GB Eats — Restaurant in Great Barrington

Returning to Great Barrington to enjoy a spring Sunday, we had to drop back in to GB Eats for some more appetizing food including the Asian duck wings. To our good fortune, the booth we had last time by their big front window which looks out at the main street was available. Along with the wings, we tried two different sandwiches, the Crab Cake Po Boy and the Fried Chicken sandwich. I could have easily had another Pork Schnitzel sandwich as on our last visit, but they were out of this item. We had a mimosa and adult hot chocolate with our meal. (We had to order this twice as the first one came without the Bailey's.) I had mixed greens with my po boy, and my partner had fries with his chicken sandwich. He thought they could have been hotter in temperature and crispier. Both the sandwiches are tasty and popular. Next time I'm going to order from their large breakfast menu.

This was an unplanned visit we came upon on a beautiful autumn Sunday drive up into southern MA. Lucky us.

Our first choice was a small dark dining place down some cement steps that had no seating available, and two tiny tables outside on both sides of the bottom of the steps and before the doorway, which I guess gives this restaurant the ability to check the "outdoor seating available" box. I felt bad for the people squeezed into those two spots since during their entire meals, people were coming up and down the stairs while they tried to eat. We left without inquiring about availability.

Which brought us to GB eats!! They also were busy, but had a young attentive host who took our names to put on the wait list and advised we walked around the atrium, where patrons enter, until he called us - about ten minutes. We did.

He came out, called a few names, most didn't appear, so we moved up the list and got a great booth with window views right by the sidewalk.

With limited alcohol selections, our waitress did a great job of making us two vodka and orange juice drinks with a splash of cranberry juice, since they did not have gin. The o.j. was freshly squeezed which was a nice surprise. Very pleasing.

We ordered the Asian duck wings to share as our appetizer. Delicious. Flavorful and tender with a little crunch.

We both wanted the pork schnitzel sandwich that came with house bacon jam, arugula, tomato and Dijon on grilled ciabatta, but decided we should try two things.

My partner chose the GB burger that interestingly is a battered deep fried burger that is stuffed with blue cheese and bacon, then drizzled with sriracha sauce. It's served with lettuce, tomato, red onion and house aioli on brioche.

Both meals came with the choice of mixed greens or hand cut fries. The potatoes can be changed to sweet potato or truffle fries for only $1.50 more. We got one of each.

The two dishes were absolutely scrumptious and noticeably unique. We mentioned this to our upbeat and pleasant waitress and she told us when they decided to redo their menu, why do what everyone else does? Let's make something different. Indeed they have and extremely well.

Though many diners were still ordering breakfast in the early afternoon, we felt we fared the best. Casual interior. Coffee bar. Truly worth your while to stop in for some...

We are regulars at this establishment. Its a shame for us to say that it is a household joke that we place bets whether or not they will answer the phone today. On multiple occasions they are unreachable by phone. You can never know for sure if they are taking take-out orders. Sometimes they are and sometimes they don't even pick up the phone to let you know they aren't. In one instance, after calling multiple times and not receiving a response, we drove all the way to the restaurant to find out they simply never turned on their phones(this was at noon, they open at 8 am...). There have been multiple occasions where I've been placed on hold for 15+ minutes. The last straw was when I was put on hold for 30 minutes and quite literally listened to the staff giggle and joke around while not taking my order. I assume the phone was left on the counter and forgotten about. I had to drive all the way to the restaurant to tell them they had me on hold and still haven't taken my order. When I got to the establishment the staff was very immature and inconsiderate. I'd like to highlight that I was able to commute to the establishment faster than they could answer the phone and take my order. My commute is 30 minutes. When I brought these experiences to their attention they have consistently dismissed my concerns . After waiting for thirty minutes on hold, I asked if I could be compensated in some way perhaps through the form of a discount. I was told they were understaffed(understandable) and that they could not do anything. However, while checking out, the staff giggled and said "Actually I think we are doing great though." I was not compensated, was basically told my experience meant nothing, and I left confident that there would be no improvement in the staffs performance in the future. The food is good. The staff, while scattered and somewhat immature, is generally nice. The issue is honestly with management. If you are understaffed, better organization is required. For an establishment that claims to pride itself on "great customer service," there is the unique combination of both being understaffed and disorganized. Management should make sure employees are attentive to ALL customers... and maybe make sure the phones work? The fact any of these issues have not been addressed tells me that management simply doesn't care about "great...

After looking at the reviews, I had high hopes for this restaurant but was unfortunately disappointed. I placed an order for pick up a little ahead of time, told them 1:45. I arrived just a few minutes after 1:45 and my partner and I ate our food in the car on the ride home since we had a long drive. The fried mozzarella was ice cold and oily - my partner, an AVID mozzarella fan, ate part of one and said he didn't want any more which I've never seen him do. He said his burger probably would have been pretty good if it had been above room temperature warm. Both of our fries were ice cold, and I paid extra for sweet potato fries that were not only cold but a bit soggy. I ate two before deciding not to force myself to eat any more. The crab cake po boy wasn't awful but barely warm.

Two stars instead of one because the cookies we got were pretty good and the staff I interacted with were very friendly. Maybe just a bad day for the chef, or a miscommunication between staff about when the food should be ready. Either way, I definitely wish we had just gone to Wendy's rather than spend $40 on cold,...