Elizabeth's An American Bistro — Restaurant in Lewisburg

Recently my family and I dined at Elizabeth's to celebrate my husband's and my fiftieth wedding anniversary. The reservations were made well in advance, and it was noted at the time of the reservation that three of the party of six needed dinners to be gluten-free, and one person had an allergy to mushrooms and garlic, and therefore any simple chicken dish without these ingredients would be fine for that person. We also mentioned to the person we spoke to that that this was a fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration.

When we arrived at 5:35 for a 5:45 reservation, we were seated promptly and we again made our server aware of our special needs. She indicated the kitchen was excellent at accommodating dietary restrictions like gluten-free (although they did not have any gluten-free bread to offer our table), and she indicated she would alert them to the special garlic-free and mushroom-free chicken meal that had been ordered when the reservation was made.

We waited a reasonable time for our meal as the restaurant filled and became loud. When the prepared dishes were delivered, my daughter's supposed gluten-free meal included breaded onion crips on the steak - clearly not a gluten-free dish. Since the rest of our meals were acceptable, my daughter asked the waitress just to have the kitchen prepare a salad for her, as re-preparing the steak would have taken too long.

The waitress acknowledged her request and the rest of us began eating as my daughter waited and waited and waited. The restaurant at this point was completely filled and extremely loud. Finally about 25 minutes later, after the rest of us had already finished eating, the waitress delivered my daughter's salad to her, with no real apologies. When we questioned the length of time to rectify the kitchen's mistake, the server offered no explanation for its lateness, other than the kitchen had become "slammed."

Clearly we received no special consideration in the preparation of my daughter’s meal, even though the the kitchen had made a potentially serious health mistake in preparing it. The salad could and should have been immediately prepared so my daughter could have eaten with her family.

In the end, the salad was boxed, and at our request, removed from the bill, but no management apology for the mistake occurred, no indication that the kitchen could and should have quickly corrected it and didn’t; no accommodation was given to us for the poor service; and while less important, but still annoying, no acknowledgement of our fiftieth wedding anniversary- not even a good wish- was given.

All in all, the entire experience was completely off-putting. The food was lackluster at best, the service poor, and the ambience uncomfortably loud. We will not be returning to this restaurant. It is overpriced for its quality and clearly lacking in...

Update: I decided to come back to give it another try during a different menu. I have to say that I was just still not that satisfied. The pizza appetizer was sloppy, very messy, and the dough was chewy. The sauce on the pizza was very chunky and was not a fan. I got the duck which I didn't like too much. I've neve been disappointed with a duck entrée before. I found the sauce to be very underwhelming. I just didn't enjoy it. I really did want to like this place, as it is very popular in the area, but I just can't.

Quick summary: Food was good, but for the price, I expected better. I was underwhelmed overall. Food was good and tasted healthy. AMEX isn’t accepted so my gold was sad.

I got recommended this place to try out by some friends who were very impressed with the food. So I came in with high expectations. I made a reservation beforehand.

Menu is brief but contains a lot of great options. I got the seafood linguine and my girlfriend got the spring salad. After ordering we got the bread which was OK. The whole grain brown bread was on the drier side and I didn’t really like it. The cheese bread was good, but was oddly extremely salty (maybe just how it is?). It was good, but tasted like I was biting into a piece of bread that had a layer of salt over it.

Food came out in about 30 minutes. Had a table wait even longer next to us. Since we ate at 4, I think we were the first there to place an order though. But longer wait times isn’t that bad, since you know it’s fresh and made well.

Seafood linguine // good but felt like something was missing.. I actually kinda wished there was more salt on this dish. I believe the linguine was home made, and rightfully so since it tasted great. All the seafood tasted fresh and good. The sauce was a “spicy red sauce” but I think that should be changed to red sauce since it wasn’t spicy at all… BBQ chips are more spicy for reference. Overall dish was good and tasted fresh. Felt good after not bloated. Worth $28? No, not to me.

Spring salad // since so didn’t directly taste this, I can’t give my opinion on it. But, my GF had it and she said it was good.

Cookies & cream dessert // good ending to the meal. My GF liked it a lot. It was cool to see the assortment of different things in it. Pretty cool. I didn’t like it too much though. There’s a coupon on their website to get one for free so might as well try it.

So, I thought it was pretty good. Nice atmosphere, OK food, and what not. But I don’t think their prices match their food. It could’ve just been me coming in with too high of expectations, but I was just dissatisfied and underwhelmed. There website gives me a finer dining vibe and I just didn’t really get that there. I would recommend this place for people to try, but I won’t be coming back. Just better options...

This weekend, my wife and I stopped at Elizabeth's for lunch. This was our third visit to the restaurant. Our first experience, a little over a year ago was good ... the second, not quite as memorable, but while we were in town figured we'd give the place one more try. From the start, we should have turned around and walked right out the door. Our wait in the vestibule before a member of the staff peeked through the curtain was excessive. The owner addressed us, grabbed two menus and proceeded through the curtain, only to quickly shut the curtain with no word. No explanation to please wait, it will just be a moment before we finish setting the table - when he opened the curtain, he showed us to our table and that was that. His attitude was as if we were bothering him, more than being a welcome patron. It seems almost as if he believes that he needs to put on airs, his demeanor is a bit odd ... Our glasses for sparkling water came topped with lime slices that were old, old, old - the rinds were brown. Our server was stiff/wooden. The owner brought over a bread basket, again with the attitude - once he selected our slices, my wife's was pretty crisp at one end, almost burnt. This is the owner, the basket is full, he picks the burnt piece?! Our food was incredibly bland - my wife ordered a goat cheese tart w/greens - the tart was over chilled. The salad over dressed, both could have benefited from basic chef/presentation skills. I ordered a special, it was a calzone - so flavorless. Broccoli rabe was an ingredient - I got nothing but stalks. What a disappointment. I know I will not be back. The place itself/atmosphere - it's a really nice setting - it is a shame that the tone and food just are not matching up with the decor. Focus on the experience of your customers, make sure they feel welcome and taken care of and that every detail - from the limes on your water glasses, to the toasting of the bread, to the seasoning of your food are on par. Resting on your laurels and being the only game in town will only take you so far Elizabeth's. This place has slipped and the owner...