Stella of New Hope — Restaurant in New Hope

Based on some of the issues that occurred during my meal here, this easily could have been a more negative review. However, this was a classic case of some really positive intangibles negating some of the negatives, which to me is an overall selling point and makes this a solid recommendation. The Millennial Chum and I came here for brunch this past Sunday in the middle of a Stockton/Lambertville/New Hope canal loop hike, both pretty hungry. I was very appreciative of the fact that this place let us in with our hiking clothes/backpacks, despite the obvious upper-class vibe going on. Stella is right next to the Bucks County Playhouse and boasts some gorgeous Delaware River views. We were the most casually dressed people in the room, but no judgment from anyone - love an unpretentious fancy restaurant.

We were told by the hostess as we were brought to our table that we had her favorite waitress, Jordan. It's honestly pretty unusual for me to encounter an endorsement like that at the beginning of a restaurant experience, but I'd have to say it was a pretty deserved one in hindsight. An absolute superstar. Very personable and professional, with great presentation skills. This isn't exactly a lengthy diner-esque menu but she demonstrated strong knowledge of the dishes and went out of her way to tell us her personal favorites. Love that touch.

I decided to sup on a cocktail since we were earning so many calories with our hike, and went with the As It Should Be ($17), featuring pomegranate, prosecco and rosemary. It was above average and hit the spot. Obviously if you're not in the mood for something tart I'd stay away, especially since the rosemary doesn't dull that tartness at all. I ended up having two of them, though I'd say these should have been closer to $14 or $15.

I opted for the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with the fresh strawberries addition ($14 + $2 for the add-on). Delicious and absolutely hit the spot. Sometimes that lemon flavoring can be overwhelming, but this was the perfect, delicate tart touch, complemented by the sweetness of the strawberries. I never put butter on my pancakes (I know. I'm in the minority.) but I usually do put a bit of syrup on them. I did do that here, but it wasn't necessary - there's enough taste without enhancing it with the condiments. After massive peer pressure by the Millennial Chum, I reluctantly agreed to also split the Buttermilk Biscuit Eggs Benedict with Pork Roll ($13) - I literally had had Eggs Benedict less than 24 hours earlier - and had to admit they were great too. I'm not a pork roll fan, so I removed that prior to munching, but it was pretty much perfect. I definitely prefer biscuits with Eggs Benedict dishes for texture reasons and because it assists in soaking up some of the sauce goodness. It's a bit of a small portion for the price though. As mentioned, I had a full entrée beyond this and was able to eat my half of the Benedict with no issues. I don't think I'd get that again, at least not by itself.

This honestly would have been a pretty amazing experience except we had to wait over an hour for our food to arrive. That's just too long, even on a lazy Sunday. There was a baby shower or similar event being held in the next room, which very likely contributed to the delays - I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this was an out of the ordinary situation. Regardless, our waitress stopped by often with updates, apologizing and letting us know that they were short-staffed and would get our food out as soon as possible. Yes, ideally we would have liked to have had meals in front of us in half the time. But in the event of significant delays, this was handled by the waitress about as well as it could have been. Big points there.

I'd absolutely stop by again, but I might hesitate if I saw a bunch of well-dressed partygoers with balloons, etc. coming in at...

Very fun place with very good food. I think the easiest way to breakdown the experience may be in a list form. I recommend putting in the New Hope PlayHouse in your GPS as opposed to the restaurant. The restaurant address will take you down a one way street and tell you that the destination is on your right. The restaurant is on the right but the road is a cannot enter and you cannot park on the one way street. Valet is available at the restaurant. The vibe of the restaurant is not what I was anticipating. Definitely more of a fun atmosphere than I was anticipating with a bar in the restaurant where people can go for drinks and a nice looking back patio. The restaurant can get loud due to the industrialized inside and the bar right by the tables. The cocktails are delicious and unique with some made with organic and vegan vodka. They are certainly picture worth and delicious. The homage sourdough and spreads is a must to start the meal. The sourdough is more of a naan texture and comes to the table warm and ready to be devoured. We tried the onion butter spread which was wonderful. The butter melts so beautifully and so fast. I have never seen butter melt so quickly. The burrata with the squash purée and homemade bread is so creamy and delicious. A little small for a group of 4 to share if people don’t make an effort not to devour all of it. The spaghetti pie and fried rice are bigger shared plates and good for a group of 3 or more to share in my opinion. I was really looking forward to the spaghetti pie but it did not rock my world the way I was anticipating. I thought it could have been warmer and have more truffle flavor. The fried rice is delicious with a soft fried egg and spicy kimchi. The meats and fish dishes are more entree size. The chicken and dumplings was so creamy and decadent and the radishes are so tender and meaty and a great way to sneak in some veggies. The fried chicken skin on top is a crunchy and salty treat. The service stated really strong and our waiter Jace was very knowledgeable and personable. The service started to slow between our final shared plate and entrees. Too much time had passed so that by the time the entrees came our food had settled too much and we couldn’t finish our entrees. I w had to wait a while to get the check which made timing when we should text the valet to have the car ready hard.

Overall a lot of great food and fun dishes to try in a fun environment. I definitely recommend a reservation as the place is tiny and getting a table walk in would be...

We had a wedding reception there a couple weekends ago. While the food was great and a couple of the servers-(I’m not sure of their names but a girl with glasses and a longer haired guy) were excellent- we were very disappointed for all the money we spent to choose this location. The day prior to our payment being due (3 days prior to the reception) we were notified that our finalized invoice didn't include all the expenses and they would have to add expenses they had forgotten- $438 roughly more than we had been anticipating. The communication wasn’t the best and on the day of it seemed like nobody knew what was happening and nobody really tried to understand who anyone was and their rolls or importance in making the day what it was. We couldn’t bring anything in sooner than 5pm, but the valet gave us a hard time about pulling our vehicle back around which contained our decor. There were a couple bridal party members just taking decor upstairs to the people assembling and they were told they could not be up there (they weren’t hanging around just transporting items to get everything done smoothly and before our 5:30 start time) , my florist who is also my mother in law, they refused to accommodate a place for her to put the items she transported the floral arrangements in and didn’t treat her well in a few ways. Our vendors weren’t fed until last, the photographer had been with us since 12 (she is also a good friend of ours for years) and a family member made her a plate because she still hadn’t eaten (not knowing this was a problem), then a staff member accused her of helping herself so they canceled her plate and made sure to tell her that it was because she “helped herself”. Overall it was just not good vibes from the staff other than the 2 servers and the bartenders. If I had to pick again, I wouldn’t go back to this facility to host again as it was horrible to hear the treatment of some of our family members and friends. I’m only rating at 3 stars due to the few staff members that were wonderful. Could be a wonderful option if communication was a tad better and the focus was more on making sure it’s what the customer wants and prioritizing that and making that work- especially being a bride, I really didn’t want to have to deal with problems that could’ve...