The Hive Social — Restaurant in Oregon City

I heard about the Hive from a friend, and I wanted to give it a try. I invited my father and brother to join me to have brunch. My father is an early riser, so I thought it best to meet at 07 AM Sunday morning to hopefully avoid the crowds. We were first in and sat at a window booth. The server was pleasant, but we had some miscommunication right from the very start over something as simple as coffee. I asked about a Spanish coffee, but I was told the bartender wasn't in yet. So, I requested a cold brew, but I was told they may not have any. After checking, I was told they did. A small sign at our table said the monthly drink special was a S'mores cold brew (marshmallow foam and dusted with gramcracker). That sounded pretty good, so I asked for the special. That's what broke everything. I was brought a regular cold brew, which I just accepted. One minute later, the bartender came out and acknowledged some confusion as she stood there holding a Spanish coffee. I likewise accepted this drink. When the server returned to pour drip coffee for my father and brother, she asked if I still wanted the S'mores cold brew. Looking at the two coffees I was already given, I explained I was fine with what I had, but I'd like to try the Aebleskivers to start before we ordered breakfast because I'd heard how good they were. The server repeated the request and acknowledged she would put in the order. This was all within the first 15 minutes or so of sitting in an empty restaurant, with just the three of us. The server returned after a short time to take our breakfast orders, which seemed to go well with no problems whatsoever. We ordered steak and eggs, bourbon vanilla cream French toast, and the Original Boring Benny. The breakfasts all came out together after about 35-40 minutes. It seemed a little long considering we were nearly the only patrons in the restaurant (another party of 4 eventually came in after we had ordered). However, the food was really great! The steak was tender, juicy, and well seasoned. I ordered the eggs over easy. They did not have the runny yokes I expected, but they were still delicious. My brother and father both enjoyed their meals and seemed quite satisfied with their choices. It was only later after we had paid and left that I realized the server never brought out the Aebleskivers I requested as an appetizer. That's on me because I honestly just forgot after sitting and talking a while. My brother and I split the bill, and I didn't even check the receipt to see if we had been charged. I'm going to assume that at this point, the server just forgot to put in the order at all. The moral of this extra long review is this: the food is excellent, but the wait staff seems inexperienced. I thought there might have been a line to get in at opening. Thankfully, I was wrong. It's possible the staff doesn't normally deal with customers right at opening. I noticed people started shuffling in closer to 0800 AM. However, I couldn't help but wonder, if it takes 40 minutes to prepare 3 breakfasts when the restaurant is empty, and the server is unable to handle even a few drink questions, then what must it be like when the place is full? The food is great, well prepared, and presented with a creative menu selection. I only struggled with one single staff member, very young and likely new-ish to the trade. But service in a restaurant matters almost as much as having great food to serve. I will likely go back again for the food, but when I do, I will be very careful and deliberate about the drinks I order, not to mention paying more attention that everything arrives at the table...

Wife and I went here for brunch a while back after seeing a number of good reviews. It was busy so we were thinking we might have found a new spot. The brunch was good, not great. We checked out the dinner menu and figured next time we'd see if dinner was better. Stopped in last night with two other people and found it easier than I thought it would be to get a last minute reservation...hmm.

Anyway, we were seated at the window which was fine other than the phone ringing constantly. No biggie. Took a while to get drinks. No biggie. We ordered fried gnocchi and lemon arancini for starters. Zero lemon flavor in the arancini and very little sauce to give it some help. 3 for $12? Mistake. The fried gnocchi was possibly the worst appetizer we've ever eaten. They couldn't have been more dense or dry. There's a small drizzle of crema that would have helped but it only covered maybe a half dozen gnocchi. Really really terrible...looked like a bowl of red deer poop.

Drinks were fine but tiny. Our guests ordered a few of the fancy drinks which come in very small martini glasses, at least one of which was $19. That would have been fine if I felt he enjoyed his drink. He didn't.

Dinner arrived. One guest ordered the pulled pork board which sounds interesting but in reality it's a DIY pork sandwich for $23 with no fries. It was passable. Again...dry and very little flavor, smoke or otherwise. Our other guest ordered the NY steak medium rare. It came well done...not a bit of pink. I'm the one who brought us here so of course I'm embarrassed and he would rather just eat the steak as-is than wait who knows how long to get another one cooked correctly. My wife orders the pork chop and again...hammered. Risotto was dry. Nothing like knowing your wife and guests aren't very happy with the dinner you just took them to. If there was a bright spot it would be the stroganoff which I enjoyed but the damage was done here.

This is not the first time we've not been happy with a place that gets good reviews and it's really sapped my confidence in them. I think people should have to post a receipt to prove they actually ate at a place they reviewed because I can't imagine someone giving The Hive a great review after having the same experience we've had twice now.

I don't expect bargains when we go out to a nice dinner but when I spend a decent amount for a dinner for 4, it should be a good meal. Last night I felt embarrassed and ripped off. The place didn't seem as busy as the last time we were there which has me wondering if that's because other people are starting to catch on. We will not...

I am editing my review to say BEWARE. Apparently, items on the menu at the Hive can seasonally change from excellent to awful and unless you READ the menu carefully, you won't catch this. About a month ago I got the Brisket Hash when out with friends for brunch. It was awesome! Loaded with greens, mushrooms, brisket and topped with eggs. Today I brought my husband for lunch.. his food was fine. I again ordered the Brisket Hash and it was a GREASY BOWL OF INDIGESTION. They seasonally changed the dish (as explained by our server when I questioned her) by removing the greens, mushrooms and eggs on top all to be replaced with ONIONS. A frilly fried onion on top replaced the eggs and greasy (from the unpleasantly fatty brisket) white and green onions replaced ALL the other veggies except a few carrots. It was awful. I mean, onions totally overpowered everything. I wish I had not had to pay for this dish. and I also wish that instead of altering a dish beyond recognition when ingredients are unavailable, just TAKE IT OFF the menu. I have greens growing in my garden right now.. I could have gone home and made myself a good meal and saved $40. I did ask our very nice server to let the chef know this is no longer the same dish but don't know if that message will get passed on and she made no offer to bring me something else.

I'm annoyed and my stomach is upset.

Everything about our dinner at The Hive Social tonight was enjoyable! Each of the people in our group ordered different things and each of us was pleased. I tried the fried Cornish Hen plate.. extremely generous portion with a tasty, crunchy batter. It came with an amazing slaw made of fennel and peaches and two biscuits with honey-butter. One of my friends got the butternut squash and pasta dish which both looked and tasted delicious, the other had steak asada which was cooked perfectly and came with hand made tortillas and some sort of tasty bean side dish. Our server Roni was the creator of the drink special we tried which involved tequila, chocolate bitters and blackberry.. hard to describe but it evoked memories of chocolate candy for both of us who tried it. Roni was so nice, very helpful in explaining things on the menu and kind overall. The Chef's wife came and spoke with us which was a nice touch. The quality of the food was off the charts.. everything was very fresh, and cooked with care. I think the dinner menu was new tonight. Understand you might wait a bit for the food because it is all prepared fresh. Highly recommend and I look forward to...