1882 Grille — Restaurant in McMinnville

We were visiting Willamette Valley for our 25th anniversary. We were driving around the area and ended up in McMinnville. It was lunchtime and we stumbled across 1882. Honestly, I wish we hadn't. It was around 1:30pm on Saturday, September 26, 2020 and they were at the end of their lunch rush. I called before we went in and the person who answered the phone said there was only one group in front of us and it would be about 10 minutes to get seated. We went inside and waited for a very long time to even be acknowledged, although a few staff members made eye contact. (Tip #1: Greet your guests, even if you can't seat them right away. Let them know you are aware they are there.) After about 15 minutes, they seated the group of 3 that was in front of us. We waited another 15 minutes, and another couple came in. At that point, someone finally addressed us and the other couple with something like, "Hey we'll be right with you." Another 5 minutes or so goes by and they take my wife and me to a table and the hostess offers to bring us water, which she did. Right after that, they immediately seat the second couple. The second couple has a server immediately go to their table, gives them a big friendly greeting and takes their drink order. We sit for at least 10 minutes with no server. I saw the hostess go by and she said that our server is the bartender too and he's busy making drinks, but he'll be right over. What?? You have a bartender trying to crank out drinks for a busy lunch crown AND he's expected to serve tables too?? That's not fair to him and it's definitely not fair to us. (Tip #2: Don't expect a bartender to do double duty. Let him make drinks and let the other servers pick up an extra table or two if you're busy." We asked the hostess if it was going to be long and she said she would go see how he was doing but it should just be a minute. The bartender finally came to our table out on the rooftop deck. He apologized and said that he was trying to make drinks and serve tables too. We told him that we've now been here for 50 minutes going on an hour and asked how long it was going to take for food. He said, "I gotta be honest, it's not going to be fast. They're super busy in the kitchen." (Tip #3: Don't tell a customer that the service they are about to receive is going to be bad. Offer to talk to a manager to expedite the order and try to salvage the experience.) At that point, we knew that things were not likely to improve and we decided to leave. I said to the bartender, "Well, we've been here almost an hour and it sounds like we won't be eating anytime soon, so I guess we'll leave." He said "Sorry" and we left. We left very quietly and took the elevator back downstairs. The only good thing that happened was that the hostess came down the stairs and caught us. She asked what was wrong and we explained the whole story to her. She apologized and offered to buy us a drink and she would make sure we received good service. When I told her what the bartender said, she said that he was wrong and the kitchen was caught up so it shouldn't take long to get our food. While we appreciated her offer, we were already unhappy with the ridiculous experience we had just had and declined her offer. I do appreciate her efforts, as this was the ONLY positive out of the hour we spent wasting our afternoon. This, after being told we would be seated in 10 minutes. Obviously, I cannot comment on their food quality, but it is pretty clear that the manager on duty was failing. I was watching the staff (because I spent a lot of time waiting), and everyone seemed to be acting frantically. The thing is, this is during social distancing, so not all tables were filled. It appeared that they were at a fraction of their normal capacity. This experience was the only disappointment we had during an otherwise fantastic weekend. We have already begun planning another trip to the area, but I sincerely doubt 1882 will be on our agenda. The service was absolutely terrible in comparison to every other place we visited. Step...

I've had a really rough week and my boyfriend was hunting for a good restaurant somewhere between McMinnville and Newberg to take me for dinner. He decided on the 1882 Grille based on their online menu selections. I'm a vegetarian and there was a menu heading listing vegetarian selections including Beyond burgers. When we got there the menu was entirely different than what was showed online. They were no longer offering Beyond burgers. I tried a tavern burger with a house made veggie patty in its absence. It was honestly a mouth full of mush. I took one bite and the whole thing fell apart all over the plate. The flavor was awful too. Being hungry, I reluctantly ate half of it and couldn't eat anymore. The French fries were ordinary, nothing special. My burger was $17!!!! I've never paid $17 for a burger in my life, especially one like that. My boyfriend had the 1882 burger. His bun was so incredibly dense that he said it was like a pretzel. Way more bun than burger. He said he could have made a better burger at home. Our onion rings were pretty good. Our drinks were great. I told our server about my burger not being good and falling apart and the menu not offering the vegetarian choices it had. She apologized and asked if we'd like a dessert on her. My boyfriend kindly said it wasn't her fault and he'd pay for our dessert. (He was worried she'd have to pay for it out of her own pocket). Shockingly she charged us for the dessert after offering it for free and she didn't comp the burger either. Up to that point we'd enjoyed her service much more than the food. It just left us feeling like..... Hmmmm..... That was an odd way to handle the situation. We were hoping we'd found our new spot. It left a lot to be desired for such high prices. We shared an appetizer, had two drinks, each ordered a burger mind you, not seafood or steaks, and shared a dessert. With a $20 tip, our check was $109. We're known for spending good money on good food but this wasn't a good value for our...

A perfect meal. We were greeted by a young man with a great sense of humor and personality and was seated quickly.

We started with drinks that came quickly. I got bread for the table and asked if we wanted fondue with it with I agreed to. When the bread arrived it looked dark and over cooked. This was not the case, while the inside was a little more dense than I like, the outside was crispy and delicious. The balsamic dip was phenomenal, the butter it came with was very well seasoned. The fondue was out of this world, it was cheese with a little garlic butter in it. I would come back just for the bread. My wife ordered the lasagna, it came in a cast iron pan. The flavor was out of this world. I took just one bite and the combination of the spices in the sausage and the sauce was perfect. I have never had a lasagna that was anywhere near as good as this.

I ordered the rib eye. On the menu it said this dish had steak butter with that I was looking forward to. When it first came to the table I was immediately put off by what looked like liver pate on the top of the steak. I pushed this aside and tried the steak. It was phenomenal, the liver looking topping was the steak butter, I am guessing the wine in the butter gave it that color and the taste was to die for. The seasonal vegetables was a squash and green beans and tasted amazing, I wish I could have ate more of them. Overall my meal was a 10/10. I can't wait to go back and try more of their food.

The food was amazing but the service was were they shined. Very attentative young lady who was warm and friendly. I had hurt my foot earlier in the day and I was in pain, she must have thoght my discomfort was due to the meal being subpar because she showed genuine concern for my enjoyment of the food multiple times. Very impressive staff.

Cleanliness was very good.

Overall the experience was perfect...