The Well and Table — Restaurant in Issaquah

A WARNING TO ANYONE REQUIRING GLUTEN-FREE OR WITH SERIOUS FOOD ALLERGIES!!! DYING OR SERIOUS HEALTH IMPACTS ARE NOT WORTH SUB PAR SLOW SERVICE.

My wife and I met my brother and his girlfriend for an afternoon lunch here yesterday, 10/13/2024, because of how many gluten-free options they showed on their menu and the care they seemed to show for it.

When we ordered, my brother's girlfriend politely shared her medical condition and that she is 100% gluten-free/allergic to gluten. She wanted to ensure that any concerns about cross-contamination were alleviated before ordering. We were assured that the "button" on the order was hit to indicate it for the kitchen and that they have a whole cleaning, changing gloves, and additional steps in their process. This was excellent to hear and she proceeded with her order.

After our order, the one iced tea ordered (only drink besides waters) took 15+ minutes to arrive (so late that we all forgot it was actually ordered) and the food took 10-15 minutes longer after that. We assume this was due to the gluten-free process and were appreciatively patient.

When the food arrived, the restaurant manager (self-identified to us later) was carrying the plate that was supposed to be gluten-free and set it down saying "here is the gluten-free breakfast." As we tucked in, my brother's girlfriend noticed that her bread was the same as everyone else's and panicked as she had a bite of it already and it had touched her entire plate of food. She stopped eating and we called the waiter over so we could ask why things were the same when only 1 person requested gluten-free options. He assured us that due to our request, the whole table was changed out and then disappeared.

As we were sitting there happy with that answer, she took numerous more bites of her food before the Manager returned and looked at her plate and said "I'm sorry, it looks like we served you normal sourdough bread." Taking the plate as it was handed to her, she stared making the normal obvious concessions that this had never happened to her before and that she would take care of that meal on the bill "obviously" and discount the rest of our meals and asking if she wanted anything else. I could have cared less about the discount, that didn't in any way reduce my concerns for her health in the situation. We paid out bill (I still tipped 10% because the waiter hit the button doing his job and I wasn't going to be "that guy," but more than that was seriously out of the question).

At this point we cannot trust anything is gluten-free if requested or that the kitchen is taking these requests seriously. We politely asked for our bill so we could leave and we could take my brother's girlfriend home to prepare for or deal with the medical repercussions of eating gluten that she is severely allergic to.

Knowing that this was called out as a food allergy that they completely messed up and served to her, no one offered any follow-up to make sure that she was safe after leaving or offering any additional support for the potential medical issues (and costs) they potentially caused.

While she is still dealing with the outcomes of being served an allergen she called out for the staff, I am making sure to share this with others. If god forbid this was a peanut or shellfish allergy, paramedics would have been the ones taking her away from the restaurant instead of us. What allergen request are you going to ignore today? How many other people have been lucky because of the cross-contamination or allergens they have been served?

As she continues to deal with the medical repercussions of this incident, we will make sure to escalate this fully using all means at our disposal.

Clearly will never be going back to this restaurant and will make sure that anyone else we know with food allergies stays...

We went to this place for lunch with our friends after a hike at Red Town Meadow in the Coal Creek area on a warm and sunny April afternoon.

Photos of the bread pudding dessert on Google Maps' customer images looked fantastic, and a burger and fries or fish and chips sounded great. We'd never been here before so we went for it to try it out.

Unfortunately, only the atmosphere was great. The portion sizes were tiny for the price of $20 a plate (cheapest entree). We also noticed the alcoholic drink menu was extremely limited and mostly unusual ~$20 cocktails and not much else.

This place really had an identity crisis. It seemed like it was trying to be a casual establishment but also fancy at the same time - but it was bad at both. My wife and one of our friends each ordered fish and chips and they each received only about three chicken nuggets worth of fish and a tiny handful of fries as their meal. My wife and I ordered an appetizer, which also amounted to a tiny handful of food presented overly fancifully for the vibe of the place.

Even after the small portion sizes - especially for a relatively casual place with a small assortment of American-style menu options - the food was pretty subpar. The fish that my wife and my friend got and the jerk sandwich that I got lacked flavor or anything special. The sauces were not good and they did not have even blue cheese dressing, which is a pretty normal sauce for restaurants to have. The "ketchup" was pink and filled with fruit and did not taste like ketchup at all. Also, they wanted a dollar if you wanted anything but a single tiny cup of sauce that came on a napkin on its own dish to go with your meal.

We had eventually sat in the sun for too long in the back porch seating area while waiting for the dessert that we had ordered and excitedly anticipated. At this time, we asked the waitress if we could move to a fully shaded empty table off to one side - but she said no - brusquely saying that she would not communicate to the table busser if we moved two tables over.

After receiving the cobbler and bread pudding desserts, we also found these to be nothing special, and generally disappointing.

The food looked really good at this place but that's all that it was. All of the effort for the food went into the presentation instead of the taste. This restaurant was a picture perfect place if you wanted to Snap or post photos to Instagram, but was not a great place to have a decent tasting meal for a decent price. The food was definitely food safe but it just did not taste great.

While eating our dessert, we overheard a man from a different group ask the waitress if he could get another tiny cup of tartar sauce to go with his to-go box with his fish. The same waitress also declined this request, saying that he could either have what he had left from his meal or that she would charge him a dollar for this extra sauce. This is how we heard of the charge for the sauce. This was unheard of as an extra charge at a sit-down establishment - let alone a whole dollar for a tiny amount.

For us, this restaurant came down to a place that was very pretty and cute, but where the value was low and the food was lacking - and so was the service. It's our belief that a restaurant should have food that is better than what you can cook at home, not worse. On top of this, our waitress was just really terse and unkind, even though she was serving a normal number of tables. She had no reason to be in a hurry or decline patrons' normal requests as a go-to. In fact, this place had almost as many staff as there were diners, and yet it was so slow.

My wife and friends would recommend that you...

Gilman Village location - nice inside seating and outdoor seating in 2 areas that will be excellent in the summer. Seasonal menu incorporates local produce and meats, and has many GF options.

The food is great, everything is fresh and flavors are very well balanced. Prices are on the higher side and an average entree with a drink and tax and tip will be $55-60 per person.

My Lamb meatball entree $22 was a bit smaller (3 small meatballs) than some other entrees but super flavorful. The ricotta sauce base with mint pesto sauce on top was delicious. It was sprinkled with a few pistachios and served with slivers of grilled carrot and pickled onions. Yum! However, I did ask for a piece of grilled sourdough on the side to make it more substantial. I wiped my plate clean as it was so tasty.

If you're really hungry and not ordering appetizers, some other entrees like the fish and chips with coleslaw, and the burger, and pasta are bigger and looked very good too as we saw the next table order them. My friend ordered a spinach salad with salmon $28 and said that her fish was cooked to perfection. (See pics)

The gin and bitters cocktail $13 was nice. The house wine was Milbrandt Cab $10. I've done wine tastings at that winery and I was pleased with the choice.

The blueberry and orange cobbler $10 was served in a small bowl with icecream on top. It was delicious and not too sweet but the base had become a bit watery as the blueberries were very fresh. Nice overall, but I might go for something else next time. The after dinner coffee was strong and satisfying.

Our server was attentive and nice. We didn't feel like we had to flag her down at any time, she checked on us a quite few times over our 2.5 hr dinner.

I recommend this place for date night or a nice dinner out with friends and family. We will be back to try more stuff!

So pleased with this little gem...