Sadelle's Dallas — Restaurant in Highland Park

I am hoping this is because it is new to the HP Village - but right now, it's a disaster on all levels.

Online scheduling is chaotic. I booked with them twice now and each time there were problems. In the most recent instance, I booked for 2 at 6:30pm and got 2 texts that said I was both booked for 2 at 1:30pm (in error) and at 6:30pm (accurate). The kicker - when I got there - was they said "we have no listing of your reservation." Despite me physically showing them my texts from them, the host literally said "step aside" and we waited.

Once in, service has been very mixed. In the most recent occurrence, we didn't see our server for some 20 minutes upon being seated. To my horror, my partner wasn't ready to order alternatives when they said they "didn't have" basic menu dishes available (we just wanted a hyped triple decker sandwhich). You might guess what happens now - the server said he would "be back" and we then played a game of "where's Waldo?" and he returned some 30 minutes later. We ordered three odd items at this point, a simple grilled cheese and two deserts. The grilled cheese was bad (very little cheese) as was the strawberry "tallcake" which was flavorless UNTIL they brought the strawberry sauce some 10 minutes AFTER we started eating it (there was no mention of such sauce from the outset). They outright "forgot" the third item we ordered and when we had the eventual gall to ask about it, they simply said "Oh, we forgot to tell you, we don't have the chocolate babka." Yikes. When she asked how I felt, I told my wife at this moment that I wasn't angry anymore because I had come to terms with disappointment.

We have been on other occasions to sample the menu. Entrees have been below standard (such as a dry and thin omelette), but very good items include appetizers such as the pigs in blanket and french toast which are very, very good.

The decor is kinda cheesy - brass everywhere that reminds us old folk of a glorified 80's Swenson's restaurant (the 80's version of places like Applebee's perhaps) or Carlo's Bakery (now defunct in HP) - kind of a Northeastern tacky and I do not think the place is literally going to wear very well.

The coup de gracie is that it is hard to get a seat there. It's kind of like not being able to get into a cryo place just to be made very, very uncomfortable. Open seating abounds but if you approach the reception folks, it's a long, long wait. The Bang-to-Hype ratio is far out of whack for the place at present. I hope it is opening jitters - the jury is out...

I’ve tried this place twice for lunch and dinner wanting to enjoy it, but both times I’ve been extremely disappointed. The food does not match the decor inside or their pricing which is a shame. This time I ordered the chicken, and it unfortunately was served pink and completely raw and bloodied at the joint inside. The brownie for desert was an unheated brownie served with cold ice cream, and without hot fudge— this felt very unthought out as an almost cold brownie with even colder ice cream on top didn’t make much sense. The old fashions were watered down with burnt cinnamon sticks inside them, which doesn’t really give the smoky flavor I think they’re after it only smells like burnt cinnamon to your nose. You have to actually smoke your old fashions with some type of wood chip to create that flavor. I really don’t like to complain at restaurants or to send back food (I thought I could cook the chicken at home to make up for it being raw) but after seeing the total of our bill plus 20% vs what we were served and I still had to leave hungry because I couldn’t eat the chicken as it was without getting sick— it just made the experience more difficult knowing for the same price point in other cities/restaurants the food is excellent. For example, Makoto I can happily spend $400 and both the food and drinks are always absolutely excellent. We were also listening to a rotation of tables next to us at Sadelles say their food was underwhelming and not worth returning and most just felt the decor was nice and we agree. For all these reasons we can’t justify coming back here. In order for this restaurant to compete with The Honor Bar that also has a location by a different name in Miami, they are really going to have to step up regarding their food. Bring in an executive chef to the physical kitchen at this location and completely reinvent this menu. It truly needs it. The items served on the menu and the quality of ingredients here need complete reevaluation. Also it would benefit to list the sourcing for ingredients of your items on the menu to show exactly what you are ordering and where it came from. This would add to an elevated experience. Sadelles has been given a great location, has great styling, but the food and drink lack too much to enjoy, which hopefully they will attempt to work on with these types of suggestions. To be in this area as far as restaurants go— The Honor Bar has better food, better drinks, for an overall better price with an experienced executive...

This past Friday, I had lunch with friends at the brand new Sadelle’s in Highland Park Village in Dallas, Texas.

Sadelle’s recently opened a week ago, and there has been significant buzz about this New York City eatery opening up in the tony enclave of Highland Park, Texas.

We arrived right when the main dining room opened at 11am (on the weekends, the dining room opens earlier - I list the hours below).

Wednesday - Friday 11:00AM - 9:00PM Saturday & Sunday 9:00AM - 9:00PM

Regarding opening hours, there is a also coffeeshop style café open from 8am-4pm located in a portion of Sadelle's.

We did not have a reservation; although, we had put ourselves at the waiting list and after a 45-minute wait, we were finally seated.

By noon the restaurant was full, and the atmosphere was boisterous. The space is decorated elegantly and looks very similar to Balthazar in New York City with the banquettes and large glass windows looking out.

Prices are in the Highland Park stratosphere (ie not for those who are necessarily budget-sensitive), but I thought you could find good deals on the menu and the scene is definitely worth the expense.

We began with the sable for $25, which comes in a three-tiered tower along with tomatoes, cucumbers and capers as well as assorted bagels and cream cheese for the table. The fish was good - although it would have been better to share between two people instead of four.

However, that was fine, since the entrees are quite large. One of my friends had the Waldorf salad, which was big enough for three meals. In fact all of their salads are the same enormous size.

I shared the triple decker club sandwich with turkey and bacon ($31) with my brother, and it was plenty for the two of us. We also added a side order of fries for $8.

The sandwich was on a pedestal and is definitely presented in world-class fashion. While I don’t believe it to be the best club sandwich I have ever had, it is definitely above average and worth trying.

Overall, the atmosphere is worth checking out, and you can always have coffee in the café attached to the restaurant if you have trouble getting a reservation or are on a more...