Acadia — Restaurant in New York

I'm not sure if I have the proper words to describe just how amazing our experience was, but I will certainly try. :-) We have stayed in midtown a number of times to see the Rockefeller tree and have always hoped this space next to the Quin would be filled again. Acadia opened just about a year ago and when I saw their menu I just HAD to book a dinner there. This year we came down beginning of January because the holidays were just crazy. Let me tell you... I think this timeframe will be our go-to going forward! VERY few people around the tree and in the stores and restaurants!!! For our dinner at Acadia the restaurant was less than half full, but we were treated like royalty from the minute we walked in from the bitter cold. Lance, the head server, greeted us warmly and immediately made us feel at home. The team of servers and bus people was attentive without being overbearing. The atmosphere showed class while also imparting warmth. Nice decor all around! Now.... the most important.... the food! OMG literally everything was absolutely amazing! We started with the Sizzling Garlicky Shrimp... First bite Carolyn wondered if I was okay because my eyes went wide! LOL Yeah I was okay alright... I had just tasted one of the best flavor pallets of my life. The oil and flat bread was so good we ordered a small loaf of flatbread to soak up the beautifully seasoned oil. Entrees... I was intrigued with the Crispy Roasted Lamb Neck listing as it paired items I was not accustomed to, and I was amazed at what was served. The lamb fell off the bone and was just incredible. The meat was served on Freekeh (similar to pearl barley) prepared with dates and walnuts and a host of seasonings that had me making those infamous Yummy Noises repeatedly. Carolyn had the Marinated Chicken Skewer and vegetables and after her first bite exclaimed there would be no leftovers! LOL Finally we shared the Silan dessert. Again... amazing flavor pairings and textures that had both of us making those Yummy Noises again!!! Before dessert we were treated to a complimentary glass of champagne.... the server said.... this is a thank you from Lance for being wonderful diners. Seriously... that small token of appreciation sealed the deal on quite possibly our best midtown dining experience ever. Acadia has only been open a year. I bet it won't take long for them to rise to top rankings on this site. Thank you, again, Lance and all staff, for a most wonderful evening. Blessed be... and happy...

Sat for a table of 2 10-15 minutes go by; my boyfriend and I had no one visit our table not even for water. Finally I see the managers eyeing us and came over to take our water preferences and drink orders very kind very informative on the drinks we selected. (Which was the tableside cocktail and their old fashioned). The tableside Colombian server was so very kind had a small convo on where we’re from and vice versa. He explained in detail the makings of the tableside Carmel sour I ordered. Was very refreshing and lightly sweet. Our assigned waiter came over and solely asked our how our drinks were nothing else. The manager Jordan came over and offered to take our food order, carefully explaining our choice for the branzino versus the cod. The assigned waiter came over and notified our menus taken. He pretends to just realised our orders been taken and we’re fine. He whispered under his breath “oh good you’re fine”. Strange waiter very nervous and antsy and not very attentive. Assuming we’re fine is strange as he has barely spoken to us and his duties were covered by the managers checking up on us more often than he does. Half way through our apps we enjoyed the tableside hummus presentation by the same Colombian server again very thorough. At this mid point the hostess with the short red/orange hair interrupts us to reconfirm what name on the reservation we were. Very odd when I checked in and gave the name twice; yet she herself walked us to our table and for some time we’ve been sitting so don’t know what went wrong or what wasn’t logged. The manager Jordan visits us once more to ask how our entrees are and we thanked him for recommending the branzino I was in love with the shakshuka like sauce and my boyfriend said the shrimp was the best marination he’s ever had on shrimp. Quite the rave! On our way out I ask the same red headed host if she happened to have any matches and with attitude and a blank face said “no…”. I said “oh alright no problem thanks anyway”. For someone who is suppose to be the first and last face of the restaurant experience I did not enjoy her demeanour. Typically you’d respond back with “no so sorry unfortunately we do not have any matches but I’ll let the management team know guests are interested” or just the simple “sorry we do not” with some kindness in tone. Poor hire. But the managers were great! The Colombian fellow we did not get the name of was great as well! The food amazing! However the waiter and host need some sort of...

Just got back to Philadelphia from NYC visiting a friend for dinner and had a terrible experience at this restaurant. The meal took 2 1/4 hrs for 3 people and when the meal started the restaurant was only around 1/3 full. The gap between the appetizer and main dishes was well over and hour and 15 minutes. Our waiter was non-existent just shrugging at me from a distance instead of engaging us at the table to tell us what was going on. He spoke with a manager who approached the kitchen and then us to ask us if everything was okay when he knew damn well we were waiting way too long.

Fast forward to the food. The chicken left me with indigestion which just required Pepto at home. I'm not kidding. The cod and gnocchi were solid but the portion of gnocchi was very small for the price. Lastly were we asked if we would like something removed from the bill or could we be accommodated in any way for the embarrassing long wait? No. They brought us 3 desserts without asking which is a kind gesture but not the appropriate one. We should have been asked to have something removed from the bill instead of bringing us more food. I already had indigestion and two of the desserts had dairy and the waiter was already told at the beginning of the meal that 1 of our diners had a dairy allergy. Again the distant non-existent waiter fails again to pay attention to details! You asked about allergies and neglected to oblige the allergy. Absurd. So 3 desserts were brought out and they were inedible to 2/3 diners. To add injury to insult they actually had the nerve to charge the desserts to the bill and then discounting them off underneath as if to say look at how much food we gave you for free! Insulting. $200 wasted on a very unenjoyable experience. At least 1 full hour of time wasted sitting in a restaurant instead of enjoying extra time visiting our friend out in the streets of NYC. I can not express how badly this ruined our evening.

NYC has far too many restaurants especially around Central Park to ever want to revisit. Just an FYI we were 1/3 tables in our area that waited a ridiculously long time for their food. We weren't the...