Black Walnut — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

UPDATED REVIEW: I need to change my original review from 5 stars down to 2. We came back to this restaurant and I was really let down by how much it seems to have declined in just 6 months. I was originally asked by friends about where we should go out to eat and I recommended the Black Walnut, based on the experience of the original review below. Between the 6 of us we spent $400 at this place and had the following issues:

Plate sizes have gotten smaller. Some things that we had ordered before were not the same size as they were on the previous visit. Some food just didn't taste as good. We got the jerk chicken lollipops and this time they were REALLY spicy, almost unenjoyable. The steak didn't have much flavor either. They were out of grenadine, so they couldn't make a Shirley Temple They ran out of martini glasses, so some martinis were served in margarita glasses They were out of infused bourbon, so they couldn't make their signature house Old Fashioned They seem to have run out of plates, sending orders of the same food out on different colored and styled plates, rather than the neat butcher blocks they served on last time. The presentation was awful and just seemed uncoordinated. Sides that were ordered did not come out with dinner or within an even reasonable timeframe. When asking the waitress she let us know that ours was likely taken by another server and they had to re-order it. So, ordering a side of macaroni took about 40 minutes. My steak ordered medium had been cooked all the way through. Our server agreed it was cooked far more than medium steaks were normally cooked, so I had to wait about 20 minutes for my entree to be re-prepared while everyone else ate their entrees around me. My entree came as others were getting ready for dessert.

For what this place is charging, it is absolutely unacceptable to have this many problems in a visit. I feel really annoyed because I put my recommendation on this restaurant with friends that I had not dined with before and the experience was overpriced and underwhelming. Surprisingly, despite all of the issues during our visit and especially with orders being taken by other servers and plates not coming on time, we were charged for everything on our bill with not even an offer of consolation. Get it together, Black Walnut. This was embarrassing and not how we want to spend our money.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I don't often write restaurant reviews but I feel this one may help some folks. We heard the food was good here so we went. It's a very well-run restaurant where the hostesses are very professional as are the wait-staff. The decor is a little modern for my taste but once the food came out, everything just climbed from there. This was some of the better food we've ever had. I know they recommend ordering from different parts of the menu to comprise your entire meal (which can get a little pricey), but be careful. They serve good-sized helpings so two dishes were plenty for me even though I ordered three. I greatly appreciated the size of the plates though; they don't skimp at this restaurant and I love it when restaurants do that vs. bringing out these huge plates with just a little food. Everyone in our party loved their meal and was blown away by the flavor. We're a family who likes fine dining and if you're all about the food, Black Walnut should be on your list to try...

Food-5 stars

Service-eh….hmm…..sigh…..2 1/2 stars

Ambiance- More a a night time feel which makes since, since they are usually only open at night. Our trip was a Sunday afternoon for Mother’s Day. It was way too bright and felt like we were eating in the food court at the Mall. I can,however, see how it could look lovely at night. But since they didn’t make any adjustments, I have to give it a 3 stars for Ambiance. I’m sure the night time vibe is better.

Now….let me explain

Food. Excellent. I’m certainly not a food critic and cannot tell you about the hints of this and the subtle flavors of that but I do like what I like. I had the English ribs. Sooooo good. The small salad that came with it was a perfect and nice balance to the rib flavors. It was a great way to cleanse the palette between bites so you can get the full experience again. The hush puppies were very good as well. The other items at the table were the king salmon which I was told was delicious. The lavender chicken I also was told was great. I did sample the little pearl onions that accompanied it and they were great. Sweet but not too sweet. And the onion was soft but not too soft to be a mush in your mouth. The other item was the house salad which looked yummy for a house salad.

Service. My rating of 2 1/2 stars I think is generous. Upon sitting it was close to five minutes before we were acknowledged by our server and this was in passing. Then another 2-3 minutes before water. The drink menu was on the table but wasn’t pointed out and I missed it (maybe that was my fault) but I feel a server who makes contact should point out the drink menu, let you know they will be right back with water. This did not happen. Disappointing. Our server presented the menu in a very efficient and professional way and came back to take our order. As I said food was awesome. After dinner we waited for an extended period of time (with dirty dishes on the table) to be acknowledged. When we finally were we asked for a box for the leftovers. Next thing I know we were handed a box and the check????? WHAT YOU DON’T OFFER COFFEE????? DESSERT? I don’t get it. Server training 101….up sale!!!! Just terrible. IMO.

The final blow was the bread. I’m used to restaurants having bread, offering bread, bringing bread…..something. This restaurant and this server didn’t. When we asked for bread the server said she can bring some but it will be $2. What ever, I’m about to drop $200 for this meal what do I care about $2. I took a picture of the bread. IT WAS TOAST. LOL. And I will point out only toasted on one side. If that is the bread you offer, just say ‘NO We do not have bread’.

My over all rating is a combo of excellent food which was diminished by terrible service and...

My work came here for a group dinner. I heard there was lots of prep involved in committing to a dinner for 16 people. We were instructed that there is a parking garage on the west-facing side of the building on Oklahoma Ave, so we found it, drove in, and found parking with no problem. Remember to ask for the code to get out when you leave. Walk to the elevators and go up to floor 1. There is signage that will take you to the hostess stand, where they walked us to our table. We were in a corner of the restaurant that was pretty secluded from the rest of the venue, meaning you couldn't see any other guests. It included a huge TV screen that simulated a fireplace. The staff, Chloe and (I think) Kayla were very kind and accommodating to us all night. They took out drink orders and instructed us that the bar around the corner held all of our hors d'oeuvres (pre-decided by our point of contact). The best one was the smoked mac & cheese bites. The bruschetta was pretty tasty. I personally didn't enjoy the fried green tomato bites but half of my colleagues did. We were provided with a limited menu and before placing our order, the waitress announced a change, one additional entree and one dessert replaced. I ordered a caesar salad, the veggie scampi, and the spice cake. The caesar salad was alright; they served it with a long, almost stringy type of lettuce I didn't enjoy. Not lots of flavor there nor did it make it easy to eat. My husband had a butternut squash soup that he enjoyed, but I did not. It was rather nutty, haha, but honestly, it was more of a bisque than a soup. I did not enjoy my veggie scampi. It was described as a white wine sauce with veggies, but the sauce was odd. Each time I took a bite - you know that feeling in the back of your tongue when you eat a sour patch kid? - those taste buds fired off. I can still feel it now as I type this, two days later. I tried to get acclimated to it but it kept getting worse. I do not recommend this dish. Thank the Lord that my husband ordered the English beef ribs and he was kind enough to allow me a few bites. Those ribs were delicious. The downside is that the menu advertised the dish as coming with four hush puppies and each rib dish I saw only had two. That was disappointing only because the hush puppies were so good. My colleagues loved their salmon dishes and the coconut curry dishes. I just had a bad luck night with my dishes. The great news is that I was able to finish the night with a super good spice cake. The cake alone was dense which is why I assume it's served with vanilla ice cream. Very decadent and enjoyable. Looking at the rest of their menu online, I am unsure if I would like to come back. If I do, I'm playing it safe and getting...