Blind Owl Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in New Baltimore

Never in my life have I written a bad review on a restaurant. I believe the reasoning behind this is because I’ve been a server and in the restaurant industry for six years. Therefore, I understand the restaurant life and the struggles that truly come with the job. However, after my dining experience today, I simply could not not write a review. This was by far, the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. If I could give it zero stars, I would.

My family and I arrived around 6:30pm on a Saturday and they were pretty busy. We were seated within 5 minutes and things seemed to be off to a good start. However, after we sat down, we were not greeted by a server or given water within at least 15 minutes minimum of sitting there. Finally, our server came over and took both our drink and food orders at the same time. Within the next fifteen minutes my mom received BOTH her food (actual meal, not an appetizer) and her drink at the same time while the rest of us sat there utterly confused how she received her food before we even received our drinks. We then sat there for probably another 10-15 minutes and then my food was brought out, again before anyone else in my family received their food and before I even had gotten my drink. Also, keep in mind this whole time my mom had not touched her food because she was waiting for everyone else to receive theirs. Then within the next five minutes or so, my sister and I drinks finally arrive. My sister did enjoy hers while I found mine to be extremely strong and way too tart. It was undrinkable. During the next about 30 minutes STILL waiting around for the rest of my family to receive their food and DRINK ORDER still, we noticed that there was an extremely cold breeze coming in the restaurant and we became freezing. An employee informed us the back door was open and she then shut it for us. Less than five minutes later, the door was reopened and the 30 degree weather was yet again blowing on the costumers within the restaurant. We had to put our winter jackets on in the restaurant. During this time, we also noticed that our food had been sitting in the window for at least ten minutes. Our server barely came to our table to check in and did not deliver any of the food. My mom finally flagged her down and complained about the items I previously had mentioned and she apologized with little explanation. I know the difference between a busy and backed up restaurant and a bad server, it was simply she was the worst server I have ever had in my life. I’m sorry to say that, but it’s true and the job is definitely not for everyone. Moreover, our food was finally brought out by other staff members and it was below average at best. Way too overpriced for food that lacks serious flavor. In addition, my dad was brought the WRONG order. After waiting over an hour, he was brought the wrong meal. Overall, the drinks that were never brought to us, as well as my drink that was way too strong, and my dad’s burger was taken off the bill and they gave us a free dessert to go. However, honestly that did not make up for the time and money wasted at this establishment. We should had left after sitting and waiting for fifteen minutes just for a server to come over to our table and greet us!!! Honestly, it was such a miserable experience. We were there for almost two hours, not because we were so engaged in conversation or hanging out, it was because it simply took that long just to be seen, get drinks, and receive our food even when it became less busy. In conclusion, the service absolutely ruined the night for us when we were suppose to be there celebrating my sister for getting accepted into nursing school after all her hard work. Our server was barley around, never checked in, provided us little service, and she was not welcoming nor nice as well. Don’t even think I saw a smile from her. Yet, we still gave 20% because that’s just the type of people we are. First time here and we will never be returning. I recommend you save the trouble and money and go...

I had an absolutely outstanding experience for Sunday dinner at Blind Owl. The ambiance and decor is so colorful and unique making for a warm and welcoming environment. Our waitress Keren was fantastic, super friendly and attentive. The variety of menu options is not something you typically see as they have a full Sushi Bar, Latin American cuisine, and New American fare all under one roof. You can literally get a sushi roll, tacos, and a burger if you wanted to. I spoke with Danielle who is the General Manager who spoke very highly of the owner Nick. She explained how he loves to travel the world and incorporates the flavors he experiences when abroad to use for his dishes at the restaurant which explains the unique fusion of different foods in their menu. She also informed me that they offer brunch on Sundays from 10-2 which I cannot wait to try. I really appreciated her taking the time to talk to us. Moving on to the food, and I don’t say this lightly, do NOT come here without ordering the Crispy Brussels Sprouts. Being my favorite vegetable, I eat more Brussels sprouts than I’d care to admit. These are easily in my top 5. The Chipotle Agave Glaze is rich without being too heavy. It was perfection. For drinks I had the Smokey Old Fashioned which was great, and my friend had the Classic Margarita which was strong and flavorful. Moving to the entrees, my friend ordered the Philadelphia Roll and the TNT Roll and thankfully she had no problem sharing. For not being just a Sushi place I was skeptical. To say I was floored would be an understatement, this is truly some of the freshest sushi I’ve ever had, they knocked it out of the park easily. I was already full from the Brussels so I settled on the Yellowtail Carpaccio for something on the lighter end. I again cannot stress enough about the freshness of the fish. It puts other Sushi places to shame, and the presentation was fantastic. For dessert my friend and I split the Coffee Crème Brûlée which was extremely flavorful, and the Fried Cheesecake which came with this amazing Berry Chipotle dipping sauce which was heavenly. Bonus points for locally sourcing the ingredients for the sauce as well! Overall it was an amazing experience, and probably New Baltimore’s best restaurant in my opinion. Definitely a must try if you’re...

Me and my friend went there specifically because we saw they had street corn on the menu. key point to the story. we sit down and order some water to start everything is going great the server comes over and we get two cocktails, sushi, street corn, and a house salad. we sit there for about 10-15 minutes and i notice oh we haven’t gotten our drinks. i look over to the bar and i see them sitting there. about another 5 minutes go by and i see our server walking around. my friend as a fellow server is like oh maybe she just forgot and is sympathetic about it. but it’s been about ten minutes now and we still haven’t gotten them and her sushi is out already and they’re starting to melt. she finally brings our drinks out, my drink was not how i ordered it. whatever brush it off. at this point the sushi is gone and i still have not gotten my salad. so we start getting a little agitated. cause how long does a house salad take?? our server finally comes back over and asks i have received my salad. i say no and she just walks off and we see her by the computer, assuming she just never rung it in. another ten minutes has gone by i finally get my salad. still no corn?? i finish up my salad and we’re irritated at this point. we were sympathetic up until we had received no apology for this ridiculous service and just overall annoying encounter we had here. she comes over and my friend is just fed up and asks for the bill that was over $50 mind you for two cocktails, sushi, and a salad. the street corn wasn’t even on there, meaning she never rung it in. we almost didn’t tip but that’s not the type of people we are. will probably not being coming back here. our servers name was jill we think, i don’t know if she was having a bad day or what but this...