Hardwick Crossing Country Club — Restaurant in Hardwick

We decided to try Hardwick Crossing last night for take out meals after hearing positive things & seeing an online menu. We ordered the following items: Chicken Tenders with Fries, Reuben, Fish & Chips, French Onion Soup, & Shrimp Scampi. It cost about $83 for this order. It was ready when I was told it would be (20-25 mins) & the order was accurate. I had the soup, which was very good, but the size of it really wasn't all that plentiful. Luckily I wasn't too hungry, but if I had been, it would've left me wanting more. If it were only an appetizer, the size wouldn't been just fine, but this was my meal. My son was very happy with his Reuben, which I tried a bite of & agreed it was delicious. My fiance had the Shrimp Scampi, which he liked. The Chicken Tenders were enough to share between our young daughters (ages 6/5) & had several pieces of chicken, but they were small. The Fish & Chips had a huge piece of fish which was good, although one of the two people sharing it thought it was a bit heavy on the batter, the other disagreed. Overall, we did enjoy our food & will definitely give them a try again in the future. It's nice to have a good restaurant close to home. Thank you Hardwick Crossing! I will also add that when I called to place the order, it was extremely loud in the background (I know it's a bar as well) and I had trouble hearing, however the person taking my order did hear me okay & repeated it back to me perfectly. The food was also still pretty warm when it got back to our home (about a 5 min drive from us). Lastly, my son had me request that the Reuben have no kraut, and they were willing to accommodate us & it did come kraut free. I would recommend! Our overall experience was a great one & on a 1-10 rating, I'd give a 10 for ease of placing the order, accuracy, & speed + the food we all felt was about 8/9. Not to carry on about it, but I would just suggest that if you're going to charge around $8 for soup, it should at least be a decent (more generous) portion. Or you could offer a smaller size as an appetizer (cup) & larger size (bowl) for a lunch/dinner choice. If I knew it was that small, I normally would've gotten something more in addition...but if it was a little larger, it would've probably left most appetites satisfied. Like I mentioned, I wasn't really too hungry, but I doubt that size would fill anyone up, if that's all they were having, unless maybe a child ordered it, or someone who "picks" at their food.😉 (Update: Friend of mine recently ordered from here for his Mother & she was not happy with her food at all! Apparently the French onion soup was extremely salty (according to her) & the bread inside of it was really hard, her veggies (which were like a broccoli/cauliflower mix) were also very hard, and she did not like her steak tips. I was surprised about the soup, because I had it before & fully enjoyed it. She is a picky eater though, to be fair & honest + this order was placed close to closing time on Valentine's Day. Hopefully she'll try again in the future! She did try a Reuben before that she liked & said that the fish was decent (fish/chips) but she didn't like the batter. It was also again very loud when the order was placed, and my friend found it very difficult to hear the individual who took his call.Just thought I'd...

I thought it was exciting that Hardwick had a real restaurant and I'd heard great things about it.

Waitstaff? Lovely. Entrees? Quickly brought out.

But it's terrible.

First, it seems to be a popular place for large groups. The dining area was extremely loud and it was not possible to carry on a conversation without shouting. This is not part of my "stars" as that's out of their control but I'd advise that a Saturday night here is not a place for a quiet dinner for two.

Even if quiet isn't your aim, unless you're with 8 other middle aged people and ready to get your drink on somewhere much nicer than an American Legion, this may not be for you. Unless you're 3 adults deciding to take 6 children under 9 out to dinner, and need somewhere where their constant getting up and roaming will barely be noticed -- this may not be for you.

What I'll talk about is the food. Pictured is what we ordered: potato skins to start, macaroni and cheese and chicken gorgonzola.

All 3 of them LOOKED great. This is pretty good presentation. I believe that their ingredients are good and well chosen. But flavor was apparently not one of the things they considered before thrusting this food upon people. When I say bland, I mean it. Nursing home quality flavor. Nothing. Cardboard. Not just lacking, but absent.

Gorgonzola is a bold cheese... heck, it's a form of Bleu cheese. Tell me how this dish tasted like someone opened a jar of Ragu Salt-Free Alfredo on it.

The food looks so good, I cannot understand why it has to be that way. The potato skins look to have all the ingredients to be great. Why aren't they?

Worse, it's seemingly consistent across the board, across all dishes -- or somehow just our appetizer and 2 entrees. Bland may be a selling point for those who find ketchup or pancakes spicy but for the rest of you... this is just...

Five stars for potential, four and a half stars in real life. This is a review of the new restaurant only. It opened relatively recently, and I'm sure they're still getting everything up and running.

The service was friendly and efficient. The food was excellent, better than I expected, and the prices are reasonable considering how good the food was. I had a "Fire & Ice" burger with pickled onions and banana peppers -- I would never have thought of this combination myself, very creative. My dad had the prime rib, which he enjoyed, and my mom's orange salmon looked good, too. They have a decent selection of craft beers and classics on draft. I can't wait to come back next spring when we can sit on the deck.

What could be improved? The section we sat in was sort of a small rectangular room with a flat ceiling. It was completely packed (good to see) and it was LOUD. I think it was just all of the echoing. This could be solved with a little soundproofing, like panels on the walls or ceiling, or just adding "stuff" like trees or decorations to dampen some of the sound. Best would be a carpet, which isn't great when there's food everywhere, but that would definitely quiet things down. The other issue that doesn't apply to everyone is the entrance. My parents are 80 and one of them had trouble getting up the front stairs. He thought they were pretty steep. There may have been another way to get to the dining area -- if so, there should be clear signs. (Forgive me if there are signs and I just didn't see them.) I know you can't rebuild the whole entrance, but I hope there can be an easier way for mobility-challenged adults to get up there.

To the owners: keep up the good work, consider addressing the sound and accessibility issues, and your excellent restaurant will be even...