Prohibition at the Caverns — Restaurant in Mansfield

My fiancé and I looked forward to our reservation a month in advance, and we were so excited to have a unique experience to celebrate his birthday. We booked a Friday night 4-course dinner. While the setting was definitely unique, the quality of the food for the price point was definitely disappointing. To start, we waited about 45-50 minutes before we even received our first course. (Some live music would've done wonders to help with the waiting.) My fiancé ordered the beef tartare and only had 3 crackers to go with it. He had to finish the course with a spoon because there obviously weren't enough crackers. A waiter accidentally dropped a cracker on the floor and brought out a single cracker on a plate to replace it...Really? The best thing I ate that night were the pickled potatoes, my second course (because how do you mess up a potato, right?). For the third course, my fiancé ordered the elk burger and I had the eggplant parmesan buccatini. While his burger was hot and delicious, he wished it was larger, as it was only a little bigger than a slider. When my course arrived, I was a little confused by the Kraft Mac n cheese color, definitely not "blush" as described. The eggplant was not at all breaded as one would expect, and was buried on the bottom of the plate. My dish was also barely even warm. I glanced at a table near to us as a couple ordered the same dishes we did. The wife seemed disappointed with her pasta as well and gave it to her husband to finish. I noticed that each course for the entire room was brought down at the same time on a large round tray. Since each table receives their courses at the same time, and there's only one elevator, it's no wonder that my pasta was done first, and had gotten cool as the rest of the dishes were being prepared. I think a dumbwaiter, or serving a few tables at a time instead of the entire room at once, would definitely help this issue. Finally, dessert... We ordered the strawberry pretzel delight and the beef tallow chocolate cake. My fiancé was disappointed with his dessert and said "the best thing about this dish is the pretzel dust at the bottom." Regarding the chocolate cake, it tasted burnt and dry. The ice cream scoop on top was smaller than a scoop of butter I was served at Perkins. However, this was a blessing in disguise as the ice cream had to be the worst we had ever tasted. My fiancé is an ice cream connoisseur and was absolutely disgusted. When our check came, we were told to place it at the edge of the table when we were ready to pay. We did so, yet it was another 10 minutes before our check was taken. By then the room had just about emptied out and we still waited. Meanwhile, the 2 servers were bussing a couple tables and pouring water. We felt very ignored and anxious to leave. Before we left, we were given a little gift box containing some Ghirardelli chocolates (which we appreciated after our dessert disaster!) and a couple of Fortune cookies made by the chef. One was completely raw and inedible. I am so sad this was our experience. We had been looking forward to our date for a month. At least we took some nice pictures together all dressed up. Sadly, we will not be returning.

Edit in reply to restaurant manager's response: I do not recall meeting you. I remember a greeter, as well as a couple who came to our table and interrupted our meal. But I was unsure to whom we were speaking with, as no introduction was given. Had we known we were speaking with the restaurant manager, perhaps we would have better expressed...

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Prohibition at the Caverns, and overall, it was a wonderful experience. The ambiance was absolutely stunning—elegant, atmospheric, and thoughtfully curated to complement the unique setting.

Two standout dishes truly elevated the evening: the miso sea bass, which was perfectly cooked and rich in flavor, and the sheep blend sausage, which was both inventive and delicious. These dishes showcased the kitchen’s creativity and skill.

However, there were a few aspects that detracted from the experience:

--As we were arriving and attempting to take our seats, two individuals—presumably the owners—approached our table to engage in conversation. While their intentions may have been warm, they never formally introduced themselves, which made the interaction feel a bit awkward. A moment to settle in before being approached would have been appreciated.

--While I’m accustomed to European-style multi-course meals, the portion sizes for this 8-course dinner were surprisingly large. This sentiment was echoed by others at our table and nearby patrons. For a tasting menu, smaller, more refined portions would not only enhance the dining experience but also align better with the pacing and elegance of the setting. Adjusting portion sizes—and perhaps pricing accordingly—could improve both the guest experience and the restaurant’s appeal, especially considering the 7 PM seating was not full.

--One final note: we were offered the opportunity to purchase bottles of the wines we enjoyed during dinner, which was a nice touch. However, I was surprised to see a 20% gratuity added to the take-home wine bottles. While I fully support a compulsory tip for the dinner service, applying the same to retail wine purchases feels questionable and left a sour note at the end of the evening.

While I genuinely enjoyed my time and appreciated the culinary highlights, I would likely not return due to the overwhelming portion sizes and the questionable tipping practice on take-home wine. With a few thoughtful adjustments, this could be a truly exceptional dining...

Very cool venue, and the service was fantastic. I would suggest investing in some sound absorption due to the shape of the space. We could hear every conversation of adjoining tables as if they were sitting right at our table. There was a guest sitting about 20 feet away, and his voice was projecting into my right ear the entire night due to the tunnel effect. While this is cool from a certain perspective, not appropriate for an evening dinner experience imo. Having experienced several tasting menus, I would also say the price point is not justified for the quality of food here. Decisions were made that I just did not understand as an amateur home cook. I can appreciate that the food being transported underground may not lend itself to this, but it was apparent to me some dishes were reheated or prepared well in advance and tasted like it too. For example, the fritter in my "soft underbelly" was actually quite tough and barely warm. The size of pork belly accompanying the dish was just confusing especially considering this is a relatively inexpensive ingredient. Some things like the cured salmon do indeed need to be prepped well ahead, but even the tiny amount we received was not cut appropriately, so the salt had made it hard and rubbery which made this one of the more unpleasant aspects of the meal, both taste and texture wise. On the other hand, some dishes like the duck were very good, and we thought the quality of wine was above average. Lastly, I thought it was strange that the silverware and wine glasses were not replaced for each tasting as this is typical for similar experiences. The only way this detracted was due to the wines being unfiltered, so I needed to request a new glass after one of the wines had left a considerable amount of sediment in my glass. Overall, the space is impressive and fun, but the food let us down a bit based on our impression from pricing. As a note to future guests, the price of your meal and gratuity must be paid in full in advance of your...