Stone Soup — Restaurant in Landrum

I’m not one to write reviews but I’m also not one to get kicked out of an establishment for asking a simple question. This past Saturday night my boyfriend and I decided to go eat dinner here, he ordered what they call a “stone fashioned”. When he received the drink it was barely half way full, he did not know if they had different sizes and prices so he wanted to make sure he got the $14 one because of how small of a portion it was. He then asked our server “I was just wondering if this was $14” he had no sort of attitude he was simply just asking a question. Our server hesitated for a second and then said “I’m sorry our bartender called out tonight and I’m not used to making drinks but I can go check for you,” we said “if you don’t mind”. About 5 minutes go by when I suppose who is the owner, I think her name is Suzanne came by and said “I heard you had a question about your drink” Eli said “yes, I was just wondering if this was $14?” She said “yes it is and that was very rude of you, you made my server cry twice. So we are going to box up your food and you’re going to leave.” We both look at each other in shock and then said we did not mean to be rude in any way, we just asked a simple question. The older couple beside us said they had the same reaction that we had to their drink, that’s when the owner/manager looked at us and said this is not a group discussion” we proceeded to say “we can talk to whomever we want to”. I also know someone who used to work there and I told them about the situation, they said the whole time they worked there they never had a bartender on staff and that the servers were responsible for making the drinks that their customers ordered. Which leads us to think that Stone Soup has minors making/serving alcoholic beverages, which makes sense to why the owner/manager was so eager to make us leave. What also had us really in shock in that she did not try to accommodate us in any way or even give us a second to explain why we had a concern, she gave us no choice but to leave. No matter what lies she is going to reply with just to make herself and business look like they are innocent, just know that I would not take this time to write out a long review unless we were treated very disrespectful. Seeing how unprofessional she handled this situation goes to show why there were only 5 tables in the restaurant at 6:45 on a Saturday night. Below are 2 pictures, the first one we found on Stone Soups website from when a customer had uploaded a picture of their “stone fashioned” and what it’s supposed to look like, the second picture is the drink my boyfriend received without even taking a drink. *update: for anyone who saw the owners reply, as we were walking out she said “we have that sign on the door for a reason”, which says something along the lines of, be kind or leave. I stopped her as she was speaking and said “I don’t care, we will never be back here”, I was not implying that I don’t care about kindness, I meant I did not care about anything else...

Update: Having read owner's response to other negative reviews I am not surprised she essentially called me a liar. I sure hope the other people who witnessed all I said see her response, because they definitely knew what was going on.

My original review of 5 stars was from 5 years ago. And, I have eaten there since then with no problems. That has changed, in the past year I have eaten there 2 -3 times the last time being last night. The other times we were disappointed because of menu changes and had problems with food being served cold but the food was good and things were not that bad. However, last night was the worst dining experience ever. We had reservations but had to wait at least 10 min while they cleaned a table. We were taken to a table and waited forever to order drinks and appetizer. Appetizer came - dip and chips - no plates - no serving spoon for dips no napkins. When we pointed out no napkins, etc waitress brought small plates and paper napkins. We had to ask for regular silver ware. We ordered and my 4 friends order came out. Mine didn't. After waiting for a bit the waitress came over to see if all was ok - we pointed to my empty place and she said, Oh - I will see where it is. She came back and said it would be right out. We waited and waited and finally one of my friends who had almost finished her meal told the hostess/manager. She came to the table and start telling us that only 4 orders can be given to the kitchen at a time and somehow mine had gotten lost. I said that is ridiculous and she immediately cut me off and asked if I had ever run a restaurant. I said no - but I had eaten at plenty and the waitress should never have just brought out 4 meals if the 5th wasn't ready. She should have asked the kitchen where it was. And, mine was not the fifth order taken so that made no sense. My food finally came and one of my friends said my meal should be comped and the mngr. said ok she would comp mine. She never volunteered just agreed when asked. I immediately asked for a box because my friends needed to leave. We asked for the bill. The waitress came and asked if we were separate bills. Then we waited and waited and waited. Someone got up and asked the mgr to please get us our bills. We saw her talking to the waitress and then they both just disappeared. We again waited and waited - 20 min in all and we finally decided if we got up to leave maybe someone would come. We got up and waited in the lobby area for another few minutes. We saw no one so we left!! Apparently one of my friends, after going to her car felt guilty and came back in and paid the bill. The mgr never told her she was sorry or offer her anything off the bill. Just said I am glad you came and paid because I don't know what I would have done. Maybe if she had to eat the cost she would have figured out how to "Run a Restaurant" . It is a shame because the food when it came was good. But, we will never...

7/30 UPDATED: as you can see by the reply from the restaurant it is not somewhere I would EVER GO again. Wow!!!! My party was one of 4. We had a table of 4 people not 10. No idea who the local owner is, wish I did so I could share this experience. You have the wrong person that you are replying to. I’m not sure who it’s directed at, but this just reassures me that I’ll never be back. ————————————— This dining experience at Stone Soup was regrettably disappointing. Despite our anticipation and interest in trying a new restaurant, the ambiance was marred by subpar items, exorbitant prices, and exceptionally poor service. The shortcomings just couldn't be overlooked.

Upon arrival, we were seated at a table tucked away in a corner, where we were presented with a worn sticky menu with items crossed out. The waitress's conduct was less than satisfactory, culminating in a level of unprofessionalism that marred the experience. Rather than being bothered to refill our beverages the waitress shrugged a pitcher on the table, highlighting the lack of attentiveness to our dining experience. I do not find it unreasonable to expect a server to refill drinks as needed while we are ordering menu items of $25 each.

Furthermore, the atmosphere was disrupted by an unwelcome presence of several flies, which persistently circled around us, creating a rather unhygienic and discomforting dining environment. Such distractions certainly detracted from the overall dining experience.

While the appetizer showed promise, the subsequent dishes failed to meet our expectations. The pizza, in particular, raised concerns when we requested chicken as an additional topping, only to be met with disapproval and an unreasonable suggestion. We were told the kitchen would not add chicken as a topping but we could do so ourselves at the table. Such lackluster response to a simple request left much to be desired, especially given the additional charges involved.

In summary, while the dishes themselves were passable, the collective experience fell short of the mark. The regrettable combination of inadequacies in service, ambiance, and attention to detail left an indelible negative impression. It is a disappointment that this local restaurant couldn't make a...