Heirloom — Restaurant in Lewes

I'd eaten at Heirloom a few years ago and thought it was nice enough to bring my wife and son on July 15th as they'd never been there before. I made a reservation for 5:00 p.m.

We were staying in Ocean City and traffic was terrible driving up. We had a prior appointment at a private art gallery about 15 minutes away but as our entire schedule was behind because of the traffic, I called the restaurant to say we'd be about 15 minutes late.

I was told they wouldn't hold the table that long and we'd have to wait until at least 7:30 or sit outside (in over 90 degree heat). I told her that these weren't good options for us and so I had to drop the reservation.

They took full advantage of the policy to penalize me but as a no show, despite the fact that I called and they couldn't reasonably accommodate something out of my control; i.e. the traffic. They penalized me $75!

I could see $25 perhaps, but given they were so overbooked already and/or had people waiting for a table and couldn't hold it for 15 minutes; it seems outrageous to take that kind of money. This is a nice, but small restaurant in Lewes. Delaware, not NY or Paris. It seems rude, greedy and obnoxious. If I'm ever in the area again I'll make a point of eating somewhere else and will no longer recommend them.

7/24/2021 - I'm updating my review, based on the angry reply from the restaurant and the inaccuracies they've stated.

I called them right before 5 p.m. as that's the time the gallery owner gave me. Even if clocks are off a bit 4:57 or 5:03 isn't significant. And it's a lie that I stated that I'd be 30 minutes late. The gallery is 15 minutes away from the restaurant and I stated that I'd be 15 or 20 minutes late, tops, because I'd obviously need to park and walk to the restaurant. Its patently untrue that I said 30 minutes. It's also a lie that the restaurant or server lost money that night because I was told that they couldn't even seat us until 7:30 at the earliest! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that meant that they had other customers queued up to take our table! Otherwise, I would have raced there as fast as possible. But It made no sense to get there in 15 minutes and wait a minimum of over 2 hours if they were that busy and couldn't be bothered with me, other than to take money for delivering nothing!

The owner is painting a false picture of my statements, the events and the impacts. I had no idea that the penalty was $25 for each member of my party. So, I stand corrected in that regard. However, I still feel that it's taking advantage of the policy when the restaurant clearly had people ready to pounce on the table. It's adding insult to injury for them to post this response when I've already put money in their pocket just because my day was backed up due to traffic. And my reply to "be nice" is to be classy and...

11/30 Update: Meghan the owner was gracious enough to remind me in her reply that I had first reached out to them directly before posting any reviews. I've add those screenshots to the review! Thanks Meg!

I've been to Heirloom about 5 times and have generally always enjoyed the food.

Unfortunately, my latest experience left much to be desired on the hospitality side and with some serious concerns regarding patron safety.

I made a reservation for an early dinner on a recent Tuesday and unfortunately had to cancel due to an illness (respiratory symptoms) in our party. I had missed their call to confirm the reservation, but called back multiple times soon after, reaching the voicemail each time. Finally, we left a message canceling our reservation, as we didn't want to risk the health and safety of other diners.

At 4:30 (45 min before our reservation) I received a cancellation email from OpenTable; it seemed all was well. However, I later noticed Heirloom had charged my credit card $100.

A few issues with this:

a) I hadn't provided Heirloom with my credit card. Making a reservation with OpenTable, Heirloom will have access to your credit card information to use as they please. Be wary when making reservations.

b) Heirloom is not taking the health of patrons or staff through this pandemic seriously. We canceled out of caution to keep others safe and they would have rather we came. To me, this raises concerns about how they handle staff illness as well. Be careful dining here if you are immunocompromised.

I dine out daily and understand the struggle some restaurants are having, particularly with cancelations and no shows. However the restaurant was fairly empty that day (at the time of the cancellation OpenTable had every time available for dining that evening). So they did not lose any business as a result of us canceling. We did reach out after the charge and the restaurant made it clear they would rather lose a repeat customer than...

We heard great things about this restaurant, so we wanted to try it since we live in Lewes, DE part time. To say our experience was underwhelming is an understatement. We ordered Buratta salad and the pork chops.

I really have no way to describe the cheese which was supposed to pass as “Buratta” we were given. I guess only a person who has never tasted the actual mozzarella burrata could accept that as the water buffalo milk Buratta cheese. It was a very hard and rubbery shel filled what I can only describe as ricotta cheese consistency. There was no mozzarella Buratta in that restaurant, forget my plate 😅 It was odorless and tasteless and the presentation left nothing to be desired.

The “Buratta Salad”, generally my husband’s favorite dish, - at least the best ones we had at Hells Kitchen, NYC, at Rome, Naples, and Capri, Italy were served with ripe, red heirloom tomatoes with incredible aroma and scent, with fresh basil leaves, rich olive oil and occasionally balsamic vinegar and salt.

The Heirloom restaurant in Lewes, DE served the Buratta salad with some funky warm pastry and berry jam. Nothing complemented each other on that plate. It was tasteless and completely discombobulated. We could not force ourselves to finish it.

The next was “the pork chops”. Definitely better than the Buratta salad, but that was not a high bar frankly! It was fatty and greasy, and again, served with the same jam😆 The bar tender even highlighted that there is the jam! Is it a restaurant or a jam factory? 😅

I’m very sorry if my European bluntness offended anyone. It was not my intent.

I don’t recommend this restaurant and will...