Late Harvest Kitchen — Restaurant in Indianapolis

The Service: When we first arrived, no one was at the front to greet us. It took five minutes for someone to appeared randomly out of a back room and ask if we had reservations. We did, so we were then seated and met our friends.

We had to wait five minutes for our actual waiter to come over. He was very loud and went on about how the menu changes every day (even though the menu was exactly the same as when we looked it up weeks ago). It just seemed like a pretentious speech that went on forever. We emailed ahead, to see if the chef is up for the challenge of making us a vegan dish. Many chefs we've asked to do this actually are really excited and up for the challenge. Late Harvest's chef said that when we come in to ask the server what can be made vegan, and that he would make us up something special. We told the server this, and he pretty much ignored our request saying since there is one vegetarian dish on the menu, the chef would not make something special.

When we asked what could be made vegan, the waiter didn't seem to know much about the menu in terms of animal ingredients. We went back and forth for a few minutes trying to figure out what we could and could not eat. First he'd say something could be made vegan, and the a minute later, he would correct himself. He had to ask the chef several times and literally a few minutes before our food arrived, he said, "Oh, sorry, The Potatoes Minneapolis are made with a clarified butter. We can just fry up some potatoes in canola oil." We were starving at this point and agreed.

The Worst Part of the Night's Service: The main thing that stuck out was when our waiter refilled my husband's water glass. He reached over the table with his arm literally a centimeter away from my face. I had to back up, and he never said "Excuse me" or apologized. For a restaurant that has "daily" specials and where the waitstaff take the effort to remove your salad forks, we were flabbergasted when this happened.

We were asked if we wanted dessert and we said, "I'm sure there's probably nothing for us to eat." The waiter laughed and said, "Yeah, we should have a sorbet as it's summer, but we don't. We replaced it with a sundae, sorry limited menu space." Then, he gives us one check. He never even asked us if we all wanted to split it, so we have to wait more to get his attention. He rudely and loudly look our cards and said, "Which one goes on what card." We explained it to him, and we finally got separate checks.

The Food: -French Fries: We don't expect french fries to be spectacular, but at least don't over cook them. It seemed the grease that they were fried in was burnt. They just threw a couple slices of raw jalapenos on top with a ton of salt. No other seasoning. At least it was a large portion? Sigh.

-North African Vegetable Tagine Couscous with golden raisins, apricot chutney, charmoulas: We were so excited to try this. Ugh, what a disappointment. While the portion size was large, they barely gave us any couscous or apricot chutney. The vegetables were fresh,but the dish was so flavorless. This type of dish calls for mix of African spices, and it didn't have any of that. What a let down... Not worth $18 dollars at all.

-Roasted Vegetables: These are the same vegetables that come in the North African Vegetable Tagine, seasoned the same, so if you bought that, don't waste your money here. The vegetables include, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, and green beans. We didn't expect the vegetables to have a strong flavor, but these were just so greasy and bland.

Overall, if it wasn't for our nice friends, it would've been a terrible night. The rude waiter was loud and made a huge deal that we were vegan. He lacked the manners and skills to be a good waiter. We never felt welcome. The service was slow, and the food was bland and overpriced. One dish and two sides with tip for $45 is not what we want to spend our hard earned money one, especially considering we both felt sick afterwards from everything swimming in oil.

Needless to say, we won't ever...

Hello! My husband and I made reservations to eat New Years dinner at 9:30 there. The food was superb!!! Hands down the best in Indy- hats off to the chef!!!! When we arrived, it was of course busy at the host stand. The host checked us in and pointed to our seat at the bar. Being so close to the stand, he did not walk us over we walked our selves. Before we could even sit, a women(unsure of her title) with blonde hair ran over, accusing us of sitting without a reservation. Her voice was very condescending and almost as if she didn’t believe us that the host told us to sit here ( as it was our reserved table). She asked us three times if we had reservations. I was about ready to pull out my phone to prove to her. A little advise- before rudely accusing people of just walking in on their busiest night and sitting down- maybe she should check with the host first rather then be-little and accuse the customers. That really set a bad tone for our dining experience. We contemplated leaving. The bar tender and food was absolutely excellent!!! Your blonde bar tender/ waitress/ whoever she may be, needs a lesson in manners. She was the only hiccup in the evening. May not seem like much, but it really set the tone of how we felt judged and accused as if we shouldn’t...

I accidentally found this place one random night while traveling for work and am I glad I did! From the moment I sat down at the bar, I felt like I was a member of a family, which as a work traveler is an amazing feat. I have now adopted LHK as my home away from home, not only because of the amazingly hospitable attitude from the staff, but also the unquestionable dedication of the regulars. It is rare indeed to find such a group of people that is so willing to invite the uninitiated into their fold.

Now, the food? Please. Chef Ryan does such an amazing job at curating a menu on almost a daily basis that I come in knowing what I want to be completely thrown off and now I want 7 other things. I have never been disappointed. Other than a weird sort of buyers remorse to the affect that I want EVERYTHING!

Finally, the main attraction, if you choose to sit at the bar is Dee. He is one of the greatest this profession of real bartenders has to offer. He will make you feel at home, along with your favorite drink. He will remember your name, and possibly offer some advice along the way. Also, rest assured, you will not leave without a smile on your face bc of your time spent in his presence.

All in all, LHK is a 9.9....the .1 is because I don't live here and I want to transport all of it...