

Our server, after over emphasizing the farm to table shtick to the point of tedium, failed to recognize that there was a bunch of picked over food on the table which clearly had not been enjoyed. When a table asks for the check and they have barely touched their meals you might want to investigate beyond the fact that they do not want boxes for any of it.

2 stars for effort.

I reserve 1 star for full on calamity or complete lack of customer service, but I really cannot imagine being enticed to return to Tolon. Especially with delicious options like Nawa & Mercado right across the street.

P.S. Any establishment with negative reviews which mention the owner by name, confirmed by the owner's argumentative and unprofessional replies should be a HUGE red flag to anyone with half a brain. At this point I'm just thankful we didn't encounter Nicky during...

On Sunday I messaged Tolon about their Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal (buy $100 gift card, receive additional $20 card free) and was told since they were closed on Monday, I could purchase these during our reservation Friday night and they would honor the additional $20 bonus cards even though the promotion ended Monday. We arrived at dinner last night and purchased our gift cards. The owner, Nicky, said the promotional cards could not be used the same night of purchase . My husband and I misunderstood and thought she was saying only the $20 bonus cards could not be used. When we went to pay with the gift cards, the owner (Nicky) came to our table with a very unfriendly attitude to tell us she just told us we could not use those cards tonight! We told her we thought she meant the $20 cards and she rudely dismissed us misunderstanding the situation, berated us making our entire group uncomfortable before storming off. We told our waiter we would like to return the gift cards and would just be paying for our meals. Our waiter was amazing and apologized for the misunderstanding, repeatedly. Nicky avoided our table until we were walking out. Four of us walked out first and thanked the waiter for being so kind but did not acknowledge Nicky because of how poorly she treated our table. When the other two from our party walked out shortly after, Nicky shouted, “don’t bother coming back!” We were speechless. This was the most unprofessional and disrespectful encounter any of us have experienced at a local restaurant. Up until this point I had heard nothing but wonderful things about tolon and its owners but after last night I can say I will never step foot in that establishment again. As a small business owner myself, I would never for any reason treat a customer this way or make them feel as uncomfortable and unwelcome as we all felt last night. What should have been a simple misunderstanding, ruined our Christmas dinner with...