Embers Wood Grill — Restaurant in Gainesville

I am severely upset with how Ember's service was provided for me. I frequently pass by on my way to work, and love a good steak, but have never had embers. I have heard many great things about this establishment, and have read other reviews listed here as well. So, on a night where my husband and I finally had off, we decided to try and give it a whirl. At around 4 pm, I called to Inquire about dining in, and was extremely excited when they said they had an open reservation for 9:30 pm. I have two children, which had to put to bed before leaving out for our dinner. It took a little longer than I had liked to get our children to sleep, but we felt we would still get there in a decent amount of time to spare. Unfortunately, that was not the case. No mention was made that If at exactly 9:30 we were not physically in their building, they would close down their grill. The lady on the phone seemed happy to take my reservation when I Inquired about the latest time we could dine in, but again, made no mention that if we were not there by 9:30 sharp, we would not be able to keep our reservation. It was raining, to add in to our little fiasco heading in, and we were not about to speed to make our arrival as punctual as we would have liked. I called this establishment at 9:34pm after a few run ins with lights and the slight traffic congestion from the interstate, to let them know I was at the light on 34th Street and 39th Blvd, not even 3 blocks away, at most maybe 3 minutes. We were immediately turned down. "I'm sorry, they are shutting down the grill. My manager is tight about shutting the grill down right at 9:30" ...

Had I known that if at 9:30 sharp, they would immediately shut down their grill, I probably would have not tried to place a reservation.

I had been looking forward to it all evening. My husband works 50+ hours a week, and our windows for being able to get out, away from our children, to enjoy a simple dinner together, are few and far in-between. I am leaving this review in hopes that for many parents, who try hard to work with whatever arrangements they can for their children so they can enjoy an evening out, do not make the mistake of coming here. Especially if there are many other variables at play, and time just doesn't seem to have your side.

We will not come to this establishment, and tonight, I will have to settle for something other than what I had hoped for.

Thank you all for taking time to read this. Sincerely, An...

When I called to make graduation luncheon reservations, I specifically asked if there were vegetarian options for a special guest who would be at our table. I was advised not only does the restaurant offer a vegetarian platter, but was told the chef would be happy to make anything to order that the guest would like! I was thrilled, since our soon to be graduate loves steak; I thought The Embers would be the perfect fine dining option for us all to celebrate this very special occasion. Boy, was I wrong. Do not ruin your joy by choosing this restaurant. The waitress lectured and berated us for asking for vegetarian options. She told us she’s been told at three different seatings, that same day, that guests cannot be accommodated for anything off the menu and that “our guest would have to choose from two side salad options, only”! She even went so far as to explain how our guest could not have the Caesar salad because it had anchovies. The server was so abusive, nasty and argumentative that I had to excuse myself from the table and ask to speak with a manager in the next room. The manager was gracious and was kind enough to come to our table. Although the manager’s attention was appreciated, this unfolding scene made us all very uncomfortable; but, at least our guest would have Vegetarian options to enjoy. After the manager left, our service went from bad to worse. We had to ask for the cocktail menu so many times that our first course came and went before we received beverages. Our waters were not refilled after numerous requests. Our bottle of wine was not brought to the table until our entrees arrived! One of our guests asked for pepper for her Caesar salad, and the server showed up with a pepper grinder after the salad was consumed, asking if she would like that pepper now??? We were never offered bread, when we saw diners at adjacent tables enjoying what looked like delicious sourdough. Then, on top of everything, we were delivered the check before we were even asked if we’d like dessert?! All of us wanted dessert, it was a special occasion! The waitress was visibly annoyed she had to take the check away and bring us dessert menus — it was unbelievable. What an embarrassment. The food was delicious, but we will never be back nor will we recommend it. In fact, quite the opposite. The chef needs to run, not walk, to another fine dining establishment. This was not at all what we had in mind on graduation day. Incredibly...

We made a reservation for a 7:00 table. Upon arrival we were surprised at outside look of restaurant. We wanted a classy dining experience for an anniversary and it didn't appear as such. We decided to go in though and were happy we did. The ambience was low warm lights, table linens, candles, nice menus and wonderful attention to detail in decor. So... Arrived at 6:45 and were asked to wait till 7:00 so we went to bar and ordered a drink. Once our table was ready the front of house came and let us know in person. We then paid for our drink and went to sit in main restaurant. The menu for bar was different btw from that of main restaurant. Not a problem, just an observation. Our server was Victor. He was great! We enjoyed his attentiveness and friendly disposition. Numerous times he made recommendations that we followed and these things added to our comfort level and enjoyment of our experience.

We had the seafood platter for appetizer. So wonderful! Delish food, attention to detail flavors and huge pieces of shrimp. The crab was also amazing!

For meals we had the cowboy steak and filet mignon with scallops added. The addition was a kabob of 3 silver dollar size scallops that were seared and succulent. The steaks were cooked perfectly. No sauce needed. The sear and inner moisture were awesome!

Our sides asparagus, sweet potato and Mac and cheese were great!! Definitely worth the stomach room to eat the sides.

The bread was brought around by a gentleman with a tray and 3 options. There was also a lovely herb butter.

The dessert we chose was flour less chocolate cake and it was decadent!! So yummy. We took it to go and the box was even given attention to detail with the fruit garnish, chocolate sauce drizzle and torched mousse topping.

10 out of 10 in everything. The bathroom was clean and so was restaurant. Thank you Victor for a memory dinner out. We will definitely recommend our...