Anna's Table — Restaurant in Leominster

Wow. Last night, Anna’s Table surged into my top 4-5 area restaurants with a bullet! It may be #1, but I’ll get back to that. Walking into the place is like entering a long, welcoming hallway. As we got in the door for our 5:30 reservation, a hostess greeted us from about 20 feet ahead. First impression: the staff is so nice. A large pan of focaccia bread was in a window behind the hostess's desk. Here’s my solitary complaint: they would not deliver it to our table. The dining room is parallel to the long hall and is beautiful. A bar sits at the entry end, and then the room expands with a fireplace and tables of various shapes and sizes. We followed the hostess to near the end of the hallway and took a right into the dining room and our little alcove table for 3. The woodwork craftsmanship is notable and the lighting perfect.

Jennifer, our server (think a feisty Melissa McCarthy with strong upsell skills), greeted us warmly and shared the evening’s specials. My son and I did get the Mexican Chicken Soup. It was hearty and so flavorful, the boy noted he wanted to make it at home. Oh, the cocktails. A Sauvignon Blanc, Dirty Bombay Sapphire Martini, and a “Pear Pressure” mocktail all hit the mark. Apparently, the mocktail was quite good because, in spite of peer pressure against it, Kyle had a pair of Pear Pressures. On to the entrees. Jennifer convinced my son to go for one of the evening specials, Fish ‘n Chips, while my wife went for the Blackened Jumbo Shrimp Risotto. They received an A and A- respectively as the shrimp were truly jumbo and perfectly seasoned, while the white fish, coated in a Sam Adams Cold Snap batter was fresh and flaky. The only slight deduction was for the not-too-crispy fries. Speaking of A’s, the menu listed Tim Cormier as the Executive Chef at Anna’s Table. My wife mentioned she had a child in the class with that name some 30 years ago. We asked Jennifer if Tim was in his mid-30’s and she said yes. You can guess the rest of the story. Tim graciously stopped by our table to say hello to his kindergarten teacher. I’m currently on a limited-calorie thing, so I ordered the Turkey BLT and substituted cole slaw for the fries. The sandwich was excellent, with thick-cut turkey and bacon, fresh L and T, and tasty herb aioli on thick toasted bread. Overall, a B+. The sandwich was good, but it’s just a BLT. Of note was the cole slaw. Fresh, lightly seasoned and with a nice touch of some paper thin slices of red onion.

You know how dessert goes. You’re pretty full, but everything has been outstanding, and the desserts must be, too, right? Especially when Tim complimented his pastry chef. You are correct, Sir. My son ordered the Red Wine & Fig Creme Brulé while we split a Chocolate Mousse Cake. I was impressed with my one bite of Crème Brulé, but the cake was an eyes rolling into the back of the head experience.

So, the top 3 thing. Until last night, the best “continental” type restaurants for me in our area were Leominster’s Brady’s and El Toro in Fitchburg. At least last night, Anna’s Table was right up there with them. I hope they can maintain the consistency of our experience over time. If they do, we’ll be repeat customers...

My boyfriend and I had decided to dine here after receiving a $30 gift certificate in the mail informing us of their Cinco de Mayo menu. I had made reservations earlier, and upon our arrival, the lady at the front desk had sat us down and told us that she would be right with us, which was not too big of a deal. However, seconds later, a mother and her daughter had come into the restaurant and were immediately sat down. We found this to be a slight inconvenience, but we brushed it off nonetheless. We were then sat down at a table about a minute later, and we began to look at the menu. Unfortunately, I do not think that it was properly cleaned because my seat had been covered in crumbs which I noticed as soon as I sat down. Additionally, we both had found the chairs themselves to be very uncomfortable, which had brought down our dining experience. We both had found the menu prices to be completely absurd, with tacos costing about $22 just for 3. Our waitress had come to our table and we placed our order of the steak tacos, overpriced, but we thought it would be best to share. We had waited about 40-45 minutes for our food, and once it did arrive, we received shrimp tacos, not steak tacos, which was very disappointing after waiting nearly an hour for our food. We told our waitress and she was very understanding and corrected the mistake. Shortly after, our actual order had arrived. Upon the first bite, we noticed that the shell of the taco was falling apart and had a charred taste to it. To add on to this, the proportions that were given to us were very small. The steak itself was good, but you could get better quality at any chain restaurant for 30% of the price. At the most, they were just enjoyable but you could make better tacos quicker and for a cheaper price. However, the Mexican rice that came with the side of our meal was extremely disappointing. It had a very smoky taste to it, and it was as bland as ever. The guacamole was the highlight of our night and I found it to be very enjoyable. Our server was also another highlight, with her being very kind to us throughout our stay.

All in all, I would not recommend this place and I do not think it would be worth returning...

Let me say… I went out to dinner Saturday night for a friends birthday at Anna’s table in Leominster. So first, I made a reservation for 6 people and of course I ran a little late. Then found out a 7th person was coming so I called them and prayed for the best lol. They had let me keep my reservation and added the 7th person in no problem. It could have been because we were the last reservation of the night or maybe even pure luck lol. But anyways it was very much appreciated! We head on in and the place was so beautiful!!! The uniforms that the staff wear are very elegant. The design and setup of the restaurant is so unique and different. The chairs are comfy as hell and the place was huge!!! I was not expecting it to be that big and not to mention it was packed. They have a dining area and a tavern. The service was out of this world. For how packed it was I was shocked at how fast we received our food! The food was absolutely amazing!!! It’s definitely the perfect date night to go to (hint, hint fellas 😉)Staff so warm, friendly and welcoming. The area it is in is beautiful. First time I’ve been. I’ll definitely be back to hit up everything on that menu. The food was colorful, fresh and very presentable. It was art. I appreciated the meal in itself d/t the presentation and not mention it all tasted phenomenal!!! We all enjoyed our meals and were satisfied with it and will definitely...