The Red Feather — Restaurant in Melissa

My husband and sons treated me tonight for my birthday. I have been here three other times and loved it. But tonight, was really upsetting.

There was no wait, and we were seated by a woman who was not in a uniform. I assumed she was the owner or manager. She told us about the specials and summer menu, and the Wednesday special.

Our server came and got our drink orders. My husband ordered a Manhattan, but was brought a beer with the title being something about Manhattan. He sent it back and got the drink he originally ordered.

It took a long while to finally get our order in, so we ordered a lot at once, as my kids were getting very impatient. We did get our appetizer first, which was awesome, but the bowl of soup we ordered never came.

The server was never rude, but very quiet, and seemed busy and overwhelmed; while there were tables inside and outside, i really didnt understand the lack of attentiveness from anyone. I was perplexed where the woman who sat us went, because it seemed like the staff needed help. I later saw her when a table of 4 came in and seemed to be friends with her, their food and drinks came out really fast. The table had a second glass of wine before we had even been checked on or saw our server again.

I didnt bother asking for my soup as our waiter came over to explain the sauce for their summer special salmon bowls was out. It was suggested to put ranch on it, since it was most similar to the sauce; the menu said the sauce is a greek yogurt with hot honey and lemon and dijon, which is not similar at all.

We finally got our food and my BLT was mostly tomato, with undercooked bacon, and what I assume is just kettle cooked chips from a bag; nothing impressive. My boys shared cheese flatbreads and meatballs; the meatballs were very clearly from frozen. My husband had the salmon bowl and was disappointed with the size and and quantity for the cost. The fish was on the smaller side. There was a lot of plain mixed greens, and some brown rice. But all in all gor 18 bucks it was just bad, especially with the ranch instead of the the correct sauce.

In the midst of dinner my husband ordered another drink, but changed it to an apple and oak. Our server then brought another Manhattan.

We finally had our server ask if we needed anything else as he cleared plates from the table, I said I think we are good. And then we never got the check. My husband had to ask for one after being walked past multiple times.

We felt very much like an inconvenience. We try to be understanding and, not complain, but with how little we saw anyone I'm not sure they would have even cared.

A year ago, the service here was amazing, the servers cared, the food was actually good (or maybe they just did a better job as masking their bad food). I dont know if we just came on a bad night, or if ownership changed, but this is not the place I remember. How unbelievably disappointing. We spent 134 bucks on our food and drinks for 4, which is way too much for what we received. I wasted my birthday dinner...

Don't waste your time. My best friend and I met here to catch up for brunch on a Sunday at 10am. We stayed until almost 2. There were maybe 2 other tables. It took 15 minutes or more to get the glass of rosé I ordered. After we got our food, someone stopped by 1 time while we were still clearly eating our meals to ask if we wanted to-go boxes. We politely said no, that we were still working on our food.

I had to flag down the waiter to ask (across the restaurant) for another glass of wine. Other than that....in the 4 hours we were there - no one checked on us, no one tried to offer more wine or a mimosa (brunch is an optimal time to upsell the ladies on mimosas and wine).

We sat and watched 4 tables (that we saw) get up and walk out because no one had come to take their orders. One couple with a baby had been there at least 15 minutes. They were not super busy. They were not understaffed. Maybe lacking in training, therefore feeling understaffed....but they were not understaffed.

The food was mediocre. It wasn't horrible, but I would certainly never go back. Luckily, we were not in a hurry and intended to stay a while. But I would say that the service as a whole was unacceptable. I sat in front of my plate for probably 2.5 hours with it pushed off to the side (clearly done) and no one even looked like they wanted to stop and ask to clear it.

I don't typically tear a place apart like this - but watching 4 tables get up and walk out of a 3/4 empty restaurant was pretty bad. The worst part is, every time, they had the table cleared faster than they even sat the tables. One table had forgotten something and hadn't even made it to their car and back yet - table had already been...

My wife and I decided to stop in after the fair for dinner and see what the Redfeather had to offer on Columbus day October 10th. Since, I've been there in total 4 times in the last 11 days. 1 Dinner, 1 Brunch, and 2 lunches. Everything on the menu is really good and the wine suggestions have been spot on! Prosciutto & Fig Crostinis are my favorite starter and the Italian Beef Panini so far is my favorite entree. As far as wines, I've tried all of their Texas wines and the Reddy "Field Blend" is my favorite. One of the owners (very nice lady, Melissa born, can't remember your name, sorry) was very welcoming and a pleasure to talk to and suggested that I add a Horseradish/Mayo mix her husband uses with his Beef Panini. It was delicious! My 5th stop will probably be the weekend after this one to experience the live music. Great Ownership, Great Staff, Great Patio, Great Wine Selection. Proud to have this...