Coolidge Park Cafe — Restaurant in Northampton

During a brief stay at The Hotel Northampton, centrally located in Northampton, MA, we met a friend for supper at the hotel's Coolidge Park Café, a handsome venue filled with natural evening summer light from lovely windows that look out onto the town scene. The venue was nearly empty and remained that way. This was unfortunate for the nice restaurant itself, but for us turned out to be an unrushed opportunity to catch up over two hours with our friend from the area.

Our local friend thought that the reason the hotel's Coolidge Park Café remained fairly empty that evening was because there are so many and such a variety of enticing places to eat out in downtown Northampton. The summer evening may have beckoned to hotel guests to stroll about outdoors looking for interesting spots to dine. However, it could also be that the food we experienced at Coolidge Park Café was representative of an overpriced menu diminished by (at least a few) mediocre appetizers and entrees, which others could have experienced.

My Crab Cakes were dull and the remoulade sauce grabbed all the attention with its excessive saltiness. My New England Fish and Chips was a downer: fish dry, tough and tasteless. The fries were stale and bland. The entries of my wife's and our friend created no plaudits and went half-finished. At the end, the Indian Pudding itself was scrumptious, save that there was too little pudding and far too much vanilla ice cream totally obscuring sight of the pudding (you really should be able to view the snow-capped mountain with rivulets of...

I almost never write a review but the food here is horrendous. It is such a shame because the waitstaff were really kind and the patio is a nice location right off the hotel (where I was a guest). But the food was inedible--clearly freezer burn taste with cheap preparation--bottom of the barrel ingredients. I was not the only customer who found the dishes and even the drinks unappetizing. Several customers at nearby tables were also complaining. The waitstaff did their best to apologize, comp bad dishes, etc. But it was a terrible experience. Such a shame given the location. But with so many wonderful places in easy walking distance, save yourself the trouble and skip this. They need new management, new QUALITY food sourcing, new menu. Really maybe the worst I've ever had. For context, I live downtown NYC and travel frequently (domestic and abroad). Such a waste of a potentially lovely space. With no care or concern for the quality of the food prepared for customers. What a shame. With many thanks to the waitstaff for shouldering the burden of such a poorly run...

Our attendant was Owen. While perhaps a nice young man any other time he’s not working, his less than stellar performance left something to be desired. We ordered wine which was brought to the table and left for us to pour. Perhaps he wasn’t of age to serve drinks? I do not know. My partner had asked for mustard and Owen appeared to be quite disturbed that he would have to make another run to get it right down to the look of sheer contempt on his face. Perhaps he’s not had many years of experience, but young staff should be ready to take on the challenges of refining etiquette, courtesy etc. We’ve eaten at this establishment many times and the young staff need more training or the selection process for employment opportunities there needs to be refine/redefined.. I hope this will be a one time issue and not something that I have to expect going forward. Food...