Brick and Barrel Cross Keys — Restaurant in Indiana Township

UPDATE: As I did receive a private message, apology, and explanation from the restaurant and have had a moment to cool down from the situation. I do appreciate the people who took the time to work their holiday, to serve us. Something I was lucky enough not to have to do. I am still just disappointed in how the dining experience as a whole unfortunately. As I have been waiting to try Brick and Barrel, but I am unable to change that. I appreciate the restaurants response and trying to make things right. I hope that in the future it is able to go more smoothly. Best of luck.

Very disappointed in the NYE meal we had. We had a reservation for 5:00 for sat almost right away but, Erin our server came to greet our table about a half hour after we arrived and the room was sat 3 times before any beverage order was taken? after a 20 min finally a nice gentlemen came into the room and asked “did server come in here yet” the answer was no…it should never take 20 min to get a water anywhere in my opinion, granted we were sat before 5pm…he then proceeded to take the entire woodford rooms drink and dinner order eventually before we were ever greeted by the server who was suppose to have us. Came back serves us waters. Waited 15 min more for beverages we ordered (2 glasses of champagne) finally got my prime med rare, it was well, and told my server, I didn’t have time to put another order in as it’s the holidays and we have plans, I simply asked for the check..She says ok. Put it in anyways for a new one so had to wait. The unphased Manager/owner I’m unsure of his position, served me my meal yet again, after about 10 minutes..great but, didn’t eat either meal as we had plans to go out at a certain time on a holiday and I specifically asked for it not to be remade as we had to leave.. Very disappointed it took an hour and half to get correct food and beverage and for a meal was nearly $200 for two people. Get it together or don’t take reservations for holidays. As a restaurant manager. I’m appalled and a little bit disgusted in the service and management as far as the organization of the event dinner, If your going to have a limited menu with nothing under $40 I would just expect better service than what...

The Cross KeysInn is a beautiful historic building that I’ve grown up admiring. We hadn’t heard much, good or bad and it is close to home so we hoped the meal would be great. Even walking in the door was disappointing. Dead bugs and dirt all over the front windows, dead and faded fake plants on the front porch area made me sad. The staff “uniform” of short shorts or casual pants and black tshirt looked sloppy and did not inspire confidence in what we were about to experience. The giant pretzel came with 2 sides of disturbingly coagulated cheese sauce. It was almost solid and we didn’t dare eat it. My French onion soup had small bits of burnt something in it, not browned cheese but black, pieces of charred something. The soup itself was mediocre at best and we were charged $2 more than the menu advertised. My husband’s pizza looked like something you’d get at Chuckie Cheeses, nothing about it looked or tasted as if it came from a brick oven. You’d have to show me for me ti believe it didn’t come out of a box. They were out of sausage and said they would add extra pepperoni and “carved” ham. It didn’t appear like there was “extra” anything and the ham looked as if they chopped up some lunch meat from Giant Eagle. I got the wedge salad which is made with romaine. I wasn’t expecting it to be a halved romaine head with bottom left on. How does one WASH romaine in this manner? For safety reasons I would not serve romaine like this and wouldn’t have order it if I knew. The huge chunks of lettuce were topped with blue cheese, bacon and about 8 little pieces of red onion and several halved grape tomatoes all thrown on as if an afterthought. The noise from the kitchen printer, bar tender’s cell phone and singing manager (maybe owner) just intensified my sadness at such a special place being so poorly managed. Please return this place to what it once was or have the decency to sell to...

Update: After several good visits, we had a really rough one. We arrived around 6:05 and got a table around 6:20. It was pretty busy but didn't seem too crazy, though it took about a half hour before the server took our order. Once she did, it was about 90 minutes before we got our food. Several people seated after us finished their meals and left well before we got our food. Our server finally came over around 8:15 and said there was a mixup and the kitchen reported that the order had already come out, so they were just now starting our orders. We finally got our food around 8:30 (though at first they only brought one of our meals and were surprised that we were expecting a sandwich and a side as well). The food was fine and we were so hungry, we scarfed it down.

I know mistakes happen, but well over an hour passed without any update, an offer to refill our drinks, or an apology. I thought we might at least get a free dessert or something, though there was a surprise extra charge for substituting a vegetable for fries. The hostess gave us a sympathetic smile on the way out three hours after we arrived, but that was it. Maybe just a bad night, but we won't be back for a while.

(Previous review) This is a charming place for a good meal and fantastic drinks. They have a better draft list than most other restaurants in the area and a great list of cocktails. I like their sandwiches but lately almost always order a flatbread, which are delicious and provide me with leftovers. They hit a little rough patch after the pandemic where service was lacking due to the staffing shortages but the service has been great on our last several visits, even when we get an upstairs table. Can't wait to try out the patio when the weather...