The Hawthorne Inn — Restaurant in Missouri

We have been coming here for about 5 years after moving to Labadie and I have yet to make a review about my favorite place! I am completely impressed lately! Our most recent experience was this past Sunday for dinner on 10/20 and we sat outside with a few friends from out of town. BEST SERVER WE HAVE EVER HAD! “Paige”took care of our every need, and REALLY did the Restaraunt justice after we had talked it up to our friends. We have never had her as a server but have seen her around the Restaraunt. My husband wanted to try something new and she recommended the Salmon or the stuffed Mahi Mahi As her favorite dishes we got one of each! HOW have I overlooked it so many times? Our drinks were never empty and we never had dirty plates sitting for longer than a minute. She truly made us feel as if we were her only table even though she looked as if she was in a busier area of the restaurant. From what I was able to tell she was also servicing about 8-9 other parties!! She was the perfect mixture of personal and professional, and gorgeous! We also heard the other tables around us exclaim highly of her several times throughout the night! Thank her again for us! Such a great team of young kids too!

(Updated 5/12) I just can’t get over how much I love this place! My husband and I went in for Mother's Day dinner, and it was packed! I expected a long wait, but we were able to get a small table in the bar that was relatively quiet and out of the way. We requested our server from our last visit, Paige, and opted for a low bar table in her section. She was amazing!Great service, FANTASTIC food, and the celebration of mothers. What more could I ask for? She was very efficient, given she had a bothersome table that was seated next to us. It was clear they were very busy, but the table would not give her a break, and incessantly asked when their food would arrive, the first time just minutes after their order was taken! Some people just don't understand how a Restaraunt works! Paige handled the situation with grace, humility, and patience. She explained the cooking process, and how everything is made to order on a single skillet. Even after, they were following her around the restaurant, interrupting her, and tapping her on the shoulder while she was servicing other people. My husband and I decided then and there we would both be leaving reviews to make sure of the recognition! The staff at Hawthorne all work very hard, and have been trained well in customer service, and it shows! She also mentioned to us that her brother Kaleb was the busser for her section. That was just the cutest thing ever! It made my Mother's Day feel so much more special knowing that I had a brother and sister working together, and so well too. it reminded me of what we were there to celebrate! Thank you, Hawthorne Inn for making my Mother's Day wonderful. And a special thanks to Paige and Kaleb for working so hard in the bar!...

My visit was pre-covid in Feb 2020.

After visiting Purina Farms, only a 7 minute drive away, we found Hawthorne Inn. They have a small parking lot right in front of the restaurant that fills up quickly. There is an adjacent lot across the street and limited street parking. Even arriving after peak lunch time, the restaurant was packed and continuously received more and more diners. This must be the hot spot in Labidie.

We started with the coconut shrimp appetizer with mango pineapple dipping sauce. Great flavor and huge chunks of fruit in the dipping sauce. The shrimp were served hot, the breading was crisp and not too heavy.

We ordered the back and bleu burger. It comes topped with a GENEROUS portion of bleu cheese, sauteed onions, and bacon. I cannot stress enough the the amount of bleu cheese crumbles was amazing! All sandwiches come with a side of french fries, sweet potato fried, cole slaw, or chips. The sweet potato fries were generic frozen fries, they were crispy but served cold.

We ordered the mushroom cheese strip steak which comes topped with provel cheese and a mushroom sauce. The sauce was salty, but was good. The steak was cooked to perfect temperature, there was no fat to cut off, and the gravy/cheese sauce was plenty. All entrees come with a side salad and a small plate of creamy garlic pasta. The salad was served after the appetizer. The house vinaigrette was bland- just tasted of oil and pepper. It had cheese and small pimentos (similar to a Pasta House salad). I would recommend a different dressing if you order this. The creamy pasta was also bland and just tasted of garlic. We passed both the salad and the pasta around the table and no one was interested in taking a second bite of either.

**Be aware, it seems that the kitchen courses the dishes out once you finish the prior course. We spent almost 2 hours here for appetizers, salad, and an entree with huge gaps in between each course. Not sure if they were just slammed at 1:30pm or if...

This is a nice little restaurant, with Antiques and it looks to be in a historic home or else it was a good repre reproduction. However the wait for dinner on Saturday was over an hour and a half. Once we were seated, we actually grabbed a table at the bar as some people were leaving. I don't know if they were out of tables or how they're reserved seating worked. But it was a disaster. The staff was nice but I would have to say pretty incompetent. We waited over an hour for dinner nothing fancy pork chops for one person pasta for another person. The pasta was done well and was a large serving. The pork chops was a large serving however the pork was not cooked all the way through there still were bloody pieces near the bone. The salads had way too much cheese on them and we couldn't even eat that. We had the fried spinach as an appetizer and it was delicious however there was a lot of cheese on that as well. If you look through the menu there's cheese and just about everything. I think the chef needs to consider perhaps that some people don't eat cheese. The manager did comp the pork chops. But since we waited so long, I was way too tired to eat my pasta. I ate about a quarter of it. Also while you're waiting there is only one small bench that seats two people that is in the foyer. The foyer is not heated. I was absolutely Frozen to the bones. I'm handicapped so standing was not an option for me. There were no chairs and no one offered any chairs. I waited until the bench became available and chose to sit in the cold waiting for my table. As cute as the place was, I would never come back again because of the service and the fact that the food really was...